1. Session 3 Metadata & Workflow
Jackie Knowles, Repository Support Officer (Organisational)
RSP Project Staff - University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Explain structure of session – two way split with an hour on each topic, mix of theory and practical exercises.

2. Metadata

3. Aim
To gain an understanding of metadata and its purpose in a repository context
To re-enforce the importance of using metadata standards within your repository to enable interoperability and harvesting
To provide an opportunity to work with metadata through the completion of a practical exercise

4. Contents Theoretical overview (20 mins) Practical exercise (30 mins)
Report back and discussion (10 mins)

5. Theory … What is metadata? Types of metadata Why do I need it?
Setting up your metadata schema
Standards
Out of the box to local extensions
Sources of advice

6. What is metadata
Metadata is structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use, or manage an information resource.
Source: NISO (2004) Understanding Metadata. Bethesda, NISO Press.
Mention data about data or information about information
For those among the audience from a library world – cataloguing is metadata.
In a repository digital context metadata is commonly stored in the database system and is linked to the objects being described.

7. Types of metadata Descriptive Structural Administrative
Rights management metadata
Preservation metadata
Descriptive – for discovery/identification (titles/authors/keywords etc)
Structural – how items relate to one another for complex items – ie chapters in a book
Administrative – helps manage the resource, IPR stuff and how files were created etc

8. Why do I need it? To facilitate discovery of your repository content
To facilitate harvesting of your repository content by external systems
To help you organise your repository content
To supports archiving and preservation
Resource discovery - through relevant criteria, identifying resources, bringing similar resources together, distinguishing dissimilar resources and giving location information.

9. Metadata schemas
A metadata scheme is a sets of metadata elements designed for a specific purpose, such as describing a particular type of information resource.
Types of content being stored – for practical purposes today we can only look at a limited schema – bibliographic research text based materials.

10. Current standards in use
The most commonly used standard within the repository community, and the one required for interoperability and harvesting via the OAI-PMH, is Dublin Core.
Others are available – MODS, METS. For practical purposes only got time to go into the basic level stuff in this session.

11. Simple Dublin Core – 15 elements
Title
Creator
Subject
Description
Publisher
Contributor
Date
Type
Format
Identifier
Source
Language
Relation
Coverage
Rights
All Dublin Core elements are optional and all are repeatable, can be presented in any order.
But not really enough meat on the bones here ??

12. Qualified Dublin Core
Takes the 15 Dublin Core elements and adds some further levels of detail.
Two types of qualifiers used:
Element refinement
Encoding scheme
Refer to handout.
Refinements – alternative titles, description refinements (abstract, citation, TOC etc) various dates and relations
Encoding schemes – LCSH in your subject field, date styles etc.

13. DC Tags – some examples Field label DC tag Content
‘Title’ dc:title This is the title.
‘Author’ dc: author Knowles, J.
‘Date’ dc:date
‘Abstract’ dc:description.abstract This is the abstract of my example content.
Refer to handout.
Refinements – alternative titles, description refinements (abstract, citation, TOC etc) various dates and relations
Encoding schemes – LCSH in your subject field, date styles etc.

14. Scholarly works application profile
Extend DC to make it richer and more functional.
Provide an unambiguous method if identifying the full text.
Help with version control and identification.
Introduce vocabularies.
Implement OpenURL and citation analysis.
Work underway on this – UKOLN & Eduserv (JISC funded)
Current arrangements agreed not really adequate and improvement is needed for aggregator services (search entry points) and identifying full text.
The purpose of an application profile - entities being described and the key relationships between the entities. Relationships and attributes captured in metadata. Software independent.
FRBR based – Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records
- a work is a distinct intellectual or artistic creation. A work
is an abstract entity
– an expression is the intellectual or artistic realization of a
work
– a manifestation is the physical embodiment of an
expression of a work
– an item is a single exemplar of a manifestation. The entity
defined as item is a concrete entity

15. Out of the box … local extensions
Realistically most people when first establishing repositories will work with what comes out of the box … but fields can be added and schemes customised.
Explore types and field structures at an early stage and set up your metadata scheme.
Consider local needs such as departmental and research group structures and any local decisions needed about subject fields etc.
Pre population and authority control

16. Sources of advice Librarians Further reading RSP!
NISO (2004) Understanding Metadata. Bethesda, NISO Press.
Jones, R., Andrew, T., & MacColl, J. (2006) The Institutional Repository. Oxford, Chandos.
RSP!

17. Practical exercise
Show group how to fill out a slip or leave up an example in a slide?

18. Workflow

19. Aim of the workflow session
To gain an understanding of workflows in a repository context
To provide an opportunity to examine and discuss workflows through the completion of a practical exercise

20. Contents Theoretical overview (10 mins) Practical exercise (20 mins)
Demonstration (20 mins)
Tie up and discussion (10 mins)

21. Theory … What are workflows? Why do we need them?
Stages in submission workflows
Issues

22. What are workflows
Workflows are a break down the administrative tasks needed within the repository. In particular they often deal with the submission process and allow the tasks involved to be assigned to individuals or groups best able to deal with them.
Workflows can be wider than just submission – ie user management, authorisations etc and these elements will need to be considered but for today and for practical purposes we will concentrate on the major workflow in a repository – the content submission process.
What you can do might be dependant on your software of choice – ie e-prints come with a much simpler workflow system while DSpace can be more complicated and allow multiple stages of workflows to be set up.
Links to stakeholder identification.
Should relate to lifecycle of the resource.

23. Why do we need them? Engagement – minimise effort for the academics.
Embedding – allowing interested parties to become involved.
Consistency and quality control.

24. Submission workflow stages
Metadata stages
- Gather metadata
- Metadata quality control
Copyright and license handling stage
File management stage
Content quality control stage
Flexible and customisable capture system to allow metadata to be gathered in a flexible way
Copyright and licensing – deposit license, use licence, restriction licence (embargo) – more about policy and licenses tomorrow

25. Issues Mediation Staff resources Author final versions Quality control
Defined by content itself

26. Practical exercise