Cataloging Compound Digital Objects: Using METS for Digitized Sanborn Maps Christopher Cronin Head of Digital Resources Cataloging University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries Introduction to Map Digitization / Hosted by OCLC Preservation Centers ALA Midwinter Conference, Philadelphia, PA 12 January 2008
What is METS & Why Use it for Maps? Metadata Encoding & Transmission Standard (METS) Maintained by Library of Congress ( Standardized and shareable Supports compound digital objects Hierarchical XML structure Supports repurposing of existing metadata
The Structure of a METS Record METS Header Structural Map Structural Links File Section Descriptive Metadata Administrative Metadata : 4 types Technical Metadata Intellectual Property Rights Metadata Source Metadata Digital Provenance Metadata Behavior
Descriptive Metadata Importance of presence in OCLC/WorldCat Separate-record approach Separate MARC records for analog and digital versions in OCLC/WorldCat, local online catalog (Chinook), digital library (DIAL), and the regional union catalog (Prospector) MarcEdit for MARC to MARCXML transformation ( CU Generation Tool: MARCXML to MODS transformation (Metadata Object Description Schema (
Technical Metadata NISO Metadata for Images in XML (MIX) Technical Metadata for Digital Still Images Standard Maintained by the Library of Congress ( In-house digitization Programming skills to automatically capture the technical data Outsourcing digitization Importance of technical metadata in the RFP and/or vendor selection process
CU Boulder’s METS/MODS Generation Tool (1) Availability of tools for METS record creation LC’s list of METS tools and utilities: ( Developing a local tool to fill the commercial gap CU’s METS/MODS Generation Tool, and its technical and user documentation, can be found at: ( s.htm ) s.htm
CU Boulder’s METS/MODS Generation Tool (2)
CU Boulder’s METS/MODS Generation Tool (3)
Strategic Planning for METS Institutional commitment Collaborative decision-making: Map Library/Public Services, Collection Managers, Cataloging, Systems, and Administration METS as part of long-term digital preservation plan PREMIS (Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies) ( Staffing requirements Metadata expertise, technical/programming skills, knowledge of the collection Systems requirements Capability for storing and/or serving out the records
Additional Resources Cantara, L. (2005). “METS: the Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard.” Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, vol. 40, no. 3/4, pp Cundiff, M.V. (2004). “An Introduction to the Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS).” Library Hi Tech, vol. 22, no. 1, pp Library of Congress. METS: An Overview & Tutorial.