Metadata, which is literally “data about data,” is
structured information describing a resource. Metadata is used to
find,
gather
maintain resources over long periods of time.
Metadata can describe a variety of information such as: the subject matter
of the resource; the creators of the resource; the legal rights to the
resource; the technical information to store and access the resource.
Consistent application of descriptive metadata contributes to online search
success and makes information retrieval within a single collection (or
across multiple collections) more reliable. Metadata is also important
to the documentation and maintenance of interrelationships between information
resources. Administrative, technical, and preservation metadata can all
contribute to the management of information resources and helps to ensure
their intellectual integrity.
Most descriptive metadata be mapped to the Dublin Core metadata standard.
In the administrative module of Contentdm, the administrator begins with
Simple DC elements, and may add or delete fields to suit each collection.
A grid of metadata choices may look like this:
Field
properties
View, add, edit
and delete fields. Enable full text searching and controlled vocabulary.
Once you have added, changed, or deleted fields, index the collection
to allow changes to take effect.
For each field, choices are made to map content to a specific
Dublin Core element; hide or display data; make fields searchable or not;
and apply a controlled vocabulary to the field or not.
Standards
Format standard: Dublin Core. For a discussion, refer to:
Subject headings: Thesaurus for Graphic Materials I (subjects) and II
(form/genre terms).
Names: Library of Congress Name Authority File
Preservation Metadata
Preservation metadata is the information infrastructure that supports
the processes associated with digital preservation. It is the information
necessary to maintain the viability, renderability, and understandability
of digital resources over time.
Purdue Libraries recognizes the TIFF file as the digital master,
and assumes 0 compression.
TIFF
Element
Example
Currently
capture
Date
yyyyddmm
Y/incorrect
format
Transcriber
Purdue University Libraries,
ASC
N
Producer
Purdue University Libraries,
ASC
N
Capture
device
Kronton
3012
Y/Silverfast
N/Photoshop
Capture
details
PixelCraft
Proimager 8000
Y
Change
history
Orig.
dig. master image mig. from TIFF v.X to..
N
Validation
key
Standard
internet checksum
N
Encryption
RSA
Public Key Cryptosystem
N
Resolution
600
dpi
Y
Source
1
photograph : b&w ; 18 x 22 cm.
Y/dimensions
Color
8-bit
Y
Color
management
Softproof
(Photoshop Plugin)
N
Color
bar/Gray scale bar
Kodak
Z60 Color Input Target
N
Control
targets
AIIM
Scanning TEST Chart #2
N
ja/DIGITs
10/3/2005 rev 10/14
Finally the DIGITs team chose the following preservation
metadata fields:
Capture device
Capture details
Validation key
Resolution
Color Depth
Color management
Metadata harvesting
Contentdm is compliant with OAI-PMH (Open Archives Initiative
Protocol for Metadata Harvesting), which is an emerging standard for metadata
harvesting. Contentdm supports collection-level OAI harvesting. Our collections
are harvested by the CIC metadata portal and OAIster. For more information,
see the Open Archives Initiative web page at http://www.openarchives.org
