Technical Standards

Metadata

Data about data

Metadata can be simply understood as ‘data about data’ or ‘information about information’. The ‘use-by’ information printed on foodstuffs is a form of metadata. The information found in the records in a library catalogue is also a form of metadata.

Describe and Identify Content

The purpose and value of metadata is that it provides the ability to thoroughly describe and identify content so that it can be selected, retrieved, brought together, used, reused and delivered to the appropriate person at the right time.

Metadata Standards

Metadata standards have been developed to support both machine interoperability (information exchange) and targeted resource discovery by users of the Web. Metadata standards for the Internet are an attempt to bridge the gap between the comprehensive cataloguing which is done by professionals in the library context, and the free-for-all of document creation on the Web.

In particular, these metadata standards allow creators of documents and managers of resource collections to describe resources in a detailed manner facilitating targeted queries by search engines. A metadata record typically consists of a set of elements (or fields), which describe in detail the content of the resource, its intellectual property rights, and the date of its creation.

Dublin Core, Australian Government Locator Service, edna Metadata Standard

The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (DCMES) is an internationally recognised standard. The edna Metadata Standard is based on Dublin Core and is consistent with AGLS (Australian Government Locator Service).

 

76 items in this category.

  1. Accessibility: IMS AccessForAll Meta-data Specification
    Category: Metadata

    The AccessForAll Meta-data specification is intended to make it possible to identify resources that match a user's stated preferences or needs. These preferences or needs would be declared using the IMS Learner Information Package Accessibility for LIP specification. The needs and preferences addressed include the need or preference for alternative presentations of resources, alternative methods of controlling resources, alternative equivalents to the resources themselves and enhancements or supports required by the user. The specification provides a common language for identifying and describing the primary or default resource and equivalent alternatives for that resource.

  1. Accessibility: IMS AccessForAll Meta-data Specification
    Category: Metadata

    The AccessForAll Meta-data specification is intended to make it possible to identify resources that match a user's stated preferences or needs. These preferences or needs would be declared using the IMS Learner Information Package Accessibility for LIP specification. The needs and preferences addressed include the need or preference for alternative presentations of resources, alternative methods of controlling resources, alternative equivalents to the resources themselves and enhancements or supports required by the user. The specification provides a common language for identifying and describing the primary or default resource and equivalent alternatives for that resource.

  1. AGLS metadata standard
    Category: Metadata

    This page provides access to the AGLS Metadata Element Set, information about AGLS, including the AGLS manual and advice on implementing AGLS for Commonwealth agencies. In 2002 the AGLS standard was adopted by Standards Australia as Australian Standard AS 5044 AGLS metadata element set. AGLS was originally an abbreviation for Australia Government Locator Service, but following the development of Australian Standard 5044 - which is aimed at a wider audience beyond government users - it was felt that Australian Government Locator Service was not an appropriate name, so now the standard is known merely as AGLS).

  1. ANZ-LOM metadata application profile. Version 1.01
    Category: Metadata

    This metadata profile supports the access, search, selection, use, trade and management of digital content for the school sector in Australian and New Zealand. The profile is based on the IEEE LOM metadata model. It supports the following purposes: Content management; Educational purpose and value; Technical interoperability; Copyright and moral rights; Inclusive access and Distributed delivery. The Le@rning Federation (TLF) has previously published TLF metadata application profiles that focused on supporting production of learning content. ANZ-LOM is a more widely applicable standard that also replaces earlier TLF metadata profiles.

  1. Attention Profiling Mark-up Language (APML)
    Category: Metadata

    An open standard for Attention Metadata, APML allows users to share their own personal Attention Profile in much the same way that OPML allows the exchange of reading lists between News Readers.

