Introduction to Metadata and Record-Building (online learning course)

Instructor: Steven Mandeville-Gamble

Introduction to Metadata and Record-Building - 2004
(An Infopeople online learning course)

Digitization of unique historical materials from your collections is an exciting way to make them available to a broader array of users than has ever before been possible - and the good news is that there is grant funding available to support digitization projects.

Creation of descriptive and administrative metadata to accompany scanned collection material is an important part of any digitization effort, yet can also seem daunting. This workshop will help you get ready to tackle your first digitization project by teaching you how each item will need to be described.

• Have you ever wondered just why there's so much fuss about metadata?
• Do you need help untangling the mass of metadata acronyms?
• Are you worried about getting access right if you're not a cataloger?
• Are you trying to decide where you should turn for help deciding what metadata you need?
• Would you like to be able to use readily available tools to create metadata for your digitization project?

Workshop Description: This online course will provide a firm foundation in understanding metadata and the ways it is used to describe digital material. The course will focus on implementing the metadata standards and best practices of the California Digital Library and the California State Library. Through assignments, quizzes, and threaded discussions, you will explore the critical role that metadata plays in accessing digitized collection material, learn how to identify and implement standards for metadata, explore options for choosing and using tools for creating metadata, create metadata for a variety of digital files, and 'publish' those files and their metadata on the web.

Outcomes: By the end of the course, participants will:

1. Gain a hands-on understanding of metadata;
2. Be able to describe the differences between administrative, technical, and descriptive metadata;
3. Identify existing standards and know when to use them;
4. Be able to explain how metadata functions to ensure long-term access to and preservation of digitized collection materials;
5. Demonstrate strategies for creating metadata and re-using it in a variety of ways.

Preliminary Course Outline:

• Metadata and digital "objects"
• How metadata functions in relation to digital objects
• • Identification
  • Location
  • Finding similar things
  • Understanding context
  • Ensuring long-term preservation of digital objects
  • Documents technical and administrative (copyright, use and access restrictions, etc.) information for digital objects
• Components of a digital object composed of a file(s) and metadata
• • How a digital object can be used
• Why metadata standards and consistency matter
• • Interfaces that satisfy end users
  • Helping end users obtain predictable results from an information resource
  • Enabling information professionals to assist end users more effectively
  • Empowering end users in their use of retrieved digital objects
  • Minimizes processing costs, and promotes sharing, interoperability, and repurposing of digital objects by an institution or consortium over the long term
• Preparing to create metadata
• • Understanding structure and content standards
  • Choosing which standards to use
• Creating metadata step-by-step using the CDL/CSL standards
• • Required metadata elements
  • Describing simple objects
  • Describing complex objects
• Tools for metadata creation
• • Factors in assessing your options
  • Issues for exporting and re-using metadata
  • Self-publishing metadata to a web browser

Who Should Attend: Anyone in a California library who:

• is about to undertake a digitization project that will involve creating metadata
• is planning a scanning project and wants to know more about metadata functions, requirements, and resources
• needs to add metadata to existing files of digitized information
• is interested in adding this valuable skill to his or her repertoire
• would like to learn more about what is involved in digitizing materials for preservation and access. Projects funded through LSTA grants administered by the California State Library are particularly encouraged to enroll in this course.

Prerequisites: Basic computer skills plus basic knowledge of Microsoft Excel or some other spreadsheet software are required. Note: This is not a cataloging course and no cataloging experience is required.

Pre-workshop assignment: This course makes extensive use of the Online Archive of California's LSTA Digital Projects Manual. In preparation for using the OAC Manual in class, students should visit http://www.oac.cdlib.org/lsta/OAC-LSTA-projman.html to get an overview of Manual contents and familiarize themselves with its layout and organization before beginning the course.

Online Learning Details: This six-week course will be taught online using the web. When you register, you will receive a registration confirmation which will include the URL to get to the course, as well as a username and password. Introduction to Metadata and Record-Building - 2004 will start on January 20, 2004 and end on March 2, 2004.

The workshop consists of six one-and-a-half to two-hour learning modules. You can work on each module at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night. However, you will be expected to log in to the course each week to do that week's assignment. We ask that you log in sometime during the first week of the course to begin the course work.

The materials will remain available to work on for two additional weeks following the official end date, but you will be expected to accomplish the majority of the course in synchronization with your peers during the first six weeks.

This course is taught over the web. You must:

• Have an Internet connection and Internet Explorer 5 or higher (some of the quiz functions do not work properly in Netscape).
• Be able to save a file to your computer and print it out using Microsoft Word or a compatible word processing program.
• Be comfortable navigating on the web and navigating back and forward on a website that uses frames.

If you are not comfortable with any of the above, please consider taking this course with a colleague who does meet these requirements.