Introduction to metadata management

DATA
SUPPORT
OPEN
Training Module 1.4
Introduction to
metadata
management
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This presentation has been created by PwC
Authors:
Makx Dekkers, Michiel De Keyzer, Nikolaos Loutas
and Stijn Goedertier
Presentation
metadata
Slide 2
Open Data Support is funded by
the European Commission
under SMART 2012/0107 ‘Lot
2: Provision of services for the
Publication, Access and Reuse of
Open Public Data across the
European Union, through
existing open data
portals’(Contract No. 30-CE-
0530965/00-17).
© 2014 European Commission
Disclaimers
1. The views expressed in this presentation are purely those of the authors and may not, in any
circumstances, be interpreted as stating an official position of the European Commission.
The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the information included in this
presentation, nor does it accept any responsibility for any use thereof.
Reference herein to any specific products, specifications, process, or service by trade name,
trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement,
recommendation, or favouring by the European Commission.
All care has been taken by the author to ensure that s/he has obtained, where necessary,
permission to use any parts of manuscripts including illustrations, maps, and graphs, on which
intellectual property rights already exist from the titular holder(s) of such rights or from her/his
or their legal representative.
2. This presentation has been carefully compiled by PwC, but no representation is made or
warranty given (either express or implied) as to the completeness or accuracy of the information it
contains. PwC is not liable for the information in this presentation or any decision or
consequence based on the use of it.. PwC will not be liable for any damages arising from the use of
the information contained in this presentation. The information contained in this presentation is
of a general nature and is solely for guidance on matters of general interest. This presentation is
not a substitute for professional advice on any particular matter. No reader should act on the basis
of any matter contained in this publication without considering appropriate professional advice.

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Learning objectives
By the end of this training module you should have an understanding
of:
• What metadata is;
• The terminology and objectives of metadata management;
• The different dimensions of metadata quality;
• The use of controlled vocabularies for metadata;
• Metadata exchange and aggregation;
• Metadata management in Open Data Support.
Slide 3

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Content
This module contains ...
• An explanation of what is metadata;
• An outline of the metadata lifecycle;
• An introduction to metadata quality;
• An overview of the metadata management and exchange approach
implemented by Open Data Support through the Open Data
Interoperability Platform.
Slide 4

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What is metadata?
Definition, examples and reusable standards.
Slide 5

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What is metadata?
“Metadata is structured information that describes, explains, locates,
or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use, or manage an
information resource. Metadata is often called data about data or
information about information.”
-- National Information Standards Organization
http://www.niso.org/publications/press/UnderstandingMetadata.pdf
Metadata provides information enabling to make sense of data (e.g.
documents, images, datasets), concepts (e.g. classification schemes)
and real-world entities (e.g. people, organisations, places, paintings,
products).
Slide 6

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Types of metadata
• Descriptive metadata, describe a resource for purposes of
discovery and identification.
• Structural metadata, e.g. data models and reference data.
• Administrative metadata, provides information to help manage
a resource.
Slide 7
In this tutorial we are focusing mainly on descriptive metadata
for datasets.
Administrative metadata is also partly covered.

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Examples of metadata
Slide 8
Can
Book
Dataset
Label
Catalogue card
Dataset description (DCAT)
Provides metadata on

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Two approaches for providing metadata on the
Web
XML (Tree/container approach) RDF (Triple-based approach)
Slide 9

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Managing the
metadata of your
datasets
Slide 10

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Metadata management is important
Metadata needs to be managed to ensure ...
• Availability: metadata needs to be stored where it can be accessed and
indexed so it can be found.
• Quality: metadata needs to be of consistent quality so users know that it can
be trusted.
• Persistence: metadata needs to be kept over time.
• Open License: metadata should be available under a public domain license
to enable its reuse.
The metadata lifecycle is larger than the data lifecycle:
• Metadata may be created before data is created or captured, e.g. to
inform about data that will be available in the future.
• Metadata needs to be kept after data has been removed, e.g. to inform
about data that has been decommissioned or withdrawn.
Slide 11

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Metadata schema
“A labelling, tagging or coding system used for recording cataloguing
information or structuring descriptive records. A metadata schema
establishes and defines data elements and the rules governing the use
of data elements to describe a resource.”
Slide 12
RDF
Schema
XML
Schema

