The Japanese AmericanLegacy Project

Preserving the past, inspiring the future

Making Sense of Metadata:A Practical Overview for Oral Historians

Geoff Froh, DenshoOHA PittsburghOctober 18, 2008

Today…

• Metadata Basics• Metadata Standards for Oral

History• Metadata in Oral History Practice

Metadata Basics

What Is Metadata?

• “Data about data”

• “Structured information that describes the attributes of an information package for the purpose of identification, discovery and management” (Taylor 2004)

A Simple Example

TitleAuthorPublisherDate

FormatBitrate

SubjectSizeOwner

What Are the Types of Metadata?

• Descriptive– What is it? What is it called? What is it

about?

• Administrative– What format is it? When was it created?

Who owns it?

• Structural– What are the parts? How are they

related?

What Is a Schema?

• A definition of the structure and semantics– Elements/attributes– Documentation of intended meaning

• Provide rules for the values– Syntax– Controlled vocabularies

How Is Metadata Recorded?

• Together with the resource– Embedded in the file format– Wrapped into a single file

• Separate from the resource– Database– Structured flat-file (XML)

What Is XML?

• Text-based format for data exchange• Data definition bundled with the data

<Book> <Title>Listening Is An Act of Love</Title> <Author>Isay, David</Author> <ISBN>0143114344</ISBN> . . .</Book>

Why Metadata?

• Resource DiscoveryHelp Users Find Things

• Archiving and PreservationMake Things Last

• InteroperabilityAllow Groups to Exchange Things

Metadata Standards for Oral History

What Are Standards And Why Would We Need Them?

• Standards Are An Agreement:– To Use a Common Schema– To Participate and Collaborate

• Standards Provide:– Interoperability (I can share what I

create)– Guidance (I can learn how to create)

DC: Dublin Core

• A generalized method for describing all kinds of electronic (and non-electronic) resources

• Developed by broad coalition of users

• Supported by a wide range of applications

• Simple – 15 core elements

EAD: Encoded Archival Description

• A method of encoding finding aids – a description and inventory of materials in an archive

• From the archival and library science traditions

• Complex• Archivists’ Toolkit

TEI: Text Encoding Initiative

• A way of representing textual materials (monographs, performances, transcripts)

• Used by a variety of disciplines across the humanities

• Usually encoded by hand (oxygenXML)• Requires an application profile (TEI-

Lite)

METS/PREMIS

• A container format for digital objects• Focused on the exchange of resources

and metadata between institutions• More for machines than for humans• Supported by a few applications

(CONTENTdm); but usually custom solutions

• Complex – modular structure

Why So Many Standards?

• Different uses, different users• Same resource may be described

in multiple ways• Mix and Match = OK

• Sometimes, standards are not enough…

Metadata in Oral History Practice

Wayback Machine: Circa 2000

• Legacy data– Created by non-experts– Trapped in silos

• Standards still emerging– No good examples to follow– Very few tools

Roll our own…

Densho Archive Framework

Two Questions

• Who Will Use Our Metadata?

• How Will We Produce Our Metadata?

Who Uses Our Metadata?

• Audience analysis– Staff– Densho Digital Archive & public

website visitors

• In the Future…– Partner repositories– Search agents

Metadata Tools

Metadata Tools

Metadata Tools

Metadata Tools

Metadata Tools

Metadata Tools

How Do We Produce Metadata?

• Workflow analysis– When does metadata capture

happen?– Who is responsible?

• Custom web application – Densho Archive Manager

Metadata Tools

Metadata Tools

In Summary…

• Metadata is about discovery, preservation and interoperability

• Standards provide guidance• Metadata should serve local

needs

Thank you!

http://www.densho.org/http://archive.densho.org/