ISO/IEC TR 19583-24:2025

Technical
Report
ISO/IEC TR
19583-24
First edition
Information technology — Concepts
2025-02
and usage of metadata —
Part 24:
11179-3:2013 Metamodel in RDF
Technologies de l'information — Concepts et utilisation des
métadonnées —
Partie 24: Métamodèle dans RDF ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013
Reference number
© ISO/IEC 2025
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
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© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
ii
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
3.1 Terms and definitions of metamodel constructs .1
3.2 Terms and definitions of concepts .3
3.3 Terms and definitions of knowledge organization systems .7
4 Modeling principles and mapping conventions . 9
4.1 Guiding principles of the ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013 Metamodel in RDF .9
4.2 Use of RDF and RDF based vocabularies .9
4.3 Schema conventions .10
4.4 UML Stereotypes .11
5 Overview of ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013 Metamodel in RDF .11
5.1 Organization .11
5.2 Basic types metamodel region (ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, 6.2) .11
5.3 Basic Classes metamodel region (ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, 6.3). 12
5.4 Identification metamodel region (ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, 7.2) . 13
5.5 Designation and Definition metamodel region (ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, 7.3) .14
5.6 Registration metamodel region (ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, 8.1) . .16
5.7 Concepts package (ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, Clause 9) .17
5.8 Binary Relations package (ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, Clause 10) .18
5.9 Data Description package (ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, Clause 11).18
5.10 Elements of ISO/IEC 11179-6 . .21
Annex A (informative) Summary of differences between ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013 and ISO/IEC
11179-3:2023, ISO/IEC 11179-31:2023 and ISO/IEC 11179-32:2023 .22
Bibliography .26

© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
iii
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity.
ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations,
governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described
in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types
of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/
IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives or www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).
ISO and IEC draw attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the
use of (a) patent(s). ISO and IEC take no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any
claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO and IEC had not
received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers
are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent
database available at www.iso.org/patents and https://patents.iec.ch. ISO and IEC shall not be held
responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions
related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding-standards.
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 32, Data management and interchange.
A list of all parts in the ISO/IEC 19583 series can be found on the ISO and IEC websites.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards
body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html and
www.iec.ch/national-committees.

© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
iv
Introduction
The ISO/IEC 11179 series on Metadata registries (MDR) addresses the semantics of data, the representation
of data, and the registration of the descriptions of that data. The semantic and representational components
are described through attributes contained in the conceptual model of a metadata registry as specified in
ISO/IEC 11179-3. ISO/IEC 11179-3 provides the basic conceptual model, including the basic attributes and
relationships, for a metadata registry.
ISO/IEC 11179-3 defines a common conceptual model, but not a physical implementation. Therefore,
the metamodel need not be physically implemented exactly as specified. However, it must be possible to
unambiguously map between the implementation and the metamodel in both directions. If implementers
can ensure such a mapping, it only partially addresses the issue of interoperability, even between registry
products that can claim the same conformance level.
ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013Metamodel in RDF addresses interoperability from multiple perspectives. It defines
a semantic and formal representation of the ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013 conceptual model based on the W3C
Resource Description Framework (RDF). This model constitutes a machine readable representation, and can
therefore be easily exchanged and explored using RDF based software tools. It can be used by implementers
as a common target model for mapping between a specific implementation and the metamodel. Hence,
implementers can use this to map against a common target model and more easily identify interoperability
issues. A formal RDF model can also be instantiated and therefore serve as a direct exchange format between
registry products.
ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013 has been withdrawn and replaced by ISO/IEC 11179-3:2023. The terms used in this
document are those defined in ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013 and ISO/IEC 11179-6:2015.
Annex A provides a summary of the differences between ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013 and its successors
ISO/IEC 11179-3:2023, ISO/IEC 11179-31:2023 and ISO/IEC 11179-32:2023.

© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
v
Technical Report ISO/IEC TR 19583-24:2025(en)
Information technology — Concepts and usage of metadata —
Part 24:
11179-3:2013 Metamodel in RDF
1 Scope
This document specifies the structure of ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013. It defines a mapping of the
ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013 conceptual model to a formal schema representation based on the W3C Resource
Description Framework (RDF). The schema is available as a separate artefact. This document specifies the
principles and conventions that were followed to map classes, attributes, and associations of the conceptual
model to a formal RDF schema.
This document does not provide detailed explanatory details about the ISO/IEC 11179 series or RDF. For
more information, refer to References [7] to [9].
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes
requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references,
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
1)
ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013 , Information technology — Metadata registries (MDR) — Part 3: Metamodel for
registry common facilities
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013 and the
following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1 Terms and definitions of metamodel constructs
3.1.1
class
(metamodel) description of a set of objects (3.2.1) that share the same attributes (3.1.7), operations, methods,
relationships (3.1.2), and semantics
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC ISO 11179-3:2013, 3.1.5]
1) Withdrawn and replaced by ISO/IEC 11179-3:2023, ISO/IEC 11179-30:2023, ISO/IEC 11179-31:2023 and
ISO/IEC 11179-32:2023.
© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
3.1.2
relationship
connection among model elements
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC ISO 11179-3:2013, 3.1.15]
3.1.3
association
semantic relationship (3.1.2) between two classes (3.1.1)
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC ISO 11179-3:2013, 3.1.2]
3.1.4
association class
association (3.1.3) that is also a class (3.1.1)
Note 1 to entry: An association class not only connects a set of classes, but also defines a set of features that belong to
the association itself.
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC ISO 11179-3:2013, 3.1.3]
3.1.5
superclass
class (3.1.1) that is a generalization of one or more other classes, its subclasses (3.1.6)
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC ISO 11179-3:2013, 3.1.18]
3.1.6
subclass
class (3.1.1) that is a specialization of another class, its superclass (3.1.5)
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC ISO 11179-3:2013, 3.1.17]
3.1.7
attribute
characteristic (3.2.4) of an object (3.2.1) or set of objects
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC ISO 11179-3:2013, 3.1.4]
3.1.8
datatype
set of distinct values, characterized by properties of those values and by operations on those values
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC ISO 11179-3:2013, 3.1.9]
3.1.9
identifier
sequence of characters, capable of uniquely identifying that with which it is associated, within
a specified context
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC ISO 11179-3:2013, 3.1.11]
3.1.10
package
grouping of metadata objects that provides a namespace (3.2.13) for the grouped objects, and allows them to
be referenced as a group
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC ISO 11179-3:2013, 3.1.13]

© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
3.1.11
metamodel region
sub-division of a package (3.1.10) used to organize metadata objects for ease of explanation
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC ISO 11179-3:2013, 3.1.12]
3.2 Terms and definitions of c
...