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Reuse existing vocabularies for providing
metadata to your resources
General purpose standards and specifications:
• Dublin Core for published material (text, images),
http://dublincore.org/documents/dcmi-terms/
• FOAF for people and organisations, http://xmlns.com/foaf/spec/
• SKOS for concept collections, http://www.w3.org/TR/skos-reference
• ADMS for interoperability assets, http://www.w3.org/TR/vocab-adms/
Specific standard for datasets:
• Data Catalog Vocabulary DCAT, http://www.w3.org/TR/vocab-dcat/
Specific usage of DCAT and other vocabularies to support
interoperability of data portals across Europe:
• DCAT application profile for data portals in Europe,
http://joinup.ec.europa.eu/asset/dcat_application_profile/description
Slide 13

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Designing your metadata schema with RDF
Schema (RDFS) – reuse where possible
RDF schema is particularly good in combining terms from different
standards and specifications.
Slide 14
Do not re-invent terms that are
already defined somewhere else ,
when designing RDF schemas –
reuse terms where possible.
 For example, the DCAT
Application Profile for data
portals in Europe (DCAT-AP)
reuses terms from DCAT,
Dublin Core, FOAF, SKOS,
ADMS and others.

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Example: description of an open dataset with the
DCAT-AP
Description of the
Catalogue
Description of the
Dataset
Description of the
Distribution
Slide 15

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Controlled
vocabularies
Using thesauri, taxonomies and standardised lists of terms
for assigning values to metadata properties.
Slide 16

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What are controlled vocabularies?
A controlled vocabulary is a predefined list of values to be used as
values for a specific property in your metadata schema.
• In addition to careful design of schemas, the value spaces of metadata
properties are important for the exchange of information, and thus
interoperability.
• Common controlled vocabularies for value spaces make metadata
understandable across systems.
Slide 17

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Which controlled vocabulary to be used for which
type of property
• Use code lists as controlled
vocabulary for free text or
“string” properties.
• Example DCAT-AP property:
• Example code list -
ObjectInCrimeClass (ListPoint)
• Use concepts identified by a
URI for reference to “things”.
• Example DCAT-AP property:
• Example taxonomy with terms
having a URI - EuroVoc
Slide 18

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Example –Publications Office’s Named Authority
Lists
• The Named Authority Lists offer
reusable controlled vocabularies
for:
 Countries
 Corporate bodies
 File types
 Interinstitutional procedures
 Languages
 Multilingual
 Resource types
 Roles
 Treaties
Slide 19

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The metadata
lifecycle
Creating, maintaining, updating, storing, publishing
metadata and handling deletion of data.
Slide 20

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Creating your metadata
Metadata creation can be supported by (semi-)automatic processes.
• Document properties generated in (office) tools, e.g. creation date.
• Spatial and temporal information captured by cameras, sensors...
• Information from publication workflow, e.g. file location or URL
However, other characteristics require human intervention:
• What is the resource about (e.g. linking to a subject vocabulary)?
• How can the resource be used (e.g. linking to a licence)?
• Where can I find more information about this resource (e.g. linking
to a Web site or documentation that describes the resource)?
• How can quality information be included?
Slide 21

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Maintaining your metadata
Approaches for maintaining metadata need to be appropriate for the
type of data that is being published.
• If data does not change, metadata can be relatively stable.
Changes (bulk conversions) can take place off-line when needed.
• If data changes frequently (e.g. real-time sensor data), metadata
needs to be closely coupled to the data workflow and changes need
to be practically instantaneous.
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Updating your metadata – planning for change
Metadata operates in a global context that is subject to change!
• Organisation – departments are established, merge with others,
responsibilities are handed over.
• Usage of the data – new applications emerge around data.
• Reference data – controlled vocabularies evolve and get linked.
• Data standards and technologies – technology lifecycle is getting
shorter all the time; what will tomorrow’s Web look like?
• Tools and systems – evolution of storage, bandwidth, mobile...
Metadata needs to be kept up-to-date to the extent possible, taking into
account the available time and budget.
Slide 23

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Storing your metadata – what are the options?
Depending on operational requirements, metadata can be embedded
with the data or stored separately from the data.
• Embedding the metadata in the data (e.g. office documents, MP3,
JPG, RDF data) embedding makes data exchange easier.
• Separating metadata from data (e.g. in a database), with links to
corresponding data files makes management easier.
Depending on the availability of tools and requirements on
performance and capacity, metadata can be stored in a ‘classic’
relational database or an RDF triple store.
Slide 24

