Metadata Services:
Metadata Services provide leadership in metadata consulting, production, conversion, development, and design for the Mansfield Library, affiliates, and other clients. We are a unit of the Bibliographic Management Services (BMS) department of the library, and work in partnership with the Mansfield Library Digital Collections.
For information or assistance with resource description and or metadata please contact the Metadata/Digital production Librarian:
Teressa M. Keenan.
email: teressa.keenan@umontana.edu
phone: (406) 243-4592
Visit the Department Information pages of the BMS Web site to read more about the department as a whole.
Standards & Best Practices Documentation:
The creation of quality metadata is a key component for the responsible management and long term preservation of digital files. Metadata is the term used to portray traditional descriptive cataloging applied to digital files in addition to information needed to retrieve, access, and manage those files. It is made up of descriptive, administrative and rights information about digital objects. The practices and policies of the Digital collections at the Mansfield Library are based on the following documents:
- CDP Dublin Core Metadata Best Practices
- Best Practices for CONTENTdm and other OAI-PMH compliant repositories: creating sharable metadata
- Using Dublin Core
- CDP Digital Imaging Best Practices
- CDP Digital Audio Best Practices
The Mansfield Library has chosen to focus on the Dublin Core metadata schema because it is a flexible, international standard developed to work with multi-institutional types and across disciplines. The Mansfield Library applies various metadata standards to specific projects. As we implement these projects we develop documentation to help our partners and the general public understand and apply the standards on their own. The following links lead to additional information and documentation about using these standards.
Montana Memory Project (MMP) - The Mansfield Library is a member of the Montana Memory Project. All digital collections associated with this project should follow the Descriptive Metadata Best Practices for the Montana Memory Project. (See pages 26-34)
Mansfield Library Metadata Entry Guidelines - All digital projects and/or collections created by or housed by the Mansfield Library should follow these guidelines.
Crosswalks
Crosswalks are processes and procedures that translate one metadata format into another metadata format. Crosswalks provide the ability to create and maintain a local set of metadata and to map that metadata into any number of related metadata format standards. In order to build successful crosswalks and mapping schemes, it is important to maintain consistency within metadata standards adopted by local databases or catalogs. The following are examples of crosswalks related to the standards used at Mansfield Library:
