Metadata for Digital Collections
A how-to-do-it manual

More and more libraries, archives, and museums are creating online collections of digitized resources. Where can those charged with organizing these new collections turn for guidance on the actual practice of metadata design and creation? To Metadata for Digital Collections: a how-to-do-it manual.

 

This practical, hands-on volume will make it easy for readers to acquire the knowledge and skills they need, whether they use the book on the job or in a classroom. Author Steven Miller introduces readers to fundamental concepts and practices in a style accessible to beginners and LIS students, as well as experienced practitioners with little metadata training. He also takes account of the widespread use of digital collection management systems such as CONTENTdm.

 

Rather than surveying a large number of metadata schemes, Miller covers only three of the schemes most commonly used in general digital resource description, namely, Dublin Core, MODS, and VRA. By limiting himself, Miller is able to address the chosen schemes in greater depth. He is also able to include numerous practical examples that clarify common application issues and challenges. He provides practical guidance on applying each of the Dublin Core elements, taking special care to clarify those most commonly misunderstood. The book includes a step-by-step guide on how to design and document a metadata scheme for local institutional needs and for specific digital collection projects.

 

The text also serves well as an introduction to broader metadata topics, including XML encoding, mapping between different schemes, metadata interoperability and record sharing, OAI harvesting, and the emerging environment of Linked Data and the Semantic Web, explaining their relevance to current practitioners and students.

 

Each chapter offers a set of exercises, with suggestions for instructors. A companion website includes additional practical and reference resources.

 

1.1. What Is Metadata?

1.2. What Is a Digital Collection?

1.3. What Does Metadata Do?

1.4. Types of Metadata 

1.5. Metadata Standards

1.6. Creating a Digital Collection 

1.7. Metadata for Digital Collections

1.7.1. Designing and Documenting a Metadata Scheme 

1.7.2. Creating Metadata for Digital Objects 

1.7.3. Metadata Sharing, Harvesting, and Aggregating

1.8. Summary

References 

 

 

2.1. Resource Description Fundamentals

2.1.1. Resource Description

2.1.1.1. Resources 

2.1.1.2. Metadata Descriptions and Records 

2.1.1.3. Granularity of Description 

2.1.1.4. Element Repeatability 

2.1.1.5. Element Functionality 

2.1.2. Local versus Standard, Shareable Element Sets 

2.1.3. Describing Digital versus Original Resources 

2.1.3.1. The One-to-One Principle 

2.1.3.2. Content versus Carrier 

2.1.3.3. Problems with the One-to-One Principle in Practice 

2.1.3.4. Practical Options for Maintaining One-to-One

2.1.4. Descriptive versus Administrative Metadata 

2.1.5. The Need for Research 

2.2. Introduction to the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set 

2.2.1. Simple (Unqualified) Dublin Core

2.2.2. Qualified Dublin Core 

2.2.3. Creation and Use of Dublin Core Metadata

2.2.4. The Dublin Core Elements in Practice 

2.3. Summary 

References 

 

3. Resource Identification and Responsibility Elements 

 

3.1. Basic Resource Identification Elements 

3.1.1. Titles 

3.1.2. Dublin Core Title 

3.1.3. Identifiers 

3.1.4. Dublin Core Identifier 

3.1.5. Dates 

3.1.6. Dublin Core Date 

3.1.7. Languages 

3.1.8. Dublin Core Language 

3.1.9. Resource Attributes Not Readily Accommodated in Dublin Core 

3.2. Name, Responsibility, and Intellectual Property Elements 

3.2.1. Names and Roles of Agents Responsible for Resources 

3.2.2. Dublin Core Creator and Contributor 

3.2.3. Publishers and Publication 

3.2.4. Dublin Core Publisher 

3.2.5. Rights, Ownership, and Restrictions on Access 

3.2.6. Dublin Core Rights 

3.3. Summary 

References 

 

 

4.1. Resource Content and Carrier Elements 

4.1.1. Content Types and Genres 

4.1.2. Dublin Core Type 

4.1.3. Formats and Physical Description 

4.1.4. Dublin Core Format 

4.2. Subject Content Elements 

4.2.1. Subjects 

4.2.1.1. Subject Analysis, Representation, and Retrieval 

4.2.1.2. Analyzing and Identifying Subject Content 

4.2.1.3. Aboutness, Ofness, Isness, and Facets 

4.2.1.4. Exhaustivity: Number of Subject Terms 

4.2.1.5. Specificity: Specific versus General Subject Terms 

4.2.1.6. Subject Analysis and Indexing of Images 

4.2.2. Dublin Core Subject 

4.2.3. Dublin Core Coverage 

4.2.4. Descriptions, Abstracts, and Tables of Contents 

4.2.5. Dublin Core Description 

4.3. Resource Relationship Elements 

4.3.1. Relationships among Different Resources 

4.3.2. Dublin Core Relation and Source 

4.4. Dublin Core Full Record Examples 

4.5. Mapping Local Elements to Dublin Core 

4.6. Summary 

References 

 

 

