Presentation given by Rebecca Grant, Digital Archivist at Digital Repository of Ireland on March 9th, 2016 in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, as part of a training workshop co-hosted by Digital Repository of Ireland and the Archives and Records Association (Ireland), titled 'Introduction to EAD'. This presentation gave an introduction to metadata and the principles of metadata sharing.

1. Rebecca Grant
Digital Archivist, Digital Repository of Ireland
Introduction to EAD Workshop:
Metadata Standards and Metadata Sharing

2. Digital Repository of Ireland
DRI is a trusted digital repository for Humanities and
Social Sciences Data in Ireland
DRI is a research project
• Preserving, linking and sharing Irish data online
• Core grant: HEA PRTLI 5, €5.2M
• RIA (lead), NUIM, TCD, DIT, NUIG, NCAD
• September 2011 – December 2015
www.repository.dri.ie

4. What is Metadata?

5. What is Metadata?
Technical metadata – hardware, software, file formats, resolution,
size
Preservation metadata – provenance, authenticity, preservation
actions, responsibility (eg. PREMIS)
Structural metadata – physical/logical structure of digital resources
(eg. METS)
Descriptive metadata – describes the digital resource; catalogue
records/finding aids

6. International Standard Archival Description (General) or ISAD (G) is an
international standard which provides guidelines for creating the content of an
archival description.
It promotes the creation of consistent and appropriate descriptions, aiding the
retrieval and exchange of information, and the integration of descriptions into a
unified information system.
ISAD (G) sets out a list of elements which are considered necessary for an
archival description, and rules that should be followed when writing a
description. ISAD (G) identifies and describes what kind of information should
be included in an archival description and whether this description is in written,
printed, or electronic form.
http://archiveshub.ac.uk/isadg/

7. ISAD(G) EAD
3.1.1 Reference code(s) <eadid> with COUNTRYCODE and
MAINAGENCYCODE attributes<unitid> with
COUNTRYCODE and REPOSITORYCODE
attributes
3.1.2 Title <unittitle>
3.1.3 Dates <unitdate>
3.1.4 Level of description <archdesc> and <c> LEVEL attribute
3.1.5 Extent and medium of the unit <physdesc> and subelements <extent>,
<dimensions>, <genreform>, <physfacet>
3.2.1 Name of creator <origination>
3.2.2 Administrative/Biographical history <bioghist>
3.2.3 Archival history <custodhist>
3.2.4 Immediate source of acquisition <acqinfo>
3.3.1 Scope and content <scopecontent>
3.3.2 Appraisal, destruction and scheduling <appraisal>
3.3.3 Accruals <accruals>
3.3.4 System of arrangement <arrangement>
3.4.1 Conditions governing access <accessrestrict>
3.4.2 Conditions governing reproduction <userestrict>

8. Human readable descriptions
A handwritten or typewritten
listing or finding aid
Can be easily read and
understood
Can be accessible in physical or
digital medium
Can be free-text searched

9. Machine readable descriptions
In a format that can be
understood by computers
Structured representation of
information
Described using particular
standards (eg. XML, HTML,
RDF)
Allows processing, exchange
and analysis

10. Machine readable descriptions

11. Creating Metadata
http://archiveshub.ac.uk/eadeditor/

12. Creating Metadata

13. Seeing Standards: A Visualization of the Metadata Universe, Jenn Riley & Devin Becker,
http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/~jenlrile/metadatamap/

14. Seeing Standards: A Visualization of the Metadata Universe, Jenn Riley & Devin Becker,
http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/~jenlrile/metadatamap/

15. Metadata standards

16. DRI metadata guidelines
•Dublin core
and Qualified
Dublin Core
• MODS
• EAD
• MARC

18. Why use standard metadata?
Using standardised descriptive metadata means adhering to
the best practices in your domain.
Standardised metadata allows you to control how records
are described within your organisation too.
Enforcing standards allows greater consistency and therefore
searchability of your records.
Metadata sharing and interoperability is only possible when
a standard is used.

19. Cost saving – the schema and its usage guidelines have been
developed thus saving time and effort
Access to help and advice – a standard is likely to have a
community of users, which means there will access to help
and advice about how best to use the standard
Usability – users are likely to be familiar with a standard and
its terminology, thus they can more quickly and easily use
your collection
Sustainability – use of common standards will make it easier
to pass your collection on to someone else to look after if
you ever need to From the JISC metadata infokit,
http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/infokit/metadata/the-benefits-of-using-a-
metadata-standard

20. http://dx.doi.org/10.7486/D
RI.5999r405z

21. www.iar.ie

22. www.archivesportaleurope.net/

23. Europeana.eu

24. @beck_grant
@dri_ireland
r.grant@ria.ie
www.repository.dri.ie
www.dri.ie/publications#guidelines