NAAThe Australian Government Locator Service (AGLS) was a metadata standard developed to improve the discoverability and management of government information resources in Australia. Based on Dublin Core, AGLS extended the core element set with properties specific to the needs of government agencies, such as function-based description, mandate references, and availability information. The standard was formally retired at the end of 2023 following the decommissioning of the agls.gov.au website.
Background
AGLS originated in 1997-1998 as part of the Australian government's push to make its online information resources more accessible and discoverable. The National Archives of Australia took stewardship of the standard, which was first published in 1998 and subsequently became an Australian Standard under the designation AS 5044.
The development of AGLS was closely tied to the Australian government's broader information management and e-government initiatives. It was one of the earliest national government adaptations of Dublin Core, predating similar efforts in other countries and influencing the development of government metadata standards internationally, including the UK e-Government Metadata Standard (e-GMS) and the New Zealand Government Locator Service (NZGLS).
Purpose & Scope
AGLS was designed to serve government agencies at all levels -- federal, state, and local -- that needed a consistent way to describe and manage their information resources. The standard addressed several government-specific requirements beyond basic resource discovery:
- Function-based description: Government resources could be described in terms of the government functions and activities they related to, using the Australian Governments' Interactive Functions Thesaurus (AGIFT).
- Mandate tracking: Resources could be linked to the legislation, regulations, or policies that governed them.
- Availability and access: Properties for describing how and where resources could be obtained, including both online and offline availability.
- Audience targeting: Identification of the intended audience for government information.
Versions
AGLS went through several significant revisions:
- Version 1.0 (1998): Initial release based on Dublin Core 1.0
- Version 1.3 (2002): Updated to align with Dublin Core 1.1 qualifiers
- Version 2.0 (2010): Major revision published as AS 5044-2010, aligned with DCMI Metadata Terms and modern Dublin Core practice
Version 2.0 represented a significant modernization, moving from the earlier qualification approach to full alignment with the DCMI Abstract Model and DCMI Metadata Terms.
Governance & Maintenance
AGLS was maintained by the National Archives of Australia (NAA), which served as the steward for Australian government metadata standards. Standards Australia published the formal Australian Standard version (AS 5044). The Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) played a role in promoting adoption across government agencies.
Adoption & Impact
At its height, AGLS was mandated for use on Australian Government websites and was adopted widely across federal, state, and territory government agencies. The standard influenced international government metadata practice and demonstrated the viability of Dublin Core application profiles for sector-specific needs.
AGLS also contributed to the broader Dublin Core community's understanding of application profiles, feeding into discussions that eventually led to the Singapore Framework for Dublin Core Application Profiles.
Retirement
The AGLS standard was retired at the end of 2023 when the agls.gov.au domain was decommissioned. The shift reflects broader changes in Australian government information management practices, including the move toward whole-of-government platforms and the adoption of other metadata approaches such as Schema.org markup and the Digital Transformation Agency's content standards.
Related Standards
- Dublin Core Metadata Element Set -- the foundation on which AGLS was built
- DCMI Metadata Terms -- the extended vocabulary used in AGLS 2.0
- DC-Gov -- the DCMI Government Application Profile, a related government-sector profile
- NZGLS -- the New Zealand Government Locator Service, a closely related standard
- e-GMS -- the UK e-Government Metadata Standard, another DC-based government profile