Abstract

The official documents of the Japanese Government-General of Korea were created within a unified institutional and operational context; however, they were later dispersed across multiple institutions, resulting in a loss of contextual integrity and challenges in accessibility and utilization. This study aims to address these issues by proposing a metadata description framework based on Records in Contexts (RiC) to enhance connectivity among these documents while preserving their context. A literature review was conducted to explore the concept and distribution of these documents, as well as the development and attributes of the RiC-Conceptual Model (RiC-CM) and RiC-Ontology (RiC-O). Following this, an analysis of the metadata elements used by major institutions holding these documents was performed to identify essential descriptive components, such as document titles, creator names, temporal elements, media information, and identifiers. To effectively apply the RiC standard, appropriate RiC-CM and RiC-O elements were systematically organized, illustrated, and exemplified for each component. The study's findings provide a foundational framework for improving the management and accessibility of these documents, ensuring the preservation of their historical value and attributes.