Metadata

One of the most challenging aspects of the digital environment is the identification of resources available on the Web. The existence of searchable descriptive metadata increases the likelihood that digital content will be discovered and used. Collection-level metadata is addressed in the Collections section. This section addresses the description of individual items and sets of items within collections.

Metadata is structured information associated with an item for purposes of discovery, description, use, administration, and/or management. Metadata can be added at any stage of an information item's life cycle. For example, at the creation stage, metadata about an item's authors, contributors, and sources could be recorded by the original authors. At the organization stage, metadata about subjects, publishing history, intended audience, summary, and so on could be recorded by catalogers or indexers. At the access and usage stage, metadata on access privileges, reproduction rights, and preservation could be included by access managers. It is helpful to keep in mind that different types of metadata can be added by different people at various stages of an information item's life cycle.

It is common to distinguish between three basic kinds of metadata.

• Descriptive metadata helps users find items, distinguish one item from another, and understand the subject or contents of objects.
• Administrative metadata helps collection managers keep track of items for such purposes as file management, rights management, and preservation.
• Structural metadata documents relationships among items, such as the relationship between articles, issues, and volumes of serial publications, or the pages and chapters of a book.

Several principles guide the selection and implementation of metadata standards.

1. Good metadata should be appropriate to the materials in the collection, users of the collection, and intended, current, and likely future use of the digital item. More information.
2. Good metadata supports interoperability. More information.
3. Good metadata uses authority control and content standards such as controlled vocabularies that are in line with user expectations to describe the content of items and collocate related items. More information.
4. Good metadata includes a clear statement on the conditions and terms of use for the digital item. More information.
5. Good metadata supports the long-term management of items in collections. More information.
6. Good metadata records are items themselves and therefore should have the qualities of good items, including authority, authenticity, archivability, persistence, and unique identification. More information.

Source: adapted from 'A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections', published by the National Information Standards Office, 2nd edition, 2004.