Metadata Overview
- 1. SEI 2013 • Download these copies: • http://bit.ly/12ca24p (Worksheet) • http://bit.ly/14LJ6nW (Reference) 6/19/2013 If you don’t have the handouts… 1
- 2. Metadata Overview Jenn Riley Head, Carolina Digital Library and Archives The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- 3. SEI 2013 6/19/2013 How in the world am I supposed to deal with this?!? 3
- 4. 6/19/2013 SEI 2013 Don’t panic. You can make good decisions with the right information. We’ll begin with some theory, and then move on to practice. 4
- 5. SEI 2013 • “Data about data” • “Structured information about an information resource of any media type or format.” (Caplan) • “Structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use, or manage an information resource.” (NISO) • “Metadata is constructed, constructive, and actionable.” (Coyle) • “Data which removes from a user (human or machine) the need to have full advance knowledge of the existence or characteristics of things of potential interest in the environment.” (Dempsey) • “An item of metadata is a relationship that someone claims to exist between two entities.” (<indecs>) • … 6/19/2013 Many definitions of metadata 5
- 6. SEI 2013 • Characteristics • Structure • Control • Origin • Machine-generated • Human-generated • Increasingly conceived as a relationship • Don’t get stuck on the difference between data, metadata, and meta-metadata 6/19/2013 Refining a definition 6
- 7. Slide labels Online catalogs Finding aids R e g i V R d Inventories a t a b a s SEI 2013 Catalog cards 6/19/2013 Some uses of metadata in cultural heritage institutions 7
- 8. Some types of metadata Type Use Technical metadata Interoperability/exchange Digital object management Preservation Preservation metadata Interoperability/exchange Preservation Rights metadata Interoperability/exchange Digital object management Structural metadata Navigation 6/19/2013 Searching Browsing Display Interoperability/exchange SEI 2013 Descriptive metadata 8
- 9. SEI 2013 6/19/2013 Metadata in action Descriptive metadata Technical metadata Rights metadata Navigating between multiple views of the same image would be structural metadata. 9
- 10. We’ll primarily talk about descriptive metadata this morning SEI 2013 The lines between these types are rarely clear 6/19/2013 But… 10
- 11. SEI 2013 6/19/2013 And you also need to know about… 11 Chart by Elings & Waibel, “Metadata for All” <http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1628/1543>
- 12. SEI 2013 6/19/2013 2 minutes on XML 12
- 13. General principles to apply • Look to the community for best practices • Know why you’re doing something a certain way • Display, search, browse • Current and reasonable future discovery needs • If it’s not immediately justifiable, ask the hard questions • Avoid the temptation to over-describe • Document your decisions • Consider uses of your metadata beyond your local system SEI 2013 • Art images vs. documentary images • Pedagogical vs. museum object management vs. archival 6/19/2013 • Tie your choice of standards to your purpose 13
- 14. Let’s look at some options. 6/19/2013 SEI 2013 So now what? 14
- 15. • • • • • • • VRA Core CDWA CDWA Lite LIDO MARC MODS Dublin Core • Data structure (technical) • MIX • EXIF (mostly) SEI 2013 • Data structure (descriptive) 6/19/2013 Some metadata standards of use to VR professionals • Data content • CCO • RDA/AACR2 • DACS 15
- 16. SEI 2013 6/19/2013 CCO content standard 16 From http://cco.vrafoundation.org/ Also see CCO Ten Key Concepts
- 17. • Try to constrain the full standard for your local implementation • Don’t fret too much if your case isn’t covered or you find it ambiguous SEI 2013 • In some situations, it’s OK to pick and choose when to apply it • It’s just a set of rules (that humans wrote) and therefore is wide open to interpretation 6/19/2013 Using a content standard • Provided examples are useful, but they’re not the rules • Alternatives to CCO • AACR2/RDA if you want a more “bibliographic” approach • DACS if you want a more archival approach, focusing on the description of whole collections rather than individual items 17
