Metadata for mere mortals - Part 2: Choosing standards Presented by Erin Antognoli, Metadata Librarian Welcome to part 2 of our Metadata for mere mortals series, which serves as a basic introduction to the principles and function of metadata for content and digital asset managers who lack formal training in this area. There are a lot of metadata standards out there, and in this video, we will examine: - What questions to ask to ensure you will meet the needs of your community/user group. - General subject or subject specific metadata standards like Dublin Core and ISO 19115, respectively. - The pros and cons of such metadata standards. Check out Part 1 of this webinar series: https://lac.gp/MetadataIntro Download our free metadata report, Making sense of metadata: https://lac.gp/MetadataReport Contact us: https://lac-group.com/contact-us/

1. Metadata for mere mortals
Part 2: Choosing standards
Erin Antognoli, Metadata Librarian

2. Recap from last module
Introduction & data life cycle
Metadata matters for clarity and
increased efficiency
Different types of metadata serve distinct
functions
● Descriptive
● Administrative
• Technical
• Preservation

3. FAIR principles

4. Metadata standard considerations
Who will be responsible for creating metadata?
Who will be searching your collection and why?
Will you need to integrate other collections?
FAIR Principles
✓ Findable
✓ Accessible
✓ Interoperable
✓ Reusable

5. Metadata reflects the user community
Each community has different information needs
Their work produces different types of elements
Different standards are available for different needs

6. Questions to ask when selecting
metadata standards
● What kinds of material are you working with?
● Who is the audience and how will they use the content?
● How granular and rich does the metadata need to be?

7. Questions to ask when selecting
metadata standards
● Is there a community of practice for the resource type?
● Are there integration and interoperability requirements?
● What tools or technologies are planned or available?

8. Community standards dictate metadata
General Subject Standards Subject-Specific Standards

9. Community standards dictate metadata
General Subject Standards
● Dublin Core (very flexible)
● MARC (machine-readable catalog)
● METS (descriptive, admin, structural)
● MODS (bibliographic description)
● PREMIS (digital preservation)
● EAD (archives – finding aids)
● DOI (Digital Object Identifier)

10. Community standards dictate metadata
Subject-Specific Standards
● Darwin Core (science data)
● ISO 19115 (geospatial)
● FGDC (geospatial)
● EML (ecology)
● EXIF (images)
● VRA (visual resources)
● CDWA (works of art)

11. Dublin Core
Contributor
Coverage
Creator
Date
Description
Format
Identifier
Language
Publisher
Relation
Rights
Source
Subject
Title
Type

12. Benefits & drawbacks of Dublin Core
Pros
Commonly used
• Originally used for web pages
• Now used for many materials
Designed for simplicity
• Easily understood / implemented
• Just 15 elements (since expanded
with numerous variants)

13. Benefits & drawbacks of Dublin Core
Cons
Can be TOO general
Can lead to inconsistency
Flexibility can be a downfall
• No cataloging rules
• Potential problems with access and
retrieval and duplicate records

14. Benefits & drawbacks of ISO 19115-2
Pros
Very specific subject focus
Ability to record very granular information
Elements interrelate
Support for hierarchies
International standard

15. Benefits & drawbacks of ISO 19115-2
Cons
With over 400 elements, can be
overwhelming
More complex to implement and use
Validation requirements can lead to
inaccurate information

16. ISO 19115-2

17. XML record for ISO 19115

18. Form-based metadata creation

19. Form-based metadata creation

20. Metadata planning and strategy

21. Summary
Metadata should reflect the user community
Standard selection involves series of questions
General and subject-specific standards
available
Comparison of Dublin (general) and 19115-2
(specific)

22. Thank you
Presented by Erin Antognoli, Metadata Librarian
For more information, contact us.