Future of Metadata

Jill Strass

October 1, 2007

Where is metadata going?

Metadata Golden Rule: When content and record become one entity, content providers will determine the nature of metadata.

Where does metadata come from?

MARC21 or existing standards Content providers – i.e. EBSCO Free on the Internet – i.e. Bartleby and Gutenberg Homegrown metadata – custom-made databases

specific to organizations Database administrator’s role in metadata creation

Database admin and metadata

Naming fields (creating metadata) Designing databases Creating conceptual schemas (either on purpose

or incidentally) Creating indexes

Possible metadata futures

Data fiefdoms and tower of Babel effectMetadata thesaurusUtopian paradise of correctly modified and

applied standards that evolve in perfect pace with technological change.

Probable reality of multiple, concurrent standards in competition with each other (like VHS and Beta).

Metadata thesaurus: a solution to the Tower of Babel effect

Acts as a translation mechanism between standards by classifying data elements and matching their equivalents.

Would allow multiple standards to co-exist Would require significant investment in time;

cooperation with vendors; and/or frequent close inspection of data fields used by vendors.

Is the catalog still relevant?

What goes in the catalog? – If electronic content replaces books, where do we draw the line? Why not just have users search licensed databases?

The future catalog– Points to content– Provides content

Librarians as editors – Putting content into context for users (Wikis, If-you-like databases as in Amazon and some library catalogs)

Librarians as Editors – Use metadata to put info in context for users

Most library sites only offer lists of links Wikis allow us to offer information in context St Joseph Indiana Public Library uses Wikipedia

format to give offered links a context http://www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides/index.

php/Jobs Creating this kind of content is much easier with

appropriate metadata

Slimming the hit list

FRBR Records need to be considered for weeding, just like books,

not because they take up space on a server, but because old records that aren’t useful take up valuable real estate on a hit list.

– Temporary records from botched circ transactions– Vendor records (On-order records)– Content that resides on someone else’s server: Licensing and

ownership issues (licensed databases and flaky websites)– Weeding (if we put it in, when do we pull it out?) – Leading users to the best resource for their search

Conceptual Schemas and Search

– Customizing the data to fit the search engine and vice-versa

– Relational vs. flat file– Advanced search functions

Field-based search Popularity engines like Google Site-based engines like Rollyo Federated search

Search interfaces

Aquabrowser – browse-friendly searching Field-based search – finding specific information Alternatives to text-based search

– Hmmm, voice activated technology still converts to ASCII…

– Finding photos and video still relies on keyword search….

Will we ever get rid of Boolean?

Probably not. Indexes are here to stay, too. The reason? Think about Desk Set and the argument that Katharine Hepburn’s character made. “They can’t replace us with a computer, there is too much cross-referencing that we do.”

This is still true today.

In Summary

Metadata Golden Rule – content providers will determine the nature of metadata

Key to exploiting organizational power of metadata – Conceptual schema

Editorial librarian – Use metadata to put info into context for users