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Chapter 3. Creating Metadata Descriptions

Chapter 3 section titles

3.1 Requirements for Metadata
3.2 Basic Unit of Metadata
3.2.1 Metadata Statement, Description, and Description Set
3.2.2 Relationships between Resources
3.3 Knowing the Difference
3.4 Levels of Granularity
3.4.1 Describing Individual Items that Constitute a Collection:
Item-level Description
3.4.2 Describing the Entirety of a Collection: Collection-level Description
3.4.3 Dataset-Level Metadata
3.4.4 Resource Decomposition
3.5 Metadata Sources
3.5.1 Manual Generation of Metadata
3.5.2 Automatic Generation of Metadata
3.5.3 Combination of Manual and Automatic Methods
3.5.4 Harvested Metadata
3.5.5 Converted Metadata
3.5.6 User-Contributed Metadata
3.6 Metadata Storage
3.6.1 Internal Storage
3.6.2 External Storage
3.7 Expressing Metadata
3.7.1 HTML
3.7.2 XML
3.7.3 RDF/XML and other RDF Serialization Formats
3.8 Linkage, Wrapper, Display, and Parallel Metadata
3.8.1 Linking between Descriptions for Different Resources
3.8.2 Wrapping
3.8.3 Encoding for Display
3.8.4 Encoding for Bilingual Metadata Statements
3.9 Combining Metadata Descriptions and Linking Resources
3.9.1 METS
3.9.2 One RDF/XML Document Containing Multiple “Resource”
Descriptions
3.9.3 Aggregation
3.10 Conclusion

Links to sources

 

The star* = newly updated* or added**

Figure 3-2-3 CDWA's Entity-Relationship Diagram ..... 89

Figure 3-4-1 The context considered in the W3C recommendation Data on the Web Best Practices ..... 97

Section 3.5.6 User-Contributed Metadata ..... 114 -116

*Figure 3-6-1 A screenshot of the front-end entry of a computer science technical report from Caltech Collection of Open Digital Archives (Persistent URI: http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechCSTR:2002.003) ..... 117

Figure 3-6-2 Metadata statements embedded in the entry. [Please choose (1) Tools=>Brower Tools=>Page Source and (2) Tools==> Page Info using Firefox browser] ..... 118

Figure 3-6-6 A screenshot of record editing using ContentDM software ..... 123

Figure 3-6-7 A web-accessible database displaying metadata records in a table ..... 123

Figure 3-6-8 Individual metadata record in the Cleveland Memory Project database ..... 124

Figure 3-7-2 Metadata etc. web site's HTML document where, in the <body> section, RDFa codes are added (#1), from which the structured data (#3) are extracted using the RDFa Play software. [To try by yourself: Click here to access the text file by viewing its source code or dowloading it, then use RDFa Play.] ..... 130

Figure 3-7-3 Visualization of the structured data (#3 in figure 3-7-2, in pdf), generated using RDFa Play software. [The PDF file may take a couple of minutes to appear.] ..... 130

Figure 3-7-4. Sample VRA Core description for <agent> when using an XML editor [Find the original VRA Core record example provided by VRA in html and xml] ..... 132

Figure 3-7-5. VRA Core 4.0 Syntax with encoding examples. Generated using a sample VRA Core record example provided by VRA ..... 133

Figure 3-7-6 Graph of the metadata description set using the RDF/XML codes from exhibit 3-7-3, generated by W3C RDF Validation Service ..... 135

Figure 3-9-1 The METS Architecture, composite based on McDonough, 2006 ..... 145

Figure 3-9-2 A METS record example with a MODS record in the Descriptive Metadata section [from METS Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard's METS Primer (PDF)] ..... 146

FIGURE 3-9-3 METS record example with a reference link to a MODS record [from METS Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard's METS Primer (PDF)] ..... 147

Figure 3-9-4 Visualization of three "resources" described and graphs connected, generated using W3C RDF Validation Service. [The PDF file may take a couple of minutes to appear.]..... 149

Exercises

1. Open any Microsoft Word document and add metadata descriptions.

Instructions: Choose File --> Properties, then fill in the template provided in the Summary and Custom windows.
(To complete this exercise, Microsoft Word software is needed.)

2. Open a PDF file and add metadata descriptions.

Instructions: Choose File --> [Document] Properties and fill in values in the Description window. Also try Additional Metadata and Advanced and explore different schemes of properties.
(To complete this exercise, Adobe Acrobat software is needed.)

