Cataloguing standards

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OVERVIEW

Cataloguing standards refer to the way in which objects are described in order that such information can be used for discovery, for example through search engines or in data exchange with other institutions or services. If standards are not complied with then such systems are deemed to be un-interoperable and the digital objects concerned may not be found as readily as when standards are met.

What do cataloguing standards cover?

Cataloguing standards can be used for one or more of the following reasons:

to aid search and identification
to ascertain rights information with regard to use and re-use
for Interoperability and automated machine to machine exchange

Existing standards include AACR2 and MARC21 for bibliographic cataloguing; EAD the encoded archival description and SPECTRUM for museum objects. UKOLN provides information about encoding for the cultural heritage sector on its website. The Digital Curation Centre provides more detail about cataloguing and Metadata standards in its DCC Manual

What to consider when selecting cataloguing standards

When considering what information needs to be included when cataloguing digital content, consider the following:

Where will the data be shared and for what purpose - does a standard already exist that you can adopt?
What format is your object and how does this impact on the information that needs to be recorded
What budget do you have - cataloguing can be expensive but is worth doing as well as you can afford
How will cataloguing data be generated - by people or in an automated process?
How will cataloguing information be stored?

Dublin Core Metadata set

Metadata standards usually have elements that are compulsory and some which are optional, the subset of these which are selected as fit for the purpose in hand is called the application profile. A core set of 15 elements taken from the Dublin Core Metadata set has been defined by ISO 15836:2003E. These are required when working with search and retrieval systems such as the Open Archives Initiative - Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH).

Further information

British Library - Cataloguing standards
Digital Curation Centre - Using metadata standards
UKOLN - Cultural Heritage

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