Metadata, Schmetadata Tell Me Why I Should Care

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• 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

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Useful Resources

• Metadata Fundamentals for All Librarians /
  Priscilla Caplan. ALA, 2003. 0-8389-0847-0
• Introduction to Metadata, Pathways to Digital
  Information / Edited by Murtha Baca. Getty
  Information Institute, 1998. 0-89236-533-1

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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.

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Metadata

• Cataloging is metadata, metadata is cataloging
• Metadata can be information stored in ltmetagt tags
  in the headers for HTML pages
• Library catalogs are metadata

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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

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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

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Traditional Library Metadata

• Collection catalogue
• Indexing services (magazines and newspapers)
• MARC centric services
• Purchased content and data management services

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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

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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

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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

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Entity

• An object or thing about which information needs
  to be known or held. The resource being
  cataloged.

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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.

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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.

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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

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Not one size fits all

• No universal metadata type
• Coordination is tighter at the top than where
  metadata is being designed

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Metadata Schemes Define

• Semantics The meaning of the metadata elements
  themselves
• Content Rules
• Syntax
• Context
• Management

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Types of Metadata

• Descriptive metadata resource discovery
• Administrative metadata management of resources
• Structural metadata machine necessary
  information

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Descriptive metadata

• Aids in resource discovery
• MARC / AACR
• Dublin Core
• TEI (Text Encoding Initiative)

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Administrative metadata

• Facilitates the management of the resource
• Controls access to the resource
• Grants Permissions for use
• Rights management

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Structural metadata

• Used by machines
• Seldom seen by the human eye

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DC Metadata Application Profiles

• Application profiles
• Formalized definitions
• Identifies controlled vocabularies (if any)
• Human readable information about the application
  and usage guidance

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• Western States Dublin Core Metadata Best
  Practices
• OhioLINK Draft Guidelines for Digital Media
  Center Metadata

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Metadata crosswalks

• Based on datamapping
• Aid interoperability
• Authoritative mappings
• Generally round-trip mapping is not supported
  without data distortion or loss

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Structures for Metadata

• Non-connected metadata (databases)
• Embedded metadata

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Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) Headers

• Coding for electronic texts
• Example of embedded metadata
• Closely related to ISBD

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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

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Dublin Core (Continued)

• Internationally accepted
• Flexible
• Interoperability
• Too few elements and qualifiers
• Lack of usage guidelines

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Dublin Cores 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.

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Metadata and searching embedded ltmetagt 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.

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Metadata and searching within a domain

• Search engines that index ltmetagt elements
• Ultraseek
• Berkeleys Swish-E
• Microsofts Index Server
• Blue Angel Technologies
• MetaStar
• Verity
• Livelink Search and Spider

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The good and the bad of Interoperability

• Lack of a standard format
• Open Archives Initiative (OAI)

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So, Whats next?

• Indexing Cataloging are needed
• Its our job
• Librarians as tool makers
• Volunteer!

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• http//www.library.kent.edu/mmaurer/