Introduction

Standard
(Version 1)
  Specification 1
  Specification 2
  Specification 3

Standard
(Version 2)
  Specification 1
  Specification 2
  Specification 3
  Specification 4
  Specification 5
  Advice 9
  Advice 10
  Advice 11
  Advice 12
  Advice 13
  Advice 14

Home > Standard > Standard (Version 1) > Specification 2 > VERS Metadata Detail (Elements M40-M59)

XML Element Name

naa:Description

Definition

A description, in free text prose, of the content and/or purpose of the record.

Purpose

This element enables searching based on words and phrases describing the record. It allows for more detail than that provided by means of a titling scheme alone.

Obligation

Optional

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Default Value

–

Comments

This element may contain an abstract or summary of a textual record, or a textual description of a non-textual record (eg an image).

XML Element Name

naa:Language

Definition

The language of the content of the record.

Purpose

This element allows searches to be restricted to records in a specific language.

Obligation

Optional

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Default Value

en

Comments

The International Standard (ISO 639) list of language codes should be used to determine the value of this element.

‘en’ is the international standard code for English.

XML Element Name

naa:Relation

Definition

A link between one record item and another, or between various aggregations of records.

A link between a record and another information resource.

Purpose

This element provides contextual information about the record by documenting its place in the recordkeeping system and its relationships with other records and information resources documenting the same function, activity or transaction.

It acts as an access point for records and information resources which are related to each other. Documentation of these relationships enables both proper management and informed use of records over time.

Obligation

Optional

Contains

M43 Related Item ID (M)
M44 Relation Type (M)
M45 Relation Description (M)

Related Elements

M66 Management History
M104 Transaction

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Comments

The information captured in this element pertains only to the nature of a particular relation between records, or between records and other information resources. Information relating to the agent responsible for implementing the relation, and the date/time the relation was implemented, is recorded under element M66 MANAGEMENT HISTORY.

This element is not to be used for relationships other than those between records or between records and other information resources (eg not to be used to describe relationships between agents).

It is possible for a record to have no relationship with any other record, or with any resource.

This element should be used in conjunction with element M66 MANAGEMENT HISTORY. Use of this element will be triggered when the Assigned Value ‘Related’ under sub-element M69 Event Type is selected.

This element should not be confused with M104 TRANSACTION. The use of TRANSACTION to describe the links between records is RECOMMENDED.

XML Element Name

naa:RelatedItemId

Definition

A unique identifier for the related record or information resource.

Purpose

This element acts as an access point to more information about the related record or information resource.

The identifier is an essential element which uniquely identifies the related record or resource. It also provides the ‘key’ or link to all other (currently accessible) information about the related record or resource.

Obligation

Mandatory

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Default Value

–

Comments

The identifier shall uniquely identify the related record or resource in the current domain. If the related record or resource resides in another recordkeeping system, or outside the agency itself, enough identifying information shall be provided to uniquely identify the item in the domain of the record to which it is related.

XML Element Name

naa:RelationType

Definition

A category of relationship between records, at the same or different levels of aggregation, or between records and other information resources.

Purpose

This element documents the nature of the relationships between the two or more items. It provides contextual information about records by documenting other items with which they have logical associations or historical relationships.

Obligation

Mandatory

Assigned Values

Value Name

Definition

Contains/
Contained in

Denotes participation in a level of aggregation.

Denotes a record or resource which makes up part of a defined whole.

Records may be contained in files; files (and hence records) are contained in a series.

It shall not be possible to use this value to relate an item of a particular security classification to a file of a lower security classification.

Next/Previous

Denotes that the record is the next or previous part of a sequence – eg the next or previous part of file 99/131.

Replaces/
Replaced by

Denotes that the content of the record replaces/is replaced by (supersedes/is superseded by) the content of another record.

Refers to

Denotes that the record refers (eg through textual references, URIs or bibliographic information) to other resources.

Derived from (source)

Denotes another record or resource from which the record is derived.

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Default Value

Should be able to be agency-defined and set, based on agency requirements.

Comments

NB: Multiple use of this element within the one relationship is NOT RECOMMENDED. For example, RELATION should not contain two Relation Type values like ‘Contains’ and ‘Next’.

‘Other Relations’ may be added as an Assigned Value by agencies to meet their own requirements for defining relationships between records, and records and other information resources.

If sub-element M45 Relation Description is used, each Assigned Value under this sub-element should have a specially designed template associated with it. This would be used by agency staff when entering the event details under sub-element M45 Relation Description (see Comments under sub-element M45).

XML Element Name

naa:RelationDescription

Definition

Information about the relationship not explicit or obvious in sub-element M44 Relation Type.

Further explanatory notes or details about the relationship.

