A Quick Introduction to Metadata

1
A Quick Introduction to Metadata

• Michael Day
• UKOLN The UK Office for Library and Information
  Networking, University of Bath
• http//www.ukoln.ac.uk/
• m.day_at_ukoln.ac.uk
• Running a Public Library Website
• A workshop organised by UKOLN in association with
  EARL
• University of Bath, 15-16 November 1999

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Presentation Outline

• Some definitions
• Metadata and the Web
• RDF
• Resource discovery
• Dublin Core
• Information Gateways
• Other metadata implementations
• Digital preservation

3
Metadata definitions (1)

• Metadata data about data
• the Internet-age term for structured data
  about data - Joint NSF-EU Working Group on
  Metadata (1998)
• structured data about data that imposes order
  on a disordered information universe - Carl
  Lagoze (Cornell University)

4
Metadata definitions (2)

• machine understandable information about web
  resources or other things - Tim Berners-Lee
  (World Wide Web Consortium)
• Roles
• Provides information about resources
• Supports operations carried out on information
  objects

5
Metadata uses

• Metadata can support many potential applications
• Resource discovery
• Content ratings
• E-commerce
• Authentication
• Data management
• Intellectual property rights management
• Digital preservation

6
Metadata and the Web

• Metadata - the missing architectural component
  from the initial implementation of the Web

7
RDF

• The Resource Description Framework
• Part of the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
  Metadata Activity
• Developing a common syntax for expressing
  assertions about information on the web
• RDF Syntax Working Group
• RDF data model and RDF/XML syntax
• RDF Schema Working Group
• http//www.w3.org/Metadata/

8
Resource discovery

• Main approaches
• Robot-based Web index services (AltaVista, Lycos,
  etc.)
• Utilising human intelligence to identify and
  evaluate Internet resources.
• Links pages
• Information gateways
• The library cataloguing method, creating
  bibliographic records for Internet resources in
  library catalogues (InterCat)

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A metadata typology

• Simple
  Rich
• Adapted from L. Dempsey and R. Heery, Metadata
  a current view of practice and
• issues, Journal of Documentation, vol. 54, no.2,
  March 1998, pp. 145-172.

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The Dublin Core

• Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI)
• An initiative to define a core set of metadata
  elements for resource discovery on the Internet
• 7 DC workshops
• ... the broadest international,
  interdisciplinary effort in resource description
  on the Internet ... the leading initiative for
  improving resource discovery on the Web - Stu
  Weibel (OCLC)
• http//purl.oclc.org/dc

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DC elements

• 15 Elements
• Title
• Subject
• Description
• Creator
• Publisher
• Contributor
• Date
• Type
• Semantics defined in Internet RFC 2413 (1998)
  now superseded by DC version 1.1

• Format
• Identifier
• Source
• Language
• Relation
• Coverage
• Rights

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DC qualifiers

• DC-4 Workshop (Canberra)
• TYPE, SCHEME and LANGUAGE
• DC Data Model working group
• Element Qualifiers - refine the semantics of a DC
  element
• Value Qualifiers - gives context to the element
  value by
• indicating how to parse the value, e.g. an ISO
  8601 date
• indicating the use of controlled vocabularies,
  e.g. LCSH, DDC or LCNAF
• Value Components

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DC syntax

• Guidelines and tools developed
• Encoding DC Metadata in HTML (Internet-Draft)
• Data Model working group - Guidance on
  expressing DC within the RDF (working draft)
• Creation tools - e.g., DC-dot
• Some examples ...
• http//www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/dcdot/

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DC in HTML (1)

• lthtmlgt
• ltheadgt
• lttitlegtDorset Library Servicelt/titlegt
• ltlink rel"schema.DC" href"http//purl.org/dc"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Title" content"Dorset Library
  Service"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Subject" contentpublic
  libraries Dorset County Council"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Publisher" content"European
  Regional Internet Registry/RIPE NCC"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Date" scheme"WTN8601"
  content"1999-08-05"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Type" content"Text"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Format" content"text/html"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Format" content"3791 bytes"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Identifier" content"http//www.dor
  set-cc.gov.uk/library.htm"gt
• lt/headgt

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DC in HTML (2)

