Reading Notes #4

Introduction to Metadata
Before library school, I had never heard of metadata. It made me think of some sort of programming code, and I was terrified I would have to learn some computer language! Instead, it was something I knew all along, I just didn't know the term for it. Gilliland summed up metadata as three things: content, context, and structure: 

• Content relates to what the object contains or is about and is intrinsic to an information object.
• Context indicates the who, what, why, where, and how aspects associated with the object's creation and is extrinsic to an information object.
• Structure relates to the formal set of associations within or among individual information objects and can be intrinsic or extrinsic or both.

She also provides a handy table of the standards and rules associated with each aspect of metadata. However, it is difficult to have one standards system or terms available to describe EVERYTHING that may need to be indexed, cataloged, or otherwise organized. Metadata, even though it sounds scary, is just information about an object, that tells you about its content, its context and the structure of the object., and standards make sure that every individual or organization uses the same terms. For instance, one person might assign the word "blue" to an object, but another, to the same object, could say "navy." Both are true, but it doesn't help a user try to find the information that they need. 


Gilliland also discusses a new phenomenon of user-created metadata. We discussed in class the site Delicious, which I had never used before, but I think this is the same idea. Tagging has existed in other forms, be it Facebook or otherwise, that help to organize information, and it's done on an individual level. 


She also talks about the life cycle of an information object, which resonates with my current 2220 class and records management readings. Citing multiple situations in which metadata can be highly useful, it will definitely remain a core aspect of the information profession. 

Dublin Core Data Model

This model was completely unknown to me. It appears to be a metadata project begun in 1999, but I think this summarizes its mission: "The Dublin Core Element Set defines a set properties and associated semantics that are common to many resource description communities. The DCMI is declaring additional properties for richer descriptions (e.g. qualifiers) and domain specific needs (dc-education, dc-libraries, dc-government, dc-business, etc.). Each property defined will have unique identify along with at human readable labels and clear semantic definitions. Each property declared may additionally define permitted values, the types of resources it can describe, and/or its relationship (e.g. 'semantic refinement') with other properties." But honestly, I do not understand the computer-programming specific looking examples on this website! Hopefully it will be explained in class in laymens' terms. 

Endnote

I thought EndNote was something like RefWorks, but I think it's a little more extensive and versatile. This site is presented by a university, so it appears to be written for the student/scholar and uses video to explain how to use it to create EndNote libraries and import citations from databases and the like. Not only does it create citations in a variety of styles for papers and other written work, it is a "personal library" of references that can be organized. I have tried to use RefWorks in the past, and just got frustrated with it. I felt more confident handwriting out all of my citations, but that was easy because I rarely had more than 20 and they only needed to be in one style. EndNote might have an easier-to-use interface, making me more likely to use it for personal reasons, but knowing both systems would help me as an information professional for sure.