  1. Attention.XML
    Category: Metadata

    Attention.XML is an open standard, built on open source, that helps keep track of what attention metadata, what web users read, spend time on, and should be paying attention to. Attention.XML is an XML file (specifically an XOXO file) that contains an outline of feeds/blogs, where each feed itself is an outline, and each post is also an outline under the feed. This hierarchical outline structure is then annotated with per-feed and per-post information which captures such information as, the last time the feed/post was accessed, the duration of time spent on the feed/post, recent times of feed/post access, user set (dis)approval of posts.

  1. Australian Government Email Metadata Standard (AGEMS)
    Category: Metadata

    This standard describes the metadata that the Chief Information Officer Committee and the National Archives of Australia recommends should be used by Australian Government agencies when transmitting electronic mail (email) communications. Its aim is to help ensure that email messages are used, transmitted and managed in ways that recognise their central significance to the workings of government.

  1. Best Practices for Shareable Metadata
    Category: Metadata

    This draft document is part of the Best Practices for OAI Data Provider Implementations and Shareable Metadata, a joint initiative between the Digital Library Federation and the National Science Digital Library. It comprises: Introduction which provides useful background; Best Practices for Shareable Metadata Content which includes general recommendation on authoring 'shareable' metadata, documenting decisions made, and recommendations on how to author certain classes of metadata elements; Best Practices for Technical Aspects of Metadata which includes recommendations for technical metadata issues including use of namespaces, XML schemas, and character encoding; and, Final Preparations, or how to check for 'shareability' before implementing your OAI data provider

  1. CanCore Guidelines 2.0 Documents
    Category: Metadata

    These guidelines are synchronized with the IEEE LOM standard, and include best practice recommendations for all LOM elements.

  1. CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model
    Category: Metadata

    CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model represents an 'ontology' for cultural heritage information i.e. it describes in a formal language the explicit and implicit concepts and relations relevant to the documentation of cultural heritage.

  1. Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata: Final Report of the PREMIS Working Group
    Category: Metadata

    In 2003 OCLC and RLG established Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies (PREMIS), an international working group. This report and the PREMIS Data Dictionary version 1.0 are the culmination of nearly two years of effort by PREMIS members. The Data Dictionary defines and describes an implementable set of core preservation metadata with broad applicability to digital preservation repositories. This report is intended to put the Data Dictionary into context, explain the underlying assumptions and data model, and provide additional information about the meaning and use of semantic units defined in the Data Dictionary.



  1. DCMI accessibility working group
    Category: Metadata

    To provide a forum to: Consider the role of advice to DCMI about the accessibility of its products - website, tools and recommendations - and report on a strategy for ensuring that DC recommendations and information are accessible in the future.

  1. Descriptive Metadata Guidelines for RLG Cultural Materials
    Category: Metadata

    RLG has compiled these Descriptive Metadata Guidelines for contributors, to ensure that the digital collections submitted to RLG Cultural Materials can be discovered and understood. While these guidelines reflect the needs of one particular service, they also represent a case study in information sharing across community and national boundaries. For contributors who are in the process of formulating policies for describing their collections ? or simply trying to understand the choices and terminology ? these guidelines provide an overview of key concepts and strategies.

  1. DET Learning Resource Metadata (DETLRM) Application Profile
    Category: Metadata

    This application profile specifies a set of metadata elements and vocabularies to describe learning resources in the NSW Department of Education and Training (DET). The term 'learning resource' here refers to any resource that supports the teaching and learning of DET endorsed curriculum. The purpose of this profile is to support the search, evaluation, access, management, exchange and use of learning resources in DET.

  1. DET Learning Resource Metadata (DETLRM) Application Profile
    Category: Metadata

    This application profile specifies a set of metadata elements and vocabularies to describe learning resources in the NSW Department of Education and Training (DET). The term 'learning resource' here refers to any resource that supports the teaching and learning of DET endorsed curriculum. The purpose of this profile is to support the search, evaluation, access, management, exchange and use of learning resources in DET.

