Metadata and Organizing Educational Resources on the Internet

Book excerpt: Adapt traditional library techniques to the task of indexing, cataloging, and metadata creation for Internet resources! The rapid shift toward digital resources in K-6, higher education, adult education, and other learning communities, has greatly increased the demand on the information professionals to manage this new technology. Metadata and Organizing Educational Resources on the Internet, the first book of its kind, helps clarify the process of cataloging and indexing the vast quantities of data available in digital form, so that users can readily access the information they need. This comprehensive volume documents the experiences of metadata creators (both catalogers and indexers), library administrators, and educators who are actively engaged in projects that organize Internet resources for educational purposes. Metadata and Organizing Educational Resources on the Internet shares the problems the authors encountered in the far-reaching project of creating metadata for a new class of resource, as well as the solutions and options they found. Tackling the salient issues of cataloging and indexing, Metadata and Organizing Educational Resources on the Internet: examines the status quo of cataloging Internet resources explores the relationship between traditional cataloging practices and Internet cataloging introduces a number of educationally focused metadata schemes, including ARIADNE, GEM, and IMS examines theoretical and practice aspects of metadata in relation to today's evolving Internet-based educational terrain discusses specific projects, including ALADIN, PEN-DOR, the Schomburg Research Library, and a catalog of Greek sculpture fragments for the Perseus Project offers charts, figures, screen shots, and Web addresses for initiatives using metadata to facilitate access This is an exciting time to be involved with information services. Metadata and Organizing Educational Resources on the Internet presents the ideas and experiences of the pioneering librarians who are mapping the intricacies of the World Wide Web. Catalogers, indexers, content creators, librarians, and educators will profit from the information in this fascinating volume.