A Brave New World: Archivists and Shareable Descriptive Metadata

Abstract

The notion of metadata has recently emerged in the cultural heritage community as a result of increased expectations for making descriptive metadata openly available. Archivists, too, must work to create shareable metadata if archives are to remain viable in a continually evolving information environment. This paper discusses the issues involved in applying shareable metadata principles to archival description, describes strategies and tools for creating shareable archival descriptive metadata, and considers emerging trends in metadata sharing. The authors also outline further recommendations for action by the archival community.