Contemporary retrieval systems which search across collections ignore collection-level metadata, an obvious problem. As part of the IMLS Digital Collections and Content Project we are developing a logic-based framework for classifying collection/item metadata relationships and formalizing inference rules based on these relationships. (Foulonneau, et al., 2005; Palmer, 2004) Conjectures and Refutations D1 An attribute A a/v propagates = df ∀x∀y∀z [(IsGatheredInto(x,y) & A(y,z)) ⊃ A(x,z)] But D1

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... s too broad: For instance, attributes with no value for any collection count as a/v propagating although they are not. e.g if a particular collection identifier attribute has not been assigned to any collection, then D1 will incorrectly count that attribute as a/v propagating. The standard move here is to modalize the conditional: