There is no way structurally to distinguish between metadata for different physical manifestations of a resource, for example, between the original object, the photograph of the object, and the digitized scan of the photograph. Carl Lagoze, Accommodating Simplicity and Complexity in Metadata, 2000ĬONTENTdm's database structure right now is flat. "By 'pretending' that a cross-section of resources is uniformly simple we thereby make it possible to search for them in a simple manner." Since all these fields have been mapped to the Dublin Core element "Creator", a cross-database search across multiple collections in the field "Creator" will retrieve the appropriate resources from whichever collection they are in, no matter what the collection-specific field name is. Or you could choose not to map certain fields to any DC element if the fields did not fit well into the DC schema, or if you didn't want to make these fields available for cross-database searching.Įxample: The fields in the table below are from different databases and all somehow represent the name of a person (or organization) involved in the creation of a resource. You may map each field in your collection to a corresponding Dublin Core element. (The Dublin Core is an internationally agreed upon basic metadata scheme that defines 15 general descriptive elements, for example, Creator, Title, Date, Subject, Publisher). In order to achieve this, CONTENTdm uses underlying mapping to simple Dublin Core (DC) elements to create a crosswalk between similar fields with different field names in different collections. make fields available for cross-database searchingĬONTENTdm has the capability to search multiple collections at once.decide whether each field will be searchable or will display.have as many fields in the description as you want.You can set up your metadata fields in the CONTENTdm Server Administration module under "View/edit collection field properties." CONTENTdm allows you to: This is especially useful if more than one person will be inputting metadata in your collection. Either way, with a controlled vocabulary you don't have to monitor your own consistency as you input metadata-the act of adhering to the list in itself will create the consistency you need. There are controlled vocabularies that already exist for many subject areas and disciplines, or you could create your own standardized list of terms if it were reasonably short and you needed something very specialized for your collection. A standard list of authorized terms can eliminate the ambiguity that arises from synonymous terms, homonyms, variant spellings and other pitfalls. This is where a "controlled vocabulary" or "authority file" can be useful. If different terms are used, the user may not even realize that more than one search is necessary. For example, a user looking for images of retail stores using the field "Subject" should be able to do a single search to find all the relevant images. Similarly, the resources about the same topic should have the same term used to describe them.In a field called "Photographer" the same person's name should always appear in the same form.In a field called "Date" make sure that dates are always formatted in the same way.Actually, which format you choose may not be as important as always using the same format for data in the same field. makes maintenance and possible migration of data easierĭata should be formatted in a standard way.enables compatibility with other collections (cross-database searching).increases coherence and intelligibility of description.Using standards for inputting your data is very important. Retrieval: How will users find resources in your collection? What will they be looking for? What aspects will they be interested in? At what level do you need to distinguish one resource from another, and at what level do you want to bring like resources together? It is important to know that the description will not only be displayed with the resource, but that the data contained in it can also be used for searching your collection by itself or in combination with other collections.ĭescription: What kind of information do you need to describe each resource? What do your users need to know about what the resource is, where it came from, who created it, what its significance is? How much detail do you need to go into? Each of these digital resources has a description (or "metadata") attached to it. Mapping to Dublin Core, formatting data, andĪ CONTENTdm collection contains digitized images, texts, videos, or other formats. Specific advice about choosing field names, The importance of consistency and standards Includes an introduction to Dublin Core mapping
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