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ACS 6820 (Dr. Radhika Gajjala): Metadata

What is metadata?

It's data about data.  More specifically, metadata is a vocabulary that consists of elements or tags that are used to describe a variety of materials including: books, web pages, journal articles, data sets, images, digital exhibitions, and physical objects.

Examples of everyday metadata:

  • tagging photos in Facebook or Flickr
  • naming MS Word files
  • giving a title to a Youtube video
  • library catalog record

Omeka uses the Dublin Core metadata standard.  See the box at right for core elements.

 

What are the core elements in Dublin Core?

There are many potential elements that can be used in Dublin Core.  Here are the 15 basic elements that we as an institution suggest you use whenever possible:

  • Title
    • name of the resource
  • Creator
    • entity primarily responsible for the creation of the resource
  • Subject
    • topic of the resource
  • Description
    • account of the resource
    • e.g. summary, table of contents
  • Publisher
    • who/what made the resource available
  • Contributor
    • who/what made contributions to the resource
    • someone who contributed a file an Omeka project or who donated a collection
  • Date
    • date when the original resource was created, not the digitized version
  • Type
    • the nature or genre of the resource
    • use these itemtypes from Omeka: Document, Moving Image, Oral History, Sound, Still Image, Website, Event, Email, Lesson Plan, Hyperlink, Person, or Interactive Resource
  • Format
    • physical medium, file format, or dimensions of a resource
  • Identifier
    • a unique way to identify the resource
    • e.g. vol./issue no., accession number
  • Source
    • resource from which the resource came
  • Language
    • language of the resource
  • Relation
    • a related resource
    • e.g. separate issues from a particular series
  • Coverage
    • usually the spatial or temporal topic
    • e.g. postcard - does it depict a location or a time period?
  • Rights
    • statement about various property rights over the resource
    • e.g. Creative Commons, Public Domain

What are some examples of metadata schema?

You can find examples of various kind of metadata schema all over the web.  The Library of Congress maintains a list of some of the more well-known schema.

Learn more about Dublin Core metadata: