Metadata Registy FAQ

What is the Metadata Registry?

The Metadata Registry will serve as a centrally organized and managed catalog containing information about a wide variety of information objects produced on campus. The objects themselves can be distributed across campus. However, the library is interested receiving copies of the digital assets to house on the library servers.

The registry will become a tool that will provide an authoritative source of information about digital objects on campus that will enable developers, end-users, managers, content producers to find authoritative information about the existence of digital objects more quickly and more easily. This approach could be called a "union catalog" and has proven very successful in the library world.

While the database will be centrally managed the process of creating the catalog records can be distributed to the content providers through a cataloging module that will be built as part of this effort.

The registry as a management tool will simply store information about digital objects. Some content pointed to from the registry will be available only to students or faculty or staff - and there will be a great deal of content that is available freely to the public.

Why would I want my collection to be part of the Metadata Registry?

By including your collection in the Metadata Registry you are ensuring greater access to your digital content as well as providing the information necessary to catalog and aid in the preservation your digital content. Through campus-wide initiatives like the Knowledge Gateway, digital content produced at the University of Texas will be more accessible to the university community, the people of Texas, and beyond. Participating in the Metadata Registry project will also result in your assets being cataloged in a central system and will aid in the preservation of the asset by recording important metadata about it.

How do I prepare my collection for the Metadata Registry?

The Metadata Registry contains a Batch Archive (BAR) made up of directories and text files to represent each collection of digital assets in the registry.

The hierarchical structure of the directories is what defines the items within the collection. At the topmost level you have the archive directory, which contains item directories and within these text and xml files contain all the relevant metadata for the item. The digital assets themselves may be placed in these directories; however, this is not required.

Each item within the collection has its own manifest file, dublin_core.xml and an optional <archive_name>.xml file.

Read the detailed description of the file structure and requirements: batch_archive.html

To register your collection you can either prepare files in the format described in batch_archive.html or use the Web-based cataloging interface located at xxxxxx.