Metadata for Digital Collections: A How-to-Do-It Manual

Abstract

Understanding the metadata needs of digital collections may sound intimidating for the librarian who has little experience working with digital materials or with metadata or both. However, Steven J. Miller's guide may be just the tool to assist a novice in such a project. This guide does not presume that the user has any cataloging experience at all and is written at a beginner's level. This large topic could easily become lost in the details of schemes or workflows, but Miller reins it in by focusing on only three schemes: Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS), Visual Resources Association (VRA) Core, and Dublin Core. In fact, he suspects that most readers will be using Dublin Core and embeds Dublin Core–based information and examples in several of the chapters covering resource description, resource identification elements, and resource content and relationship elements. The book is laid out like a manual, with chapters ranging from introductory information about metadata fundamentals, to controlled vocabulary and extensible markup language (XML), and to step-by-step guidelines on designing and documenting a metadata scheme. Readers can start at the beginning to cover the basics, or they can skip ahead to the planning stages of creating their own project designs and workflows. Each chapter ends with a summary and includes a list of references, helpful to the reader who wants to learn more about a particular topic. One of the greatest strengths of this book is all the illustrations and examples in each chapter. Miller states that many readers will probably be using the CONTENTdm software for their projects and so has peppered his text with screenshots from many different CONTENTdm collections. This is quite useful for understanding the concepts being discussed and should not detract from readers' understanding, should they be using different software. Although this book is intended for a beginner and does not go into detail on some topics, Miller does focus on some important concepts. For example, he devotes several pages to the importance of the one-to-one principle, explains the realities of the principle in practice, and goes on to provide practical options for maintaining the principle in the reader's digital project. There is also a chapter on metadata interoperability, shareability, and quality, wherein Miller encourages readers to think beyond the local digital project and how the metadata may be used in the future or outside the closed-system concept. This chapter also contains a helpful section on improving metadata quality and interoperability by providing tips on “future proofing” current metadata. With the two main themes of functionality and interoperability, this book covers the foundations of good metadata in digital projects. The concepts are clearly explained, and each chapter builds upon the next to create a well-rounded understanding of the definitions and issues. Examples abound, and it is easy to see each concept come to life in the illustrations or case studies. The step-by-step guidance really makes this a must-have manual for any librarian, cataloger or not, who is embarking on a digital project.