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Handling deletions of data
In many cases, metadata must survive even after deletion of the data
it describes.
Decommissioning or deletion of data happens, for example:
• When data is no longer necessary.
• When data is no longer valid.
• When data is wrong.
• When data is withdrawn by the owner/publisher
In that case the metadata should, contain information that the data was
deleted, and if it was archived, how and where an archival copy can be
requested.
Slide 25

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Publishing your metadata – what are the options?
• ‘Open’ publication: direct access on URIs
- This is the option most in line with the vision of Linked Open Data
and allows the ‘follow-your-nose’ principle.
• Make your metadata available through a SPARQL endpoint
- This allows external systems to send queries to an RDF triple store.
- Requires knowledge about the schema used in the triple store.
• Deferred publication: access to exported file in RDF
- Produced by converting non-RDF data to RDF.
- Allows off-line bulk harvesting and caching of data collections.
- Allows implementation of access control.
Slide 26
See also:
http://www.slideshare.net/OpenDataSupport
/licence-your-data-metadata

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Metadata quality
The quality and completeness of the description metadata
of your datasets, directly affects their searchability and
reuse.
Slide 27

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Metadata quality is about... (1/3)
• The accuracy of your metadata - are the characteristics of the
resource correctly reflected?
- e.g. indicating the right title, the right license, the right publisher enables
users to discover resources that they need.
• The availability of your metadata – can the metadata be accessed
now and over time into the future?
- e.g. making it available for indexing and downloading, and include it in
in a regular back-up process.
• The completeness of your metadata – are all relevant
characteristics of the resource captured (as far as practically and
economically feasible and necessary for the application)?
- e.g. indicating the licence that governs reuse or the format of the
distribution enables filters on those aspects.
Slide 28
See also:
http://www.slideshare.net/OpenDataSupport/open-data-quality

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Metadata quality is about ... (2/3)
• The conformance of your metadata to accepted standards – is the
metadata conforming to a specific metadata standard or an
Application Profile?
- e.g. the description of a dataset conforms to the DCAT-AP.
• The consistency of your metadata – does the data not contain
contradictions?
- e.g. not having multiple and contradictory license statements for the
same piece of data.
• The credibility and provenance of your metadata – is the
metadata based on trustworthy sources?
- e.g. linking to reference data published and managed by a stable
organisation (e.g. the EU Publications Office).
Slide 29

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Metadata quality is about ... (3/3)
• The processability of the metadata – is the metadata properly
machine-readable?
- e.g. making the metadata of a dataset available in RDF and/or XML, and
not as free text.
• The relevance of the metadata – does the metadata contain the
right amount of information for the task at hand?
- e.g. limit the information to optimally serve the users’ needs.
• The timeliness of your metadata – is the metadata corresponding to
the actual (current) characteristics of the resource and is it published
soon enough?
- e.g. indicating the last modification date of the resource, thus making
sure the metadata is fresh so that users will see the latest information.
Slide 30

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Exchanging
metadata of datasets
Mapping your metadata to a common metadata
vocabulary, such as the DCAT-AP, and exchanging the
metadata across platforms.
Slide 31

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Homogenising metadata
When exchanged between systems, metadata should be mapped to a
common model so that the sender and the recipient share a common
understanding on the meaning of the metadata.
• On the schema level metadata coming from different sources can be based
on different metadata schemas, e.g. DCAT, schema.org, CERIF, own
internal model...
• On the data (value) level, the metadata properties should be assigned
values from different controlled vocabularies or syntaxes, e.g.:
- Language: English can be expressed as
http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/language/ENG or as
http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/iso639-1/en
- Dates: ISO8601 (“20130101”) versus W3C DTF (“2013-01-01”)
Slide 32

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Example: Homogenising metadata about datasets
The DCAT Application Profile for data portals in Europe
The DCAT-AP can
be used as the
common model for
exchanging
metadata with open
data platforms
across Europe
and/or with a data
broker (e.g. The
Open Data
Interoperability
Platform - ODIP).
Slide 33
EXPLORE
FIND
IDENTIFY
SELECT
OBTAIN
Public admi nistrations
Busi nesses
Standar disation bodi es
Academia
Data Portal
Data Portal
Data Portal
Data Portal
Data Portal
Data Portal
Metadata
Broker
Data
Consumers
See also:
http://joinup.ec.europa.eu/asset/dcat_application_profile/home

