Grappling with Metadata

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Grappling withMetadata
November 17, 2008
Leah Prescott Digital Projects Coordinator Getty
Research Institute
Master of St. Bartholomew, The Meeting of the
Three Kings (detail), ca. 1480 J. Paul Getty
Museum
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What is Metadata?

• Data about datadata categories
• Data describing a discrete data object or
  objects
• Cataloging or indexing information created to
  arrange, describe, and otherwise enhance access
  to an information object

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What is Metadata?
"Metadata has aptly been compared to labels on
cans in the supermarket. Without labels, we would
have to open all the cans to see what is in them,
we would have to analyse their contents to know
whether the substance is edible or not, and so
on."
Metadata for Digital Resources
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What is Metadata?
Thanks to the labels, we know what is in the can,
what it is made of, where it comes from, how much
it costs, up to what date we can safely eat it,
possibly how we can prepare it and how to
preserve it.
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Why is metadata important?

• Enhanced accessibility
• Retention of context
• Expanding use
• Multi-versioning
• Legal issues
• Preservation of data

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Don't go in blindfolded
Emblem (Premitur, non opprimitur) from Claude
Paradin, The heroicall devises of M. Claudius
Paradin (London W. Kearney, 1591)
http//emblem.libraries.psu.edu/parad176.htm
As you start planning for digital projects, you
need to be aware of the various options that
exist for creating metadata
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Types of Metadata

• Administrative
• Descriptive
• Preservation
• Technical
• Structural
• Use

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Why do we need them?
Standards
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Standards

• Fundamental to the efficient exchange of
  information
• Essential for meaningful search-and-retrieval of
  information
• To improve the quality and consistency of
  information
• To improve compatibility of information
  structures 
• To protect the long-term value of data
• To facilitate information retrieval
• To facilitate information exchange

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Standards
Information standards and controlled vocabularies
can help extricate us from our metadata
dilemmas...
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A brief (but related) detour Markup Languages
Glossary to EAD application guidelines http//www
.loc.gov/ead/ag/agappf.html
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Putting the Pieces Together
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DATA STANDARDS

• Data Structure Standards
• (Metadata Element Sets) 

MARC - Machine Readable Cataloging MODS
Metadata Object Description Schema EAD - Encoded
Archival Description Dublin Core - Core elements
(Dublin, Ohio) METS - Metadata Encoding and
Transmission Standard CDWA Categories for the
Description of Works of Art VRA Core - Core
elements of the Visual Resources Association
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DATA STANDARDS

• Data Structure Standards
• (Metadata Element Sets) 

MARC - Machine Readable Cataloging http//www.loc
.gov/marc/
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Library of Congress MARC record
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Brief display of previous LC MARC record, with
field labels instead of numbers
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MARC records can also be expressed in XML format
http//www.loc.gov/standards/ marcxml/
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Classic MARC record
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MARCXML record
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DATA STANDARDS

• Data Structure Standards
• (Metadata Element Sets) 

MODS Metadata Object Description
Schema http//www.loc.gov/standards/ mods/
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MODS

• An initiative of Network Development and MARC
  Standards Office at the Library of Congress
• Uses XML schema
• Originally designed for library applications, but
  may be used for others
• A derivative of MARC

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MODS high-level elements

• Note
• Subject
• Classification
• Related item
• Identifier
• Location
• Access conditions
• Extension
• Record Info

• Title Info
• Name
• Type of resource
• Genre
• Origin Info
• Language
• Physical description
• Abstract
• Table of contents
• Target audience

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DATA STANDARDS

• Data Structure Standards
• (Metadata Element Sets) 

EAD - Encoded Archival Description http//www.lo
c.gov/ead/
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EAD
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DATA STANDARDS

• Data Structure Standards
• (Metadata Element Sets) 

• Dublin Core - Core elements
• (Dublin, Ohio)
• http//dublincore.org/

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Dublin Core
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DATA STANDARDS

