Metadata for Information Management and Retrieval

David Haynes PhD MBCS FCLIP conducts research into Privacy and Metadata at the Department of Library and Information Science at City, University of London. He is also an Honorary Tutor at the Centre for Archives and Information Studies (CAIS) at the University of Dundee where he specialises in Metadata and Taxonomies. He has been involved in library and information consultancy and research for more than 35 years during which time he has worked on information retrieval, information policy and information governance issues, latterly specialising in privacy and data protection. He is Chair of the UK Chapter of ISKO, the International Society for Knowledge Organization.

• PART I: METADATA CONCEPTS 1. IntroductionOverviewWhy metadata?Fundamental principles of metadataPurposes of metadataWhy is metadata important?Organisation of the book2. Defining, describing and expressing metadataOverviewDefining metadataXML schemasDatabases of metadataExamples of metadata in useConclusion3. Data modellingOverviewMetadata modelsUnified Modelling Language (UML)Resource Description Framework (RDF)Dublin CoreThe Library Reference Model (LRM) and the development of RDAABC ontology and the semantic webIndecs – Modelling book trade dataOAIS – Online exchange of dataConclusion4. Metadata StandardsOverviewThe nature of metadata standardsAbout standardsDublin Core – a general-purpose standardMetadata standards in library and information workSocial mediaNon-textual materialsComplex objectsConclusionPART II: PURPOSES OF METADATA 5. Resource identification and description (Purpose 1)OverviewHow do you identify a resource?IdentifiersRFIDs and identificationDescribing resourcesDescriptive metadataConclusion6. Retrieving information (Purpose 2)OverviewThe role of metadata in information retrievalInformation theoryTypes of information retrievalEvaluating retrieval performanceRetrieval on the internetSubject indexing and retrievalMetadata and computational models of retrievalConclusion7. Managing information resources (Purpose 3)OverviewInformation lifecyclesCreate or ingestPreserve and storeDistribute and useReview and disposeTransformConclusion8. Managing intellectual property rights (Purpose 4)OverviewRights managementProvenanceConclusion9. Supporting e-commerce and e-government (Purpose 5)OverviewElectronic transactionsE-commerceOnline behavioural advertisingIndecs and ONIXPublishing and the book tradeE-governmentConclusion10. Information governance (Purpose 6)OverviewGovernance and riskInformation governanceCompliance (freedom of information and data protection)E-discovery (legal admissibility)Information risk, information security and disaster recoverySectoral complianceConclusionPART III: MANAGING METADATA 11. Managing metadataOverviewMetadata is an information resourceWorkflow and metadata lifecycleProject approachApplication profilesInteroperability of metadataQuality considerationsMetadata securityConclusion12. Taxonomies and encoding schemesOverviewRole of taxonomies in metadataEncoding and maintenance of controlled vocabulariesThesauri and taxonomiesContent rules – authority filesOntologiesSocial tagging and folksonomiesConclusion13. Very large data collectionsOverviewThe move towards big dataWhat is big data?The role of linked data in open data repositoriesData in an organisational contextSocial media, web transactions and online behavioural advertisingResearch data collectionsConclusion14. Politics and ethics of metadataOverviewEthicsPowerMoneyRe-examining the purposes of metadataManaging metadata itselfConclusion

Metadata has evolved from being a specialist interest to become a mainstream topic of relevance to anyone concerned with accurate and efficient information management. David Haynes has produced a clear, comprehensive and timely overview of how metadata shapes our digital age, why it’s a key organisational asset and how its value can be released through the use of key standards and technologies.