Marrying Local Metadata Needs With Accepted Standards: The Creation of a Data Dictionary at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Abstract

This article provides an example of how the University of Illinois at Chicago Library (UIC Library) consolidated previous metadata practices into a single data dictionary that covers all digital objects managed through the CONTENTdm collection management program. The work done at the UIC Library streamlines preparation and metadata creation for new projects, standardizes metadata within CONTENTdm, promotes consistency and comprehensiveness for sharing beyond CONTENTdm, and provides a foundation for further standardization. The use of wiki editing software for maintaining the data dictionary has helped both disseminate information across the library and keep information contained in the data dictionary up to date. This model may be used as an example for other libraries in similar circumstances.

KEYWORDS:

• data dictionary
• Dublin Core
• CONTENTdm
• descriptive metadata
• institutional guidelines

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author wishes to thank Peter Hepburn, Kavita Mundle, and the anonymous reviewers, all of whom helped improve the quality of this paper.

Notes

1. Dublin Core Metadata Element Set: http://www.dublincore.org/documents/dces/; DCMI Metadata Terms: http://www.dublincore.org/documents/dcmi-terms/

2. Library of Congress Authorities and Vocabularies: http://id.loc.gov/

3. WorldCat Digital Collection Gateway: http://www.oclc.org/gateway/

4. CARLI Digital Collections Portal: http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/

5. CONTENTdm Web site: http://www.oclc.org/contentdm/

6. IPTC Photo Metadata Standard: http://www.iptc.org/cms/site/index.html?channel=CH0099

7. CDP Dublin Core Metadata Best Practices, Version 2.1.1: http://www.bcr.org/dps/cdp/best/dublin-core-bp.pdf

8. Library of Congress Metadata for Digital Content: http://www.loc.gov/standards/mdc/

9. Metadata Guidelines for the Mountain West Digital Library: http://mwdl.org/public/mwdl/metadata_MWDL2006.pdf

10. NC ECHO North Carolina Dublin Core: http://www.ncecho.org/dig/ncdc.shtml

11. University of Washington Libraries Metadata Guidelines for Collections using CONTENTdm: http://www.lib.washington.edu/msd/mig/advice/default.html

12. Twiki: http://twiki.org/

13. FosWiki: http://foswiki.org/

14. CARLI wiki, CONTENTdm page: http://wiki.carli.illinois.edu/index.php/Portal:CONTENTdm