- 18. • Currently hosted online by LC, maintained by an advisory group SEI 2013 • THIS is the metadata structure standard that you really need to know • Designed by visual resources specialists 6/19/2013 Visual Resources Association Core Categories (VRA Core) • Focus on creation, style, culture • Best used on collections of reproductions of works of art & architecture 18
- 19. SEI 2013 • Distinguishes between collection, work, and image • Provides for values for both display and indexing • Schemas for unrestricted and restricted versions 6/19/2013 Important features of VRA Core 19
- 21. Let’s create some VRA! Date: Unknown but not later than 1867 SEI 2013 oil on panel 23.5 x 18.5 cm 6/19/2013 Good memories by Ange Francois, Belgian painter (1800-1867) Look at data values guidelines for each element. 21 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:MemoriesAngeFrancois.jpeg
- 22. SEI 2013 • Strong museum, curatorial focus • Strong on culture, physical location • Meant to describe original works, not surrogates or reproductions • Best used for unique materials owned and managed by your institution • Base metadata format for many museum collection management systems • No formally specified encoding, but recommends storing data in a relational structure • Guidelines are nearly as prescriptive as a content standard 6/19/2013 Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CDWA) 22
- 24. And again, in CDWA… Date: Unknown but not later than 1867 SEI 2013 oil on panel 23.5 x 18.5 cm 6/19/2013 Good memories by Ange Francois, Belgian painter (1800-1867) Look at data values guidelines for each element. 24 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:MemoriesAngeFrancois.jpeg
- 25. SEI 2013 • CDWA Lite = Simplified version of the full CDWA • In XML • For data sharing • LIDO = Lightweight Information Describing Objects • Expansion of CDWA Lite • Combined with museumdat • Also intended for use in data harvesting, between institutions • Intended to supersede both CDWA Lite and museumdat 6/19/2013 CDWA Derivatives 25
- 26. SEI 2013 • Used in library catalogs • Might use if • You wanted discovery through the library catalog • Your unit is an integral part of an academic library system and does not invest in an image database for teaching • You can do it, but it’s not a great fit • MARCXML sometimes used when MARC exists but an XML form is needed • BIBFRAME is in planning phase as successor • I won’t suggest that we do a MARC exercise here. (Woohoo!) 6/19/2013 MARC 26
- 27. SEI 2013 • “Bibliographic” in nature • No natural places for some data elements crucial for visual resources, such as cultural origin of an object • Doesn’t make work vs. image distinction • Might use if: • You’re integrating your VR material material into a wider digital library context • You are describing documentary images rather than art images • You already have a system that can handle it 6/19/2013 Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS) 27
- 28. And again, this time in MODS… Date: Unknown but not later than 1867 SEI 2013 oil on panel 23.5 x 18.5 cm 6/19/2013 Good memories by Ange Francois, Belgian painter (1800-1867) Don’t worry about the “right” data values. 28 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:MemoriesAngeFrancois.jpeg
- 29. SEI 2013 • An extremely basic metadata structure standard, originally developed for documents on the web • Intended to be core across all resource domains • This is the format used for the OAI-PMH metadata sharing protocol • Rarely if ever used as a native metadata format in the cultural heritage sector 6/19/2013 Simple Dublin Core 29
- 30. Qualified Dublin Core • Native format in some digital library systems • DSpace • CONTENTdm SEI 2013 • Additional elements • Element qualifiers • Syntax encoding schemes 6/19/2013 • A more robust version of simple Dublin Core • Might use if: • You’re integrating your VR material material into a wider digital library context • You are describing documentary images rather than art images • You already have a system that can handle it 30
- 31. And now in Qualified Dublin Core… Date: Unknown but not later than 1867 SEI 2013 oil on panel 23.5 x 18.5 cm 6/19/2013 Good memories by Ange Francois, Belgian painter (1800-1867) Don’t worry about the “right” data values. 31 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:MemoriesAngeFrancois.jpeg
