Alan Danskin from the British Library gives a scene setting presentation, including the history of cataloguing, the longevity of good metadata, and the British Library's Metadata Strategy (2019-23). This put everyone in the right frame of mind before the interactive discussion workshop on the Future of Cataloguing.
5. The British Library
Collection Metadata?
Collection metadata is
structured data used to manage, access &
preserve our collection
Collection metadata captures:
• Key properties
• Relationships
• Location & availability
6. The British Library
Collection Metadata – Strategic Asset
• Metadata’s value in a web
environment transformed it into a
key asset
• Like other assets metadata requires
effective management to maximise
return on investment
• If metadata isn’t adequate or
available via appropriate channels
content is invisible to users
9. Good metadata…
Author: William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, author.
Uniform Title: Works
Title: Comedies, histories, tragedies, and poems of William Shakspere / edited by Charles
Knight.
Edition: Second edition.
Publication Details: London : Charles Knight & Co., 1842-1844.
Physical Description: 12 v. ; 23 cm. (8º)
Contributor: Charles Knight 1791-1873, editor.
Language: English (eng)
Country of Publication: England (enk)
Shelfmark(s): General Reference Collection 11763.cc.20.
Explore the British
Library, May 2019
10. …doesn’t just endure…
Author: William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, author.
Uniform Title: Works
Title: Comedies, histories, tragedies, and poems of William Shakspere / edited by
Charles Knight.
Edition: Second edition.
Publication Details: London : Charles Knight & Co., 1842-1844.
Physical Description: 12 v. ; 23 cm. (8º)
Contributor: Charles Knight 1791-1873, editor.
Language: English (eng)
Country of Publication: England (enk)
Shelfmark(s): General Reference Collection 11763.cc.20.
Explore the British
Library, May 2019
Information in blue has
never been amended
11. …it evolves to meet changing needs
Author: William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, author.
Uniform Title: Works
Title: Comedies, histories, tragedies, and poems of William Shakspere / edited by Charles
Knight.
Edition: Second edition.
Publication Details: London : Charles Knight & Co., 1842-1844.
Physical Description: 12 v. ; 23 cm. (8º)
Contributor: Charles Knight 1791-1873, editor.
Language: English (eng)
Country of Publication: England (enk)
Content Type: text; Media Type: unmediated; Carrier type: volume
Shelfmark(s): General Reference Collection 11763.cc.20.
Information in red is
evidence of metadata
stewardship
12. …it evolves to meet changing needs
Author: William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, author.
Uniform Title: Works
Title: Comedies, histories, tragedies, and poems of William Shakspere / edited by Charles
Knight.
Edition: Second edition.
Publication Details: London : Charles Knight & Co., 1842-1844.
Physical Description: 12 v. ; 23 cm. (8º)
Contributor: Charles Knight 1791-1873, editor.
Language: English (eng)
Country of Publication: England (enk)
Content Type: text; Media Type: unmediated; Carrier type: volume
Shelfmark(s): General Reference Collection 11763.cc.20.
Collection
management/
visualization
Collection
management/
discovery
Fulfilment
Collection
management
13. 13
Collection metadata is a
key asset representing
centuries of effort but:
• Uncoordinated development means
it can appear inflexible & confusing
• Inadequacies are apparent as we
migrate to online/digital services
• Despite strategic importance its
potential is largely untapped
Collection Metadata
Challenges
Delivering
processing
efficiencies
Legacy
metadata unfit
for current
needs
Skills
maintenance &
development
Improving access
to metadata
Supporting
strategic
partnerships
Opening up
‘hidden’
metadata
Complex,
incompatible
standards &
systems
Creating
standard
solutions for
complex issues
14. The Collection Metadata Strategy
Addresses these challenges &
aims to:
• Enhance our ability to exploit metadata
assets to deliver our strategic priorities,
portfolios & programmes
• Ensure the value of our metadata
investment is maintained by effective
stewardship
• Enable open access to metadata to
improve discovery & promote wider community
re-use
15. The Collection Metadata Strategy
2019-23
Objectives:
• Reduce complexity of collection
metadata infrastructure
• Develop a target metadata model for
use in next generation systems
• Create sustainable workflows matching
the growing scale & complexity of
content
• Support key strategic metadata
collaborations e.g. National Bibliographic
Knowledgebase
16. www.bl.uk
Reduce complexity of collection metadata
infrastructure
• Metadata is only part of the solution
• Systems and metadata have to work in partnership
• Business processes have to change
• Standards and skill sets have to evolve
17. www.bl.uk
Develop a target metadata model for use in next generation
systems
The target metadata model will:
• Focus on commonalities (& NOT
obsess about differences)
• Library Reference Model
• RDA: Resource Description & Access
17
18. www.bl.uk
Develop a target metadata model for use in next generation
systems
The target metadata model will:
• Break down silos
• Enable integration of different
workflows
• Enable re-use of metadata by different
workflows
18
19. www.bl.uk
Develop a target metadata model for use in next generation
systems
The target metadata model will:
• Put the added value on the screen
• Facilitate reuse of metadata
• Encourage development of more
generic skill sets
19
20. www.bl.uk
Create sustainable workflows matching the growing
scale & complexity of content
Identification
Matching and merging
Clustering
Transforming
Exception handling
20
2257…
84581, 21%
212230, 52%
57937, 14%
31895, 8%
eBooks Records Upgraded
14/05/2019
Upgraded manually
Upgraded via eCIP auto merge
Upgraded by CM batch upgrade
Un-upgraded no longer in BUP
workflow
Un-upgraded still in BUP
