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Metadata Developments in Libraries and Other Cultural Heritage Institutions

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Metadata Developments in Libraries and Other Cultural Heritage Institutions Chapter 1 Metadata Developments in Libraries and Other Cultural Heritage Institutions Abstract there were not many examples in the field. Much has happened between these LTR issues, not This issue of Library Technology Reports (vol. 49, no. the least of which has been the funding and creation 5) “Library Linked Data: Research and Adoption” focuses of new national and international organizations whose on research and practice related to library metadata. In goal is to bring together and publish the collections of order to more fully understand this world, we also need cultural heritage and memory institutions. Since 2007, to consider the work being done in the archival and LAM (libraries, archives, and museums) communities museum communities. In chapter 1, we lay the foundation have developed new cataloging and archival process- for our exploration in libraries, archives, and museums ing frameworks (e.g., RDA, DACS, and CCO) and are (LAM) and consider the role and impact of this work in keenly interested in exploring the impact of new infor- the broader world of the Semantic Web, linked data, and mation systems on user needs. In the library world, data-rich web services. This chapter starts by introducing this discussion has led to the BIBFRAME initiative and a model for understanding the component parts of meta- a focused effort to implement the Resource Description data systems and concludes by outlining the process for and Access (RDA) specification. In museum communi- creating and publishing linked data. ties, the International Council of Museums has updated the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CIDOC-CRM) as well as the Cataloging Cultural Objects (CCO) speci- ReportsLibrary Technology Introduction fication. In archives, standards like Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Describing Archives: A Content This issue of Library Technology Reports (LTR) builds Standard (DACS), and Encoded Archival Context on previous work in this series, including the LTR (EAC) have taken hold, and new information systems issue by Coyle on the Semantic Web as well as Witt’s like ArchivesSpace are emerging to serve archival issue on the Open Archives Initiative Object Reuse and metadata and object management needs. Exchange (OAI-ORE) standard, and it touches on top- ics referenced in Breeding’s 2009 issue on web services ArchivesSpace and SOA as well as Nagy’s 2011 case study analysis of alatechsource.org library uses of next-generation discovery platforms.1 www.archivesspace.org In fact, this issue saw its first iteration in 2007, when Eden discussed metadata and information organiza- tion issues in libraries.2 In that issue, Eden explored The definition of new standards and development current metadata issues and asked what information of systems across LAM and publishing communities organization might look like in the coming years. At are focused on defining techniques, standards, sys- 2013 July the time, Library 2.0 and web services were newly tems, and services that meet the changing information emerging terms in library and information science lit- sources and needs of LAM patrons. The patron’s infor- erature, and while there was a vision for what library mation requirements are grounded both in a need for metadata and information systems might become, physical and digital information artifacts and also in a 5 Library Linked Data: Research and Adoption Erik T. Mitchell community of practice in which making connections additional implementations found mixed success in among information sources is as important as discov- archival and museum contexts, and in the last decade ering information resources. While part of the LAM other cataloging models and dissemination methods profession focuses on literacy and information engage- have superseded these efforts.5 The museum com- ment issues, the metadata community typically focuses munity, for example, has found value in a special- on exploring how information systems and structures ized cataloging protocol, Cataloging Cultural Objects support these needs and enable cross-community and (CCO),6 and the archival community has found value cross-repository access and aggregation. in Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Metadata As community needs change and metadata stan- Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS), and the dards and systems are developed to meet these needs, cataloging specification Describing Archives, A Con- LAM institutions are revisiting common questions of tent Standard (DACS). metadata exchange, migration, interoperability, scale, While these new standards emerged based on a sustainability, and value. This issue of LTR focuses need to accommodate new types of resources, one on these questions as we explore three continuing issue that has persistently confounded metadata work efforts in the LAM metadata community: the Library in the digital age is the complications associated with of Congress BIBFRAME initiative, the Europeana digi- working with digital surrogates of physical resources.7 tal library, and the Digital Public Library of America This is not for lack of appropriate data models and cat- (DPLA). The metadata systems of these efforts were aloging approaches but rather due to the natural ten- chosen for exploration because they represent major sion between creating highly accurate metadata and initiatives in LAM metadata and because each com- creating metadata efficiently. In the Dublin Core (DC) munity is interested in developing and delivering community, this issue is discussed as the “one-to-one metadata-rich solutions that have a national and inter- principle.” For example, in cataloging a digital surro- national impact. gate in DC, it is easy to blur the line between a physi- In order to better explore the general direction of cal object and its digital surrogate by using the date of metadata research and practice in LAM communities, a historic photo in the dc:date field while providing this issue begins by examining the broad direction of the URL to the digital surrogate in the dc:identifer metadata development and research in chapter 1, con- field. While the Qualified Dublin Core (QDC) standard tinues with a deep dive into the underlying standards introduces new properties that help differentiate meta- and building blocks of metadata systems in chapter 2, data about physical objects from metadata about their and broadens back out with case study explorations digital surrogates, the issues of specificity, cost, and in chapter 3. In chapter 4, we explore the broad ques- value in relation to metadata work means that adopt- tions of metadata research and development within ers may find themselves, with the best interests of the context of our case study analyses. their institutions at heart, making choices out of sync with the standard. A second important area of research and practice A Brief History of LAM Metadata in metadata is that surrounding metadata provenance and version control. As metadata is increasingly The MARC standard that has served libraries well for shared, aggregated, repurposed, and reused, under- the last forty years includes a robust metadata schema, standing where the metadata came from and how it an efficient exchange standard, and a detailed encod- was intended to be used is important in ensuring accu- July 2013 July ing and data storage system.3 While we often talk rate disambiguation, deduplication, and rights track- about MARC in bibliographic terms, it is a much wider ing. As we will see in our case study exploration, being standard that includes bibliographic description, stor- able to track metadata sources at a very detailed level age of holdings data (MARC21 Format for Holdings is important for resolving discrepancies in description Data—MFHD), storage of authorities and classification as well. data, and storage of community data.4 These MARC alatechsource.org formats have provided libraries with a detailed and interconnected ecosystem within which they could The Motivation for a New Approach create, share, and validate records and authorities. to Metadata In addition to developing MARC to store biblio- graphic and other library-specific data, LAM institu- As libraries have moved through iterations of discov- tions also explored the use of MARC in archival and ery platforms (faceted discovery, federated search, museum settings. These uses included MARC Format web-scale discovery), issues of metadata schema har- for Archival and Manuscripts Control (MARC AMC); monization, system scale and performance, and meta- MARC Archives, Personal Papers, and Manuscripts data quality guided the developmental direction of Library Technology ReportsLibrary Technology (APPM); and MARC for Visual Materials (MARC VM). systems. Nagy’s LTR issue used a case study approach While MARC flourished in library settings, these to explore how libraries had addressed these issues.8 6 Library Linked Data: Research and Adoption Erik T. Mitchell In addition to the user interactivity foundation of next- LibraryThing, and enterprise-level web-scale library generation catalogs, one of the key features that differ- service environments. entiated faceted catalogs from more traditional inte- grated library system catalogs was the use of a faceted search platform. In recent years, open-source tools Open Library like VuFind, DSpace, and Blacklight have capitalized http://openlibrary.org on the speed and flexibility of the Apache Solr index- ing platform to deliver lightweight and fast discovery Kuali Open Library Environment services. www.kuali.org/ole LibraryThing VuFind
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