Home

Chapter 10. Current Standards

Chapter 10 section titles

10.1 Metadata for General Purposes
10.1.1 Dublin Core (DC)
10.1.2 MODS and the MARC family
10.2 Metadata for Cultural Objects and Visual Resources
10.2.1 Introduction to CDWA
10.2.2 Important Concepts
10.2.3 The Element Sets of CCO, CDWA Lite, LIDO, and VRA Core
10.3 Metadata for Research Data
10.3.1 Overview
10.3.2 Metadata Standards for Geospatial Data
10.3.3 Metadata Standards for Biodiversity and Ecology Data
10.3.4 Metadata for Social Sciences Research Data
10.3.5 Summary
10.4 Metadata for Archives
10.4.1 Background
10.4.2 Finding Aids Examples
10.4.3 EAD Record at a Glance
10.4.4 EAC-CPF
10.4.5 Related Standards
10.5 Rights Management Metadata
10.5.1 Rights Metadata Elements for User-Oriented Rights Information
10.5.2 Rights-Holder Communities' Metadata Activities
10.5.3 Open Digital Rights Language (ODRL)
10.6 Metadata for Publishing and Press Communications
10.6.1 ONIX (ONline Information Exchange)
10.6.2 EPUB
10.6.3 IPTC Metadata Standards
10.7 Metadata for Multimedia Objects
10.7.1 The MPEG Standards
10.7.2 MPEG-7
10.7.3 ID3v2
10.7.4 PBCore, The Public Broadcasting Metadata Dictionary
10.8 Preservation and Provenance Metadata
10.8.1 Digital Preservation Metadata Standards
10.8.2 OAIS Reference Framework
10.8.3 Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies (PREMIS)
10.8.4 PROV for Provenance Interchange on the Web
10.8.5 DCMI Metadata Terms for Provenance
10.9 Metadata Describing Agents
10.9.1 vCard
10.9.2 FOAF (Friend of a Friend)

Links to sources

Note: There are seperate web pages for some standards. Follow a standard marked with a => sign to find the sources and exercises for that standard.

Each web page will open in a new panel.

The star* = newly updated* or added**

1 Metadata for general purposes

2 Metadata for Cultural Objects and Visual Resources

  • CDWA and CDWA Lite=>
  • * LIDO (Lightweight Information Describing Objects). Overview | What is LIDO | LIDO Schema
  • VRA Core=>
  • * Object ID
  • CCO.Download the entire Cataloging Cultural Objects book (in PDF)
    • CCO TOC:
      Front Matter
      		    7. Class
      Introduction
      		    8. Description
      Part One - General Guidelines
      		    9. View Information
      Part Two - Elements
      		 Part Three - Authorities
         A1 Personal Corporate Name
        1. Object Naming
      		    A2 Geography Place
        2. Creator Information
      		    A3 Concept
        3. Physical Characteristics
      		    A4 Subject
        4. Stylistic, Cultural and
        Chronological Information
      		 Bibliography
        5. Location and Geography
      		 Glossary
        6. Subject
      		 Contributors and Index

3 Metadata for Research Data

4 Metadata for Archives

5 Rights Management Metadata

6 Metadata for Publishing and Press Communications

7 Metadata for Multimedia Objects

8 Preservation and Provenance Metadata

9 Metadata Describing Agents

Exercises

Note: exercises for specific standards are also provided on the webpages designed for the standards. Check the above part (Links to sources) for more information.

Select one of the standards listed in the chapter to explore further, and prepare one (or more) of the following documents. To obtain the full benefit of this exercise in study and application, do not replicate what is already available on (or linked from) the standard's web site.

1. Fact Sheet: Prepare a fact sheet (1−2 pages) about a selected standard. Use at least three references available on the web. (A list of references should be included in the package.) Use the following template to cover:

  • –– the standard's history
  • –– namespace URI/IRI (if available)
  • –– data structure in general (major categories of elements, or major elements (not sub-elements))
  • –– data values (list of required or recommended vocabularies such as Art & Architecture Thesaurus, LCSH, DCMI Type Vocabulary)
  • –– data content (if there are best practice guides)
  • –– other activities, such as its
    • registry
    • crosswalk(s)
    • large repository/repositories or related digital library
    • significant project(s)
  • –– tools for generating metadata descriptions or supporting the search/
    index by search engines (this may apply only to some, e.g., FOAF)
  • –– URLs to the major sources provided by this standard developer

2. Element: If no original graphic view of the elements of this standard is available, create a figure to illustrate the elements, sub-elements
(see examples in the textbook for CDWA-lite, and VRA Core) and their relationships (see example in the textbook for CopyrightMD).
If the standard has already provided a figure, provide the link to the figure (e.g., the PB Core, pbcore.org/wp-content/uploads/PBCore-
Diagram-v2.jpg). Create a list of the elements or draw an alternative illustration.

3. Sample Metadata Description: Provide at least one sample metadata description or description set (record) that has used the standard. Use
color marks to show the structure of a record, or provide some explanation of the elements. For example, indicate:

  • –– the root element
  • –– major components/sections of a record
  • –– elements and sub-elements
  • –– attributes
  • –– controlled values
  • –– required elements
  • –– minimum recommended elements

4. Essay: Write a short essay (1−2 pages) about your observations of this standard based on your relative experience of creating metadata records using this schema. Compare with other schema(s) you used, where

Readings

For each section, read documents provided by the owner of the metadata standards
(e.g., DC, MODS, CDWA, VRA Core 4.0, EAD, PBCore, FOAF, ONIX, IPTC
Core, PROV, and so on); concentrate primarily on the specifications of the element
sets and user guides. Exclude XML schemas prepared for machine processing.

Takeaways

There has been both growth of different metadata vocabularies and attempts to reconcile the common attributes in the existing overlapping standards during the last two decades.

 

These standards are emblematic of the different aspects of metadata functions, encompassing descriptive,
structural, technical, administrative, preservation, and rights management interests.

 

The standards structure their elements in flat, nested, or networked structures.

More metadata vocabularies are also turning into ontologies.

 

When analyzing the building blocks of these standards, we can find similar components, procedures,
and methodologies that they have in common.