E-GMS

Key takeaways

E-GMS belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect E-GMS to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of E-GMS from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The e-Government Metadata Standard, e-GMS, is the UK e-Government Metadata Standard. It defines how UK public sector bodies should label content such as web pages and documents to make such information more easily managed, found and shared. The metadata standard is an application profile of the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set and consists of mandatory, recommended and optional metadata elements such as title, date created and description. The e-GMS formed part of the e-Government Metadata Framework (e-GMF) and eGovernment Interoperability Framework (e-GIF). The standard helps provide a basis for the adoption of XML schemas for data exchange.

Metadata elements The current standard defines twenty-five elements. Each has a formal description (taken from Dublin Core where possible) and an obligation rating of "mandatory", "mandatory if applicable", "recommended" or "optional":

Accessibility (mandatory if applicable) Addressee (optional) Aggregation (optional) Audience (optional) Contributor (optional) Coverage (recommended) Creator (mandatory) Date (mandatory) Description (optional) Digital signature (optional) Disposal (optional) Format (optional) Identifier (mandatory if applicable) Language (recommended) Location (optional) Mandate (optional) Preservation (optional) Publisher (mandatory if applicable) Relation (optional) Rights (optional) Source (optional) Status (optional) Subject (mandatory) Title (mandatory) Type (optional) Each element also has a statement of purpose, notes, clarification, refinements (such as sub-elements), examples of use, HTML syntax, encoding schemes and mappings to other metadata standards where applicable.

Development The first version of the standard comprising simple Dublin Core elements was first published with the e-GMF. E-GMS was first published as a separate document by the Office of the e-Envoy in April 2002 and contained twenty-one elements. Version 2 was released in December 2003 and added separate elements for Addressee, Aggregation, Digital Signature and Mandate. Version 2 also added further refinements and introduced the e-GMS Audience Encoding Scheme (e-GMSAES) and e-GMS Type Encoding Scheme (e-GMSTES). Version 3 was released in April 2004 and incorporated PRONOM within the format and preservation elements. The most recent version, 3.1, was published in August 2006 by the Cabinet Office e-Government Unit following the closure of the Office of the e-Envoy. It now forms part of the UK Government's Information Principles, supporting the principle that "Information is standardised and linkable". Responsibility for maintenance and development of the standard has since moved from central to local government.

Subject metadata and the Integrated Public Sector Vocabulary (IPSV) The Integrated Public Sector Vocabulary is a controlled vocabulary for describing subjects and was first released in April 2005, building on developments of the subject element introduced with version 3.0 of e-GMS. It merged three earlier lists: the GCL (Government Category List), LGCL (Local Government Category List) and the seamlessUK taxonomy. It had 2732 preferred terms and, 4230 non-preferred. The current version, version 2, was released in April 2006. It is much bigger, with 3080 preferred terms and 4843 non-preferred terms, and covers internal-facing as well as public-oriented topics. The Internal Vocabulary was released as a separate subset containing 756 preferred terms and 1333 non-preferred terms. An abridged version of the IPSV was also released containing 549 preferred terms and 1472 non-preferred terms and remains compliant with the e-GMS. The Public Sector Information Domain – Metadata Standards Working Group subsequently agreed to recommend this change to eGMS on the use of subject metadata from October 2012:

Where you identify value in using the subject element of metadata it should be populated from a controlled vocabulary that is used consistently across the sector to which the information relates. In preference, vocabularies should be published according to SKOS and publicly available for free re-use, which then enables tagged information to be further grouped, and associated, by an agent. SKOS also encourages cross-references to be made across otherwise unconnected vocabularies. This change reflects advances in searching techniques since the introduction of eGMS, and modern approaches to cataloguing and cross-referencing information against evolving terminologies.

IPSV is no longer directly referenced and mandated within eGMS, allowing the publisher to consider if subject tagging is valuable, and to use the vocabulary that best describes their business. Therefore, the mandate to use IPSV no longer applies, although IPSV remains an option. The standard has been discontinued in January 2019. The Local Government Association esd-toolkit has since continued hosting IPSV and current URIs will remain valid.

Mapping E-GMS has been mapped to the IEEE/LOM. IPSV has been mapped to the Local Government Classification Scheme.

See also Examples of UK government sponsored GovTalk XML standards that use e-GMS include

NaPTAN TransXChange

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with E-GMS

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what E-GMS claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to E-GMS before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about E-GMS ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of E-GMS

In research: E-GMS appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses E-GMS in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: E-GMS is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Communications in the United Kingdom, E-government in the United Kingdom, Metadata standards, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for E-GMS outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study E-GMS in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what E-GMS means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain E-GMS out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is E-GMS in simple terms?

The e-Government Metadata Standard, e-GMS, is the UK e-Government Metadata Standard. It defines how UK public sector bodies should label content such as web pages and documents to make such information more easily managed, found and shared.

Why does E-GMS matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study E-GMS?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on E-GMS.