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--></style><title>IMS Common Cartridge (CC) Mime-type Registration
Prelimina</title></head><body>
<div>Hi,</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>We wish to register a new Mime-type for the IMS Global Learning
Consortium's Common Cartridge.</div>
<div>As part of that process we submit this application for
preliminary peer review.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Inserted is the Registration Form. The IMS's Common
Cartridge specification, to which this application refers, is
available at: http://www.imsglobal.org/cc/index.html.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>--------------------------------------</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Name :</b> Colin Smythe</div>
<div> </div>
<div><b>Email :</b> csmythe@imsglobal.org</div>
<div> </div>
<div><b>MIME media type name :</b> Application</div>
<div> </div>
<div><b>MIME subtype name :</b> Standards Tree -imsccml+xml</div>
<div> </div>
<div><b>Required parameters :</b> There are no required
parameters.</div>
<div> </div>
<div><b>Optional parameters : </b> 'charset'</div>
<blockquote> </blockquote>
<blockquote>The charset parameter of application/imsccml+xml is
handled in the same fashion as for application/xml, as specified in
Section 3.2 of [RFC3023]. However, per conformance of IMS Global
Learning Consortium's Common Cartridge, valid Common Cartridge
manifest documents MUST be in the UTF-8 character set. If the
charset parameter is present, it MUST take the value
"utf-8". Common Cartridge processing software SHOULD check
the charset field, and if it is present but not equal to
"utf-8", MAY attempt to recover from the error by processing
the document in the specified character set.</blockquote>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div><b> Encoding considerations :</b> 8bit</div>
<blockquote><br></blockquote>
<blockquote>This media type may require encoding on transports not
capable of handling 8 bit text.</blockquote>
<div> </div>
<div><b>Security considerations :</b></div>
<blockquote> </blockquote>
<blockquote>Several features of Common Cartridge manifest require
dereferencing arbitrary URIs. Implementers are advised to heed the
security issues of [RFC3986] Section 7.</blockquote>
<blockquote> </blockquote>
<blockquote>Common Cartridge describes how learning content can be
accessed. A simple Digital Rights Management mechanism is
defined through a Web Services based authorization protocol which a
Common Cartridge instance may include. All systems supporting
the use of Common Cartridges must implement the authorization
mechanism.</blockquote>
<blockquote> </blockquote>
<blockquote>The specification does not constrain how any dynamic
content may behave. Therefore, systems must implement access
controls that limit the access of any content to system
resources.</blockquote>
<div> </div>
<div><b> Interoperability considerations :</b></div>
<blockquote> </blockquote>
<blockquote>Interoperability is achieved through the use of the
'imsmanifest.xml' which has an associated XSD. The
interoperability considerations in Section 3.1 of [RFC3023] also apply
to Common Cartridge manifest documents. Common Cartridge
manifest documents contain XML elements defined by each specific
format, all of which are published specifications. The Common
Cartridge XSD which profiles the Content Packaging v1.2 schema and the
schemas which profile Common Cartridge usage of IEEE Learning Object
Metadata v1.0 and</blockquote>
<blockquote>IMS GLC Question Test Interoperability (QTI) v1.2.1 have
been defined using the IMS GLC SchemaProf tool v1.0. The tool produces
a set of derived schemas, corresponding to the Common Cartridge schema
and its profiled auxiliary schemas, against which any cartridge must
validate.</blockquote>
<blockquote> </blockquote>
<blockquote>SchemaProf also allows the application of additional
constraints which further constrain how Common Cartridge may be used.
