Metadata Metadata Applications Applications

Marcia Lei Zeng

NSDL All Project Meeting

October, 2003

Outline

1. Many for one: available metadata standards

2. Different types of metadata and their functions

3. Post-MARC metadata principles

4. Working with your collections

5. Using controlled vocabularies

1. Many for One: Available Metadata Standards

What is the definition of metadata? Metadata are structured, encoded data that

describe characteristics of information-bearing entities to aid in the identification, discovery, assessment, and management of the described entities

Existing Metadata Standards (1)

(Check here for updated list and URLs

http://www.slis.kent.edu/~mzeng/metadata/metadatalist.htm)

Bibliographic Description (general) MARC (Machine Readable Cataloging)

– MODS (Metadata Object Description Schema)– MARC XML

Dublin Core Element Set GILS (Government Information Locator Service) RFC 1807 (Format for Bibliographic Records) TEI Headers (Text Encoding Initiative) MCF (Meta Content Format) PICS (Platform for Internet Content Selection)

Images and Objects Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CDWA) VRA (Visual Resource Association) Core Categories MESL (Museum Education Site Licensing Project) Data

Dictionary Object ID Guide to the Description of Architectural Drawings (FDA Guide) NISO Data Dictionary for Technical Metadata for Digital Still

Images Geospatial Data Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) Archive EAD (Encoded Archival Description) DTD Recordkeeping Metadata Standard for Commonwealth Agencies

(1999)

Existing Metadata Standards (2)

Right Management Rights Metadata DOI -- Digital Object IdentifierEducational-purpose Instructional management Systems (IMS) The Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM) Schema DC Education Schema (DC-ED) IEEE Learning Objects Metadata (LOM) Preservation of digital objects Preservation CEDARS Project: CEDARS Preservation Metadata Elements National Library of Australia. Preservation Metadata for Digital

Collections:Exposure Draft Networked European Deposit Library. Metadata for Long Term

Preservation Other specialized standards Music, media, broadcasting, etc.

Existing Metadata Standards (3)

Overlapping Metadata Standards

There is no limit for the type or amount of resources that can be described by metadata.

There is no limit for the number of overlapping metadata standards for any type of resources or any subject domain.

There is no limit for the types of profession or subject domain that would be involved in metadata standard development and application.

2. Different Types of Metadata and Their Functions

AdministrativeDescriptivePreservationTechnicalUse

Source: Murtha Baca ed.: Introduction to Metadata,

Pathway to Digital Information.

Getty Information Institute. Table 1.

Administrative Metadata

-- Metadata used in managing and administering information resources- Acquisition information- Rights and reproduction tracking- Documentation of legal access requirements- Location information- Selection criteria for digitization- Version control and differentiation between

similar information objects- Audit trails created by recordkeeping systems

Descriptive Metadata

--Metadata used to describe or identify information resources- Cataloging records- Finding aids- Specialized indexes- Hyperlinked relationships between resources- Annotations by users- Metadata for recordkeeping systems generated

by records creators

Preservation Metadata

Metadata related to the preservation management of information resources- Documentation of physical condition of

resources- Documentation of actions taken to preserve

physical and digital versions of resources, e.g., data refreshing and migration

Technical Metadata

-- Metadata related to how a system functions or metadata behave, for example:– Hardware and software documentation– Digitization information, e.g., formats,

compression ratios, scaling routines– Tracking of system response times– Authentication and security data, e.g.,

encryption keys, passwords

Use Metadata

-- Metadata related to the level and type of use of information resources- Use and user tracking - Exhibit records

- Content re-use and multi-versioning information

3. Post-MARC Metadata Principles

Simplicity Modularity Reusability Extensibility Interoperability

Administrative metadata

Descriptive metadata

Technical metadata

Use metadata

Preservation metadata

4. Working with your collections --Knowing the difference

“Object"/"work" vs. reproduction Textual vs. non-textual resources Document-like vs. non-document-like

objects Collection-level vs. item-level

“Credits: Photographs: Various photographers, mostly William Ward Watkin.”

