introduction to databases and metadata
TRANSCRIPT
Workshop outline• What are databases?
• What are the elements of databases?• What is metadata?• Why are they important for digital projects?
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Rafia MirzaDigital Humanities Librarian
[email protected]@librarianrafia
Contact information
Why create a database? • Databases: • Sets of related data that
contain information used to organize a collection of (digital ) items • Used to organize
information in such a way that it is easily: • Accessed• Managed • Updated • Via
Database standards • Database standards
make sure info is organized in such a way that future users can easily find info they are looking for.• ---------------------• Looks pretty but only
useful if future user cares about book color and not book content
Photo by STML https://flic.kr/p/2NwbJL
Relational Data • Relational data is how you let the computer know that fields in
different worksheets/ tables are related • Unique Elements allow the computer program you are using to
understand how to relate data from multiple tables in your workbook to each other • It allows merging of tables and disparate data sets
• So in certain projects you will have a workbook with multiple worksheets• Each worksheet will have an element (like an id number) that will
relate (be the same) to another worksheet in that workbook
Relational Data • Here is an example of how unique elements in each table relate
to at least one other table
Image via Kenneth E. Foote and Donald J. Huebner, The Geographer's Craft Project, Department of Geography, The University of Colorado at Boulder.
What is Metadata?
Video via Timelapse: What is Metadata? By tortoisebutler
What is Metadata? • “Metadata was traditionally in the card catalogs of libraries. ..”
Image of Card Catalog - Reading Room via www.GlynLowe.com Image of Card Catalog 2 via bookfinch
What is Metadata? • “…As information
has become increasingly digital, metadata is also used to describe digital data using metadata standards specific to a particular discipline.” via wikipedia
Metadata in everyday life
Metadata in everyday life
What are Metadata Standards?
Example of standardization rules
Image via Music Metadata Style Guide V. 2 by the Music Business Association’s Digital Supply Chain and Operations Workgroup
Example of a metadata standard: Dublin Core
• Dublin Core is a metadata standard used by libraries and archives for digital items that consists of 15 basic fields that can be used to describe any digital object, no matter what it is
Example of a metadata standard: ID3
• "ID3 is a de facto standard for metadata in MP3 files” via wikiepdia • “ID3 tags provide the Title, Artist, Year, Genre and other great information when you're listening to music….
• “An ID3 tag is a data container within an MP3 audio file stored in a prescribed format. This data commonly contains the Artist name, Song title, Year and Genre of the current audio file.” via id3.org
Image via Wikipedia
Input Rules
Questions?Image via Dom Dada