These encompass:</blockquote>
<blockquote><br></blockquote>
<blockquote>(a) Static constraints - the parameters (e.g. file names)
are fixed in the profile;</blockquote>
<blockquote>(b) Dynamic constraints - the parameters are taken from an
instance document in the package e.g. the href of a resource
must point to a QTI file;</blockquote>
<blockquote>(c) Conditional constraints - the constraint depends on a
condition.</blockquote>
<blockquote> </blockquote>
<blockquote>To be deemed to comply with the Common Cartridge
specification, cartridges must:</blockquote>
<blockquote> </blockquote>
<blockquote>(a) Successfully validate against the Common Cartridge
schema set;</blockquote>
<blockquote>(b) Satisfy all of the additional
constraints.</blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Published specification :</b></div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">This media type registration is for
the IMS Global Learning Consortium Common Cartridge specification
available at http://www.imsglobal.org/cc/index.html. This
specification was published in October 2008 after formal approval by
the IMS GLC Technical Advisory Board.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">The mission of IMS GLC is to create
standards for the development and adoption of technologies that enable
high-quality, accessible, and affordable learning experiences. IMS GLC
is now enabling the next generation of Digital Learning Services,
combining new forms of digital content, assessment, applications, and
administrative services.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">IMS GLC is supported by over 135
organizations â¤" the worldâ¤s leaders in educational and
learning technology, including leading learning technology product
suppliers and publishers, leading institutions of learning and
training, and leading government and professional consortia. The
breakdown of members is 58% leading corporations, 24% leading
institutions of learning or school districts, and 18% consortia and/or
government organizations. Currently, 47% of member organizations are
headquartered outside the United States.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">IMS GLC has approved and published
some 20 standards that are the most widely used learning technology
standards in the world. Widely-used IMS GLC standards include
meta-data, content packaging, common cartridge, enterprise services,
question and test, sequencing, competencies, access for all,
ePortfolio, learner information, tools interoperability, resource
list, sharable state persistence, vocabulary definition, and learning
design. These standards have been used widely in higher education,
K-12 education, and corporate training in regions around the globe.
All IMS GLC standards are available free of charge via the IMS GLC web
site and can be used without royalty.</font></blockquote>
<div> </div>
<div><b>Applications which use this media :</b></div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">The Common Cartridge defines an open
format for the distribution of rich, web-based content. It is designed
to ensure the correct installation and operation of content across any
Common Cartridge conformant platforms and tools. The specification
defines a profile for the use of the following specifications which
are (in the versions adopted here), already widely implemented and in
use across the community:</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(a) IEEE LOM
encompassing;</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(b) IMS GLC Content Packaging
v1.2;</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(c) IMS GLC Question and Test
Interoperability v1.2.1;</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(d) IMS GLC Authorization Web
Service v1.0.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">The LOM, Content Packaging and
Question and Test Interoperability specifications have each been
profiled to simplify their use. Thus their scope has been constrained
to those features commonly implemented and in use by the community.
Experience suggests that interoperability problems that have arisen
with implementations of these specifications are frequently the result
of differing interpretations of the specs and options being taken that
lead to divergence in behavior. A key goal of the Common Cartridge
specification therefore has been to provide a tighter definition of
their use thus eliminating this divergence. The resulting profile also
lends itself to more effective conformance testing of
implementations.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">Additional features offered by the
Common Cartridge include:</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(a) A new resource type for
initiating discussion forum interactions;</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(b) Inclusion of a question bank
(i.e., a QTI objectbank), offering tutors additional questions to
those contained within the pre-configured assessments, which they can
configure around the core material;</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(c) Optional authorization to
protect either the whole cartridge, or selected cartridge
resources;</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(d) The present versions of the
specifications supported under Common Cartridge have been selected to
offer existing implementations a low barrier to adoption of the Common
Cartridge. It is to be anticipated that as new versions of these
specifications achieve widespread adoption, they in turn will be
adopted thus further enhancing the features supported in future
versions of the Common Cartridge.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font
color="#000000"> </font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">Only platforms which meet the
conformance requirements identified in the CC specification and fully
implement the CC Authorization service can claim CC
compliance. </font></blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Additional information :</b></div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote>1. Magic number(s) : There is no always present single
initial octet sequence.</blockquote>
<blockquote>2. File extension(s) : The CC manifest file must have the
name 'imsmanifest.xml'.</blockquote>
<blockquote>3. Macintosh file type code : TEXT</blockquote>
<blockquote>4. Object Identifiers: Not applicable.</blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Other Information :</b></div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">The conceptual model of the Common
Cartridge is similar to "cartridge-like" features found in
existing commercial vendor solutions, several of the features of the
Common Cartridge are included. Conceptually, a Common Cartridge
is a package of content and meta-data that is integrated into an LMS
learning context. At a high level, this may directly correspond to the
notion of "course" in the target LMS. There is no guarantee
of the cardinality of the relationship from "learning context"
to "Common Cartridge", i.e., the LMS may enforce an
arbitrary 1-1 relationship. The data contained in the package breaks
down into the following categories:</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(a) "Learner Experience"
Data. These are the resources presented directly to the learner, i.e.
