Function of Metadata

Why learn about metadata?

1. To discover resources
   • Allowing resources to be found by relevant criteria;
   • Identifying resources;
   • Bringing similar resources together;
   • Distinguishing dissimilar resources;
   • Giving location information.
2. To organize resources
   • Organizing links to resources based on audience or topic.
   • Building these pages dynamically from metadata stored in databases.
3. Facilitating interoperability
   • Using defined metadata schemes, shared transfer protocols, and crosswalks between schemes, resources across the network can be searched more seamlessly.
     • Cross-system search, e.g., using Z39.50 protocol;
     • Metadata harvesting, e.g., OAI protocol.
4. Digital identification
   • Elements for standard numbers, e.g., ISBN
   • The location of a digital object may also be given using:
     • a file name
     • a URL
     • some persistent identifiers, e.g., PURL (Persistent URL); DOI (Digital Object Identifier)
   • Combined metadata to act as a set of identifying data, differentiating one object from another for validation purposes.
5. To archive and preserve

• •  Challenges:
    • Digital information is fragile and can be corrupted or altered;
    • It may become unusable as storage technologies change.
  • Metadata is key to ensuring that resources will survive and continue to be accessible into the future. Archiving and preservation require special elements:
    • to track the lineage of a digital object,
    • to detail its physical characteristics, and
    • to document its behavior in order to emulate it in future technologies.

**All information in this chapter is credited to: (Riley, 2017^[1]).