Purpose

This element provides additional contextual information about the relationship. It might be necessary to explain the reasoning behind why a particular relationship between particular records/resources was defined. Specific details about the actual instance of the relationship (other than date/time and agent information, which is recorded under element M66 MANAGEMENT HISTORY) might need to be recorded.

Obligation

Optional

Related Elements

M66 Management History

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Default Value

–

Comments

NB: Multiple use of this element within the one relationship is NOT RECOMMENDED. For example, RELATION should not contain two Relation Type values like ‘Contains’ and ‘Next’.

It is strongly RECOMMENDED that this information be structured in some way, rather than being entered as free text. Use of templates will enable the information to be entered in a structured way, as well as allowing certain pieces of information to be automatically generated by the system rather than manually entered by the agent.

XML Element Name

vers:Coverage

Definition

The jurisdictional, spatial and/or temporal characteristics of the content of the record.

Purpose

This element allows a search to be restricted to records about a certain jurisdiction, place or time.

Obligation

Optional

Contains

M47 Jurisdiction (M)
M48 Place Name (M)
M49 Period Name (M)

Related Elements

M32 Title
M37 Subject
M40 Description
M50 Function

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Comments

The information required in this element will often be adequately reflected in elements M32 TITLE, M37 SUBJECT, M40 DESCRIPTION or M50 FUNCTION. Use of this element for recordkeeping purposes is likely to be restricted to those agencies which deal with statistical or geospatial data on a large scale.

XML Element Name

naa:Jurisdiction

Definition

The jurisdiction(s) covered by and/or discussed in the content of the record.

Purpose

This element enables a search to be conducted on records covering nominated jurisdictions. It facilitates management of records dealing with the same jurisdiction. It may provide valuable information about the content of a record which is additional to that provided by elements M32 TITLE, M37 SUBJECT, M40 DESCRIPTION and M50 FUNCTION.

Obligation

Optional

Assigned Values

Value Name

Definition

Commonwealth

Commonwealth of Australia

ACT

Australian Capital Territory

NSW

New South Wales

QLD

Queensland

SA

South Australia

TAS

Tasmania

VIC

Victoria

WA

Western Australia

Australian Territories

Includes, for example, Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, Cocos Island.

Local

Local municipal area

[other]

Other agency defined value.

Related Elements

M32 Title
M37 Subject
M40 Description
M50 Function

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Default Value

VIC

Comments

NB: This element should not be confused with M14 Jurisdiction. This element should be used to record the jurisdiction of the record (NOT the jurisdiction of the agent).

The above list of assigned values may be extended by agencies to meet specific business requirements.

Local government agencies may choose to record the actual name of their municipal area.

XML Element Name

naa:PlaceName

Definition

Locations, regions or geographical areas covered by and/or discussed in the content of the record.

Purpose

This element enables searches to be conducted on records covering nominated locations, regions or geographical areas and facilitates management of records dealing with the same locations, regions or geographical areas.

It may provide valuable information about the content of the record which is additional to that provided by elements M32 TITLE, M37 SUBJECT, M40 DESCRIPTION and M50 FUNCTION.

Obligation

Optional

Related Elements

M32 Title
M37 Subject
M40 Description
M50 Function

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Default Value

A default value may be specified by the agency.

Comments

Will often be indicated by the standard place name of the location being referred to.

Some agencies use mechanisms such as digraphs, trigraphs or tetragraphs to refer to regions and locations, and these indicators are also acceptable.

XML Element Name

naa:PeriodName

Definition

The time period covered by and/or discussed in the content of the record.

Purpose

This element enables searches to be conducted on records covering nominated time periods or date ranges and facilitates management of records dealing with the same time periods or date ranges.

It may provide valuable information about the content of the record which is additional to that provided by elements M32 TITLE, M37 SUBJECT, M40 DESCRIPTION and M50 FUNCTION.

Obligation

Optional

Related Elements

M32 Title
M37 Subject
M40 Description
M50 Function

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Default Value

A default value may be specified by the agency.

Comments

Both standard period names and standard dates/date ranges (as detailed in ISO 8601 – Standard for Date Encoding) should be used.

XML Element Name

naa:Function

Definition

The general or agency-specific business function(s) and activities which are documented by the record.

Purpose

This element documents the relationship between records and the functions/activities they represent. It acts as a resource discovery access point at a finer level of detail than that provided by the element M32 TITLE.

Obligation

Optional (but use of this element is strongly recommended – see Comments below).

Contains

M51 Function Descriptor (M)
M52 Activity Descriptor (M)
M53 Third Level Descriptor (M)

Related Elements

M93 Mandate

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Default Value

–

Comments

Documentation, through recordkeeping, of activities and transactions pertaining to the agency’s core business functions will help to maintain agency accountability for its actions.

Use of this element will facilitate users’ searching capability at individual descriptor level, rather than just by the title as a whole.

