The Japanese American Legacy Project Preserving the past, inspiring the future
Jan 21, 2015
The Japanese AmericanLegacy Project
Preserving the past, inspiring the future
Making Sense of Metadata:A Practical Overview for Oral Historians
Geoff Froh, DenshoOHA PittsburghOctober 18, 2008
Today…
• Metadata Basics• Metadata Standards for Oral
History• Metadata in Oral History Practice
Metadata Basics
What Is Metadata?
• “Data about data”
• “Structured information that describes the attributes of an information package for the purpose of identification, discovery and management” (Taylor 2004)
A Simple Example
TitleAuthorPublisherDate
FormatBitrate
SubjectSizeOwner
What Are the Types of Metadata?
• Descriptive– What is it? What is it called? What is it
about?
• Administrative– What format is it? When was it created?
Who owns it?
• Structural– What are the parts? How are they
related?
What Is a Schema?
• A definition of the structure and semantics– Elements/attributes– Documentation of intended meaning
• Provide rules for the values– Syntax– Controlled vocabularies
How Is Metadata Recorded?
• Together with the resource– Embedded in the file format– Wrapped into a single file
• Separate from the resource– Database– Structured flat-file (XML)
What Is XML?
• Text-based format for data exchange• Data definition bundled with the data
<Book> <Title>Listening Is An Act of Love</Title> <Author>Isay, David</Author> <ISBN>0143114344</ISBN> . . .</Book>
Why Metadata?
• Resource DiscoveryHelp Users Find Things
• Archiving and PreservationMake Things Last
• InteroperabilityAllow Groups to Exchange Things
Metadata Standards for Oral History
What Are Standards And Why Would We Need Them?
• Standards Are An Agreement:– To Use a Common Schema– To Participate and Collaborate
• Standards Provide:– Interoperability (I can share what I
create)– Guidance (I can learn how to create)
DC: Dublin Core
• A generalized method for describing all kinds of electronic (and non-electronic) resources
• Developed by broad coalition of users
• Supported by a wide range of applications
• Simple – 15 core elements
EAD: Encoded Archival Description
• A method of encoding finding aids – a description and inventory of materials in an archive
• From the archival and library science traditions
• Complex• Archivists’ Toolkit
TEI: Text Encoding Initiative
• A way of representing textual materials (monographs, performances, transcripts)
• Used by a variety of disciplines across the humanities
• Usually encoded by hand (oxygenXML)• Requires an application profile (TEI-
Lite)
METS/PREMIS
• A container format for digital objects• Focused on the exchange of resources
and metadata between institutions• More for machines than for humans• Supported by a few applications
(CONTENTdm); but usually custom solutions
• Complex – modular structure
Why So Many Standards?
• Different uses, different users• Same resource may be described
in multiple ways• Mix and Match = OK
• Sometimes, standards are not enough…
Metadata in Oral History Practice
Wayback Machine: Circa 2000
• Legacy data– Created by non-experts– Trapped in silos
• Standards still emerging– No good examples to follow– Very few tools
Roll our own…
Densho Archive Framework
Two Questions
• Who Will Use Our Metadata?
• How Will We Produce Our Metadata?
Who Uses Our Metadata?
• Audience analysis– Staff– Densho Digital Archive & public
website visitors
• In the Future…– Partner repositories– Search agents
Metadata Tools
Metadata Tools
Metadata Tools
Metadata Tools
Metadata Tools
Metadata Tools
How Do We Produce Metadata?
• Workflow analysis– When does metadata capture
happen?– Who is responsible?
• Custom web application – Densho Archive Manager
Metadata Tools
Metadata Tools
In Summary…
• Metadata is about discovery, preservation and interoperability
• Standards provide guidance• Metadata should serve local
needs
Thank you!
http://www.densho.org/http://archive.densho.org/