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Metadata Explained

http://www.netskills.ac.uk/

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Overview

This talk will cover metadata issuesThe concepts of metadataUse of metadata in practiceThe difficulties in using metadata

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MetadataInformation about informationDifferent objects, different formseg Library catalogue record

Property: Value:

Author Ian Beardwell

Publisher Pitman

Date published 1994

Subject classification Human Resource Management

ISBN ISBN 0 273 60244 6

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Why is Metadata Important?Describe and locate informationJudge relevance of information Promote good information management

Plus .... Can help to promote your site Some search tools and information gateways use

metadata when locating and describing resources

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The HTML 'META' Tag<META NAME="property" CONTENT="value ">

Authors define properties and values Most common meta tags used by search engines:

<META NAME="description" CONTENT="Netskills is a quality internet training service delivering internet training workshops">

<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="Netskills, internet, training, workshops, courses">

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HTML 'META' Tag ReferencesW3C HTML 4.0 Recommendationwww.w3.org/TR/html4/struct/global.html#h-7.4.4

Web Design Groupwww.stack.nl/htmlhelp/reference/html40/head/meta.html

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Interpreting AttributesSimilar attributes may be interpreted differently

eg. DATE -what does it mean? The date the resource was put on the web? The date the original paper copy was written?

Consistency of values is important: It ensures searching for

information is effective It allows standard searches

to be made

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Setting ParametersInconsistencies can be reduced:

Clear labelling of attributes Lastname, initials, title

Formats and rules Formats -Author = Beardwell, I, DrDate = 01-Jan-97

Cataloguing rules -guidance on interpreting labels

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Dublin CoreWorkshop held in Dublin, Ohio -1995 'Document-Like Objects'

HTML, Postscript, images

15 core elements: Title, Creator, Subject, Description, Publisher,

Contributors, Date, Type, Format, Identifier, Source, Language, Relation, Coverage and Rights

Flexibility provided by qualifiers Date.Created, Date.Modified

Link tag points to definitions of DC element set

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Dublin Core Example<link rel="schema.DC" href="http://purl.org/dc"> <meta name="DC.Title" content="Netskills: Quality Internet Training"> <meta name="DC.Creator" content="Netskills Webmaster "> <meta name="DC.Subject" content="Netskills, internet, training,workshops, courses, training materials, free online courses"> <meta name="DC.Description" content="Netskills is a quality internettraining service delivering internet training workshops, online selfpaced tutorials and producing training materials for other trainersto buy and use."> <meta name="DC.Publisher" content="Netskills, University ofNewcastle, UK"> <meta name = "DC.Date.Created" content = "1999-08-25"> <meta name = "DC.Date.Modified" content = "2001-02-16"> <meta name="DC.Type" content="Text"> <meta name="DC.Format" content="text/html - 4,435 bytes"> <meta name="DC.Identifier" content="http://www.netskills.ac.uk/">

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Metadata DevelopmentWhich format to use?

Dublin Core? New standards?www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue5/metadata-masses/intro.html

Format can be easily altered by generatorsDC DOT – www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/dcdot/

Separate the metadata from the informationUse server-side includes (SSIs) Resource Description Framework (RDF)

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Uses of RDF Resource discovery - search engines Cataloguing - describe content and content relationships Describing intellectual property rights Intelligent software agents - information sharing Content rating Privacy preferences/policies Collections of pages as a single "document"

"RDF with digital signatures will be key to building the 'Web of Trust' for electronic commerce, collaboration, and other applications. "

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Disadvantages of MetadataIn the short-term, metadata imposes a

load on the serverMetadata stored in separate files?Difficult to convince information providers

of its importanceNeed for standardised usage and proceduresNot trusted by search engines

Keyword 'spamming' Inaccurate metadata

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Future ProofingMetadata can be very useful Metadata may need to be added

retrospectively to thousands of documents

Start collecting data now!Automate as much as possibleEnsure information providers use metadata