content resources;</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(b) Supplemental Resources. These
are resources that may be optionally integrated into the learning
context by an instructor or other facilitator e.g. question
bank;</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(c) Operational Data. Data used to
control behavioral aspects of the LMS display/interaction with the
cartridge e.g. authorization;</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(d) Descriptive Meta-data. This is
the defined IEEE LOM data, and is represented via existing
bindings.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">A Common Cartridge is an IMS GLC
Content Package conforming to the following basic
structure:</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(a) A Common Cartridge may define a
single organization, or include no organization. Multiple
organizations are not permitted and the default attribute for
organizations is not therefore supported. The single organization is
used on import to integrate with the learning context, and defines the
basic navigation structure for the package. The organization assumes
the predefined "hierarchical" structure;</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(b) Only "Learner Experience"
resources may be included in the 'organization'
hierarchy;</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(c) Operational data (authorization,
cartridge-level meta-data) are defined via discrete resource types
within the package;</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(d) Supplemental resources must not
appear in the organization. The LMS provides a way for the
instructor/facilitator to inspect/deploy/utilize these resources as
they see fit;</font></blockquote>
<blockquote><font color="#000000">(e) Common Cartridge resources must
be identified with GUIDs, in order to facilitate proper integration in
systems that execute "by reference" content
usage.</font></blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Person to contact for further information :</b></div>
<blockquote> </blockquote>
<blockquote>1. Name : Colin Smythe</blockquote>
<blockquote>2. Email : csmythe@imsglobal.org</blockquote>
<blockquote> </blockquote>
<div><b>Intended usage :</b> Common</div>
<blockquote><br></blockquote>
<blockquote>There are no further comments.</blockquote>
<div> </div>
<div><b>Author/Change controller :</b></div>
<blockquote><br></blockquote>
<blockquote>The Editor for the IMS GLC Common Cartridge specification
was Kevin Riley</blockquote>
<blockquote>(kriley@imsglobal.org).</blockquote>
<blockquote> </blockquote>
<blockquote>Revisions of the specification are underway but these will
be backwards compatible and will</blockquote>
<blockquote>always require the presence of the manifest document which
is the subject of this registration.</blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div>----------------------------------</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>This is our first attempt at such a registration so please
forgive any obvious errors on our part.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Thanx.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Colin S.</div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
</pre></x-sigsep>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font
color="#000000"
>--------------------------------------------------------------------<span
></span>----------------------------------------</font></div>
<div><font size="+1" color="#0000FF"><i><b>IMS Global Learning
Consortium * Innovation * Adoption * Learning</b></i></font></div>
<div><font
color="#000000"
>--------------------------------------------------------------------<span
></span>----------------------------------------</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br>
Colin Smythe</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Chief Architect<br>
IMS Global Learning Consortium Inc.<br>
<br>
Tel: +44-(0)114-2334009<br>
Fax: +44-(0)114-2334009<br>
Mobile: +44-(0)793-2636911<br>
SkypeName: dunelmcolins<br>
SkypeIn(UK): +44(0)20-7193-5892<br>
SkypeIn(USA): +00-1-978-631-0548<br>
Email: csmythe@imsglobal.org<br>
Web: http://www.imsglobal.org</font></div>
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