Components of DRM Systems Identification and Metadata

Abstract

Identifiers (unique labels for entities) and metadata (structured relation- ships between identified entities) are prerequisites for DRM. The term identifier can mean a label numbering scheme, specification, or fully implemented identifier system in a specific infrastructure. Implementations require a social infrastructure. In an au- tomated environment, the entity being managed must be defined in a structured way, by means of attributes. Managed entities will often be abstractions, and the choice of which possible entities to distinguish as separable is not absolute but dependent upon function and context. Interoperable DRM requires a persistent means of identification and structured de- scription. Persistent identification can be aided by use of Internet technologies which allow indirection, separating names from attributes. Structured description requires an ontology framework, such as the indecs framework, which can support mappings using a managed data dictionary