Documentation about the Europeana Data Model

This webpage list all the documentation resources required for creating and using data in the Europeana Data Model format. It includes:

The EDM Definition – the formal specification of the Europeana Data Model and lists the classes and properties that could be used in Europeana. Not all of these are currently implemented. Please refer to the Mapping Guidelines for the current subset of classes and properties in use.

The EDM Primer – the “story” of EDM and explains how the classes and properties may be used together to model data and support Europeana functionality.

The EDM Mapping Guidelines – give guidance for providers wanting to map their data to EDM. They show which property relates to which class and contains definitions of the properties, the data types that can be used as values and the obligation level of each property. It also has an example of original data, the same data converted to EDM and diagrams showing the distribution of the properties amongst the classes. The full set of EDM classes and properties are being implemented incrementally and the Mapping Guidelines is the reference document showing which are currently available.

The EDM object templates – a working document that is a simple wiki listing showing which properties apply to which class and stating the data types and obligation of the values. These templates should be regarded as a work in progress however and may be out of step with the Guidelines. Please refer to the Mapping guidelines for the current set of classes and properties in use.

The XML schema - this is the XML schema for the current implementation of EDM.