LIFECYCLE METADATA FOR DIGITAL OBJECTS

Danielle Cunniff PlumerSchool of InformationThe University of Texas at AustinSummer 2014

Class Introductions• Identify

• Yourself• Types of digital projects you have worked on or are interested in

• Your role in these digital projects• Your experience with metadata

Metadata• “Metadata is structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use, or manage an information resource.”

• Key Concepts:• Structured information• Ease of use• Formal standards

Source:NISO. (2004) Understanding Metadata.Bethesda, MD: NISO Press, p.1

Functions of Metadata• List:

Metadata• A good object has associated metadata.

• A good object will have descriptive and administrative metadata, and compound objects will have structural metadata to document the relationships between components of the object and ensure proper presentation and use of the components.

Source:NISO. (2007). “Objects Principle 6” in A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections. Bethesda, MD: NISO Press.

Types of Metadata• Descriptive• Structural• Administrative

• Technical• Rights Management• Preservation

Source:NISO. (2004) Understanding Metadata.Bethesda, MD: NISO Press, p.1

Metadata Standards• Interoperability and object exchange require the use of established standards• Semantic: Content Standards• Syntactic: Metadata Schemas• Format: Machine encoding• Exchange: Interface protocols

• XML is a common method for exchanging metadata descriptions on the Internet• Others include: JSON, RDF

Metadata Components

Content Standard

Syntax/Schema

Data FormatData

Exchange

Human

Machine

"Fortunately, the charging one has been solved now that we've all standardized on mini-USB. Or is it micro-USB? Shit."

Insert Joke about Standards

http://xkcd.com/927/

Plan of Course: ScheduleWeek Topic Lab1 Introduction Command Line Tools (1)

2 Metadata in Digital Objects Command Line Tools (2)

3 Metadata and Markup XML and RDF

4 Content Standards Descriptive Metadata (ASpace)

5 Authority Records EAC-CPF (ASpace)

6 Controlled vocabularies Controlled vocabularies (ASpace)

7 Ontologies and Linked Data Linked Data

8 Digital Forensics BitCurator

9 Student Presentations

10 Student Presentations

Plan of Course: Readings• Required:

• Baca, Murtha, ed. 2008. Introduction to Metadata (Online Edition, Version 3.0). Los Angeles: Getty Publications. Retrieved from http://www.getty.edu/research/publications/electronic_publications/intrometadata/setting.html

• Society of American Archivists. 2013. Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS). Second Edition. Chicago: Society of American Archivists. Retrieved from http://files.archivists.org/pubs/DACS2E-2013.pdf

•  • Optional:

• Dow, Elizabeth. 2005. Creating EAD-Compatible Finding Guides on Paper. Scarecrow Press.

• Roe, Kathleen. 2005. Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts (Archival Fundamentals Series II). Chicago: Society of American Archivists.

•  • Additional readings will be assigned for specific topics.

Plan of Course: AssignmentsAssignment Due Date Percent of GradeClass participation 25%

• Lab work Ongoing

Markup Assignment 25%

• Authorities (EAC-CPF) July 9

• Finding Aid (EAD) July 21

• Tutorial (ArchivesSpace) July 28

Seminar Paper 25%

• Presentation August 4-11

• Paper August 4

Exams

• Midterm July 16 10%

• Final August 13 15%

Questions?

Using Metadata

• Description• To (more or less)

uniquely identifyan item

• To identify the parts of an item and their relationship to the whole

Author Davis, Ellis A. Title The encyclopedia of

Texas, compiled and edited by Ellis A. Davis and Edwin H. Grobe.

Imprint Dallas, Texas Development Bureau [1922?]

Using Metadata

• Location• To show where to find

the item• Call number• Archival container• Storage unit• Uniform Resource

Indicator

Library: UNT Libraries Location: WILLIS 4FL

TEXANA COLLIdentifier: 976.4 D292t  V.

1

Using Metadata

• Condition• To document the

condition of an item at a given time

• To record any actions taken with respect to the item’s condition

Binding: Full-LeatherBook Condition: FairJacket Condition: No Jacket

Using Metadata

• Use• To explain conditions of

use for an item• Based on condition• Based on rights

Status: LIB USE ONLY Rights: Public Domain based on

publication date of 1922.

Digital is Different• Does the metadata describe the physical item or the digital item, or both?• Physical item

• Metadata as “surrogate” for the physical item• Metadata for inventory of and access to the

physical item• Metadata aggregated for use in “union catalogs”

• Digital item• Metadata as a component of the digital object itself• Metadata used as a way of pointing to the digital object from

metadata aggregations

Metadata and Digital Objects• Metadata can be:

• In the digital object• File headers, e.g., TIFF, EXIF; EAD, TEI headers

• Near the digital object• Same directory, hard drive, network

• Thousands of miles from the digital object• On another network, in another state, in another country

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Email Metadata (3 of 3)Sender: dcplumer@gmail.comReceived: by 10.229.39.72 with HTTP; Mon, 9 Jun 2014 10:46:25 -0700 (PDT)From: danielle plumer <danielle@dcplumer.com>Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2014 12:46:25 -0500X-Google-Sender-Auth: 5r4G-BoZO-kUgBWPn7LKoFFOomoMessage-ID: <CAAJtrZYB5rPf+2joUY=P5+C=HE9sWwSr=1QqV7VyG_GTH5GTMw@mail.gmail.com>Subject: Test messageTo: dcplumer@utexas.eduContent-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=089e013cb7cea45fbb04fb6accb2

--089e013cb7cea45fbb04fb6accb2Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

This is a test message to see what kinds of metadata are embedded in anemail.

--089e013cb7cea45fbb04fb6accb2Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8

<div dir="ltr">This is a test message to see what kinds of metadata are embedded in an email.</div>

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Twitter Metadatahttp://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/TweetMetadata.pdf

Identifiers as Metadata• A good object will be named with a persistent, globally

unique identifier that can be resolved to the current address of the object. • Good identifiers will at minimum be locally unique, so that

resources within the digital collection or repository can be unambiguously distinguished from each other.

• Global uniqueness can then be achieved through the addition of a globally unique prefix element, such as a code representing the organization.

Source:NISO. (2007). “Objects Principle 4” in A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections. Bethesda, MD: NISO Press.

Identifiers in Metadata• The description of a digital object must be specific enough to distinguish it from similar objects• Unique identifiers make this easier

• The link between a digital object and its metadata must exist and be maintained over the entire lifespan of the object• Persistent identifiers are essential

Exercise: Physical & Digital• Break into groups• Choose one of the objects listed (view online)

• http://goo.gl/BpkS1U• For each object, create two records:

• Surrogate record for the physical object in a library, museum, or archives.

• Metadata record for the digitized object available online.• Describe the differences between the two records

Plan for Thursday• Read:

• Stephenson, Neal. (1999). In the beginning was the command line.Available from http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html