Metadata
This page provides an introduction to standards issues around Metadata. See also the Recommended standards on Metadata.
- What is metadata?
- What standards apply to metadata?
- What is Vetadata?
- How does metadata facilitate access to resources?
- How does metadata assist in managing resources?
What is metadata?
Metadata is often described as "data about data", and reflects the kind of information found in a traditional library catalogue. Metadata is used to provide information about a resource that does not necessarily need to be displayed within the content itself.
In the context of learning resources, it is structured information about a print or digital resource describing the resource itself, as well as aspects such as its creation and administration, copyright conditions and technical features (eg size, format).
What standards apply to metadata?
A metadata record consists of a set of elements (sometimes called fields or attributes) that describe different aspects of a resource. Examples of information commonly stored as a metadata record may include authorship, title, publication date, description, copyright information, and subject keywords.
A metadata schema defines this set of elements, the rules for their use, and any controlled vocabularies to be used.
Dublin Core (DC) was the first metadata standard for description of digital information. Using this standard involves embedding a series of metadata tags that correspond with the defined elements within an HTML document. The content of the HTML page sets the scope of the resource .
This works well for information sites and it is mandatory for government agencies to use DC metadata in the Australian Government Locator System (AGLS).
The EdNA metadata standard, an extension of Dublin Core, and its descriptive vocabularies is also used broadly in Australian education circles.
With the growth of interest in the exchange of learning objects and their rapid increase in numbers, the IMS project undertook the development of a metadata schema directly oriented towards their use. The Learning Object Metadata (LOM) standard became an accredited IEEE standard in July 2002. Using this standard involves storing the metadata records in a database and transferring them within an XML document.
Complying with an international standard (such as DC or LOM) maximises interoperability and simplifies the creation of metadata. However many organisations and user communities create their own "application profile" which can:
- combine elements from more than one metadata scheme,
- simplify the selection of elements and refine their use in a particular context, and
- extend the metadata with locally relevant cataloguing and management information, while retaining the advantages of interoperability in the broader centext.
Using a table, it is possible to map the relationships and equivalencies between two or more metadata schemes. Metadata mapping supports the ability of search engines to search effectively across differing databases.
What is Vetadata?
During 2004, a VET Metadata Application Profile (Vetadata) was collaboratively developed to meet the needs of the Australian training community. It consists of a subset of the IEEE LOM v1.0 elements and specifies a group of controlled vocabularies.
Vetadata has been approved by FLAG and was released for use in January 2005.
The specification, together with guidelines and examples, can be viewed on the Vetadata page. Guidelines for organisations implementing Vetadata and a guide for individuals using it to describe resources are available, as well as the specification itself. The page also provides example records, contacts for support, and additional references.
How does metadata facilitate access to resources?
The number of resources available within organisations, across the training sector, and more broadly within national and international collections is increasing rapidly.
Metadata allows us to describe these resources in simple and small packages of information. Internet based search engines use this background information to assist people to find what they are seeking. The metadata records can be made freely available to more people, more easily, than the resources themselves.
The key to using metadata is to ensure that resources are described in a consistent manner so that end-users find the resources they are looking for. This also allows organisations to market and expose their resources nationally and internationally.
How does metadata assist in managing resources?
Metadata is valuable not only for discovery and use of resources but also for the efficient management, reuse and exchange of resources.
In the online environment, metadata facilitates:
- the creation of well structured descriptions of learning resources which in turn facilitate the discovery, location, evaluation and acquisition of learning resources
- sharing of descriptions of learning resources between resource discovery systems which leads to a reduction in the cost of providing high quality services
- tailoring of the resource descriptions to suit special community needs, especially through the use of suitable controlled vocabularies
- complex and refined searching for learning resources through sophisticated filtering mechanisms.