workflow
72.5% of 409,219 received
21. www.bl.uk
Support key strategic metadata collaborations
Open Metadata
National Bibliographic Knowledgebase
Aggregation/enhancement of trade
metadata
Living with machines (Turing Institute)
ISNI
RDA: Resource Description & Access
FAST (Faceted Application of Subject
Terminology)
21
22. Links - The British Library
Collection Metadata
http://www.bl.uk/bibliographic/main.html
Email: metadata@bl.uk
Foundations for the future
http://www.bl.uk/bibliographic/pdfs/british-library-collection-metadata-strategy-2019-2023.pdf
British Library Open Metadata
http://www.bl.uk/bibliographic/datafree.html
BNB Linked Open Data
http://bnb.data.bl.uk/faqs
http://bnb.data.bl.uk/getting-started
http://bnb.data.bl.uk/docs
https://data.gov.uk/dataset/the-linked-open-british-national-bibliography
Papers
http://www.bl.uk/bibliographic/pdfs/publishing_bnb_as_lod.pdf
http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/193076/Whitepaper%20on%20Linking%20Structured%20Data.pdf
I’d like to thank CIG Scotland for inviting me to set the scene for today’s workshop. I’m going to talk about our metadata strategy, which was published last month and will give some context for today’s discussions.
However this event is going to be about your ideas, so I want to start with a bit of audience participation.
How many of you have never previously attended an event called the
It’s a continuing existential crisis
….but don’t panic cataloguing has changed and its product is metadata
Our first metadata strategy communicated the idea of creating metadata to serve multiple purposes, rather than catalogue records for discovery and access. We defined a term “collection metadata” to make explicit the connection between the Library’ collection and the metadata necessary for its management and use .
We asserted the value of the collection metadata as a key asset of the institution. We emphasized that metadata is not a by-product but an essential tool for enabling processes and delivering services. That it has to be managed if it is to maintain its value to the Library and
I came across a quote recently…it’s funny, but is it true? Like fine wine, metadata has to be cared for and stored appropriately other wise it may become corked!
Here is one of the original title slips from the British Museum, which are still held in Boston Spa.
If we zoom in a bit, we can see that it is initialled by the cataloguer. and dated May, 1842. This metadata was created nearly 200 years ago.
This metadata is nearly 200 years old. It is good metadata, because it is accurate and sufficient for the needs of the day.
…and here is the record in Explore the British Library (note that I have changed the order of elements to ISBD). If I apply a highlight, you can see R.E.G’s contribution
But that doesn’t mean it has stood the test of time. It has been curated to meet new needs: conversion to MARC 21, alignment of headings with LCSH. Decimalisation of the dimensions. Assignment of language codes and country codes Increasingly we are able to use the power of computers to enhance our metadata.
ISBD punctuation has been supplied and the data has been converted to MARC.
Headings have been aligned with the Library of Congress Name Authority File to improve access and interoperability.
Relationship designators have been added for author and editor, in accordance with RDA.
Controlled terms have been added to identify the language of the content and the country of publication. These are important attributes for collection analysis and visualisation.
A number of these enhancements were made in advance of last year’s exhibition, when the Collection Metadata Quality team reviewed all the Shakespeare records. Hopefully the data you add will stand the test of time a well as RLG’s has.
…and here is the record in Explore the British Library (note that I have changed the order of elements to ISBD). If I apply a highlight, you can see R.E.G’s contribution
…and here is the record in Explore the British Library (note that I have changed the order of elements to ISBD). If I apply a highlight, you can see R.E.G’s contribution
We need a strategy in order to coordinate and priortis management of the collection metadata assets. The challenges are numerous and daunting. Large parts of the collection are inadequately described or not described at all. Non-print legal deposit, digitization pose challenges of scale and complexity and volatility and require a new skills base. Transformation of data is more significant than data creation. User expectations change more quickly than our infrastructure.
Neither cataloguing standards nor our catalogue were not developed to meet contemporary needs and their deficiencies are exposed by the demands of new technology. However, the metadata is rich and there is a lot of potential to unlock.
The Library’s metadata assets are the result of largely uncoordinated
The strategy aims to address these challenges and articulates three broad aims:
I don’t have time today to go through the whole strategy; The aims for 2019-23 are as you can see on the slide. I’ll look at each of these in a little more detail..
The target metadata model encourages us to focus on the commonalities between metadata from different sources rather than obsessing about the differences. Orderable unit; dependent unit; contextual
The target metadata model encourages us to focus on the commonalities between metadata from different sources rather than obsessing about the differences. Orderable unit; dependent unit; contextual
We spend a lot of money creating or enhancing metadata. We need to show a return on that investment. It should be up there on the screen and we should be able to point to the functionality that depends on specific pieces of metadata.
We want to reuse metadata or generate it from content rather than create it.
We need to enrich skill sets so that professional cataloguers can deal with a much wider range of content and carrier types.