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Mapping example – data.gov.uk
Slide 34
dct:title (Dataset)
dct:description
dct:publisher
dct:title (Distribution)
Dcat:accessURL
dct:language
dcat:keyword
dct:license
dcat:downloadURL, dct:issued,
dct:format, dct: description
dct:spatial
dct:theme
dct:issued
dct:modified
adms:contactPoint
dct:temporal

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What can the Open Data Interoperability Platform
do?
• Harvest metadata from an Open
Data portal.
• Transform the metadata to RDF.
• Harmonise the RDF metadata
produced in the previous steps with
DCAT-AP.
• Validate the harmonised metadata
against the DCAT-AP.
• Publish the description metadata as
Linked Open Data.
Slide 35
ODIPP
Pan-European
Data portal
See also:
http://www.slideshare.net/OpenDataSupport/promoting-the-re-use-
of-open-data-through-odip

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Conclusions
• Metadata provides information on your data and resources. The
quality of the metadata directly affects the discoverability and reuse
of your the resources.
• A structured approach should be followed for metadata management.
• The metadata lifecycle extends the lifecycle of datasets (metadata
before publication and after deletion).
• Homogenised metadata enable the operation of metadata brokers,
which can in turn lower the access barriers to your resources, leading
to improved visibility and discoverability, and thus increasing their
reuse potential.
Slide 36

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Group exercise and questions
Slide 37
In groups of two, select one dataset from your country and
describe it with the DCAT Application Profile.
Does your organisation have a minimum set of metadata to be
provided together with Open Data?
What would be the main barriers, according to you, for the
(re)use of standard controlled vocabularies in your metadata?
Do you have any data and/or metadata governance
methodology at the corporate level?
http://www.visualpharm.com
Take also the online test here!

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Thank you!
...and now YOUR questions?
Slide 38

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References
Slide 6, 7:
• NISO. Understanding Metadata.
Slide 9:
• Dublin City University. Chapter 3: Introduction to XML.
http://wiki.eeng.dcu.ie/ee557/g2/326-EE.html
• W3C. RDF Primer. http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-primer/
Slide 12:
• http://gondolin.rutgers.edu/MIC/text/how/catalog_glossary.htm
• Dublin Core. Example XML Schema.
http://dublincore.org/schemas/xmls/qdc/dc.xsd
• Dublin Core, Example RDF Schema.
http://dublincore.org/2012/06/14/dcterms.rdf
Slide 14, 33:
• The ISA Programme. DCAT Application Profile for Data Portals in Europe - Final
Draft.
https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/asset/dcat_application_profile/asset_release/dcat-
application-profile-data-portals-europe-final-draf
Slide 18:
• ListPoint. ObjectInCrimeClass.
http://www.listpoint.co.uk/CodeList/details/ObjectInCrimeClass/1.2/1
Slide 19:
• Publications Office. Countries Name Authority List. http://open-
data.europa.eu/en/data/dataset/2nM4aG8LdHG6RBMumfkNzQ
Slide 39

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Further reading
Understanding Metadata, NISO.
Ben Jareo and Malcolm Saldanha. The value proposition of a
metadata driven data governance program. Best Practices Metadata.
May 2012.
https://community.informatica.com/mpresources/Communities/IW2
012/Docs/bos_30.pdf
John R. Friedrich, II. Metadata Management Best Practices and
Lessons Learned. The 10th Annual Wilshire Meta-Data Conference
and the 18th Annual DAMA International Symposium. April 2006.
http://www.metaintegration.net/Publications/2006-Wilshire-DAMA-
MetaIntegrationBestPractices.pdf
Slide 40

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Related initiatives
Metadata Management. Trainer screencasts,
http://managemetadata.com/screencasts/msa/
MIT Libraries. Data Management and Publishing. Reasons to Manage
and Publish Your Data, http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/subjects/data-
management/why.html
ISA Programme. DCAT Application Profile for European Data Portals,
https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/asset/dcat_application_profile/descripti
on
Generating ADMS-based descriptions of assets using Open Refine
RDF, https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/asset/adms/document/generate-
adms-asset-descriptions-spreadsheet-refine-rdf
The Dublin Core Medatata Initiative, http://dublincore.org/
Slide 41

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Slide 42

Introduction to metadata management

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