Reading: Introduction to Metadata

Wednesday 9th March, 2011 - 12:58pm with 1 comment

Subject: Storing Objects and Artifacts
Reading: Gilliland, A.J. 2008, ‘Setting the stage’, in M. Baca (ed.), Introduction to Metadata [Online vers. 3.0].

Introduction

• object: can be single, an aggregate, or entire database
• content: what the object contains or is about, and is intrinsic to an information object
• context: who, what, why, where and how aspects associated with the object’s creation and is extrinsic to an information object
• structure: formal set of associations within or among individual information objects, can be intrinsic/extrinsic
• data structure – categories/containers of data
• data value standards – controlled vocab, thesauri, controlled lists
• data content standards – guidelines, rules, codes for the format/syntax
• data format/technical interchange standards – machine readable form, a manifestation encoded/marked up
• metadata certifies authenticity and completeness of the content
• also establishes the context
• identifies and exploits the structural relationships that exist within and between information objects
• provides intellectual access points for users
• metadata doesn’t only identify and describe; it documents behaviour, function, relationships, management and use

Types of metadata:

• administrative administering collections/info resources: location, selection criteria, rights/reproduction
• descriptive identify/describe: aids, differentiations, curatorial, special indexes, hyperlinked relationships, annotations
• preservation preservation management: physical condition, preserving versions, documenting changes
• technical how a system behaves: hardware/software documentation, tracking of response time, authentication and security
• use level and type of use: circulation, user tracking, search logs, rights metadata

Attributes and characteristics

• source internal like directory structures, intrinsic metadata like titles and subtitles, external like URLs and rights
• method automatic like keyword indexes, manual like catalog records
• nature nonexpert like personal web page metadata, expert like MARC records and catalog entries for museum objects
• status static like dates of creation, dynamic like directory structure, long term like rights information, short term like interim location information
• structure structured like MARC and TEI, unstructured like free-text annotations
• semantics controlled that conforms to standards and rules, uncontrolled at does not conform like free text notes
• level collection-level relating to collections of originals, item-level relating to individual terms

Primary functions of metadata

• creation, multiversioning, reuse, recontextualisation
• organisation and description
• validation
• searching and retrieval
• utilisation and preservation
• disposition

Facts

• metadata need not be digital
• metadata is not just a description
• can come from a variety of sources
• metadata continues to be created and modified in the life of a resource
• one information object’s metadata can be another – depending on the aggregations and dependencies between/of other objects

Importance

• increased accessibility
• retention of context – maintained collections in museums/libraries etc
• expanding use – digital information systems make it easier to disseminate digital versions, for other people who cannot view them due to barriers
• learning – people want to develop lesson plans, scaffold learning
• system development – infinite ways to search for information
• multiversioning – derivative works, in size and versions and differences and so on
• legal issues – tracking rights and licences
• preservation and persistence – for the information to survive they need metadata allowing them to exist indepdently of the system that is storing them
• system improvement – evaluating systems and making them more effective, using metadata in planning

Conclusion

• metadata accrues over time
• metadata schema needs to best fit the information creator, repository and users
• just the right amount of data, not too little and not too much

Posted on: Wednesday, March 9th, 2011 at 12:58 pm
Categories: University
Tags: metadata · readings · Storing Objects and Artifacts
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