Metadata Standards

In order to choose the metadata standard which best suited our project, we had to first evaluate our audience, the collection and our overall goal. After careful consideration, we decided to use Dublin Core in order to create an easy-to-use finding aid and descriptive tool. Additionally, we have decided to keep the photographs in a particular order that would be easy to access on History Pin and in our physical collection if History Pin’s website ever comes down. Since most of our audience will  consist of 7th graders, the metadata should not be too difficult to use but sophisticated enough to give the proper description.

To provide useful and relevant information that continues the “day in the life” theme, we have accumulated and displayed the accurate dates and locations, which are described with each photograph. We also discovered that we could successfully organize the metadata by using Dublin Core as our platform for giving basic information that can be used in our backlogs as well as the in main project site, History Pin. Although Dublin Core can be used for documents as well as photographs, it also allows flexibility and convenience for the user. For instance, each photo will have: a creator, date, and short description. A digital services librarian or archivist will assist in the implementation of the project to insure the proper guidelines have been met.

The photos will be JPEG files for the online repository; however our institution has planned to include other formats in order to keep our digital preservation current with standard practices. In addition to our photos available on History Pin, we will also have links to the photos we decided not to include on History Pin which are still a part of the collection and located at our institution’s website.  This will help to avoid any out-of-date formats in the future. When using the History Pin tour our URL, links and photographs should always be accessible in order to understand where the audience is when using the map and viewing the photos. Therefore, we anticipate the convenience of History Pin will allow the navigation and tour to go smoothly for students and allow an interactive space that is appropriate for the age group.

By using Dublin Core, we will have the opportunity to convert the metadata to different standards, such as MARC, if any formats become out-dated. Additionally, we were interested in the idea of incorporating MODS for our standard so there could be a smooth transition between various metadata standards. For instance, with each photograph we will create a title, name, description, a subject (and how it relates to the rest of the collection), identifier, publisher, date, and rights. Making it user-friendly and having the freedom to define individual photographs, instead of a general description of the collection  is a unique way of creating an archive project because of the amount of detail which it entails.

Describing this archival collection is very different from a standard description of library materials; therefore we have also decided to use elements of DACS (Describing Archives Content Standard) in order to effectively set rules and guidelines while describing the metadata for our collection (Dow 105). We hope to go beyond providing the basic information of the item or photograph and use our metadata as a link between items in the archival collection and how they would relate to our tour on History Pin.

                                                                References

Avila, Regina L., Susan Sanders, and Keith Martin. "Tips And Tools For Digitizing A Museum Collection." Online 35.6 (2011): 12-18. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Dec. 2012.

Dow, Elizabeth H., and Michael Carpenter. "Describing Archives: A Content Standard."Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 42.2 (2006): 99-107. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Dec. 2012.

Dublin Core Metadata Initiative. Dublin Core 2012.  <http://dublincore.org/>. Web 8 Dec. 2012.