-->Metadata

Metadata is the process for describing an object in a repository so that a search readily will find it and so that a researcher will understand what the item is and the ways it might best be used. In some respects metadata is similar to the catalog listings one finds in a library catalog. Yet, there are descriptors in metadata that are unique to the digital medium in the contexts of both searching and description that typical cataloging could not address easily. These differences are what make metadata distinct from cataloging.

Metadata standards form an overall strategy for metadata development that is as consistent as possible within the repository, even though a number of people will be contributing metadata.

Types are used within metadata construction as a kind of vocabulary specification that coincides with scanning specifications and common practice within the metadata standards.

The Outline of the metadata demonstrates the structure and relationship of types as applied to the metadata standards for a specific repository.