Metadata Workshop,We will define the context for our discussions by considering the metadata landscape: the variety of metadata formats, the role of metadata as an aid to resource discovery and management, and the associated service models.
The tutorial will consider metadata with a particular focus on resource discovery for web resources. We will concentrate on Dublin Core, which is emerging by international consensus as the format of choice for the simple description of web resources. We will review the 'state of the art' of the Dublin Core element set, examining the syntax and semantics and also looking at emerging practice in early implementations.
We will give an overview of the issues surrounding metadata creation, both automatically aided and manual creation. Various models for automatically harvesting metadata will be outlined. One of the main objectives of the Dublin Core activity is to establish a minimum data element set to enable interoperability between diverse systems, and to facilitate searching across diverse resources. We will consider the role of mapping between formats, and the possibilities offered by metadata registries towards the goal of interoperability. We will take a brief look at the search and retrieve protocol and directory service protocols which contribute to interoperability (Z39.50, whois++).
We will conclude with a look to the future and how some of the developments that are on the horizon might affect our decisions to-day.
Last updated on 12-Dec-1997
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