  1. Digital Libraries : Metadata Resources
    Category: Metadata

    This US site provides a comprehensive listing of metadata resources. Covers General Resources and Indicies, the Dublin Core and Warwick Framework, Ecoded Archival Description, Geospatial Metadata Standards, Government Information Locator Service (GILS), Handles, MARC, PICS, URI, Z39.50, Conferences, Metadata Tools and many more resources.

  1. Distributed Architecture for Resource Discovery Using Metadata
    Category: Metadata

    This article describes an approach for linking geographically distributed collections of metadata so that they are searchable as a single collection. The authors describe the infrastructure, which uses standard Internet protocols such as the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and the Common Indexing Protocol (CIP), to distribute queries, return results, and exchange index information. Discussed are the advantages of using linked collections of authoritative metadata as an alternative to using a keyword indexing search-engine for resource discovery. The authors also examine other architectures that use metadata for resource discovery, such as Dienst/NCSTRL, the AHDS HTTP/Z39.50 Gateway, and the ROADS initiative.

  1. Document Content Description for XML (DCD)
    Category: Metadata

    This document proposes a structural schema facility, Document Content Description (DCD), for specifying rules covering the structure and content of XML documents. The DCD proposal incorporates a subset of the XML-Data Submission and expresses it in a way which is consistent with the ongoing W3C RDF (Resource Description Framework) effort; in particular, DCD is an RDF vocabulary. DCD is intended to define document constraints in an XML syntax; these constraints may be used in the same fashion as traditional XML DTDs. DCD also provides additional properties, such as basic datatypes.

  1. Dublin Core Abstract Model
    Category: Metadata

    This document specifies an abstract model for Dublin Core (DC) metadata records. The primary purpose of this document is to provide a reference model against which particular DC encoding guidelines can be compared, in order to facilitate better mappings and translations between different syntaxes.

  1. Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (DCMES)
    Category: Metadata

    This document, an excerpt from the more comprehensive document DCMI Metadata Terms [DCTERMS] provides an abbreviated reference version of the fifteen element descriptions that have been formally endorsed in the following standards: ISO Standard 15836-2003 of February 2003 [ISO15836], NISO Standard Z39.85-2007 of May 2007 [NISOZ3985] and IETF RFC 5013 of August 2007 [RFC5013].

  1. Dublin Core Metadata Initiative
    Category: Metadata

    The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative is an open forum engaged in the development of interoperable online metadata standards that support a broad range of purposes and business models.

  1. edna metadata standard
    Category: Metadata

    Entry point for information about the status and implementation of metadata within edna (Education Network Australia). The edna metadata standard is based on the schema defined by the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative.



  1. ersistent Identifier Scheme for Digital Collections at the National Library of Australia
    Category: Metadata

    The National Library has implemented its own managed naming scheme for digital resources and coupled this with an internal resolver service that seamlessly directs a request for an item to the current storage location of that item. This scheme supports the digital surrogates that the Library produces from items in its collections, as well as the online publications archived in the PANDORA Archive.

  1. Guidelines for Encoding Bibliographic Citation Information in Dublin Core Metadata
    Category: Metadata

    This document provides guidelines for capturing bibliographic citation information within a Dublin Core description. It focuses on bibliographic citations for journal articles, but it also considers other genre. It deals primarily with bibliographic citations for a resource within its own metadata, but some guidelines for describing references to other resources are also indicated. Some other issues that arise when describing a bibliographic resource using Dublin Core metadata are also discussed.

  1. Guidelines for Handling Image Metadata
    Category: Metadata

    This document describes how best to use existing standards such as Exif, IPTC, and XMP to address the key organizational metadata questions that most consumers have about the storage, manipulation, and sharing of pictures over the internet.

  1. Guidelines for Implementing Dublin Core in XML
    Category: Metadata

    This document provides guidelines for people implementing Dublin Core metadata applications using XML. It considers both simple (unqualified) DC and qualified DC applications. In each case, the underlying metadata model is described (in a syntax neutral way), followed by some specific guidelines for XML implementations. Some guidance on the use of non-DC metadata within DC metadata applications is also provided.