5.1. Improving Resource Discovery 

5.2. Types of Controlled Vocabularies 

5.2.1. Lists 

5.2.2. Synonym Rings

5.2.3. Authority Files

5.2.4. Taxonomies and Classification Schemes

5.2.5. Thesauri 

5.2.6. Subject Heading Lists

5.3. Using Established Vocabularies

5.4. Creating Your Own Vocabularies

5.5. Summary

References 

 

 

6.1. XML Metadata Basics

6.1.1. Introduction to Metadata Encoding and XML

6.1.2. XML Syntax: Elements and Attributes

6.1.3. Well-Formed versus Valid XML

6.1.4. XML Namespaces and Metadata Modularity

6.1.5. Creating Metadata in XML

6.2. XML Metadata Record Examples

6.2.1. Dublin Core in XML

6.2.2. MODS XML

6.3. Anatomy of an XML Metadata Record

6.4. Summary

References

 

 

7.1. Introduction and Overview 

7.1.1. MODS Implementation Projects

7.1.2. MODS Documentation

7.1.3. MODS XML Structure

7.1.3.1. Container Elements and Subelements

7.1.3.2. Element Attributes

7.1.4. Flexibility in MODS Level of Detail and Granularity

7.2. MODS Elements: An Overview with Examples

7.2.1. TitleInfo

7.2.2. Name

7.2.3. TypeOfResource

7.2.4. Genre

7.2.5. OriginInfo

7.2.6. Language

7.2.7. PhysicalDescription

7.2.8. Abstract

7.2.9. TableOfContents

7.2.10. TargetAudience 

7.2.11. Note

7.2.12. Subject

7.2.13. Classification

7.2.14. RelatedItem

7.2.15. Identifier

7.2.16. Location

7.2.17. AccessCondition

7.2.18. Part

7.2.19. Extension

7.2.20. RecordInfo 

7.3. MODS Records

7.3.1. Complete MODS Record Example 

7.3.2. Creating MODS XML Records

7.3.3. Displaying and Transforming MODS XML Records

7.3.4. Qualified Dublin Core and MODS Record Comparison

7.4. Mapping from Dublin Core to MODS

7.4.1. Automated Mapping from Simple Dublin Core to Simple MODS

7.4.2. Human Mapping from Qualified Dublin Core to Richer MODS

7.5. Summary

References

 

 

8.1. Introduction and Overview

8.1.1. Metadata for Museum Objects

8.1.2. Metadata Standards for Museum Objects

8.2. VRA 3.0 Overview

8.3. VRA 3.0 Record Examples

8.4. VRA 4.0 Overview

8.5. VRA 4.0 Record Examples

8.6. Summary

References

 

 

9.1. Interoperability

9.2. Short- and Long-Term Metadata Viability

9.3. Metadata Sharing, Harvesting, and Aggregating

9.4. OAI Metadata Harvesting

9.5. Metadata Mapping and Crosswalks

9.6. Metadata Conversion and Processing

9.7. Example of Metadata Harvesting, Processing, and Aggregating

9.8. Good Quality and Shareable Metadata

9.9. Assessing Metadata Quality

9.10. Five Ways to Improve Your Metadata Quality and Interoperability

9.11. Summary

References

 

 

10.1. Metadata Scheme Design and Documentation 

10.1.1. Introduction 

10.1.2. Analyze Context, Content, and Users, and Determine Functional Requirements

10.1.3. Select and Develop an Element Set

10.1.3.1. General/Cross-Collection Metadata Scheme Design

10.1.3.2. Collection-Specific Metadata Scheme Design

10.1.3.3. Factors in Choice of Metadata Element Set

10.1.4. Establish Element and Database Specifications

10.1.5. Establish Controlled Vocabularies and Encoding Schemes

10.1.6. Develop Content Guidelines

10.1.7. Document the Scheme

10.2. Metadata Design Examples

10.2.1. General Application Profile Examples

10.2.1.1. Collaborative Digitization Program Dublin Core Metadata Documentation

10.2.1.2. OhioLINK Dublin Core Metadata Documentation

10.2.1.3. Indiana Memory Dublin Core Metadata Documentation

10.2.1.4. DLF/Aquifer MODS Metadata Documentation

10.2.2. Collection-Specific Application Profile Examples

10.2.2.1. University of Washington’s Architecture Collection Metadata Documentation

10.2.2.1. University of Washington’s Musical Instruments Collection Metadata Documentation

10.2.2.1. University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee’s Transportation Collection Metadata Documentation

10.2.3. CONTENTdm Examples

10.3. Summary

References

 

 

11.1. What Are Linked Data and the Semantic Web and Why Care about Them?

11.2. Linked Open Data and the Resource Description Framework

11.2.1. Statements, Properties, Values, and RDF Triples

11.2.2. URIs: Uniform Resource Identifiers

11.2.3. Literals, Strings, and Things

11.2.4. The Power of Linking and Querying in the Linked Data Cloud

11.2.5. RDF/XML

11.3. Linked Data and Digital Collections

11.4. Dublin Core: From a Core Metadata Element Set for the Web to a Core Vocabulary for Linked Data

11.4.1. The DCMI Abstract Model (DCAM)

11.4.2. Dublin Core Application Profiles

11.5. Metadata Registries

11.6. What Does All of This Have to Do with Me?

11.7. Summary

References