NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Metadata and your projects - how it all fits together Nick Poole ICT Adviser Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Introduction When to use metadata (and what to use)... Why use metadata? Metadata and your existing information Project example - Crossroads e-Government and metatdata Contact information This presentation available online at

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 When to use metadata (and what to use)… Metadata is involved throughout the digitisation process Images: –NISO Metadata Dictionary for Still Images – –covers preservation, migration, formatting –also RLG Working Group on Preservation Issues – Resource discovery: –RSLP Collection Description metadata framework – Creating learning resources: –Metadata for Education Group –

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Why use metadata? Good housekeeping Digital preservation Resource discovery Rights management Turning ‘stuff’ into ‘information’

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Why use metadata - good housekeeping The good news: if you keep object records, you already use metadata The naming conventions used in your records (name/subject, collector, date acquired, location etc) relate directly to those required by a metadata schema The adoption of a metadata schema enforces a standard approach to the way you collect and manage this information

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Why use metadata - digital preservation Metadata preserves the core of important contextual information alongside the object record itself Metadata enables a structured approach to the management and preservation of information Organised metadata provides a ‘meta-collection’ which can be searched and referenced more efficiently than the original records themselves

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Why use metadata - resource discovery Indexed metadata provides a fast and simple means of searching across and retrieving large numbers of records Standard applications of metadata (eg the RSLP CLD/ Dublin Core) enable cross-searching between different databases even where different field names/ terminologies have been applied Enables the reuse of information to suit different priorities: –Owner/manager - information management –User/software agent - locating & interpreting information –Third-party agent - promotion & re-use of information

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Why use metadata - rights management Metadata preserves rights information alongside the original object record Enables content to be re-used and distributed in a way that maintains the link to its original creators The RSLP CLD schema preserves not only the specific contextual information but also the relationship information - for example the relationship between an institution, a subject collection and a named sub-collection In other words, metadata not only preserves information about provenance, but also about management and status of the collection

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Why use metadata - ‘stuff’ to ‘information’ Overall, metadata is the bridge between the individual object record, and the much wider context to which it belongs Metadata enables the meaningful re-use of the raw data. It allows users to discover, interpret and re-purpose the information to create resources Metadata facilitates the grouping of data into meaningful sets of information Metadata also preserves the necessary rights and institutional details alongside the re-applied information

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Why use metadata? At a minimum, metadata should conform to developing e- Government and UfI metadata standards and should be capable of supporting the delivery of item-level Dublin Core (DC) descriptions of all project resources. - Source, NOF-digitise technical standards (V3.1)

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Metadata and your existing information There are a number of approaches to metadata generation, depending on –which stage of information gathering/content creation the project has reached –the technical architecture of your information store –the schema, or conceptual architecture of your information –the requirements of resource discovery, retrieval and delivery Options include –a proprietary schema that maps directly to RSLP CLD field names –a rich schema that can be distilled into a simple metadata set such as Dublin Core –a Content Management System that is able to generate metadata dynamically from object records –a CMS that is able to generate metadata in XML, or a pure XML expression of the dataset

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Metadata and your existing information There are ‘one-off’ tools which will distill ‘rich’ information into a ‘simple’ metadata set like Dublin Core These run on a ‘page by page’ basis For example, the ‘dc.dot’ tool available either as a download or direct from the UKOLN website: – Or the Metty product from ClickFire at –

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02

…but, this approach is too resource-intensive for batch- processing of information. Where records are held in a Content Management System, it is much easier to generate metadata on the fly….

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Metadata and Content Management Systems Resources (held in a CMS) Metadata Website ( with thanks to Pete Johnston for the diagram…) In other words, metadata provides the bridge between user and information in the automated process of resource discovery….

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Metadata and Content Management Systems Most current Content Management Systems will support the publishing of metadata in a number of formats direct from the database It is relatively easy to distil a ‘simple’ set of metatags from the ‘rich’ environment of a CMS. The important thing is to establish a map between your field names and the elements of the relevant metadata set Eg………..

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Metadata and Content Management Systems Record within the CMS…..DC metadata

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Project example Crossroads project A cross-domain project to enable online access to library, museum and archive collections in the West Midlands Field/database structure based on the RSLP Collections Description Schema CLD revised to suit the purposes of the project but retains the core DC.elements to enable resource discovery… Sample input form and background information now available at

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 dc.title dc.identifier dc.description dc.coverage dc.language And so on. The form is designed using the RSLP CLD as a basis, which enables it to retain sufficient granularity to describe the collections and relationships, but is also capable of exporting a simplified set of information based on the DC element set.

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 e-Government and metadata e-Government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF) specifies protocols and standards for interoperability between public- sector services online Full documentation available at Provides a Government Category List (GCL) now published in full, intended for use with the Subject element of the e-Government Metadata Standard Standard arises from the e-Government Metadata Framework. This document specifies the standard approach to metadata, including the role of Dublin Core, for public-sector bodies NOF -digitise projects will need to familiarise themselves with the e-GMF

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 e-Government and metadata UfI (learndirect) implementation standards Specified in NOF-digi technical standards Provide information and guidance of relevance to the re- use of your content for lifelong learning Full documentation available at ers/

NOF-digi Metadata - 05/02/02 Contact: Nick Poole ICT Adviser Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries 16 Queen Anne’s Gate London SW1H 9AA Tel Web