- 32. Let’s think more carefully about what goes in those fields. 6/19/2013 SEI 2013 But this is only the first step. Content standards + vocabulary control 32
- 33. SEI 2013 • Also known as: • Controlled vocabularies • Authority control • Use it for fields where: • You want browseability • Many different resources will have the same value in a field • One thing might be known by different names and it would be useful to discover those things together 6/19/2013 Vocabulary control 33
- 34. 6/19/2013 SEI 2013 Which fields in VRA core would benefit from vocabulary control? 34
- 35. SEI 2013 Most have a mechanism for new terms to be proposed 6/19/2013 Controlled vocabularies are highly specialized – other communities may have some that are useful for you Let’s look at some controlled vocabularies useful for VR collections 35
- 36. SEI 2013 6/19/2013 Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) 36
- 37. SEI 2013 6/19/2013 Thesaurus for Geographic Names (TGN) 37
- 38. SEI 2013 6/19/2013 Union List of Artists’ Names (ULAN) 38
- 39. A work authority file In a pilot phase from Getty vocabularies Records conform to CDWA and CCO Contributions accepted in their own XML format, CDWA Lite, and LIDO in the future • Records include: • • • • • • Creator Creation date Measurements Materials Current location Etc. SEI 2013 • • • • 6/19/2013 Cultural Objects Name Authority (CONA) 39
- 40. SEI 2013 6/19/2013 Thesaurus for Graphic Materials (TGM) I & II 40
- 41. VRA Work Title ≈ CDWA Title Text ≈ MODS <titleInfo><title> A documented crosswalk lays the groundwork for automatically transforming metadata from one structure standard into another. SEI 2013 Surprise! You’ve done some of this already today. 6/19/2013 Getting from one format to another; aka, metadata mapping 41
- 42. SEI 2013 6/19/2013 Much mapping work pre-exists for you 42 http://www.getty.edu/research/publications/electronic_publications/intrometadata/crosswalks.html
- 43. SEI 2013 • Store metadata internal to an image file or externally? • Store natively in XML or in a relational database or some other way? • How widely can/will you share your metadata? • What will your workflow look like? 6/19/2013 There will be many implementation issues • Description vs. authority control • Digitize first or describe first? • Is there any pre-existing metadata you can reuse? • What can you to in today’s implementation to make migration to future systems easier? 43
- 44. SEI 2013 • All discovery and digital asset management systems have limitations • Be informed so you can push where reasonable, and contribute effectively to system selection and implementation process • Be careful about hacking your data to accommodate a local system quirk 6/19/2013 Your interaction with the system 44
- 45. * http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html SEI 2013 • A semantic web strategy, allowing systems to interact with a big web of shared data • Tim Berners Lee’s Linked Data Design Principles* • Use URIs as names for things • Use HTTP URIs so that people can look up those names. • When someone looks up a URI, provide useful information, using the standards (RDF, SPARQL) • Include links to other URIs. so that they can discover more things. • Getty vocabularies planned release as LOD soon • Library school thesis by Jeff Mixter exposed VRA Core as LOD: http://jmixter.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/thesis/ 6/19/2013 A word about Linked (Open) Data 45
- 46. SEI 2013 • There’s an active metadata community to talk with • Increasingly catalogers are working closely with technical staff • Practice, practice, practice • The metadata landscape is rapidly changing; get involved! • I’d be happy to talk further: jennriley@unc.edu 6/19/2013 What’s next? 46 This work by Jenn Riley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Editor's Notes
- #21: Things to point out:* Work and image in separate records*Separate elements for display and indexing values*Use of controlled vocabularies*Connections to research relevant to the work
- #37: Facets:Associated conceptsPhysical attributesStyles and periodsAgentsActivitiesMaterialsObjectsBrand names
- #42: Mappings performed via XSLT, or a full programming language.
- #44: Have a group discussion about these issues.