OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Metadata, Schmetadata … Tell Me Why I Should Care? OLC Spring Chapter Conferences, 2004 Margaret Maurer Assistant Professor, Cataloging Manager Kent State University Libraries and Media Services

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Useful Resources Metadata Fundamentals for All Librarians / Priscilla Caplan. ALA, Introduction to Metadata, Pathways to Digital Information / Edited by Murtha Baca. Getty Information Institute,

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences What is Metadata? Data about data Machine understandable information for the web Data that describes the attributes of a resource, e.g. its author(s), title, physical format, etc. A succinct and systematic set of information that references, and can be used to retrieve efficiently and accurately, a larger set of information.

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Metadata Cataloging is metadata, metadata is cataloging Metadata can be information stored in tags in the headers for HTML pages Library catalogs are metadata

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences 2003 OCLC Environmental Scan Trends In the Technology Landscape: Bringing structure to unstructured data Distributed, component-based software A move to open-source software Security, authentication and digital rights management

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Existing Metadata in Public Libraries Traditional Library Information Systems Community Information Directories of agencies and services Volunteer opportunities listings Events Local historical and genealogical information

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Traditional Library Metadata Collection catalogue Indexing services (magazines and newspapers) MARC centric services Purchased content and data management services

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Local Historical and Genealogical Information Newspaper clippings stored in a digital images database Indexes of non-digitized material Census, wills, property records, military records, cemetery records, business directories, maps …

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Digitization Projects in Ohio Libraries Digitization projects use metadata to describe images 47% of survey respondents were in some phase of a digitization project in Ohio in 2001

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Creating your own metadata Define what the resources are Describe who will want to access them and how Determine what standards exist to describe that type of resource Adapt that standard and document it

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Entity An object or thing about which information needs to be known or held. The resource being cataloged.

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Metadata Element A discrete unit of data about a resource. Elements may be further qualified. 15 Dublin Core elements In MARC, each field is an element.

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Attribute A category of information about an element or entity. Used to identify, qualify, classify or quantify the element or entity. A list of attributes is defined for each Dublin Core element in a particular application file.

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Metadata Scheme A scheme that helps interpret element values. Examples can include parsing rules, controlled vocabularies, or AACR rules or MARC21 A defined list of elements & rules for entering data

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Not one size fits all No universal metadata type Coordination is tighter at the top than where metadata is being designed

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Metadata Schemes Define: Semantics – The meaning of the metadata elements themselves Content Rules Syntax Context Management

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Types of Metadata Descriptive metadata – resource discovery Administrative metadata – management of resources Structural metadata – machine necessary information

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Descriptive metadata Aids in resource discovery MARC / AACR Dublin Core TEI (Text Encoding Initiative)

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Administrative metadata Facilitates the management of the resource Controls access to the resource Grants Permissions for use Rights management

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Structural metadata Used by machines Seldom seen by the human eye

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences DC Metadata Application Profiles Application profiles: Formalized definitions Identifies controlled vocabularies (if any) Human readable information about the application and usage guidance

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Western States Dublin Core Metadata Best Practices OhioLINK Draft Guidelines for Digital Media Center Metadata

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Metadata crosswalks Based on datamapping Aid interoperability Authoritative mappings Generally round-trip mapping is not supported without data distortion or loss

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Structures for Metadata Non-connected metadata (databases) Embedded metadata

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) Headers Coding for electronic texts Example of embedded metadata Closely related to ISBD

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Example of metadata that can either be non-connected or embedded General purpose scheme for resource description 15 elements Can be qualified

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Dublin Core (Continued) Internationally accepted Flexible Interoperability Too few elements and qualifiers Lack of usage guidelines

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Dublin Core’s Purpose and Goals To assist in and enhance resource discovery and description on the web. To achieve semantic interoperability To be recognized as an international standard.

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Metadata and searching – embedded tags The internet is rife with data, but poor in metadata Effective searching requires the ability to find what you are looking for and the ability to use what you find.

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences Metadata and searching within a domain Search engines that index elements Ultraseek Berkeley’s Swish-E Microsoft’s Index Server Blue Angel Technologies MetaStar Verity Livelink Search and Spider

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences The good and the bad of Interoperability Lack of a standard format Open Archives Initiative (OAI)

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences So, What’s next? Indexing & Cataloging are needed It’s our job Librarians as tool makers Volunteer!

OLC Spring Chapter Conferences