DPIP
Priorities: Needs, Challenges, Issues
Metadata
production and standards
Matthew Beacom,
Rebecca Irwin (site visit text by Katie Bauer)
December
19, 2005
Issues
Serving the
metadata production, development and re-use needs at Yale University Library requires
an overarching strategy to define the mission for metadata production and
development services, structure the mix of activities that make up metadata
production and development services, and relate them to other aspects of the
library’s larger integrated access mission.
Metadata is a critical part of the infrastructure necessary to support teaching, research, and publishing at Yale. Yale University Library needs to create and sustain a coherent, agile, and scalable metadata production and development program for digital resources, collections and services available to the Yale Community. The mission of such a program would be to provide administrative, descriptive and structural metadata that allows members of the Yale Community to manage, discover, and use the digital resources, collections, and services available at Yale. The metadata produced by such a program would support the library’s larger integrated access mission by creating conditions that help to optimize the re-use potential of digital materials at Yale.
The components
of such a metadata production and development program are:
Metadata Integration for Access
YUL
needs to produce metadata for a variety of uses, services, tools, materials,
and collections and do this in ways that support re-purposing the metadata and
associated digital resources in an integrated environment. The current status
at Yale is a mix of digital service silos (the Beinecke DL, MADID , Insight for
visual resources, the Medical Library’s digital resources, electronic materials
in Orbis, etc.). These and other silos
reflect both the idiosyncrasies of YUL organization and distinctive patterns of
use that are grounded both in distinctive types of content—image, language, data—and
distinctive uses—classroom use, publication,
and research. From the point-of-view of integrated access, work is
needed on tools for federated searching to combine like databases and metadata
harvesting to create consolidations of metadata for digital resources that can
support new services.
At
Cornell the assignment of metadata is part of the workflow of every DCAPS
project. Metadata is both structural
and descriptive. The two types of
metadata happen in separate parts of the workflow. Structural metadata is assigned in the digitization process, and
descriptive metadata is applied separately.
Some projects come to them with legacy metadata which is then mapped to
their standards. Key to their metadata
workflow is the presence of a full time programmer in the Metadata Group. This person functions to map metadata and to
load to the appropriate system.
Virtual Metadata Team
YUL
needs to share management of metadata production and development across units
and administrative structures by developing a virtual team with responsibility for
metadata production services and metadata development activities. Coordination
of metadata production, development, and re-use at YUL is essential to use
human resources effectively and create coherent, broad services for users.
At
Cornell, the provision of metadata is a major component of all digitization
projects done through DCAPS.
Structurally and bureaucratically the 8 person metadata group at Cornell
is part of the Cataloging Department.
Functionally, the metadata group is part of the DCAPS team, and the head
of the metadata group serves on the DCAPS management team. This approach grounds the metadata group in
a traditional library unit, while providing support for DCAPS activities.
Metadata Staffing
YUL
needs to assign staff—C&Ts, M&Ps, catalogers, systems, public services,
etc.—to metadata production services and metadata development activities.
Designated staff are necessary to understand our capacity and costs in ways
that allow us to take advantage of opportunities, plan for production needs,
and develop needed skill sets.
At
Cornell the Metadata Group consists of catalogers, support staff, and one
programmer. The programmer is key to
the work of the group. The creation of
this group with a steady level of digitization work has meant that they have
had both the need and the ability to develop expertise in a relatively short
period of time. Their work is not so
fragmented that they can't concentrate on digital projects and metadata for
digital projects. They have a core
group for sharing ideas, and their work receives the necessary programming
support.
To
begin a DPIP program at Yale, the two librarians who currently support metadata
might be sufficient for metadata staff, but they would also need to have access
to a full time programmer and at least one support staff person.
Metadata
Research and Development
YUL
needs to use the metadata production and development services virtual team for
research and development focused on the role of metadata in user-oriented
services. Metadata production at YUL
must have a research and development aspect to adopt new technologies and meet
user expectations for metadata-based services.
The
most important part of metadata activity at Cornell is a practical application
of emerging standards and theory to actual practice. This is important in a world where standards are not yet
set. It did not seem that a lot of time
is spent there in discussing standards.
Rather the metadata group makes policy decisions and is confident in
their ability to migrate their data to any new standard which may emerge.
Tools
YUL
needs to use a shared suite of supported metadata production tools to create,
edit, exchange, re-format, and re-purpose metadata for resources in Yale
University Library (both batch and individual processes).
The
DCAPS Metadata Group at Cornell has adapted several tools for filling this
need. They have not found the perfect
solution. They use XML editors, and
unfortunately the need to understand XML adds a layer of complexity for staff
who only need to enter data. Ideally
they wish to invest in tools that will hide some complexity, but they have made
no decision yet.
Element Sets
YUL
needs to use shared metadata element sets like the Yale Element Set to support
discovery, management, and use of resources across collections (through cross
collection search tools or harvested metadata). Extensions to the Yale Element
Set for various types of formats such as audio and moving image materials and
preservation activities are needed.
Content standards
YUL
needs to use shared metadata content standards to provide consistent semantics
in metadata across collections. YUL will need to use a variety of existing,
emerging, and novel content standards—AACR, DACS, CCO, etc.—to serve its
diverse collections and uses.
Cornell
has a decentralized model as Yale does.
DCAPS is not decentralized but it is serving the needs of a diverse set
of projects from many different collections.
In such a decentralized model it is clear that the adoption of standards
will be key so that the various collections will all be consistent in their use
of metadata, so that collections can be searched together even if they
"live" on different platforms.
Best Practices
YUL
needs to use shared best practices across all metadata production units to
maximize quantity, quality, and consistency. Best practices include use of
element sets, content standards, work flow designs, and benchmarking production
costs and productivity.
Documentation
YUL
needs to create or adapt and use shared documentation to support best
practices—policies, procedures, tool use—and support training staff who are
engaged with metadata production and development.
Training
YUL
needs to develop and implement cross unit training programs for staff engaged with
metadata production and development.
The
metadata group at Cornell plays a key role in educating and supporting metadata
activities in other library units (Cornell has a very decentralized structure
where cataloging may take place at all of the 20 unit libraries.) The virtual nature of the Metadata Group
within DCAPS helps in this activity.
This gives Cornell a core group of metadata staff who are committed to
the DCAPS agenda, but at the same time are spreading metadata practices out to
an ever-widening circle of other staff.
Eventually, this will mean that metadata practices are embedded in all
cataloging activity, and the metadata group may cease to exist. Currently, it is clear that a separate
well-staffed group has a key role to play.