• lthtmlgt
• ltheadgt
• lttitlegt Bath and North East Somerset Library and
  Archiveslt/titlegt
• ltlink rel"schema.DC" href"http//purl.org/dc"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Title" content"Bath and North
  East Somerset Library, and Archives"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Subject" contentpublic
  libraries archives Bath and North East
  Somerset"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Publisher" content"Bath
  University"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Date" scheme"WTN8601"
  content"1999-06-23"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Type" content"Text"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Format" content"text/html"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Format" content"2719 bytes"gt
• ltmeta name"DC.Identifier" content"http//hosted.
  ukoln.ac.uk/libweb/bathnes/"gt
• lt/headgt

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DC in RDF/XML
lt?xml version"1.0"?gt ltrdfRDF
xmlnsrdf"http//www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax
-ns" xmlnsdc"http//purl.org/dc/elements/1.
0/"gt ltrdfDescription about"http//www.earl.o
rg.uk/index.htmlgt ltdctitlegt
EARL, the Consortium for Public Library
Networking lt/dctitlegt
ltdccreatorgt EARL Consortium
lt/dccreatorgt ltdctypegtTextlt/dctypegt
ltdcformatgt4699 byteslt/dcformatgt
ltdclanguagegt en
lt/dclanguagegt lt/rdfDescriptiongt lt/rdfRDFgt
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In abbreviated syntax
ltrdfRDF xmlnsrdf"http//www.w3.org/1999/02/
22-rdf-syntax-ns" xmlnsdc"http//purl.org/d
c/elements/1.0/"gt ltrdfDescription
about"http//www.earl.org.uk/index.html"
dcTitle"EARL, the Consortium for Public Library
Networking" dcCreator"EARL Consortium
info_at_earl.org.uk" dcSubject"earl,
public libraries, uk, networking, consortium"
dcPublisher"EARL Consortium
info_at_earl.org.uk" dcDate"1999-10-20"
dcType"Text" gt
ltdcformatgt ltrdfBag
rdf_1"text/html" rdf_2"4699
bytes" /gt lt/dcformatgt
lt/rdfDescriptiongt lt/rdfRDFgt
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DC Implementations

• DC creation tools
• DC-dot
• Nordic Metadata Project - Template
• Metadata-aware indexing tools
• DESIRE - Combine
• Conversion tools
• Metadata Cross-walks
• Nordic Metadata Project - d2m
• Project BIBLINK
• Interoperability
• AHDS Gateway

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Information Gateways

• Roles of gateways
• Selection
• Gateways select resources according to some
  pre-defined criteria (e.g. subject area, some
  measure of quality)
• Creation of metadata
• Gateways create simple resource descriptions that
  can be both searched and browsed

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The eLib programme

• JISC funded
• Selected gateways (SOSIG, EEVL, OMNI, Biz/ed,
  History, etc.)
• ROADS Resource Organisation and Discovery in
  Subject-based services
• Developing Web-based tools for information
  gateways
• Cross-searching (Whois)
• Content creation rules (cataloguing guidelines)
• http//www.ilrt.bris.ac.uk/roads/

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The RDN

• Resource Discovery Network
• Funded by JISC, ESRC and AHRB
• Co-operative network
• Independent service providers (hubs)
• Resource Discovery Network Centre (RDNC)
• Set service standards
• Collection management policy
• Develop strategic partnerships
• Cross-searching across multiple hubs

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Digital preservation

• A variety of preservation strategies are
  available - all are dependent upon the creation,
  capture and storage of metadata
• Recent initiatives include
• Reference Model for an Open Archival Information
  System (OAIS)
• Research Libraries Group (RLG) Working Group on
  Preservation Issues of Metadata
• Cedars project - funded by JISC under eLib,
  managed by Consortium of University Research
  Libraries (CURL)
• Digital Services Project - National Library of
  Australia

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UKOLN

• UKOLN is funded by the Library and Information
  Commission, the Joint Information Systems
  Committee (JISC) of the higher education funding
  councils, as well as by project funding from the
  JISC and the European Union. UKOLN also receives
  support from the University of Bath, where it is
  based.
• http//www.ukoln.ac.uk/