This article is a survey of representative metadata efforts, comparing them to MARC 21 metadata in order to determine if new electronic formats require the development of a new set of standards. Explains the Dublin Core, the need for metadata, and discusses and describes the Library of Congress PCC Core. (Author/LRW)

This is a compilation of 12 primers on important information standards and protocols. These primers are: (1) Atom; (2) COinS; (3) MADS; (4) MARC 21/MARCXML; (5) MIX; (6) MXG; (7) OpenSearch; (8) PREMIS; (9) RESTful HTTP; (10) unAPI; (11) XMPP (aka Jabber); and (12) ZeeRex. The Atom Syndication Format defines a new XML-based syndication format for…

Many libraries are creating raster images of paper maps and making them available over the Internet. This presentation provides an overview of imaging technology for map librarians and administrators considering such projects. References in footnotes and the bibliography enable those interested to explore technical questions in depth. There are…

Discusses 3 D imaging as it relates to digital representations in virtual library collections. Highlights include X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT); the National Science Foundation (NSF) Digital Library Initiatives; output peripherals; image retrieval systems, including metadata; and applications of 3 D imaging for libraries and museums. (LRW)

Explores factors in the history of the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) that have contributed to the positive response of the digital library and information community toward version 2 of the OAI Protocol for Metadata Harvesting. Factors include focus on a defined problem statement, an operational model in which strong leadership is balanced with…

The MetaScholar Initiative is a collaborative endeavor to explore the feasibility and utility of scholarly portal services developed in conjunction with Open Archives Initiative metadata harvesting technologies. This article describes two projects that the MetaScholar Initiative comprises, as well as accomplishments and findings to date. (AEF)

Discusses the need for standardization for learning technologies in computer-based training systems. Highlights include institutions and organizations involved in standardization; a survey of educational metadata; how these data models are applied by actual software systems to facilitate the location of learning resources; and educational…

Discusses digital collections and digital libraries. Topics include broadband availability; digital rights protection; content, both non-profit and commercial; digitization of cultural content; sustainability; metadata harvesting protocol; infrastructure; authorship; linking multiple resources; data mining; digitization of reference works;…

Presents a conceptual framework for digital library development and discusses how to move from isolated digital collections to interoperable digital libraries. Topics include a history of digital libraries; user-centered architecture; stages of technological development; standards, including metadata; and best practices. (Author/LRW)

Describes MARS (Museum Archive Retrieval System), a research tool which enables organizations to exchange digital images and documents by means of a common thesaurus structure, and merge the descriptive data and metadata of their collections. Highlights include theoretical basis; searching the MARS database; and examples in European museums.…

Includes five articles that discuss the OAI (Open Archive Initiative), an interface between data providers and service providers; information objects and digital rights management interoperability; digitizing library collections, including automated name authority control, metadata, and text searching engines; and building digital library services…

Reports on a project that applied existing metadata formats to Kent State University Museum's collection of fashionable and traditional costumes from the 18th through the 20th centuries. From a set of 90 museum accession records, 42 fashion objects were selected for cataloging, and three metadata treatments were created for these items. (AEF)

Libraries must increasingly accommodate bibliographic records encoded with a variety of standards and emerging standards, including Dublin Core, MODS, and VRA Core. The problem is that many libraries still rely solely on MARC and AACR2. The best-trained professionals to lead librarians through the metadata maze are catalogers. Catalogers…

When compared with, say, blogging, the deployment of learning objects has been slow indeed. While blog aggregation services are recording millions of blogs and hundreds of millions of blog posts, academic learning object repositories number their resources only in the thousands, and even major corporate repositories have only one or two million…

Based on contemporary theories of learning, this article takes a critical view of the concept of learning objects. Learning objects decompose content into granular pieces of information that can be stored, retrieved, and reused in instruction. Current conceptualizations of learning objects support traditional, objectivist forms of instruction.…