Users should be able to search for records both by individual descriptors and by combining descriptors from the different levels.

The information recorded under element M93 MANDATE applies to the function(s) or function/activity pairs which describe the record. Agencies may choose to link the functions and activities documented under sub-elements M51 and M52 to their specific mandates, as recorded in element M93 MANDATE.

XML Element Name

naa:FunctionDescriptor

Definition

The particular business function(s) documented by the record.

Purpose

This element relates the record to the highest level of business activity it documents and enables discovery of records related to a specific government business function. It ensures visibility and accountability of recordkeeping in a particular functional area and it provides a means of measuring how well an agency is meeting its high-level recordkeeping requirements.

Obligation

Mandatory

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Default Value

–

Comments

–

XML Element Name

naa:ActivityDescriptor

Definition

The particular business activity or activities documented by the record.

Purpose

This element relates the record to the specific activities under a business function that it documents and enables discovery of records related to specific government function/activity combinations. It ensures visibility and accountability of recordkeeping in a particular activity under a specific functional area and provides a means of measuring how well an agency is meeting recordkeeping requirements pertaining to particular function/activity combinations.

Obligation

Mandatory

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Default Value

–

Comments

–

XML Element Name

naa:ThirdLevelDescriptor

Definition

A narrower activity descriptor which captures the actions or specific topics documented by the record.

Purpose

This element provides specific information about the transaction documented by the content of the record and enables discovery of records which relate to specific government function/activity combinations, and which also document individual actions or transactions (it is useful as a further point of discovery because many users find it more natural to search for records by topic than by function or activity). It helps document accountability for individual actions or transactions undertaken within particular functions/activities.

Obligation

Optional

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Default Value

–

Comments

This element should not be used on its own. This descriptor is meant to enhance the functional description of the record, not to stand on its own as a series of subject keywords.

XML Element Name

naa:Date

Definition

The dates and times at which the fundamental recordkeeping actions of creation, transaction and registration occur.

Purpose

This element provides system validation of the acts of creation, transaction and registration. It acts in combination with other metadata elements added at creation, transaction and registration, to provide evidence of the record’s authenticity.

It can be used to restrict or facilitate access to records based on their dates of creation, transaction or registration. These dates are ‘defining’ dates in the life of records, and are essential for the proper and accountable management of records.

Obligation

Mandatory

Contains

M55 Date/Time Created (M)
M56 Date/Time Transacted (M)
M57 Date/Time Registered (M))

Related Elements

M12 Agent
M65 Record Identifier
M66 Management History
M71 Use History
M76 Preservation History
M99 VEO Identifier

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

No

Comments

Values shall be assigned to the sub-elements at the actual dates and times the events themselves take place.

This element shall be linked to element M12 AGENT to enable the corporate entity/element or individual responsible for each of the three actions to be recorded.

This element shall also be linked to element M65 RECORD IDENTIFIER and M99 VEO IDENTIFIER.

The dates included in this element are fundamental to the description of a record. All other dates which pertain to the management, use and preservation of records are covered under elements M66 MANAGEMENT HISTORY, M71 USE HISTORY and M76 PRESERVATION HISTORY.

XML Element Name

naa:DateTimeCreated

Definition

The date and time at which a record is sent or received by a corporate entity, such as an agency, in the course of its business.

Purpose

This element provides information on when the physical or logical entity which is/will be a record comes into being. It enables a search to be restricted to before, after or between particular dates of creation.

Creation is a fundamental date in the life of a record. Creation date/time is a natural search point for users.

Obligation

Mandatory

Related Elements

M8 Object Creation Date
M12 Agent
M65 Record Identifier
M99 VEO Identifier

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

No

Default Value

The system date/time at the time of creation. The creation date and time must be obtained from a source that cannot be modified by the creator.

Comments

The time should be specified to (at least) the minute, and be expressed as GMT to ensure consistency. The International Standard, ISO 8601 – Standard for Date Encoding, shall be used to express the value of this element.

This element shall be used in conjunction with element M12 AGENT, sub-element M13 Agent Type, Assigned Value ‘Record Creator’, with element M65 RECORD IDENTIFIER and with element M99 VEO IDENTIFIER.

For a single item, this sub-element shall contain a single date. For aggregations of records, this sub-element shall contain a date range.

The act of creation applies not only to a record, but also to the logical aggregations file and series. In the case of aggregations of records, the value for this sub-element will be expressed as a date range.

In many cases the date and time of creation may be identical to the date and time of transaction (see sub-element M56) or registration (see sub-element M57).

In many cases the date and time of creation may be identical to the date and time of the VERS Record creation given in M8 OBJECT CREATION DATE.

XML Element Name

naa:DateTimeTransacted

Definition

The date and time at which the action or transaction documented by the record takes place.