  1. Guidelines for the Creation of Content for Resource Discovery Metadata
    Category: Metadata

    The document has been prepared by the National Library of Australia and the State Library of Tasmania. The Guidelines are intended to assist with the creation of quality, consistent descriptive metadata for online resources that will improve resource discovery services for these resources. There are a number of different metadata schemes in use. These Guidelines are based on one of the most widely used metadata schemes ? the Dublin Core Element Set.

  1. IMS Learning Resource Metadata Specification
    Category: Metadata

    IMS (IMS Global Learning Consortium, Inc.) on-line learning specifications and standards for learning object metadata. The website provides links to all versions including public draft versions.

  1. IMS Metadata Best Practice Guide for IEEE 1484.12.1-2002 Standard for Learning Object Metadata
    Category: Metadata

    This Version 1.3 Public Draft Standard resolves the drift between the IMS Metadata and the IEEE LOM standard, which began as a combination of IMS Metadata and ARIADNE collaboration. The purpose of this document is to provide users and implementers of the IMS Learning Resource Metadata v1.3 Specification with a narrative description of the data model along with guidelines on its use, including the creation of application profiles. This Best Practice and Implementation Guide also provides a brief description of IEEE P1484.12.3 Draft Standard for Extensible Markup Language (XML) Schema Definition Language Binding for Learning Object Metadata plus guidelines on binding metadata instances.

  1. info-URI Registry
    Category: Metadata

    A Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) provides a simple and extensible means for identifying a resource within the Web global information architecture. Each URI begins with a scheme name that refers to a specification for assigning identifiers within that scheme. As such, the URI syntax is a federated and extensible naming system wherein each scheme's specification may further restrict the syntax and semantics of identifiers using that scheme

  1. International Standard Technical Report Number (ISRN)
    Category: Metadata

    The International Standard Technical Report Number (ISRN) specifies a uniform format for the creation of unique, but compatible, numbers used for the identification, organization and location of technical reports. This International Standard is applicable to both publicly distributed and in-house technical reports including those produced in non-print media.

  1. IntraLibrary
    Category: Metadata

    IntraLibrary is totally conformal and compliant with IMS/LOM 6.4 et al interoperability standards, intuitive, using modern technology, taxonomy, and other techniques to promote good practices in training, both creation and delivery. It is a specialised high-performance, digital repository, developed specifically for the storage and retrieval of industry-standard compliant learning- or knowledge-granules/objects.

  1. Introduction to Metadata: Pathways to Digital Information: Online Edition, Version 2.1
    Category: Metadata

    This is version 2.0 of the site devoted to metadata: what it is, its types and uses, and how it can improve access to Web resources; it includes a crosswalk.



  1. Justice Sector Metadata Standard
    Category: Metadata

    The Justice Sector Metadata Standard sets out the metadata elements required to allow consistent retrieval of legal information by search facilities. The standard caters for legal specific information such as jurisdiction, act name and the distinction between primary and secondary materials (legislation vs guides to the law). The Justice Sector Metadata Standard arose from the work of the Legal Information Standards Council (LISC) and the LawZone trial.

  1. LAMS Sequence Metadata Application Profile
    Category: Metadata

    Metadata for learning objects, activities and sequences can be significant for learning design as they facilitate search, evaluation, acquisition and reuse. A Metadata Application Profile (MAP) consisting of 17 fields for Learning Objects (LO) and Sequences of Learning Activities (LAs), crafted specifically for the needs of the LAMS Community of Practice (CoP) is presented, justified and discussed. MAPs are sub-schemas of the amalgamation of standard metadata schemata for LOs, in this case LOM, DC and the metadata schema for sequences of learning activities used in the LAMS repository.

