Making metadata matter
22
www.monash.edu.au Australian Society of Archivists Victorian Branch Seminar Accessibility over time – the retention, use and re-use of information in the digital age Thursday 21 August 2008, 2 - 4.30pm Outcomes from the Clever Recordkeeping Metadata Project Joanne Evans and the CRKM Research team
description
Australian Society of Archivists Victorian Branch Seminar Accessibility over time – the retention, use and re-use of information in the digital age Thursday 21 August 2008, 2 - 4.30pm. Making metadata matter. Outcomes from the Clever Recordkeeping Metadata Project. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of Making metadata matter
www.monash.edu.au
Australian Society of Archivists Victorian Branch Seminar Accessibility over time – the retention, use and re-use of information in the digital ageThursday 21 August 2008, 2 - 4.30pm
Outcomes from the Clever Recordkeeping Metadata Project
Joanne Evans and the CRKM Research team
www.monash.edu.au
2
Outline
• Metadata• Recordkeeping metadata• Clever Recordkeeping Metadata Project• Outcomes
– Service oriented architectures and implications for recordkeeping
– Developing and implementing recordkeeping metadata standards
www.monash.edu.au
3
Maturing understanding of metadata
• From ‘data about data’ to:-
Data are any and all complex data entities from observations, experiments, simulations, models, and higher order assemblies, along with the associated documentation needed to describe and interpret the data.
Metadata are a subset of data, and are data about data. Metadata summarize data content, context, structure, interrelationships, and provenance (information on history and origins). They add relevance and purpose to data, and enable the identification of similar data in different data collections.
National Science Foundation, Cyberinfrastructure Vision for 21st Century Discovery, March 2007 http://www.nsf.gov/od/oci/CI_Vision_March07.pdf
www.monash.edu.au
4
Defining metadata
• Metadata – structured data/information that describes an object in order
to facilitate its understanding, management and use.• Characteristics
– Metadata is recursive – Metadata may be intrinsic– Metadata may be extrinsic– Metadata is dynamic– Metadata is complex– Metadata may apply at various layers of granularity,
aggregation and abstraction– Purpose of metadata determines the attributes of the
object that are described– Metadata may be different and similar across metadata
communities
www.monash.edu.au
5
Defining metadata (continued)
• Metadata communities– Resource Discovery, Recordkeeping, Geospatial,
Digital Rights, Preservation, Document Management, Data management, etc.
• Metadata creation processes– Describing, Titling, Identifying, Annotating, Labelling,
Cataloguing, Classifying, Categorising, Relating, Audit trailing, Tagging, etc.
• Creation and management challenges– Expense – Resource intensive– Quality assurance
www.monash.edu.au
6
Recordkeeping Metadata
• Standardised information that identifies, authenticates, describes, manages and makes accessible, through time and space, documents created in the context of social and business activity.
– Traditionally some of this metadata has been captured in records systems and some in archival control systems and finding aids. And some of it has been present in the physical form, ordering, juxtaposition and location of records. Increasingly recordkeeping metadata is also captured in workflow, document management and knowledge management systems, and it is essential to make what was before evident in the physicality of the record explicit in metadata.
Source: Records Continuum Research Group, SPIRT Recordkeeping Metadata Project Glossary, http://www.sims.monash.edu.au/research/rcrg/research/spirt/glossary.html
www.monash.edu.au
7
Clever Recordkeeping Metadata Project
ARC Linkage Project mid 2003-2006Chief Investigator• Professor Sue McKemmish, Monash
University Partner Investigators • Professor Anne Gilliland-Swetland, UCLA• Mr Adrian Cunningham, National Archives
of AustraliaIndustry Partners and Collaborators• National Archives of Australia• State Records Authority of New South
Wales• Australia Society of Archivists, Committee
on Descriptive Standards
http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/research/groups/rcrg/crkm
www.monash.edu.au
8
Challenges for electronic recordkeeping
• Manual descriptive processes unsustainable
– cannot keep up with exponential increases in volumes of records created in the course of business and social activities
– cannot be applied at lower levels of granularity inherent to digital medium
– cannot keep up with transformations in way people work and communicate brought about by digital and network technologies
www.monash.edu.au
9
Metadata systems approach
• Bearman, Archivaria, 1993– develop tools and methods ‘to acquire descriptions of
individual records, files and record-keeping systems directly from the self-documenting features of electronic records systems.’
