WHAT IS METADATA?

The concept of metadata, when applied in the context of current libraries, digital or traditional, typically refers to information that

• provides a (usually brief) characterization of the individual IO's in the collections of a library;
• is stored principally as the contents of library catalogs in TL's (traditional libraries);
• is used principally in aiding users to access IO's (information objects) of interest.

From Smith, Terence R. "The Meta-Information Environment of Digital Libraries." D-Lib Magazine, July/August 1996.

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ALEXANDRIA METADATA MANUAL

• Aerial photographs
  • Parent record for air-photo flight
  • Child record for a frame in a flight
  • Other-physical-form record, for scanned image of a frame
• Maps (hard copy)
• Spatial data in digital form

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PAPERS

• Metadata for spatial data in digital form. Alexandria and non-Alexandria papers.

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DOCUMENTS/TOOLS

• Metadata ingest into Alexandria
• A brief history of the Alexandria metadata schema
• Crosswalks
• Metadata standards
• Metadata standards: with brief descriptions and examples of implementations
• Tools for creating metadata
• Dublin Core Coverage Elements
• ADL Gazetteer Content Standard
• ADL Collection Metadata DTD

Contact: metadata@alexandria.sdc.ucsb.edu