  1. LAMS Sequence Metadata Application Profile
    Category: Metadata

    Metadata for learning objects, activities and sequences can be significant for learning design as they facilitate search, evaluation, acquisition and reuse. A Metadata Application Profile (MAP) consisting of 17 fields for Learning Objects (LO) and Sequences of Learning Activities (LAs), crafted specifically for the needs of the LAMS Community of Practice (CoP) is presented, justified and discussed. MAPs are sub-schemas of the amalgamation of standard metadata schemata for LOs, in this case LOM, DC and the metadata schema for sequences of learning activities used in the LAMS repository.

  1. Mapping between metadata formats
    Category: Metadata

    A compilation of metadata mappings and crosswalks including: MARC 21 to Dublin Core, Dublin Core to USMARC, ROADS, IAFA, Z39.50, SOIF and EAD.

  1. MARC Relator Terms and Dublin Core
    Category: Metadata

    This document describes the use of MARC Relator terms in Dublin Core metadata and points to relevant guidance documentation. The use of MARC Relator terms will allow designers of metadata applications to distinguish between different types of Contributor, such as Illustrator or Translator.

  1. Metadata Authority Description Schema (MADS)
    Category: Metadata

    As an XML schema, the Metadata Authority Description Schema (MADS) is intended to be able to carry selected data from existing MARC 21 authority records as well as to enable the creation of original records for agents and terms.

  1. Metadata Collection Level Description
    Category: Metadata

    Metadata Collection Level Description conatins information about describing collections and analysis of the Z39.50 Profile for Access to Digital Collections and the Z39.50 Explain Service.

  1. Metadata guidelines for digital content
    Category: Metadata

    This document has been developed for use by those involved in creating and reviewing metadata for items published by The Le@rning Federation (TLF). It provides general principles and specific guidelines that should be applied to the creation and review of metadata, and summarises TLF recommendations and actual rules used to create metadata in conjunction with subject matter experts. It also serves as a model for educational organisations producing digital content.

  1. Metadata Object Description Schema
    Category: Metadata

    The Library of Congress' Network Development and MARC Standards Office has developed a schema for a bibliographic element set particularly for library applications. As an XML schema, the Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS) is intended to be able to carry selected data from existing MARC 21 records as well as to enable the creation of original resource description records. It includes a subset of MARC fields and uses language-based tags rather than numeric ones, in some cases regrouping elements from the MARC 21 bibliographic format. MODS is expressed using the XML schema language of the World Wide Web Consortium. The standard is maintained by the Network Development and MARC Standards Office of the Library of Congress with input from users.

  1. Metadata Standards SC32/WG2
    Category: Metadata

    SO/IEC JTC1 SC32 WG2 is the Working Group that develops international standards for metadata and related technologies. Use of these standards will enhance the understanding and sharing of data, information and processes to support, for example, interoperability, electronic commerce and component-based development.



  1. Metadata usage in Australian and New Zealand education and training: HB 256:2007
    Category: Metadata

    The objective of this handbook is to provide information and practical guidance for the creation and management of online content in the learning, education, training, educational administration and research environments. It provides an introduction to metadata, information about metadata schemas, metadata tools and metadata skills. Its appendices contain use cases, references, glossary, classifications and vocabularies.

  1. Metadata, Electronic Document Management and the Digital Library for E-commerce
    Category: Metadata

    This material was prepared for the unit Information Technology in Electronic Commerce (COMP3410) at the Australian National University, semester 2, 2000. It is intended to introduce two topics: Metadata and Electronic Document Management/Digital Library.

  1. MetaMap
    Category: Metadata

    Produced by University of Montreal, Canada. A pedagogical tool to help people understand metadata standards, sets, and initiatives related to information studies. The MetaMap exists to help gather in one place information about these metadata initiatives, to try to show relationships among them, and to connect them with the various players involved in their creation and use.

  1. METS - Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard
    Category: Metadata

    The METS schema is a standard for encoding descriptive, administrative, and structural metadata regarding objects within a digital library, expressed using the XML schema language of the World Wide Web Consortium. The standard is maintained in the Network Development and MARC Standards Office of the Library of Congress, and is being developed as an initiative of the Digital Library Federation.

