Metadata is the information we create, store, and share to describe things. It allows us to interact with these things to obtain the knowledge we need. This presentation is an overview of metadata concepts with physical and digital examples and the outcome of a schema building exercise.

1. WE ARE WHAT WE TAG
Matthew Patulski
Poplar Media LLC
April 2018
Metadata

2. Metadata is the information we create, store,
and share to describe things. It allows us
to interact with these things to obtain the
knowledge we need.
Jenn Riley
METADATA: WE ARE WHAT WE TAG 2

3. Technical
File format, resolution,
colorspace, fonts, bit-rate
METADATA: WE ARE WHAT WE TAG
HOW IS METADATA DEFINED?
Content
Discrete files
file archives
snippets
Descriptive
Who, what , were, when
Administrative
Lifecycle and provenance
Structural
Components and sections
Rights
Copyright and permissions
By grouping it based on
the function or purpose
it serves.
These functions work
together to provide a
comprehensive profile
of your content.

4. METADATA: WE ARE WHAT WE TAG
WHERE DO WE INTERACT WITH METADATA? EVERYWHERE!
Shopping Museums Digital Life

5. METADATA: WE ARE WHAT WE TAG
ELEMENTS
The smallest unit of metadata is the ‘element,' which is paired with a value:
Element
Title
Creator
Subject
Description
Value
Twilight in the Meadow
Jane Doe
Landscape
Painting of a sunset,
in the autumn, near
the Artist’s home.
Element
Title
Creator
Subject
Description
Value
GI Joe
Hasbro, Inc.
Toy
America's movable
fighting man. A plastic
articulated figurine.

6. METADATA: WE ARE WHAT WE TAG
SCHEMAS
Schemas map the relationships
between metadata elements.
They establish rules for
the use and management of
metadata including options,
syntax, and semantics.
The Dublin Core Schema is a small
set of 15 vocabulary terms that can
be used to describe digital and
physical resources such as video,
images, web pages, CDs, books, etc.
Title
Creator
Subject
Description
Publisher
Contributor
Date
Type
Format
Identifier
Source
Language
Relation
Coverage
Rights
Dublin Core

7. METADATA: WE ARE WHAT WE TAG
CONTROLLED VOCABULARIES
These 4 vocabularies for the Getty Museum
contain structured terminology for art,
architecture, decorative arts, archival
materials, visual surrogates, conservation,
and bibliographic materials.
▸ The Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)®
▸ The Cultural Objects Name Authority
(CONA)®
▸ The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic
Names (TGN)®
▸ The Union List of Artist Names (ULAN)®
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The Calder or La Grand Vitesse? CONA knows.

8. METADATA: WE ARE WHAT WE TAG
TAXONOMY
A taxonomy provides immediate
understanding of the overall structure
of a knowledge domain and what
resources can be found there.
The Linnaean Taxonomy is a biological
classification set up by Carl Linnaeus
in 1735.
Within the domain of life, there are
three kingdoms, divided into classes,
orders, genus, and species with an
additional rank lower than species.
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9. There is no “one-size-fits-all” metadata
schema or controlled vocabulary or data
content (cataloging) standard.
METADATA: WE ARE WHAT WE TAG 9
Murtha Baca

10. METADATA: WE ARE WHAT WE TAG
FORAGING WITH METADATA: WAY FINDING
Over the next few slides, as you will see, you are presented with a hierarchy of signs and displays to
visually break your grocery into components, from large departments to specific product brands.

17. METADATA: WE ARE WHAT WE TAG
FORAGING WITH METADATA: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
Information
architecture is
the structural
design of
information
and content.
It then focuses
on organizing and
labeling so that
users can best find
what they are
looking for.

22. METADATA: WE ARE WHAT WE TAG
HOW DID WE FIND THAT GRAVY, AGAIN?
Physical: Way-finding
Store: Meijer
Entrance: ‘Fresh’
Aisle 14:
‘gravy/world foods/tortillas & shells’
Flag: ‘gravy & stuffing'
Shelf: 3rd from the top
McCormick’s 12 oz. Chicken Gravy
Digital: Information Architecture
URL: meijer.com
> Grocery
> Pantry
> Condiments & Sauces
> Gravy
> McCormick’s 12 oz. Chicken Gravy

23. METADATA: WE ARE WHAT WE TAG
EXERCISE: LET’S MAKE A SCHEMA!
[1]
What do you
think are the
key data-points
of this group?
[2]
What
bubbles
up?
Choose 8—we
have a schema!
[3]
Populate
the schema!
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25. METADATA: WE ARE WHAT WE TAG
LINKAGE
▸ ‘Introduction to Metadata, 3rd Edition’ edited by Murtha Baca: http://www.getty.edu/publications/intrometadata/
▸ Metadata in Apple Photos: https://support.apple.com/guide/photos/add-titles-descriptions-and-more-phta4e5a733f/mac
▸ GS1 Standards for Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG): https://www.gs1.org/cpg
▸ ‘Metadata Basics for Web Content: The Unification of Structured Data and Content’ by Michael C. Andrews http://a.co/0KL9ZRR
▸ ‘Understanding Metadata’ by Jen Riley: https://www.niso.org/publications/understanding-metadata-2017
▸ Dublin Core: http://dublincore.org/
▸ Getty Vocabularies: http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabularies/
▸ Linean Taxonomy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnaean_taxonomy
▸ Taxonomy vs Ontology: Machine Learning Breakthroughs: http://www.dataversity.net/taxonomy-vs-ontology-machine-learning-
breakthroughs/
▸ McCormick Chicken Gravy, 12 oz: https://www.meijer.com/product/grocery/pantry/condiments-sauces/gravy/mccormick-gravy-
wet-chicken-12-oz/t1/t1-865/t2/t2-9978/t3/t3-285/t4/t4-788/5210003763.uts
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26. Matthew Patulski
Poplar Media LLC
matthew@poplar.media
(616) 361-3951
Metadata: We are What We Tag
THANK YOU