Conference - Multiple Perspectives on Metadata

Vienna 12/13 November 2009

Thomas Burch : Infrastructures for Digital Edition The infrastructural projects introduced in this talk pursue different goals and methods, but can profit from one another to provide their users with optimal solutions. The virtual research platform FuD, developed for the collaborative research centre 600 “Foreigness and Poverty”, facilitates the cooperation of projects from diverse humanistic and social science disciplines by providing a framework for work-, publication- and information processes based on the specific needs of its users. The virtual research environment TextGrid is baded on Grid-Technology and develops central, generic services and tools for various humanistic and cultural science communities. The modular structure of both systems and their consideration for existing standards and interfaces allows for an exchange of data and the common development of certain services. Context: Due to ongoing digitization processes, the topic of structuring and modelling content is increasingly being discussed and new approaches are being developed. Digital Asset Management Systems support users in analyzing, retrieving, processing, filing and citing structured information sources. From a technological perspective, XML-based systems are particularly well-suited for flexible and metadata-enriched methods of asset storage: The primary data content is augmented with additional descriptive elements by making use of modelling standards and markup languages. This facilitaties a multifaceted digital representation of knowledge as well as data interoperability. Unlike other platforms (e.g. Content- or Learning Management Systems), Digital Asset Management Systems place importance on the sustainability of digital assets as well as flexible long-term accessibility and controlled authorization. The conference will investigate multiple approaches to metadata strategies and discuss how these can support digital edition and preservation projects. On the one hand, metadata hold well-structured administrative, descriptive, technical and long-term preservation information about assets, while on the other hand, they present a domain specific semantic relevance that is embedded in the content of an asset. The conference will cover a range of topics including: • Ontology based metadata specifications • Markup language based edition strategies • Metadata Quality Assurance • Metadata and IPR • Metadata harvesting protocols & incorporation

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