Merrilee Proffitt e(X)literature / Digital Cultures Project April 2003 News from the Digital Library The Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard; the Open Archival Information System

2 A Telling Example

3 Goals of the Digital Library  Collection  Access  Preservation

4 Problems with digital preservation Unlike books (or papyrus) “bits …. don’t do well with benign neglect”

5 Open Archival Information System Reference Model  Framework for understanding and applying concepts needed for long-term preservation of digital information  Model targeted to several categories of user  Already widely adopted as starting point in digital preservation efforts

OAIS Functional Entities SIP = Submission Information Package AIP = Archival Information Package DIP = Dissemination Information Package

7 Information Package Variants  Submission Information Package –Negotiated between Producer and OAIS –Sent to OAIS by a Producer  Archival Information Package –Information Package used for preservation –Includes complete set of Preservation Description Information for the Content Information  Dissemination Information Package –Includes part or all of one or more Archival Information Packages –Sent to a Consumer by the OAIS

8 Relevance of the OAIS  Offers common ground for discussion –Provides common terminology and concepts  Conceptual framework for building repository systems for digital content  Two components of Reference model –Functional model –Information model: model for packages of information

9 Digital (Library) Objects  Reformatted to digital  “Born digital”  Simple  Complex Digital Library Objects can be…

10 Structural metadata  Maps physical files (digital assets) to logical items (complex digital objects) –Scanned print material –A/V material –Multimedia presentations

11 Other Metadata  All types of digital objects have other (non- structural) metadata –descriptive  MARC, Dublin Core, etc. –administrative  rights –technical  format details –Standards exist or emerging for these

12 METS Scope  Supports –Structural metadata  complex reformatted or born digital objects –Metadata wrapper framework  descriptive, administrative, structural, etc.  structural required  others use namespaces to reference “extension schemas”

13 METS Scope  Data transfer syntax –between applications –between institutions  Driver for applications –page turner –audio player –multimedia presentation

14 METS History  Making Of America II project  METS “born” February 2001  METS 1.0 July 2002  Current version is METS 1.2

15 METSHeader Administrative metadata File Inventory Structure map Descriptive metadata Behavioral metadata optional required optional METS metadata “buckets”

16 METS and OAIS framework  Submission Information Package (SIP)  METS as transfer syntax  Dissemination Information Package (DIP)  METS as transfer syntax  METS as input to display applications  Archival Information Package (AIP)  METS stored internally in an archive

17 METS Initiative  Establishment of an editorial board with an editor-in-chief  Complete work on schema, ensure support for other digital library work  Encourage field testing of METS and gather feedback  Encourage tools development  Identification of “best practice” extension schemas

18 Current users  Current users include  UC Berkeley  California Digital Library  NYU (digital archive)  Florida Center for Library Automation  Oxford University  British Library  National Library of New Zealand  Bibliothèque nationale de France  Harvard  Library of Congress  EU MetaE project  Michigan State  University of Virginia  MIT  RLG  more daily...

19 METS summary  Closely related to OAIS information package  Large and growing community of digital library implementers  Very flexible  Flexibility means that profiles are necessary for interoperability

20 For More Information… METS homepage: OAIS Reference Model: RP9905.html Merrilee Proffitt