  1. Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG)
    Category: Metadata

    Home page of the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) a working group of ISO/IEC in charge of the development of standards for coded representation of digital audio and video. Established in 1988, the group has produced MPEG-1, the standard on which such products as Video CD and MP3 are based, MPEG-2 the standard on which such products as Digital Television set top boxes and DVD are based and MPEG-4, the standard for multimedia for the web and mobility. The current thrust is MPEG-7

  1. MPEG-7 Standard (version 6.0)
    Category: Metadata

    MPEG-7 offers a comprehensive set of audiovisual Description Tools to create descriptions which will form the basis for applications enabling effective and efficient access (search, filtering and browsing) to multimedia content.

  1. Namespace Policy for the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI)
    Category: Metadata

    An XML namespace [XML-NAMES] is a collection of names, identified by a URI reference [RFC2396], that are used in XML documents as element types and attribute names. The use of XML namespaces to uniquely identify metadata terms allows those terms to be unambiguously used across applications, promoting the possibility of shared semantics. DCMI adopts this mechanism for the identification of all DCMI terms. This document specifies the conventions used for identifying current and future DCMI namespaces. All DCMI recommendations that make use of namespaces will conform to this recommendation.

  1. New Zealand Government Locator Sevice (NZGLS) metadata standard
    Category: Metadata

    The NZGLS metadata standard is the official New Zealand Government standard for creating discovery-level metadata. The standard is based closely on the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set and the Australian Government Locator Service. NZGLS defines nineteen metadata elements for resource description in a cross-disciplinary information environment.

  1. NZ Ministry of Education Metadata Schema
    Category: Metadata

    The 2007 Ministry of Education Metadata Schema (MEMS) will be implemented in an electronic document and records management system (EDRMS) and content management system (CMS) within the Ministry. The metadata schema, taxonomy and controlled vocabulary will apply to: the electronic document and records management system, a Ministry-wide records classification structure, and a Ministry-wide retention and disposal schedule. The complete Schema and Description of Elements is available.

  1. Online Information Exchange International (ONIX International)
    Category: Metadata

    The ONIX family includes standards for Books, Serials and Licensing Terms (including RROs). All ONIX standards are designed to support computer-to-computer communication between parties involved in creating, distributing, licensing or otherwise making available intellectual property in published form, whether physical or digital. All are expressed in XML.

  1. Online Legal Access Project: Guidelines and Standards
    Category: Metadata

    The Online Legal Access Project (OLAP) aims to promote current developments in online access to the law to facilitate the sharing of resources and information. The Guidelines and Standards page includes information on Best practice guidelines; Email law; Draft Justice Sector Metadata Standards.



  1. Open Archives Initiative - Protocol for Metadata Harvesting - v.2.0
    Category: Metadata

    The Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (referred to as the OAI-PMH) provides an application-independent interoperability framework based on metadata harvesting. There are two classes of participants in the OAI-PMH framework: Data Providers who administer systems that support the OAI-PMH as a means of exposing metadata; and Service Providers who use metadata harvested via the OAI-PMH as a basis for building value-added services.

  1. OpenURL ContextObject in SPAN (COinS)
    Category: Metadata

    COinS (ContextObjects in Spans) is a simple, ad hoc community specification for publishing OpenURL references in HTML. The goal is to embed citation metadata into html in such a way that processing agents can discover, process and make use of the metadata. Since an important use of this metadata will be to allow processing agents to make OpenURL hyperlinks for users in libraries (latent OpenURL), the method must allow the metadata to be placed any where in HTML that a link might appear. In the absence of some metadata-aware agent, the embedded metadata must be invisible to the user and innocuous with respect to HTML markup. To meet these requirements, the span element was selected. The NISO OpenURL ContextObject is selected as the specific metadata package.

