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Metadata at Brown
Some Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is metadata?
  2. Why is metadata created?
  3. What types of metadata are there?
  4. What are some of these standards?
  5. How do I begin?
  1. What is metadata?
    Metadata is often defined as data about data, a brief, but not particularly useful definition. It often refers to library cataloging, or it may be used by others to mean only data about digital resources. According to Anne J. Gilliland, metadata "not only identifies and describes an information object, it also documents how that object behaves, its function and use, its relationship to other information objects, and how it should be managed." [1]
  2. Why is metadata important?
    Metadata makes it possible to access and use information resources of all types, not just electronic resources. Libraries have been creating metadata for years according to MARC and AACR2 in order to make it possible for users to locate print resources, first in card catalogs, and more recently, in their online public access catalogs. In recent years, these same general concepts have been applied to electronic materials not only to describe the items but to record information about managing, preserving, and housing the data.
  3. Why types of metadata are there?
    There are many different metadata standards. Different disciplines such as art or geology have developed metadata standards. There are standards for specific formats of materials such as encoded texts or recorded sound. Standards for different functions, such as preservation or rights management have been developed.

    When planning a digital project, metadata is one of the essential components. (See Digital Projects at Brown)

  4. What are some of these standards?

    DDI (Data Documentation Initiative)
    The Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) is an effort to establish an international criterion and methodology for the content, presentation, transport, and preservation of metadata about datasets in the social and behavioral sciences.

    Dublin Core

    The Dublin Core metadata element set is a standard for cross-domain information resource description. The 15-element set is frequently used by libraries, museums and government agencies for text, images, and other resources.

    EAD (Encoded Archival Description)

    The EAD is a standard for encoding archival finding aids.

    FGDC (Federal Geographic Data Committee)

    FGDC provides a common set of terminology and definitions for the documentation of digital geospatial data.

    IMS (Instructional Management Systems)

    The IMS Meta-Data Information Model is used to describe learning materials. It is based on a subset of the IEEE LOM (Learning Objects Metadata) elements.

    METS (Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard)

    The METS schema is a standard for encoding descriptive, administrative, and structural metadata regarding objects within a digital library, expressed using the XML schema language.

    MODS (Metadata Object Description Schema)

    MODS is a schema for a bibliographic element set that may be used for a variety of purposes, and particularly for library applications. It is intended to be able to carry selected data from existing MARC21 records as well as to enable the creation of original resource description records

    SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model)

    SCORM is a collection of specifications adapted from multiple sources that enable web-based systems to find, import, share, reuse, and export learning content.

    Text Encoding Initiative (TEI)

    The TEI is an international and interdisciplinary standard that helps libraries, museums, publishers, and individual scholars represent the physical and logical structures of all kinds of literary and linguistic texts for online research and teaching.

    Visual Resources Association Core Categories

    The VRA Core Categories consist of a single element set that can be applied as many times as necessary to create records to describe works of visual culture as well as the images that document them. They are used by image collections in libraries and museums.

  5. How do I begin?
    As you're shaping your project, Ann Caldwell, Metadata Specialist in the Technical Services Department, and other staff of the Digital Services Department will work with you to define your metadata requirements.

    1 "Setting the Stage", Anne J. Gilliland-Swetland, Introduction to metadata: pathways to digital information, edited by Murtha Baca, Getty Information Institute, version 2, 2000, http://www.getty.edu/research/institute/standards/intrometadata/index.html