Metadata provides important information about digital content. There are three main places metadata is stored in an EPUB file: the navigation file, packaging file, and HTML files. The minimum required metadata for an EPUB includes a unique ID, title, and language. Additional recommended metadata includes date, publisher, rights, creator, contributor, and attributes for author and contributor roles and names. Metadata in InDesign allows for entries like the identifier, author, title, description, keywords, copyright, and language.

1. Metadata

2. Metadata
• Literally “data about data”
• 2 familiar metadata systems
– Dewey Decimal System
– Library of Congress
• Epub uses this to provide info
about the content

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5. Metadata in EPUB
• Available in 3 places
– The navigation (ncx) file
– The packaging file (opf) file
– The head element of an html/XHTML file

6. Metadata in HTML File

7. Metadata in ncx

8. Metadata in opf
• Minimum requirements
– Unique ID (like an ISBN)
– Title
– Language

9. Metadata
• Ebooks should also have:
– Date (dc: date opf: event=“original publication” & dc: date
opf: event=“ops-publication”)
– Publisher (dc:publisher)
– Rights (dc:rights)
– Creator (dc:creator)
– Contributor (dc:contributor)
• Two attributes should also be used for author &
contributor
– opf:role (opf:role=“aut”)
– opf:file-as (opf:file-as=“Austen, Jane”)

10. OPF metadata with Author

11. OPF of collection

12. Metadata in InDesign
• InDesign provides entries for:
– Identifier (dc: identifier) required for validation- needs to
match toc.ncx
– author (dc:creator)
– Title (dc:title)
– Description (dc:description)
– Keywords (dc:subject)
– Copyright (dc:rights)
– Language (<dc:language>en</dc:language>