From Qedoc

Qedoc Quiz Maker Documentation Very fast intro · Interface quick tour · How people use Qedoc · Obtaining a contributor ID · How to create a new module · Loading modules · How to create a new task · How to use the question bank · The WYSIWYG display · Standard question options · Using categories · Adding media · Adding a document · Creating activities · Flashcards · Metadata · Uploading modules · Downloading modules · Synchronisation · Difficulty level · Changing the appearance · Data tables · Data import and export · The developer toolbox · Clipboard · Sound effects · CD-ROM distribution · Features · Question types · Rewards · Learning with Qedoc · Information for authors · List of current question types · Features · Version history · Compatibility · Media resources · Metadata specification · Where's my module?

The Qedoc metadata specification is a description of the metadata files contained inside the module ZIP files. Metadata files are in an XML format. Anyone can use the XML metadata files to add records of Qedoc modules to their respositories of open educational resources.

Contents 1 General points 2 Keys and value descriptions 3 Example 4 Future improvements of the metadata files 5 See also

General points

• The XML files are java property files which can be read quickly and efficiently from anything using java. A general XML parser in a different language can read them a little less conveniently.
• The files are UTF-8. This is important for non-English languages.
• The current format is homegrown and rather haystack-like.
• Some older modules may not have all the fields.
• A dynamic list of all current Qedoc metadata files is available from http://www.qedoc.com/library/list.php

Keys and value descriptions

Key	Value description
Author	The author
Title	The title. Note that replacing spaces with underscores and prefixing with http://www.qedoc.org/en/index.php?title= gives the URL of the module page on this wiki. Titles are compulsory and unique, but may occasionally change.
Short description	The subtitle. May be empty.
Description	Description of the resource. May be long and contain simple HTML markup such as breaks and lists.
Filename	The name of the ZIP file containing the module and metadata file. Note that currently, prefixing this with http://www.qedoc.com/library/ gives the download URL of the module. If a unique identifier is needed for resources, in order to track the same resource across updates, this is a good field for this purpose.
Licence type	A full text description of the Creative Commons licence type using by this module, including HTML, an embedded Creative Commons image and a hyperlink to the Creative Commons licence text.
Organisation	The author's organisation. Often not provided.
Country	The author's country.
Language	The language in which the module is written.
Subject	Currently one of: General, English, Mathematics, Languages, History, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Science (general/other), Art, Music, Sport, Medicine, Law, Information technology, Religion, Philosophy, Psychology, Politics/sociology, Business/economics, Technology/engineering, Drama/film/dance/theatre, Leisure/tourism, Brainteasers
Keywords	Keywords selected by the author, which may include additional subject areas. Comma-separated list.
Edlevel	One or more of: primary education, secondary education, post-secondary education, other. May be a comma-separated list.
Size	The number of questions in the question bank. This is not necessarily a reliable guide to the true learning volume in a module, as learning material may also be contained in data tables and inserted randomly into a small number of (template) questions.
Levels	The number of playable levels (quizzes) in the module.
Rating	An automated rating of the module.
Twelve	A warning flag set by the author to indicate material that may not be suitable for under 12's. Qedoc modules are always intended to be child-friendly, but some acceptable topics may not be suitable for very young children. Possible values are zero (=OK) and one (=restricted).
Build	A 4-digit build number giving a rough idea how many versions the author has been through. Will always be larger for updated modules.
Created	Creation date. Weird format.
Last accessed	Misnamed key for "last modified". Milliseconds since Jan 1, 1970. This is a useful field.
Required version	Gives the version number of the Quiz Maker last used to edit the module. Never in fact acted on - information only.
Author ID	Same as the 1st 5 digits of the module filename. Of internal interest only.
Author licence	Redundant or internal use only.
Type	Redundant or internal use only.

Example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE properties SYSTEM "http://java.sun.com/dtd/properties.dtd">
<properties>
<comment></comment>
<entry key="Short description"></entry>
<entry key="Levels">5</entry>
<entry key="Country">Ecuador</entry>
<entry key="Title">Practice tests for postgraduate medical training</entry>
<entry key="Licence type"><img border=0 src="http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.png">
Some rights reserved. Licenced under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/">
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike Licence</a>.</entry>
<entry key="Required version">1.5.0.0</entry>
<entry key="Rating">1651</entry>
<entry key="Twelve">0</entry>
<entry key="Subject">Medicine</entry>
<entry key="Keywords">Medicine, medicina</entry>
<entry key="Type">2</entry>
<entry key="Author ID">BQEGB</entry>
<entry key="Last Accessed">1179810519609</entry>
<entry key="Author">Kevin Dickens</entry>
<entry key="Language">Spanish</entry>
<entry key="Filename">BQEGB_000.zip</entry>
<entry key="Organisation">PRIVATE CONTRIBUTOR</entry>
<entry key="Edlevel">Post-secondary education</entry>
<entry key="Size">796</entry>
<entry key="Created">13588</entry>
<entry key="Build">0088</entry>
<entry key="Author licence">1</entry>
<entry key="Description">This module is based on a book produced by the Ecuadorian Association of Medical Faculties. 
Materials are reproduced with permisson. These are practice tests intended for Ecuadorian postgraduate medical training. 
The module will cover topics like: anatomy, anesthesiology, biochemestry, general surgery, embryology, epidemiology,
pharmacology, physiology, genetics, gynecology & obstetrics, histology, internal medicine, medical statistics, 
microbiology, parasitology, pathology, pediatrics, psychiatry, physical examination.</entry>
</properties>

Future improvements of the metadata files

• Addition of download URL for module.
• Addition of URL to module page on Qedoc Quiz Wiki.
• Licence type will be listed as an abbreviation (e.g. "CC-BY-NC-SA") and/or a numerical index as well as the current full-text description of the licence title.
• Inclusion of subject field tags with values specifically tailored for some of the major OER repositories.

See also

• Module classification