3. Open an image from Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Bridge and add metadata descriptions.

Instructions for CS5 (Creative Suite):
–– Option 1: Open the image form by choosing File --> Browse (or Browse in Bridge). Select an image to preview and add metadata.
–– Option 2: Choose File --> File Info to open the template. Either use the default “Basic” or select “IPTC” and “IPTC Extension” template to fill in values in the template. After adding the metadata statements and saving, choose Edit --> Search to find the image you just described.
(To complete this exercise, Adobe Photoshop CC software
is needed. Note that different versions of CS or CC may perform slightly differently.)

4. Explore “VRA Core Cataloging Examples” provided by the VRA Core Oversight Committee, available at http://core.vraweb.org/vracore_examples.html.

Instructions:
(1) Select any two items; compare the records in “full record” view, “minimal record” view, and “XML” format view.

(2) Look for the descriptions of “agent” in both the full record
and the XML record.

5. Use the DC-template provided by the book's web site to create a metadata description.

Instructions:
(1) Go to http://metadataetc.org/dctemplate.html, enter the data value in each field and submit.
(2) Choose to see the output in Preview mode or in HTML or XML format. You may copy any version of the output into a separate WORD or HTML file.
(3) Analyze descriptions based on the explanations in sections 3.7.1 and 3.7.2.

Additional hands-on exercises:
(4) Go to the W3C RDF validator (https://www.w3.org/RDF/Validator) to validate an RDF/XML record and visualize the RDF triples. After copying your RDF/XML codes and pasting them into the box, choose (from the pull-down list) the Display Result Options as “Triples and Graph,” and then click “Parse RDF.”
(5) Use an RDF converter (e.g., EasyRdf Converter; https://www.easyrdf.org/converter) to convert the RDF/XML record into different RDF formats (refer to section 3.7.3).

6. Create metadata descriptions using CONTENTdm.

(To complete this exercise, a CONTENTdm client and an account are needed. Go to www.oclc.org/en-US/contentdm/ordering.html for a free trial or a full evaluation copy.)

7. Create a VRA XML record using oXygen software.

(To complete this exercise, an oXygen client and a license are needed. Go to www.oxygenxml.com/ to obtain a free 30-day trial license.)

Readings

Baca, Murtha, Patricia Harpring, Elisa Lanzi, Linda McRae, and Ann Whiteside, eds., on behalf of the Visual Resources Association. 2006. "VIII. Database Design and Relationships." In Cataloging Cultural Objects, A Guide to Describing Cultural Works and Their Images, 20−27. Chicago: American Library Association. http://vraweb.org/resources/cataloging-cultural-objects/

Baker, Thomas. 2012. "Libraries, Languages of Description, and Linked Data: A Dublin Core Perspective." Library Hi Tech 30 (1):116−33.

Charles, Valentine, and Antoine Isaac. 2015. “Enhancing the Europeana Data Model (EDM).” White paper, Europeana Foundation, May 30, 2015. https://pro-beta.europeana.eu/files/Europeana_Professional/Publications/EDM_WhitePaper_17062015.pdf.

Greenberg, Jane. 2002. "Metadata Generation: Processes, People and Tools." Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 29 (2):16-19. https://asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/bult.269.

NISO Framework Advisory Group. 2007. A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections. 3rd ed. https://www.niso.org/sites/default/files/2017-08/framework3.pdf

Shreeves, Sarah, Jenn Riley, and Liz Milewicz. 2006. "Moving Towards Shareable Metadata." First Monday 11 (8). https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1386/1304

ADVANCED READINGS

Powell, Andy, Mikael Nilsson, Ambjörn Naeve, Pete Johnston, and Thomas Baker. 2007. "DCMI Abstract Model." https://www.dublincore.org/specifications/dublin-core/abstract-model/

Schreiber, Guus, and Yves Raimond. 2014. “RDF 1.1 Primer.” W3C Working Group Note 24 June 2014. https://www.w3.org/TR/rdf11-primer/.

Smith-Yoshimura, Karen. 2020. Transitioning to the Next Generation of Metadata. Dublin, OH: OCLC Research. https://doi.org/10.25333/rqgd-b343.

Takeaways

1. The conceptual transition
from traditional metadata "records"
to "statements" or "descriptions"
represents
a fundamental change
in creating, managing, sharing,
combining, and linking metadata.

 

2. One-to-One Principle:
Each metadata description describes only one resource,
and
resources can be connected through metadata statements.

 

 

3. We need to
understand the resources and
know their differences
before
selecting a metadata standard
or creating an application profile
to describe them.


4. HTML, RDFa, XML, RDF/XML .....
Well, at least I know
what they look like
in metadata descriptions.
:-)