Post on 13-Apr-2017
Kathryn Cassidy
Software Engineer, Digital Repository of Ireland (Trinity College Dublin)
Metadata & XML
Digital Repository of IrelandDRI is a trusted digital repository for Humanities and Social Sciences Data in Ireland, launched June 2015
• Provides preservation and access to digital collections
• Born digital and digitised collections including maps, photographs, letters,
audio-visual, sound, books, oral histories, paintings..
https://repository.dri.ie/
Metadata & XML
• Define Metadata• Identify benefits of using standards-compliant metadata• Familiarise ourselves with XML• Create XML Metadata by Interactive Example
By the end of this morning’s session we will have be able to do the following…
What is Metadata?
Baby Em at 3 months !First house in Ranelagh
What is Metadata?
Technical metadata – hardware, software, file formats, resolution, size
Preservation metadata – provenance, authenticity, preservation actions, responsibility (eg. PREMIS)
Structural metadata – physical/logical structure of digital resources (eg. METS)
Descriptive metadata – describes the digital resource; catalogue records/finding aids
Human readable metadataA handwritten or typewritten listing or finding aid
Can be easily read and understood
Can be accessible in physical or digital medium
Can be free-text searched
Machine readable metadataIn a format that can be understood by computers
Structured representation of information
Described using particular standards (eg. XML, HTML, RDF)
Allows processing, exchange and analysis
The importance of Structure & standards
K. Cassidy
Why use standard metadata?
Using standardised descriptive metadata means adhering to the best practices in your domain.
Standardised metadata allows you to control how records are described within your organisation too.
Enforcing standards allows greater searchability of your records.
Metadata sharing and interoperability is only possible when a standard is used.
Quality metadata enables analysis, manipulation and “value-added services”
Seeing Standards: A Visualization of the Metadata Universe, Jenn Riley & Devin Becker, http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/~jenlrile/metadatamap/
Digital Archiving in Ireland:
National Survey of the Humanities and Social Sciences
DRI metadata guidelines
•Dublin core and Qualified Dublin Core
• MODS
• EAD
• MARC
Simple Dublin Core Metadata Element Set1. Title
2. Creator3. Subject4. Description5. Publisher6. Contributor7. Date8. Type
9. Format10. Identifier11. Source12. Language13. Relation14. Coverage15. Rights
DRI metadata guidelines
1. Title Ulysses
2. Creator James Joyce
3. Subject Stream of consciousness;Modern novel;Turn of century Dublin;Book covers
4. Description Traces the character Leopold Bloom as he walks around Dublin on 16 June, 1904
Or
Scan of first edition, hard cover5. Publisher Shakespeare and Company
6. Contributor
7. Date 1922
Metadata Quality Control – DRI guidewww.dri.ie/publications
“Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. It is defined by the W3C's XML 1.0 Specification and by several other related specifications, all of which are free open standards.”
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML
What is XML?“Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. It is defined by the W3C's XML 1.0 Specification and by several other related specifications, all of which are free open standards.”
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML
Machine readable metadataIn a format that can be understood by computers
Structured representation of information
Described using particular standards (eg. XML, HTML, RDF)
Allows processing, exchange and analysis
“Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. It is defined by the W3C's XML 1.0 Specification and by several other related specifications, all of which are free open standards.”
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML
What is XML?
<participants> <person role="teacher"> <id>1</id> <name> <personalname>Kathryn</personalname> <familyname>Cassidy</familyname> </name> <affiliation>DRI</affiliation> <affiliation>TCD</affiliation> </person> <person role="learner"> <id>2</id> <name> <personalname>Clare</personalname> <familyname>Lanigan</familyname> </name> <affiliation>DRI</affiliation> <affiliation>RIA</afiliation> </person> .... </participants>
XML Structure
An XML document consists of a set of elements, which can be nested within eachother
All elements must have an opening and closing tag of the form <tagname>… </tagname>
Elements may also have attributes
<tramTicket><type>return</type><from>Central 1</from><to>Red 2</to><validUntil>Last Tram</validUntil><date>31 Jul 06</date><for>Adult</for><on>Luas only</on><timeIssued>21:15</timeissued><price>2.90</price><number>6004375019</number>
</tramTicket>
XML does not DO anything
Useful Links
W3 schools xml tutorial http://www.w3schools.com/xml/default.asp
W3 schools xslt tutorial http://www.w3schools.com/xsl/default.asp
Examples