Europeana Data Model (EDM)

The Europeana Data Model (EDM) was designed to replace the Europeana Semantic Elements (ESE). EDM will gradually make Europeana fit within a networked data environment. It is a much more flexible and precise model than ESE, and offers the opportunity to attach every statement to the specific resource it applies to, and to reflect some basic form of data provenance. The main EDM requirements include:

  • distinguishing between a provided item (painting, book) and its digital representations
  • distinguishing between an item and the metadata record describing it
  • allowing the ingestion of multiple records for the same item, which may contain contradictory statements about it

As a consequence of EDM having to meet these requirements, EDM data has a level of complexity above that which Europeana currently maintains. This level of complexity is comparable to what can be found in the data of many Europeana providers, and thus, it enables better exploitation of that data. Note also that, as much as possible, EDM re-uses elements coming from already-established vocabularies, such as Dublin Core, OAI-ORE, SKOS and CIDOC-CRM, thus lowering the cost of its creation and adoption.

For more information on EDM, you can refer to the EDM Definition and EDM Primer on Europeana's technical documents page. The EDM OWL ontology is accessible through content negotiation but it is also directly available. Please be aware that both data.europeana.eu and those documents are under constant revision. 

Explore further the Linked Heritage learning object: MINT Services.

See also: Web Ontology Language (OWL)

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