• Hedstrom, Archivaria, 1993– ‘In the electronic era, the descriptive paradigm will shift
from the practice of augmenting scarce descriptive information to one of selecting from an abundance of metadata, which could form a complete audit trail of all actions taken to create, update and modify a record, and all of its uses. Automated systems have the capacity to capture and record far more descriptive information than was technically possible or economically feasible with manual systems.’
www.monash.edu.au
10
www.monash.edu.au
11
Services model
Consumer
Registry
Finds service
Service Descriptions
Points to description
Service
Describes service
Locate service
Exchange messages
Source: Based on diagram from http://www.softstar-inc.com/
www.monash.edu.au
12
Service oriented architectures (SOA)
Recordkeeping Services
www.monash.edu.au
13
Recordkeeping in SOA
Metadata Broker
www.monash.edu.au
14
Metadata Broker as cluster of web services
Translation Service
Web Service Layer
Registry Service
Web Service Layer
AGEMS
Request to translate
AGEMS to RKMSCA
AGEMS – RKMSCA Crosswalk Service
Web Service Layer
Metadata Broker Client
Request the AGEMS – RKMSCA crosswalk
RKMSCA
www.monash.edu.au
15
Are we ready for service orientation?
Design for recordkeeping
Design for recordkeeping metadata
Design for interoperability
www.monash.edu.au
16
To participate in SOA …
• Overcome paper thinking and dominance of paper paradigm
www.monash.edu.au
17
To participate in SOA …
• Move beyond static resource discovery metadata models
EventHistory
Event Plan
PAST FUTURE
Cu
rren
tS
tate
Iden
tity
Des
crip
tion
Use
Rel
atio
n
EventHistory
Event Plan
PAST FUTURE
Cu
rren
tS
tate
Iden
tity
Des
crip
tion
Use
Rel
atio
n
EventHistory
Event Plan
PAST FUTURE
Cu
rren
tS
tate
Iden
tity
Des
crip
tion
Use
Rel
atio
n
Business
RecordsManagement
business
People(Agents)
Records
Integrated in
Create
Used by
DoIs
documentedin
Do
Record,Manage,Enable use
Govern
EstablishCompetencies
of
Account forExecution
of
Mandates
www.monash.edu.au
18
To participate in SOA …
• Standards for machine rather than human processability
Abstract
Representation
Conceptual Model
Metadata/Data Standard
Metadata/Data Standard
Metadata/Data Standard
Version 1
Encoding 1
Version 2 Version n
Encoding 2 Encoding n
Version 1 Version 2 Version n Registry Objects
Transport and Exchange
Recordkeeping Metadata
Standards
www.monash.edu.au
19
Standards and interoperability
• Standards compliance does not guarantee interoperability– Recordkeeping metadata standards are just
a part of an infrastructure for interoperability
Balance between standardisation activities for best current practice versus standardisation activities to deliver better next generation practices
www.monash.edu.au
20
Desktop Applications
Business Systems
Web Management System
Implementing recordkeeping metadata
Records Management Application
Archival Management Application
Subject Portals
Community Archives
Archival Gateways
Schema
Schema
Schema
Schema
Schema Schema
Crosswalk
Crosswalk
Crosswalk CrosswalkSchema
Records Management Application
Archival Management Application
Subject Portals
Community Archives
Web Management
Systems Archival Gateways
Email and Desktop
Applications
Metadata Broker
Business Information
SystemsMetadata
Broker
www.monash.edu.au
21
Innovate to service oriented future
Recordkeeping Services
www.monash.edu.au
22
• For more information see the Clever Recordkeeping Metadata Project Website
• http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/research/groups/rcrg/crkm
