Title: METADATA AND SUBJECT ANALYSIS Lois Mai Chan School of Library and Information Science University of
1METADATA AND SUBJECT ANALYSISLois Mai
ChanSchool of Library and Information
ScienceUniversity of Kentucky
2Charge to the Subcommittee on Metadata and
Subject Analysis
- "Identify and study the major issues surrounding
the use of metadata in the subject analysis and
classification of digital resources. Provide
discussion forums and programs relevant to these
issues."
3Subject Analysis of Web Resources
- To control or not to control the vocabulary?
- Options
- (1) Keywords (free-text) only
- (2) Keywords and Controlled vocabulary
- (3) Controlled vocabulary only
4 Keywords (free-text) only
- (1) Lack of synonym control
- (2) Lack of homograph control
- (3) Lack of indication of term relationships
5 Controlled vocabulary
- (1) Existing schemes
- Are existing schemes suitable for use on the
web? - (2) Adaptation/modification of existing systems
- What needs to be modified, and how?
- Who will be responsible?
- (3) New scheme(s)
- Who will develop and maintain it/them?
6Controlled vocabulary
- (4) A single controlled vocabulary - "one size
fits all - Which one?
- (5) General vs. specialized schemes
- (6) Multiple vocabularies
- How do we harmonize terms from different
vocabularies? - (7) Metathesaurus
- cf. Unified Medical Language System
(UMLS)
7 Controlled Vocabulary - Structural Issues
- 1. Semantics
- Term specificity
- Synonyms and homographs
- Term relationships
- 2. Syntax Full strings
- Single-concept descriptors
8Controlled Vocabulary - Application Issues
- 1. Consistency
- 2. Summarization vs. exhaustive indexing
- 3. Placement of non-topical data
- 4. Pre-coordination vs. post-coordination
9Possible Strategies for Implementing Controlled
Vocabulary
- Define the functional requirements of subject
data in the metadata record - Consider the desirability and feasibility of
creating a new controlled vocabulary - Examine and determine the suitability of existing
controlled vocabularies (e.g., LCSH) for use in
metadata records
10Functional Requirements
- Schemes for supplying subject data in the
metadata record should - be simple and easy to apply and to comprehend
- be intuitive so that sophisticated training in
subject indexing and classification, while highly
desirable, is not required in order to implement
them
11Functional Requirements
- be scalable for implementation from the simplest
to the most sophisticated - be logical so that it requires the least effort
to understand and to implement
12Functional Requirements
- be appropriate to the specific discipline and
subject, and to the domain of implementation such
as libraries, museums, archives, information
services, the scientific community, and personal
knowledge management and, - be interoperable across disciplines and in
various knowledge discovery and access
environments, not the least among which is the
OPAC
13Role of LCSH
- LCSH in the OPAC
- Role of LCSH LCSH in the Web Environment
- Advantages
- Limitations
14Requirements for Implementing LCSH Effectively
- (1) trained catalogers
- (2) systems with index browsing capability
- (3) systems with online thesaurus display
- Unfortunately, they are all in short supply in
the web environment
15LCSH in the Metadata Record
- Issues to be considered
- Semantics Terminology and term
relationships - Syntax How words are put together to form
subject terms
16Possible Approaches
- Separating syntax from semantics
- Designing a series of flexible syntax
- Pre-coordination vs. post-coordination
17Syntax Issues -
- Pre-coordination
- Post-coordination
18Accommodating Multiple Subject Vocabularies
- Harmonization of subject terms from different
controlled vocabularies - Feasibility of developing a general metathesaurus
or expanding the medical metathesaurus to include
indexing terms covering all subject areas
19Possible Strategies for Implementing Controlled
Vocabulary - Design Issues
- Provide online authority control or display of
controlled vocabulary terms - Design interfaces that enable assigning subject
terms by "clicking and dragging" from a subject
term list and linking author-input terms to
controlled vocabulary
20Overriding Principles (cf. Dublin Core)
- The Subcommittee endorses the overriding
principles articulated in the Dublin Core - Simplicity
- To allow the creation of metadata records by
persons not necessarily trained in sophisticated
methods of bibliographic control (cf. Dublin
Core) - Semantic interoperability
- Flexibility