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- Not a replacement for text metadata value.Metadata fields still have text values.
- The text value of a metadata field does not have to be derived from the authority, even if authority control is required for that field.
- Configured by field. The authority control status of each field is independently configured, but it affects all values of that field.
- Authority control can be optional or required. When optional, metadata values may take on values that did not come from the authority.
Authority values are ubiquitous. Authority values are accessible by crosswalk
Footnote Crosswalk in DSpace context is a functionality that allows DSpace metadata format to be translated to external formats.
plugins, in the UI, through OAI-PMH, etc.
- All of those context can detect whether a value is authority-controlled or not by testing for presence of an authority key.
- Text-based searching and indexing is unchanged. Since metadata values still have text values, the browse and search systems will work unchanged.
- Choice behavior decoupled. The selection and choice mechanisms can be invoked independently (e.g. in the submit UI) of authority control.
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We will consider adding an administrative UI to detect and list these metadata problems.
Display and CrosswalkCrosswalk
Every metadata value potentially includes values for an authority key, and an authority confidence. They are only present when the field is under authority control, and when there is an actual authority value, otherwise they are absent (e.g. in the DIM XML representation) or null.
The presentation UI can call on a generic method to get the canonical display string for an authority key, but it is welcome to interpret it in custom code to present a more detailed view. For example, one site may want to customize their Item display so a personal name appears with a link to their page on the institution's social networking site, which it obtains through the authority key.
Dissemination crosswalks will crosswalks will also receive the authority key so they can pass that knowledge on through OAI-PMH, exported packages, and any other dissemination vehicles.
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There are symbolic constants (and corresponding String symblic names) for the confidence levels defined in the Choices class:
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| Icon | Confidence | Confidence value (stored in metadatavalue) | Description | Mirage 2 Glyphicon rendering |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACCEPTED | 600 | This authority value has been confirmed as accurate by an interactive user or authoritative policy | thumbs-up |
| UNCERTAIN |
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| 500 | Authority value is singular and valid but has not been seen and accepted by a human, so its provenance is uncertain | cog | |
| AMBIGUOUS |
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| 400 | There are multiple matching authority values of equal validity | question-sign | |
| NOTFOUND |
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| 300 | There are no matching answers from the authority | thumbs-down | |
| FAILED |
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| 200 | The authority encountered an internal failure in trying to match the value | warning-sign | |
| REJECTED |
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| 100 | The authority recommends this submission be rejected | ||
| NOVALUE |
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| 0 | No reasonable confidence value is available |
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| ban-circle | ||||
| UNSET | -1 | No confidence value has been set (default value in the DB table) | remove |
The icon rendering in the XMLUI Mirage 2 theme takes place in choice-authority-control.xsl.
Separation of Choices from Authority Control
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Since choice management and authority control affect the operation of the interactive submission pages, there is naturally some interdependence with that configuration as well. This table shows how the data type chosen for a metadata field affects choice and authority management:
input-type (from input-forms.xml) | 'lookup' Presentation Style | 'suggest' Presentation Style | 'select' Presentation Style | Authority Control |
|---|---|---|---|---|
onebox | yes | yes | yes | supported |
twobox | yes | yes | yes | supported |
textarea | yes | yes | yes | supported |
name | yes | NO | NO | supported |
date | NO | NO | NO | n/a |
series | NO | NO | NO | not tested |
dropdown | NO | NO | yes | NO |
qualdrop_value | NO | NO | NO | NO |
list | NO | NO | ??? | not tested |
Other Restrictions
Plugins and "Select" Presentation Style
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| Code Block |
|---|
plugin.named.org.dspace.content.authority.ChoiceAuthority = \ org.dspace.content.authority.SampleAuthority = Sample, \ org.dspace.content.authority.LCNameAuthority = LCNameAuthority, \ org.dspace.content.authority.SHERPARoMEOPublisher = SRPublisher, \ org.dspace.content.authority.SHERPARoMEOJournalTitle = SRJournalTitle, \ org.dspace.content.authority.SolrAuthority = SolrAuthorAuthority |
Automatic Choice Authority from Configurable Submission value-pairs
The default configuration also includes a special self-named plugin that picks up all the value-pairs elements defined in your input-forms.xml configuration and makes them available as choice authorities (especially suitable for the select presentation style
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| Code Block |
|---|
plugin.selfnamed.org.dspace.content.authority.ChoiceAuthority = \ org.dspace.content.authority.DCInputAuthority |
Some of the ChoiceAuthority instances available in the default configuration are:
- LCNameAuthority - Sample Library of Congress (USA) name authority - NOT for serious use.
- SRPublisher - Journal Publisher names based on SHERPA/RoMEO database
- SRJournalTitle - Journal Titles based on SHERPA/RoMEO database
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