Metadata Support and Management
Eric ChildressKaren Smith-Yoshimura
OCLC Research
FutureCast, Washington D.C.
8 June 2011
Metadata Support & Management 2011-06 2
Long-term, keep doing more with less
19771982
19851988
19921995
19971998
20002002
20042006
2008$0
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
$150,000,000
$200,000,000
$250,000,000
$300,000,000
$350,000,000
$400,000,000
0.00%
0.50%
1.00%
1.50%
2.00%
2.50%
3.00%
US Academic Library Expenditures vs. Total Spending on Post-Secondary Education
Aggregate US Spending on Post-Secondary Education US Library Operating Exp. as % of Ed. Spending
$6.8 billion in 2008
OCLC Research. Derived from data reported in NCES Digest of Education Statistics: 2008.
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A limited population, growing economic pressure
19771982
19851988
19921995
19971998
20002002
20042006
2008$0
$1,000,000
$2,000,000
$3,000,000
$4,000,000
$5,000,000
$6,000,000
$7,000,000
$8,000,000
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
US Academic Libraries & Operating Expenditures1977-2008
Operating Expenditures Libraries
x 10
00
OCLC Research. Derived from data reported in NCES Digest of Education Statistics: 2008.
Increasing expense, decreasing purchasing power
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In US research libraries, a tipping point …
$- $5,000,000 $10,000,000 $15,000,000 $20,000,000 $25,000,000 $30,000,000 $35,000,000 $40,000,000 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Library Materials Expenditures (2007-2008)
Lic
ensed C
onte
nt
as %
of
Lib
rary
Mate
rials
$
OCLC Research. Derived from ARL Annual Statistics, 2007-2008
Majority of research libraries shifting toward e-centric acquisitions, service model
Shrinking pool of libraries with mission and resources to sustain print preservation as a ‘core’ operation
HarvardYale
Center of gravity
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The Semantic Web dream
“I have a dream for the Web [in which computers] become capable of analyzing all the data on the Web – the content, links, and transactions between people and computers.” —Tim Berners-Lee
Metadata Support & Management 2011-06 6
Metadata Support and Management
Three broad groups of activities:• Classification & Controlled Vocabularies• Tools and Processes• Works-based and Other Special Views
Help define future research services System-wide efficiencies in library management Services where library users are
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Classification & Controlled Vocabularies
•Classify [leveraging WC to support classification assignment]
•FAST [LCSH into machine-friendly facets]
•Terminology Services [BISAC, MeSH, more vocabs rendered for machines]
•VIAF [one file from many national authority files]
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Tools and Processes
•FAST Converter [demo tool for LCSH-to-FAST conversion]
•Metadata Schema Transformation Services
[metadata crosswalking]
•Name Extraction [pulling names from text]
•Sharing and Aggregating Social Metadata
[exploring crowdsourcing]
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Works-based and Other Special Views
•MapFAST [About-place titles shown on a map]
•Work Records in WorldCat [1 rich page per work]
•WorldCat Genres [1 rich page per genre]
•WorldCat Identities [1 rich page per person/corporate body/fictional character]
•WorldCat Publisher Pages [1 rich page per publisher]
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Networking Names
Basis: Networking Names Advisory Group developed use case scenarios and defined attributes of a “cooperative Identities Hub” (2009)
Reflected in EAC-CPF, NISO’s Institutional Identifiers, UK’s Names Project, WC Identities, VIAF
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One persona, many representations …
http://viaf.org/viaf/95216565
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Social Networks and Archival Context
socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu/xtf/search
Metadata Support & Management 2011-06 19
http://www.fihrist.org.uk/
Metadata Support & Management 2011-06 20
Freebase also uses Linked Data
freebase.com
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Networking Names
Looking forward: Extensible VIAF: Pilot with Syriac studies scholars to edit and add Syriac-script names to VIAF
ܦܛܪܝܪܟܐܕܐܠܟܣܢܕܪܝܐ ܩܕܝܫܐܩܘܪܝܠܘܣ
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Social Metadata
21-member working group from five countries
Identify success factors for tapping user contributions to augment and provide context to metadata created by libraries, archives, and museums
Reviewed 76 sites supporting social metadata; analyzed responses from 46 site managers to a survey
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Some recommendations
Differentiate creating communities around your organization and around your collections.
Leverage users’ enthusiasm to contribute.
Consider the trade-offs in using third-party hosted sites.
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Metadata Support and Management
• Classification & Controlled Vocabularies• Tools and Processes
Crowdsourcing and Collaboration
• Works-based and Other Special Views
What would you like OCLC Research and the OCLC Research Library Partnership do next?
Help define future research services System-wide efficiencies in library management Services where library users are
Resourcing: Trends and patterns