The Construction of the Administration Buildinghttp://www.rice.edu/fondren/woodson/exhibits/Watkin/adminconstruction.html

How to describe …?

Describe what? The image itself? Or The building? The building as a building? Or A building which has a historical

importance?

Work vs. Image

A work is a physical entity that exists, has existed at some time in the past, or that could exist in the future.

An image is a visual representation of a work.  It can exist in photomechanical, photographic and digital formats. 

Data sets describing a chair that was documented by a photograph. The photograph was later copied to a slide format and scanned to create a digital image.

Frederick C. Robie House dining chair Designer: Wright, Frank L. (1867-1959)

See VRA Example 3. http://www.vraweb.org/vracore3.htm#compendium

Work vs. Image: an example

A digital collection needs to decide what is the entity of their collection:– works,– images, or– both?– How many metadata records are needed for each

entity?

Some part of the data can be reused.– E.g., one work has different images or different formats

Work vs. Image

Revisiting Dublin Core

Content Intellectual Property

Instantiation

Coverage Contributor Date

Description Creator Format

Type Publisher Identifier

Relation Rights Language

Source

Subject

Title

If one work has different reproduction …

Textual vs. Non-textual Text:

– Would allow for full text searching or automatic extraction of keywords.

– Marked by HTML or XML tags. – Tags have semantic meanings.

Non-textual, e.g., images:– Only the captions, file names

can be searched, not the image itself.

– Need transcribing or interpreting.

– Need more detailed metadata to describe its contents.

– Need knowledge to give a deeper interpretation.

Newspaper dated July 16, 1976, reporting the initial discovery of burials in Granado Cave.

Document-like vs. non-document-like

Each object usually has the following characteristics:

being in three dimensions,

having multiple components

carrying information about history, culture, and society, and

demonstrating in detail about style, pattern, material, color, technique, etc.

Collection-level vs. item-level

Collection level

Item level

Relation

Is Version OfHas VersionIs Replaced ByReplacesIs Required ByRequiresIs Part OfHas PartIs Referenced ByReferencesIs Format OfHas FormatConforms To

Collection example

Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" Photographs in the Farm Security Administration Collection

http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/128_migm.html(next slide)

5. Using Controlled Vocabulariesin Metadata Records

(Check here for the updated list:

http://www.slis.kent.edu/~mzeng/metadata/thesaurilist.htm)

Content data for some elements may be selected from a controlled vocabulary:

1. Established vocabularies• Controlled Vocabularies and Classification Schemes

• Standardized vocabularies

2. Name authority files

3. Controlled terms

Revisiting Dublin CoreContent

Intellectual Property

Instantiation

Coverage Contributor Date

Description Creator Format

Type Publisher Identifier

Relation Rights Language

Source

Subject

Title

Content data for some elements may be selected from a controlled vocabulary …

Established Controlled Vocabularies and Classification Schemes

Usually recommended by the metadata best practice guidelines:

Subject Headings– LC Subject Headings (LCSH)– Medical Subject Headings (MESH)

Thesauri– Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)

Classification schemes– Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC)

Standardized vocabularies

– Type DCMI Type Vocabulary

– Format Internet Media Types [MIME]

– Language RFC 3066 [RFC3066] in conjunction with ISO639 Codes for the representation of names of languages

– Countries ISO 3166 - Codes for the representation of names of

countries

Name authority control

– The Union List of Artist Names (ULAN) , Getty

– Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN), Getty

– LC Name Authority file = Anglo-American Authority File (AAAF)

and– local name authority files

Controlled terms Dictionaries and indexes

– Compile a list of suggested terms based on dictionaries and indexes

“Folk” controlled lists• DC-ED: audience, pedagogy• GEM Controlled Vocabularies:

– Audience | Format | Grade | Language | Pedagogy | Relation | Resource Type | Subject

– http://www.geminfo.org/Workbench/Workbench_vocabularies.html

Putting things together

Internal work:– Standards, including formats and vocabularies– A metadata input tool– Storage: text files and databases

User interface:– Browsing and searching interfaces

• The materials as well as the surrogates

• How to organize all the materials (by type, date, subject …)

– Integrating with different systems