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8. Details of Individual Metadata Elements
8.50 Usage Conditions
Attributes
Attribute
Value
Identifying Attributes
Name
usageConditions
Label
Usage Conditions
Defined by
Government of Canada Records Management Metadata Standard - usageConditions
Element URI
[To be actioned by Treasury Board of Canada, Secretariat before publication]
Definitional Attributes
Definition
Limitations or restrictions on how a record or file may be used.
Purpose
To protect a record or file against any form of unauthorized use (including unauthorized disclosure), or any use which may place the owner or creator of a record or file (either a corporate entity or an individual) at a disadvantage.
To help an institution ensure that the records or files for which it is responsible are not used in ways that contravene copyright or privacy restrictions or that will cause damage to specific business or domain interests.
Rationale
"In order to define the content of the record or any aggregation, its logical and physical structure and its technical attributes, and in order to document the relationships that records may have between each other, metadata about the record should … h) document requirements about making available, reproducing or rendering records…" ISO Technical Specification 23081-1, s. 9.2.1
Value Domain
Non-enumerated string of text representing limitations or restrictions.
Datatype Name
String
Constraint
Applicable at record level and file level.
Obligation
Optional at record level; optional at file level.
Relational Attributes
Encoding Scheme
-
References
Access to Information Act, R.S. 1985, c. A-1, http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/A-1/index.html
References
Copyright Act, R.S. 1985, c. C-42, http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-42/index.html
References
Privacy Act, R.S. 1985, c. P-21, http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/P-21/index.html
References
Policy on the Management of Government Information, www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/ciopubs/
TB_GIH/mgih-grdg_e.asp
Linkages
Access Rights; Releasable To
Conditions of Application - Record
Format
Free text
Modifiable
Pre Record Declared Locked
Post Record Declared Locked
Yes
Yes, by authorized official only.
Occurrence
Repeatable
Conditions of Application - File
Format
Free text
Modifiable
Yes, by authorized official only.
Occurrence
Repeatable
Comments and Guidance
a) Explanation of Definition/Usage
This element is used to identify any special conditions that may impact the usage of a record or file. Examples include copyright statements, statements which detail who may use the record, and statements which list penalties for unauthorized disclosure.
It is in this element that the intellectual property rights of the record will be defined.
This element should not be confused with the element Supplemental Markings which is used to identify those records or files that are sensitive for specific reasons and require special handling procedures.
b) Best Practices
This element is a free text element and therefore, there is no limit to the number of conditions that can be identified within the element.
Once a record is locked, the value for this element may be modified by an authorized official only. Similarly with a file. Such modifications would accommodate changes to intellectual property rights of the record, for example.
c) Obligation
This element is deemed to be optional because it is primarily descriptive in nature and does not assist in the management of the record or file through the information management life cycle.
d) Default Values/Auto-populate
Since this is a free text element with different values depending on the situation, the element cannot be defaulted or auto-populated.
e) Linkages
This element is linked to Access Rights and Releasable To because the value of this element can have a direct affect on the value of the other two elements.
f) Examples
- "Copyright held by Acme Consulting Inc."
- "Access restricted because of licensing fees."
