private static List<Date> readDates(Element metadataElement) {
NodeList elements = metadataElement.getElementsByTagNameNS(NAMESPACE_DUBLIN_CORE, DCTags.date);
List<Date> result = new ArrayList<Date>(elements.getLength());
for(int i = 0; i < elements.getLength(); i++) {
Element dateElement = (Element) elements.item(i);
Date date;
try {
date = new Date(DOMUtil.getTextChildrenContent(dateElement), dateElement.getAttributeNS(NAMESPACE_OPF, OPFAttributes.event));
result.add(date);
} catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
log.error(e.getMessage());
}
}