  1. PREMIS (PREservation Metadata Implementation Strategies): Data Dictionary version 1.0
    Category: Metadata

    The final products of the PREservation Metadata Implementation Strategies (PREMIS) Working Group are available from this website. Jointly sponsored by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) and Research Libraries Group (RLG), PREMIS is an international set of more than 30 experts from libraries, museums, archives, government and the private sector. The PREMIS Working Group has published the data dictionary for Preservation Metadata - a comprehensive guide to core metadata for supporting the long-term preservation of digital materials. PREMIS Data Dictionary, version 1.0 is available to download.

  1. PRISM (Publishing Requirements for Industry Standard Metadata)
    Category: Metadata

    PRISM is a set of metadata vocabularies that assist in the automation of publishing production processes and content exchange.

  1. RDA: Resource Description and Access
    Category: Metadata

    RDA: Resource Description and Access is the new standard for resource description and access designed for the digital world. Built on the foundations established by AACR2, RDA will provide a comprehensive set of guidelines and instructions on resource description and access covering all types of content and media.

  1. RDA: Resource Description and Access
    Category: Metadata

    RDA: Resource Description and Access is the new standard for resource description and access designed for the digital world. Built on the foundations established by AACR2, RDA will provide a comprehensive set of guidelines and instructions on resource description and access covering all types of content and media.

  1. RDF Primer
    Category: Metadata

    Produced by the RDF Core Working Group of the World Wide Web Consortium, the document aims to provide the reader with the basic fundamentals required to effectively use RDF in their particular applications. RDF is a general-purpose language for representing information in the World Wide Web, particularly intended for representing metadata about Web resources.

  1. RDFa Primer 1.0
    Category: Metadata

    RDFa is a syntax for expressing structured data in XHTML. The rendered, hypertext data of XHTML is reused by the RDFa markup, so that publishers don't repeat themselves. The underlying abstract representation is RDF, which lets publishers build their own vocabulary, extend others, and evolve their vocabulary with maximal interoperability over time. The expressed structure is closely tied to the data, so that rendered data can be copied and pasted along with its relevant structure. This document is an introduction to RDFa. A more detailed syntax specification is being produced.

  1. Resource List Interoperability
    Category: Metadata

    The Resource List Interoperability (RLI) specification details how structured metadata can be exchanged between systems that store and expose resources for the purpose of creating resource lists and those that gather and organise those Resource Lists for educational or training purposes. A typical example of such a resource list is a reading list. The specification is based on an abstract service behaviour and data model that describes in generalised terms a resource at the item level, a collection of these resources (ie a list), and the behaviours associated with a resource list management service. The data model is then bound or expressed in XML, combining elements that primarily map to subsets of the IEEE-LOM (Learning Object Metadata) and ISO 690-2 bibliographic citation standards to describe the resource items and aggregated resource list. The abstract service interface is bound to web services expressed as WSDL. The IMS Content Packaging specification wraps the resource list to enable transfer between systems.

  1. Resource List Interoperability
    Category: Metadata

    The Resource List Interoperability (RLI) specification details how structured metadata can be exchanged between systems that store and expose resources for the purpose of creating resource lists and those that gather and organise those Resource Lists for educational or training purposes. A typical example of such a resource list is a reading list. The specification is based on an abstract service behaviour and data model that describes in generalised terms a resource at the item level, a collection of these resources (ie a list), and the behaviours associated with a resource list management service. The data model is then bound or expressed in XML, combining elements that primarily map to subsets of the IEEE-LOM (Learning Object Metadata) and ISO 690-2 bibliographic citation standards to describe the resource items and aggregated resource list. The abstract service interface is bound to web services expressed as WSDL. The IMS Content Packaging specification wraps the resource list to enable transfer between systems.

