1. Metadata: practice and practice
Lorcan Dempsey
VP Research and Chief Strategist
CLIR/DLF. Managing Digital Assets: A Primer for Library and Information Technology Administrators  
Charleston, SC
February 4-6, 2005
Welcome.
My name is Jay Jordan and I am President and CEO of OCLC.
I am joined today by Cathy De Rosa, Vice President of Corporate Marketing for OCLC.
We are pleased to be able to discuss with you today a report that we recently completed for the OCLC Membership – The 2002 OCLC Environmental Scan – Pattern Recognition.

2. Overview
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

3. Some themes Consolidation: fragmentation gets in the way
Industrialization: much of our metadata creation is a cottage industry: current approaches will not scale
Cost: value
Intellectual and machine: need to work harder to programmatically create metadata
Institutions and service: move from projects to service

4. Example: Metasearch/portal
Metadata is everywhere ;-)

5. A ‘portal’ turned inside out …
Common services
I need a few references
Content services
Application services
Presentation services

6. authentication Common services Content services Application services
Presentation services

7. Directory: user profile
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services

8. Query broker Common services Content services Application services
Presentation services

9. Directory: service/collection description
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services

10. Content: results list Common services Content services
Application services
Presentation services

11. I’d like to get this book.
Common services
I’d like to get this book.
Request broker
Content services
Application services
Presentation services

12. Directory: ILL policy Common services Content services
Application services
Presentation services

13. Directory: service/collection description
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services

14. Content: circ/ILL system
Common services
Content: circ/ILL system
Content services
Application services
Presentation services

15. I need this article too. Request broker Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services

16. openURL resolver Common services Content services Application services
Presentation services

17. Directory: local knowledge base
Common services
Directory: local knowledge base
Content services
Application services
Presentation services

18. Nearly there … Directory: service/collection description
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services

19. Content: article Common services Content services Application services
Presentation services

20. Metadata for multiple entities required to support operations.
Directory: service/collection description
Directory: user profile
Directory: ILL policy
Authentication
Common services
Directory: local knowledge base
Reference db
OpenURL resolver
Circ/ILL system
Article db
Metadata for multiple entities required to support operations.
This picture could be extended in multiple ways.
Request broker
Query broker
Content services
Application services
Presentation services

21. Metadata as intelligence …
Know what resources are available
Know how to play a resource
Know provenance of a resource
Know what use policy governs a resource
Know how to ingest a resource
Know how to interact with a resource
Know how to compose/decompose resources …

22. … allows people and machines to work smarter …
Metadata?
… allows people and machines to work smarter …

23. Metadata?
Schematized …
… statements about …
… resources

24. Something about Resources

25. Resources: everything that moves
Multiple types of information Objects
Collections
Services
People
Organizations
Places
Terms
Formats
Rights
Business terms
License
… and will support multiple operations
Discovery to delivery
Digital asset management
Publishing interfaces: intersections between user information spaces and library information spaces

26. Different classes of metadata increasingly a part of complex object models
Descriptive
Structural
Technical
Administrative
Rights
Preservation
Tracking
Provenance
SCORM/Content package
METS
MPEG 21 …

27. * * * * Community? EAD, MARC AMC, .. MARC, MODS, DC, RSLP, .. Onix, …
XML, RDF, OWL, …
CSDGM, DDI, NBII, IVOA, …
EGMS, AGLS, GILS, …
GEM, DC-ED, IEEE-LOM, SCORM, …
MPEG, JPEG, TIAA-CREF… * * *

28. So … More than discovery … More than information objects …
More than library …

29. Something about schematized

30. Simple descriptive metadata!!
Application profile
Cataloging rules Controlled vocabs. …
FRBR INDECS CIDOC …
‘Element set’
Values/content
Information model
MARC21 DC
VRA Core MODS Onix …
Encoding
XML
ISO2709 …

31. OAI

32. OAI-based mediation OAI Server#1 Merged resource OAI Harvester
Web
Browser
Merged resource
OAI Server#1
OAI Server#2
OAI Server#3
OAI
Harvester

33. OAI A way of ‘publishing’ processable metadata on the network
A way of synchronizing databases
And …
The same for resources themselves?
A nice building block for other services

34. An example Following pages show some experimental
services where OAI is used to ‘publish’
metadata.
There is a WIKI interface to metadata
stores managed under OAI.

35. Front page to Jeff Young’s Wiki registries and services (OCLC internal)

37. 1 of 3

38. Tools
Edit

39. (1 of 3) Wiki editing view of METS record – user can input/modify metadata and references (future enhancement planned: drop-downs for schema – we’ll keep instances of the schema in an OAI file, and build a registry of schema)

40. 3 of 3 User completes process, update will automatically update METS record

41. Interoperability Recombinant potential Economic and service issues
Cost

42. Interoperability a factor at all these levels .. For example ..
Encoding
Element set
Content/values
Encoding
Element set
Content/values
Examples: Z39.2/MARC/AACR DC
OAI

43. Importance of agreements
DC profile
Vocabularies

44. This gives a context for discussing …
Traditional library practice
Strive for consistency at all three levels in the ISO 2709/MARC/AACR model
Institutionalised in standards, OCLC/RLG/LC, committees, …
Dublin Core
Consistency of element set
A small number of encodings
Content/values subject to separate agreement
OAI
A transport for resources.
No control over the transported resources
So …

45. Something about collections

48. Collections grid Stewardship Uniqueness Books
high
low
Books
Journals
Newspapers
Gov. docs
CD, DVD
Maps
Scores
Freely-accessible web resources
low
Uniqueness
Special collections Archives
Rare books
Local history materials
Archives & Manuscripts
Theses & dissertations
Research and learning materials
ePrints/tech reports
Learning objects
Courseware
E-portfolios
Research data
Untransferred records
high

49. Collections grid disclosure Publishing Amazoogle D2D Reformatting
high
low
Publishing
Amazoogle
D2D
low
Reformatting
high
E-learning
E-research
Cultural heritage
Digital asset
management

50. Some observations Metadata Cost/value Routine? Consolidated?
Bought materials
Licensed materials
Special collections/archives
Research and learning materials
high
low
Stewardship
Uniqueness
Metadata
Cost/value
Routine?
Consolidated?

51. Making data work
Reading in the dark

53. Some thoughts … Fragmentation Consolidation
Fragmentation reduces gravitational pull
Fragmentation increases cost
Consolidation
Services
Processing
Mobilize collective capacity
Routinization/industrialization
Programmatic extraction of metadata from digital resources
Agreement
Plural disclosure
Want to make stuff available in lots of ways

54. Thank you!
Lorcan Dempsey