Week 4 Readings

Database article

While I found most of the article a bit above my grasp, it was interesting to learn about the different types of models and think about which model would work for a specific user need. I would have liked the article to have contained some pictures of how these databases actually look on the screen, since I have not worked with them directly. Also, the section on applications could have been longer and I hope there is some discussion of this in class.

Metadata & Dublin Core articles

It seems that the structure of metadata is very important. The more structured an information object is, the better for searching and manipulating that object. This also comes into play when thinking about increased accessibility and expanded use of information internationally (metadata being able to adjust to different end users, i.e. teachers versus school children). This cannot happen if the structure of metadata is not as consistent as possible. The article mentions the different practices for different professional and cultural missions when it comes to creating metadata.

This article was very helpful in pointing out the different ways that the term 'metadata' is used and the different types of metadata with 'real world' examples (Table 1). For someone new to this field, this is very helpful. In the Understanding Information course, we learned about the life cycle of information. It was interesting to learn how layers of metadata are added with every step through the life cycle.

Going back to consistency, this is where the Dublin Core comes into play. While the Miller article was OK, I could not get my head around it and searched for a more consumable (and more current) article. Luckily, I found a great Dublin Core Metadata Tutorial from 2007. Here's the link: www.oclc.org/research/presentations/weibel/20070709-brazil-dctutorial.ppt

This tutorial is from the OCLC Online Computer Library Center and does a great job of discussing metadata, the different properties of Dublin Core metadata, and also discusses syntax alternatives in Dublin Core (HTML, RDF/XML, etc) and their different advantages and disadvantages. Towards the end of the presentation (around slide 70), it provides a history of the Dublin Core and various landmarks. While I am not questioning the use of the assigned reading, it is a draft document from 1999 with numerous errors and after reading these slides I feel like I understand substantially more about metadata and the Dublin Core than from reading the Miller article.

Also, I found a list of terminology which helped me read through the tutorial:
http://dublincore.org/documents/abstract-model/#sect-7. (you may have to scroll down a little ways to #7) I did not know what some of the acronyms stood for that Weibel was used, such as URI (uniform resource identifier).