• Data Structure Standards
• (Metadata Element Sets) 

METS - Metadata Encoding and Transmission
Standard http//www.loc.gov/standards/mets/
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Sample METS Object
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(No Transcript)
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DATA STANDARDS

• Data Structure Standards
• (Metadata Element Sets) 

CDWA Categories for the Description of Works of
Art http//www.getty.edu/research/ conducting_res
earch/standards/ cdwa/
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CDWA
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DATA STANDARDS

• Data Structure Standards
• (Metadata Element Sets) 

VRA Core - Core elements of the Visual Resources
Association http//www.vraweb.org/projects/ vraco
re4/
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VRA Core
Lindisfarne Gospel
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DATA STANDARDS
Data Value Standards (Vocabularies)

• LCSH Library of Congress Subject Headings
• LCNAF Library of Congress Name Authority File
•  
• TGM Thesaurus of Graphic Materials
•  
• AAT Art and Architecture Thesaurus
• TGN Thesaurus of Geographic Names
• ULAN Union List of Artist Names
• and there are more...

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DATA STANDARDS
Data Content Standards  (Cataloging Rules)

• AACR (?RDA) Anglo-American Cataloging Rules
  (Resource Description and Access)
•  
• DACS Describing Archives A Content Standard
•  
• ISBD International Standard Bibliographic
  Description
•  
• CCO Cataloging Cultural Objects

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DATA STANDARDS
Data format standards (standards expressed in
machine-readable form)

• MARC Machine Readable Cataloging
• MARCXML MARC expressed in XML
•  
• EAD Encoded Archival Description
•  
• CDWA Lite Categories for the Description of
  Works of Art - expressed in XML
•  
• Dublin Core Simple XML schema
•  
• DC Qualified XML schema
•  
• VRA Core XML schema

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Mapping and Crosswalking
Connecticut History Online Project Dublin
Core/MARC Crosswalk
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Issues with the Web...

• Are your collections reachable by commercial
  search engines?
• If yes, how will you contextualize individual
  collection objects?
• If not, what is your strategy to lead Web users
  to your search page?

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Visible Web vs. Deep Web

• The Visible Web is what you see in the results
  pages from general Web search engines subject
  directories (static Web pages)
• The Invisible or Deep Web consists of data from
  dynamically searchable databases that cannot be
  indexed by search engines, because they arent
  stored anywhere.

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The Google factor
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What Google looks at

• Title tag
• Text on the Web page
• Referring links

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What Google doesnt look at (mostly)

• Keywords meta tag
• Description meta tag

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Challenges

• How to assist users in unmediated searching,
  browsing, etc.
• How to present large, complicated amounts of data
  in a way that users can understand and interpret
• How to create cataloging for the Web
  harnessing and adapting the power of metadata and
  controlled vocabularies
• How to provide reliable, up-do-date,
  authoritative metadata

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Facing the Challenges

• Institutions need to carefully chose and
  consistently apply metadata schemes to their
  collections information.
• Application of vocabulary resources (including
  local authorities and thesauri) is essential for
  enhancing end-user access.
• Use of picklists, thematic groupings, and
  browsing categories based on institutions
  organized data improves end-user access.

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Facing the Challenges

• Careful and consistent implementation of title
  tags and other metadata on Web pages facilitates
  end-user searching and retrieval of Web resources
• Use metadata and usability analysis should be a
  routine part of digital library work.
• Provide both searching and browsing
  functionalities (and carefully consider an
  advanced fielded searching option)

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Facing the Challenges

• Dont necessarily show all your data, nor make
  it all available for end-user searching
• Dont create hyperlinks simply because you can
• Dont let software dictate decisions
• Create thematic groupings (based on carefully
  constructed metadata!) that reflect your
  collections and help your users
• Study end-user behavior (including your own)

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Thank you for your attention!
lprescott_at_getty.edu
Joseph Ducreux, Yawning (Self-Portrait), before
1783 J. Paul Getty Museum