The date and time at which the action or transaction which results in the creation of a record takes place.

Purpose

This element provides information about the date and time of an action or transaction, as distinct from information about the date and time of record creation.

The date and time of the action or transaction which results in, or which is documented by, the creation of a record is a fundamental piece of information about that record. Proof of the date and time of an action or transaction is often crucial as evidence in a court of law.

Obligation

Mandatory

Related Elements

M12 Agent
M65 Record Identifier
M99 VEO Identifier

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

No

Default Value

The system date/time at which the action or transaction takes place. The transaction date and time must be obtained from a source that cannot be modified by the creator.

Comments

The time should be specified to (at least) the minute, and be expressed as GMT to ensure consistency. The International Standard, ISO 8601 – Standard for Date Encoding, shall be used to express the value of this element.

This element shall be used in conjunction with element M12 AGENT, sub-element M13 Agent Type, Assigned Values ‘Transactor’ or ‘Action Officer’, with element M65 RECORD IDENTIFIER, and with element M99 VEO IDENTIFIER.

In some cases the action or transaction is documented by a record after the action/transaction has occurred – eg minutes of a meeting (an action/transaction) form a record of that meeting, but the record itself may not be created until some time (hours or days) afterwards.

In other cases the record itself is the transaction, and the date and time of the action/transaction will be identical to the date and time of creation – eg the act of sending an email (an action/transaction) is often simultaneous with the act of record creation.

XML Element Name

naa:DateTimeRegistered

Definition

The date and time at which the record is captured into the recordkeeping system.

Purpose

This element documents the date and time that the record came under the management and control of a formal recordkeeping system. It acts as a search point for records management purposes.

The date and time a record comes under formal records management control can be crucial in proving the authenticity and integrity of that record.

Obligation

Mandatory

Related Elements

M12 Agent
M65 Record Identifier
M99 VEO Identifier

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

No

Default Value

The system date/time at the time the record is registered into the recordkeeping system. The registration date and time must be obtained from a source that cannot be modified by the creator.

Comments

The time should be specified to (at least) the minute, and be expressed as GMT to ensure consistency. The International Standard, ISO 8601 – Standard for Date Encoding, shall be used to express the value of this element.

This element shall be used in conjunction with element M12 AGENT, sub-element M13 Agent Type, Assigned Values ‘Registrar’, ‘Records Manager’ or ‘Action Officer’, with element M65 RECORD IDENTIFIER, and with element M99 VEO IDENTIFIER.

In many cases the date and time of registration may be identical to the date and time of creation (see sub-element M55). Whether or not creation and registration are simultaneous will depend on recordkeeping system design and implementation.

XML Element Name

naa:Type

Definition

The recognised form a record takes, which governs its internal structure and relates to its transactional purpose or to the action or activity it documents.

Purpose

This element provides additional information about the purpose and context of the record. It may assist users in interpreting information in the record by identifying its internal structure.

Obligation

Optional

Assigned Values

Value Name

Definition

Agenda

–

Guideline

–

Instruction

–

Letter

–

Message

–

Minute

–

Memorandum

–

Presentation

–

Procedure

–

Report

–

[other]

Other agency defined value.

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

No

Default Value

Agency defined and set.

Comments

Agencies may add other Assigned Values to meet their particular business requirements.

Record types are often represented by templates in use within an agency. Such templates could be linked to the system and, when called up by an agent, used as triggers which enable the element to be system-assigned.

XML Element Name

naa:AggregationLevel

Definition

The level at which the record(s) is/are being described and controlled.

The level of aggregation of the unit of description.

Purpose

This element controls the management actions which may be taken on the record(s). It allows searches to be restricted to records at a particular level of aggregation.

Obligation

Mandatory

Assigned Values

Value Name

Definition

Item

NB: VEOs may be made up of one or more documents. In VERS this value is the same as the value ‘Record’ used in M6 OBJECT TYPE.

A single document, such as a report, a minute or an email message.

File

A group of logically associated documents, which may or may not be physically co-located. The logical association may be based on function/activity, subject or some other criterion.

Related Elements

M6 Object Type
M9 Object Content

NAA Metadata

Yes

Repeatable

No

Default Value

Item

Comments

NB: the assigned value Series has been removed from this description as it is NOT RECOMMENDED for use in a VEO.

This element acts as a ‘switch’. Appropriate management and control of records is enabled according to their level of aggregation. The aggregation level also dictates the types of metadata to be assigned to the record(s). The Applicability field included under each metadata element description indicates the level(s) of aggregation to which that element may be applied.

If the value is ‘File’ then M6 OBJECT TYPE will also be ‘File’.

If the value is ‘Item’ then M6 OBJECT TYPE will be ‘Record’.