Metadata schema
CommonsDB is being developed as a public registry that records rights information and other metadata about Public Domain and openly licensed works. The information in the registry is provided by data suppliers that maintain digital collections of such works, including platforms like Europeana and Wikimedia.
While CommonsDB is designed to aggregate rights information about works found in these repositories, it is not intended to replicate other aspects of their functionality. Specifically, CommonsDB does not function as a full repository that provides access to digital works or their complete metadata. Instead, it is intended to help users verify rights information, and will direct users who seek more comprehensive details to the original sources — the websites and platforms of the respective data suppliers.
As a result, CommonsDB avoids duplicating the extensive metadata found in repositories like Wikimedia Commons and Europeana. It focuses instead on metadata that is directly relevant to establishing and verifying whether a work is in the public domain or openly licensed.
This Google Sheet provides an overview of the different types of metadata currently supported by the CommonsDB Declaration API, which is currently under development.
The Declaration API processes submissions (“declarations”) and stores the provided metadata in two distinct locations:
- The CommonsDB Registry: This is where the core metadata is stored—metadata required to reliably identify works, associate them with rights information, and link them to verified data providers. The Registry is optimized for automatic, highly scalable machine access and retrieval.
- The Metadata Storage: Full metadata record—containing all information submitted via the Declaration API—are stored in the Metadata Storage. This component is accessible via the Metadata API, which provides a richer, human-oriented search experience and serves as the authoritative source for complete metadata records.