4.14. Coverage
Label: Coverage
Element Description: The spatial or temporal characteristics of
the intellectual content of the resource.
Spatial coverage refers to
a physical region (e.g., celestial sector); use coordinates (e.g.
longitude and latitude) or place names that are from a controlled
list or are fully spelled out.
Temporal coverage refers to what the
resource is about rather than when it was created or made available (the
latter belonging in the Date element); use the same date/time format
(often a range) [Date and Time Formats
(based on ISO8601), W3C Technical Note,
http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-datetime] as recommended for the Date element
or time periods that are from a controlled list or are fully spelled
out.
Guidelines for creation of content:
Whether this element is used for spatial or temporal information, care
should be taken to provide consistent information that can be
interpreted by users. For most simple applications, where place names or
coverage dates might be useful, whether the information is numeric or
alphabetical may be enough to differentiate. For more complex
applications, consideration should be given to additional
qualification.
Examples
Coverage=1995-1996
Coverage=Boston, MA
OR,
<META NAME="DC.Coverage" CONTENT="17th century">
<META NAME="DC.Coverage" CONTENT="Upstate New York">
Qualifiers for DC.Coverage
From
LC
Scheme: None
Types:
DC.Coverage.PeriodName
DC.Coverage.PlaceName
DC.Coverage.t
DC.Coverage.x
DC.Coverage.y
DC.Coverage.z
DC.Coverage.Polygon
DC.Coverage.Line
DC.Coverage.3d
From UK
Scheme
LatLong
This qualifier specifies a latitude and longtitude. It is only valid when used in conjunction the "Spatial" Type qualifier and so if it is specified with no Type qualifier, it should be assumed that the Type is "Spatial". The format of a "LatLong" element is the latitude, followed by a "/" and then a longitude. For latitude "+" is north of the equator and "-" is south of the equator. For longitude "+" is west of the Greenwich meridian and "-" is east of the Greenwich meridian. An example value for an element with this qualifier is "-37.24.43/+121.58.54".
OSGB
This qualifier specifies an Ordnance Survey National Grid Reference, based upon the national grid defined by Ordnance Survey of Great Britain (OSGB). It is only valid when used in conjunction with the "Spatial" TYPE qualifier. The format of an "OSGB" element is the easting (distance East of NGR 000000 000000) a space " " and then the northing (distance North of NGR 000000 000000). All "OSGB" elements should be expressed with a six digit easting and six digit northing, providing a reference precise to 1 metre. Greater precision is optionally gained by the use of up to two digits following a decimal point ("."), providing precision down to 1 centimetre. For example, 432760 345743 may optionally be expressed (where sufficient data are available) as 432760.34 345743.22. Where data precise to one metre or greater are not available, the reference should be padded with zeroes ("0") to maintain the six digit easting and northing -- 343 453 being represented as 343000 453000, for example. OSGB 100km square letter codes (SE, TQ etc) should be converted to the appropriate numeric codes IN ALL CASES.
ANSI.X3.30-1985
This qualifier specifies a date/time range in a format specified in ANSI X3.30-1985 standard. It is only valid when used in conjunction the "Temporal" Type qualifier and so if it is specified with no Type qualifier, it should be assumed that the Type is "Temporal".
Freetext
A textual description of the coverage of the resource. This is the default scheme value if the scheme is not explicitly stated. For example "19th century France", "Italy during the Reformation" or "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
Type
Spatial
The element value describes some sort of spatial information from the set described by the Scheme qualifier.
Temporal
The element value describes some sort of temporal information from the set described by the Scheme qualifier.
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