The landscape of metadata research and development
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The Landscape of Metadata Research and Development Sponsored by SIG/STI, SIG/CR and SIG/DL Jian Qin Syracuse University Raed Sharif Syracuse University Eva Méndez Rodríguez University Carlos III of Madrid Xiaolin Zhang National Science Library of China Jane Greenberg (Moderator) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Metadata as a method for describing data and information has been in use long before the Internet. Its proliferation in the last decade came with the rapid advances in computing technologies and Web applications. Since the first Dublin Core conference in 1995 (DC1995), metadata research and development (R&D) has expanded well beyond the traditional boundaries of library and information science. The term Metadata becomes a symbol of digital information organization and management and is widely used and studied by academic, government, industry, and other organizations. Metadata R&D has gone through three phases in the past ten years. The first phase (roughly from 1995-1998) is characterized by exploring and defining what metadata is, what roles it plays in representing and organizing Internet resources, and how metadata can adapt to domain specific or local needs for organizing networked information resources. Dublin core metadata elements were accepted as the base, on which many organizations and application domains developed their own element sets. Various metadata tools also mushroomed though many were stand-alone templates that lacked the technological rigor. The rapid development of metadata soon created new issues and challenges. These new issues mainly fell into two categories: interoperability and standardization. Metadata activities in the second phase (roughly from 1998-2003) largely focused on these two issues. During this period, Dublin Core became an international standard (ISO15386:2003(E)) and many
Transcript of The landscape of metadata research and development
The Landscape of Metadata Research and Development
Sponsored by SIG/STI, SIG/CR and SIG/DL
Jian QinSyracuse University
Raed SharifSyracuse University
Eva Méndez RodríguezUniversity Carlos III of Madrid
Xiaolin ZhangNational Science Library of China
Jane Greenberg (Moderator)University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Metadata as a method for describing data and information has been in use long before the Internet. Its proliferation in the last decade came with the rapid advances in computing technologies and Web applications. Since the first Dublin Core conference in 1995 (DC1995), metadata research and development (R&D) has expanded well beyond the traditional boundaries of library and information science. The term Metadata becomes a symbol of digital information organization and management and is widely used and studied by academic, government, industry, and other organizations.
Metadata R&D has gone through three phases in the past ten years. The first phase (roughly from 1995-1998) is characterized by exploring and defining what metadata is, what roles it plays in representing and organizing Internet resources, and how metadata can adapt to domain specific or local needs for organizing networked information resources. Dublin core metadata elements were accepted as the base, on which many organizations and application domains developed their own element sets. Various metadata tools also mushroomed though many were stand-alone templates that lacked the technological rigor.
The rapid development of metadata soon created new issues and challenges. These new issues mainly fell into two categories: interoperability and standardization. Metadata activities in the second phase (roughly from 1998-2003) largely focused on these two issues. During this period, Dublin Core became an international standard (ISO15386:2003(E)) and many
professional and industrial associations also established industry-wide or domain specific metadata standards, for example, IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee developed the Learning Object Metadata (LTSC, 2005), Federal Geographic Data Committee developed the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC, 1998), and the Visual Resource Association released the VRA Core (VRA, 2002). Various digital library projects also generateda large number of customized metadata schemes based on local description needs. Application profiles became a common practice in expanding and merging multiple metadata standards. Crosswalks between metadata schemes and between traditional bibliographic standards and metadata schemes were created to deal with interoperability issues.
Technology advances have intimately influenced metadata R&D. The third phase (roughly from2003 to present) of metadata R&D saw a matured research and application field compounded with grassroots tagging of almost any type of information objects. The metadata R&D has branched out to cover many domains, which are built upon the newest technology andconcepts:
Metadata and Semantic Web that focuses on vocabularies and ontologies with XML-based encodingAutomatic metadata generation and query that applies machine learning, natural language processing, and information retrieval theories and techniquesMetadata interoperability that integrates protocols, metadata mapping, and technologyEvaluation of metadata for its usefulness and appropriateness by using data mining and user-oriented approaches
The above list, which is by no means complete, suggests that metadata R&D has developed a new landscape in digital information representation and management and needs a survey to understand the current activities and future direction. This panel brings researchers from Asia, North America, and Europe to this discussion from an international perspective.
Jian Qin and Raed Sharif will present the result from a review project that covers a 10 year (1997-2006) span of metadata research. This project surveys metadata research literature in the areas of metadata architecture, semantics in metadata elements, and metadata binding and systems while examining research methodologies and development strategies. The reviewwill generalize the metadata research trends based on the analysis of 200+ research publications during the last 10 years.
Eva Méndez will present an overview of the European metadata research and initiativesdealing with the main projects which use metadata grounding information systems and servicesamong different domains such as, e-Administration, e-Learning and European Digital Heritage.
Xiaolin Zhang will give an overview of metadata research activities and projects in China,including metadata in digital libraries and in particular, metadata for scientific data, news and broadcasting, museum and archives, and education. His presentation will also cover metadata efforts in Chinese Science and Technology Infrastructure.
References
DCMI (1995-2006). Dublin Core Metadata Initiative. Retrieved May 31, 2006 from http://dublincore.org
FGDC. (1998). Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata. Retrieved May 31, 2006 from http://www.fgdc.gov/standards/projects/FGDC-standards-projects/metadata/base-metadata/index_html
LTSC (Learning Technology Standards Committee, 2005). The Learning Object Metadata Standard. Retrieved May 31, 2006 from http://ieeeltsc.org/wg12LOM/lomDescription
VRA. (2002). VRA Core Categories, Version 3.0: a project of the Visual ResourcesAssociation Data Standards Committee. Retrieved May 31, 2006 from http://php.indiana.edu/~fryp/vracore3.htm
