OER + Metadata

Imagine that you are searching for a YouTube video to use in your class. You want to find a short video on microeconomics and you want to be sure that it’s closed-captioned. You could just browse until you find a video you like or you could search YouTube for microeconomics and filter by video length and closed-captioning.

YouTube's filter options


So, how is this possible?

Sponge Bob Square Pants in a box with a rainbow between his hands. The word metadata appears in the rainbow. This caption is itself a form of metadata. Whoa.


Metadata! What is it? How do I get it?


The National Information Standards Organization defines metadata as “data about data”. Metadata is everywhere and is vital to every information system we use. As discussed above, metadata supports discoverability and distinguishes individual items. The length of the video and whether or not it has closed captions are examples of metadata and YouTube’s search engine allows you to filter by these parameters. If you create an OER and provide a good amount of well-formed metadata, it will be easier for users to find. One thing to keep in mind is that there are multiple types of metadata that serve different functions and as an author, there are certain types you’ll be more concerned with than others.

Different Flavors of Metadata

Descriptive

Almost everyone has created descriptive metadata, even if they’re not aware. If you’ve ever captioned a photograph or titled an article, then you’ve created descriptive metadata. As an author, you will be responsible for creating descriptive metadata. Depending on the platform you use for creating your OER, you may be prompted to provide the following types of descriptive metadata:
  • Title
  • Authors
  • Abstract or short summary of your resource
  • Full description of your resource
  • Category
  • Type of educational use
  • Subject
  • Type of primary user
  • Educational levels
  • Languages
  • Material type
  • Keywords

Administrative

Administrative metadata doesn’t really describe the resource, but rather provides information necessary to manage and use the resource. As an author, most of you won’t be responsible for much administrative metadata. The two types you might encounter are persistent identifiers and rights management. Persistent identifiers are long-lasting references to a file, webpage, or other digital object. As a reader, you’ve probably used DOIs or Handles to access an online resource. It’s a good idea to get a persistent identifier for your resource. The process of obtaining a persistent identifier is beyond the scope of this post, but your library or publisher can help you learn more about how to get one.  Rights management is another type of administrative metadata you’ll need to work with. If you decided to put a creative commons license on an OER, you just created administrative metadata!

Structural

Structural metadata explains how one digital item relates to another, or how different parts of a digital item relate to one another. The author of an OER will ultimately be responsible for the structural metadata and different tools have different methods for creating structural metadata. If you’re creating an open textbook, then the structural metadata might be the table of contents and things like front matter, chapters, back matter, and indices. An author making a resource in OER Commons will see that their interface prompts them to add Units, Headings, and Subheadings. If you’re creating a series of open educational videos, then one type of structural metadata would be a playlist in the order they’re meant to be viewed. In all of these types of OERs, you'll probably want to include citations with links out to the other resources so that users can view them for themselves.

Creating metadata is an intellectual exercise. The more time and effort that you put into creating meaningful and accurate metadata, the easier it will be to find and share your resources. And remember the library has many experts that can help you figure out the best way to create metadata.

Resources:

Riley, J. (2017). Understanding Metadata. Retrieved November 12, 2017, from http://www.niso.org/apps/group_public/download.php/17446/Understanding%20Metadata.pdf
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