Remarks on metadata management

Abstract

PurposeAs digital resources proliferate, libraries plan to grant easy access to a distributed set of resources from one single entry point inside and outside the OPAC. The quest to manage the metadata about these resources becomes more important than ever. Thus, the term, “metadata management” is being used by various communities creating spatial data, enterprise applications, data warehouses, legacy environments, and bibliographic data. Unfortunately, metadata management is sparsely mentioned in the traditional information technology journals, grey literature, information technology company web sites, and the library science literature. The purpose of this viewpoint is to examine the limited use of the term metadata management in the library community and to introduce a new definition of it.Design/methodology/approachThis viewpoint examines the limited use of the term metadata management in the library community and introduces a new definition of it.FindingsAlthough the proposed definition captures the activities that libraries should be engaged as they provide access to millions of resources, this definition should constantly be examined as new technologies emerge, personnel change, and financial resources diminish.Originality/valueThe author's definition is a good start; however, to get to the complete definition of metadata management, a more comprehensive look at the workflow and procedures that exist in libraries for managing metadata is necessary.

Metadata Dictionary Database: A Proposed Tool for Academic Library Metadata Management

“…Westbrooks (2005) writes that the term metadata management has not received much attention in the literature and goes on to state that, "unfortunately, metadata management is sparsely mentioned in the traditional information technology journals, grey literature, information technology company web sites, and the library science literature" (p. 5).…”

“…As mentioned previously in this paper, Westbrooks (2005) proposes the following definition for metadata management: "Metadata management is the sum of activities designed to create, preserve, describe, maintain access, and manipulate metadata, MARC and otherwise, that may be owned, aggregated, or distributed by the managing institution" (p. 6).…”

“…Westbrooks (2005) describes the problem of providing users access to a massive amount of materials from one access point, stating…”

“…Others have addressed the need for a specific definition of metadata management (e.g., Westbrooks, 2005), and the authors have proposed a refinement of this definition along with their primary goal of introducing a tool to support metadata management. This tool is not a perfect solution but offers one possible model for improved metadata management.…”

An Operational Model for Library Metadata Maintenance

“…These organizational and intellectual activities require the physical resources (web services, scripts and cross-walks), financial commitment (much like that already invested into OPACs), and policy planning that codifies the guiding framework within which metadata exists. 7 While libraries do pay considerable attention to the creation, preservation, and transformation of descriptive metadata, little evidence exists that they devote as much time, energy, and financial resources to the ongoing maintenance of non-MARC metadata (especially with regard to updating and editing existing descriptive content) as they do to maintenance of such information in the MARC-based OPAC.…”