[Web4lib] Metadata tools that scale

[Kevin S. Clarke]

I would agree with what Winona says and also want to put a plug in...

For places considering what Winona is talking about, and who are
sending someone to the upcoming code4lib conference, it would be nice
to have a BOF on this topic and share ideas, experiences, etc.  I
don't think there are BOF signups for the code4lib conference until
arrival but, if you are interested in a general XForms/metadata
editor/workflow solution, consider signing up once there.

Also... I didn't go, but I hear there was some interesting work along
these lines presented at the open repositories conference (still going
on?) in Texas.

Kevin


On 1/24/07, Winona Salesky <winona.salesky at uvm.edu> wrote:
> Hi Will,
> I just started up a digitization center here at my institution (the
> University of Vermont) and have been struggling with the same issues. As far
> as I know there is nothing out there currently that meets all your
> specifications. I think some metadata creation tools are tied to the Digital
> Asset Management System you use (for example contentDM provides some online
> forms for entering Dublin Core, and I believe Fedora has some online data
> entry tools as well and also creates the structural metadata) so it may
> depend on the DAMS you choose as well.
>
> For our system I wanted the a very flexible system because I knew we were
> going to be using METS, DC or MODS, EAD, TEI, and possibly other metadata
> formats later on. Because of our staff limitations we couldn't really
> implement and customize a solution like Fedora so I ended up choosing a
> native XML database for our DAMS (eXist) and have built the metadata
> management side using XForms, which are web based and can be submitted
> directly to the XML database. I imagine an XForms solution could be
> integrated with several of the other library DAMS available.
>
> Here are some resources on Xforms:
> WC3 intro to xforms
> (http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Forms/2003/xforms-for-html-authors)
> Orbeon (an open source solution to Xforms) (http://www.orbeon.com/)
> Wikibooks Xforms (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/XForms)
>
> I'd be happy to talk to you more if you have any other questions. You can
> also check out what I have been doing with XForms on my blog
> (http://thedil.wordpress.com/).
> Good luck!
> -Winona
> ----------------------------------
> Digital Initiatives Librarian
> The University of Vermont
> winona.salesky at uvm.edu
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Will Sexton
> Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 2:59 PM
> To: web4lib at webjunction.org
> Subject: [Web4lib] Metadata tools that scale
>
> I'm participating in a group that's looking at the digitization program here
> at Duke U. Libraries.  The topic brings with it a wide range of questions,
> but one that we return to often relates to the lack of a suitable metadata
> tool.  In the past, our approach to creating metadata has mostly involved
> one-off development in platforms like FileMaker and Office (Access, Excel).
> Experience has made me extremely averse to this approach, and in my
> judgment, to have a digitization program that scales at all, we need much
> better support for metadata creation.  A suitable platform would have the
> following features:
>
> * authority control
> * adaptability to diverse metadata schemas
> * can be integrated with:
>   - Digital Asset Management, for storing both metadata and files resulting
> from digitization
>   - some sort of Content Management (i.e., for Web publication and other
> modes of dissemination)
>   - a tool for managing and tracking the digitization process, itself a
> highly theoretical entity
> * is web-based for distributed access
> * provides for workflow management
>
> We ask ourselves, for these requirements, should we build or buy?  But is
> there even anything to buy?  How do others involved in supporting
> digitization (and metadata creation, generally) deal with this issue?
> Finally, does anyone have any wisdom to share which would contravene the
> features list or other assumptions stated above?
>
> My sense of this question is that the options for "buy" (or "borrow", or
> "steal", though "beg" may have some potential) are very limited.  But it's
> one point on which I'd be very happy to be proved wrong.
>
> Best,
>
> Will
>
> --
> Will Sexton
> Metadata Analyst / Programmer
> Duke University Libraries
>
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