  1. Semantic Interoperability of Metadata and Information in unLike Environments (SIMILE)
    Category: Metadata

    SIMILE is a joint project conducted by the W3C, HP, MIT Libraries, and MIT CSAIL. SIMILE seeks to enhance inter-operability among digital assets, schemata, vocabularies, ontologies, metadata and services. A key challenge is that the collections which must inter-operate are often distributed across individual, community, and institutional stores. SIMILE will leverage and extend DSpace, enhancing its support for arbitrary schemata and metadata, primarily though the application of RDF and semantic web techniques.



  1. SRW: Search and Retrieve Web Service
    Category: Metadata

    This site is the Cheshire project's SRW implementation work done by Rob Sanderson, one of the editors of the SRW protocol.

  1. Standard Upper Ontology Working Group (SUO WG)
    Category: Metadata

    The Standard Upper Ontology Working Group (SUO WG) standard will specify an upper ontology that will enable computers to utilize it for applications such as data interoperability, information search and retrieval, automated inferencing, and natural language processing.

  1. System to Evaluate the Excellence of Research (SEER) - Australian Research Council (ARC)
    Category: Metadata

    To facilitate institutions getting early information on the direction of ERA, the Australian Research Council (ARC) has developed the draft ERA Pilot Submission Guidelines. Accompanying the ERA Pilot Submission Guidelines is the SEER Technical Specifications. The Specifications include information about data content and structures required for packaging ERA Pilot submissions; system interfaces; mechanisms of data transfer; and pilot system environment availability and support procedures.



  1. System to Evaluate the Excellence of Research (SEER) - Australian Research Council (ARC)
    Category: Metadata

    To facilitate institutions getting early information on the direction of ERA, the Australian Research Council (ARC) has developed the draft ERA Pilot Submission Guidelines. Accompanying the ERA Pilot Submission Guidelines is the SEER Technical Specifications. The Specifications include information about data content and structures required for packaging ERA Pilot submissions; system interfaces; mechanisms of data transfer; and pilot system environment availability and support procedures.

  1. TMX Specification
    Category: Metadata

    This document defines the Translation Memory eXchange format (TMX). The purpose of the TMX format is to provide a standard method to describe translation memory data that is being exchanged among tools and/or translation vendors, while introducing little or no loss of critical data during the process.

  1. URIs, URLs, and URNs: Clarifications and Recommendations 1.0
    Category: Metadata

    This paper addresses and attempts to clarify two issues pertaining to URIs, and presents recommendations. Section 1 addresses how URI space is partitioned and the relationship between URIs, URLs, and URNs. Section 2 describes how URI schemes and URN namespace ids are registered. Section 3 mentions additional unresolved issues not considered by this paper and section 4 presents recommendations.

  1. Vetadata Profile
    Category: Metadata

    This summary document describes the new Metadata standard for the VET Sector (Vetadata) with particular emphasis on Toolboxes.

  1. WA DET teaching and learning metadata application profile (DET-TLM)
    Category: Metadata

    Draft version of the metadata application profile developed to support the Western Australian Schools Online Teaching and Learning System metadata requirements.

  1. Web Services Description Language (WSDL)
    Category: Metadata

    The Web Services Description Language Version 2.0 (WSDL 2.0), is an XML language for describing Web services. This specification defines the core language which can be used to describe Web services based on an abstract model of what the service offers. It also defines the conformance criteria for documents in this language.

  1. WG12: Learning Objects Metadata
    Category: Metadata

    IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee standard for learning objects and metadata in information technology, education and training systems. The Learning Object Metadata standards will focus on the minimal set of attributes needed to allow these Learning Objects to be managed, located, and evaluated.

  1. XHTML Friends Network (XFN)
    Category: Metadata

    XFN (XHTML Friends Network) is a simple way to represent human relationships using hyperlinks. XFN enables web authors to indicate their relationship(s) to the people in their blogrolls simply by adding a 'rel' attribute to their <a href> tags.



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Some of the information accessible through this page is dated. It will be progressively reviewed, and where appropriate, revised.