Introduction to Metadata

The goal of metadata creation is to produce and manage well-formed and interoperable metadata. Speaking particularly of library metadata, many people do not realize that it is manually created, managed and maintained by people who work in libraries. There are no web crawlers to pull together searches, like on the internet. Library metadata creators produce and share their work through a variety of means, so that data about resources can be used by other libraries worldwide. 

To make metadata well-formed, shareable and interoperable, metadata creators use many different kinds of documentation and tools. Some of these tools and documentation below overlap and inform each other.

• Application profiles: Similar to input guidelines that serve as the basis for how metadata is structured and validated in a particular application. They consist of a specified set of metadata elements and policies. Application profiles may also sometimes be called data dictionaries.
• Best practices: Professional procedures for creating metadata. Best practices for library metadata guide the selection and use of a metadata schema, clarify the use of individual metadata elements, recommend the structure of field data and more.
• Policies: Generally developed at the institutional or consortial level. They include information like minimum required metadata elements.
• Schemas: Outline the list of elements that can be used to capture information about a resource. Examples of elements in a schema include title, creator or publication date. Some elements in a schema may be required, some elements may be repeatable and other elements may be optional. A schema will also include some information about formatting and input standards.
• Standards: Establish how to structure data. There are four kinds of metadata standards:
  • Data content standards: Guidelines to describe the use and input of individual metadata elements.
  • Data encoding standards: Describes the rules and specifications for encoding the data.
  • Data structure standards: A schema, described above, is a data structure standard.
  • Data value standards: Lists of standardized terms used to create metadata, such as controlled vocabularies and name authorities.

This list is not exhaustive, but is a good place to start if you are curious about metadata standards in use in libraries:

• List of standards from the Library of Congress. Of particular interest here are:
  • BibFrame for linked data
  • Encoded Archival Description for archival finding aids
  • MARC Standards from the Library of Congress
• Dublin Core Metadata Intitiative
• Resource Description and Access article from Wikipedia

Anyone can explore the vocabularies and authority files that libraries use in their catalogs. The lists are always evolving, and metadata professionals all over the world are working tirelessly to change out-dated headings and add new headings. These are some of the vocabularies and authority files commonly in use by libraries:

• Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF)
• Library of Congress Genre Form Terms (LCGFT)
• Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)

Metadata creators have also been working on alternative or expansion vocabularies:

• American Folklore Society Ethnographic Thesaurus
• Glossary of Disability Terminology
• Homosaurus, an international linked data vocabulary of LGBTQ terms
• Resources from the American Indian Library Association (AILA) on alternatives to LCSH and more

There are many more controlled vocabularies for many different types of materials, subjects and groups. There are also many metadata creators working on creating or expanding the use of equitable and inclusive terms. If you'd like to keep up-to-date on some of the inclusive and ethical cataloging practices and the work it takes to change, update or contribute new headings, check out The Cataloging Lab.

UMass Libraries are committed to anti-oppressive cataloging work. Name authority and subject authority contributors in the Five Colleges add and update terms to better reflect our collections and our users as we are able. This work is labor-intensive and very detailed. More information on how we can support this work to come.