Describes the Web Characterization Project that characterizes the use of metadata in Web documents by extracting a valid sample. Discusses Web resource discovery and description; sampling methods; metadata and embedded document description; HTML; Dublin Core metadata elements; and home pages versus internal Web pages. (Author/LRW)

Includes four articles that discuss Dublin Core metadata, digital rights management and electronic books, including interoperability; and directed query engines, a type of search engine designed to access resources on the deep Web that is being used at the Department of Energy. (LRW)

Explains the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) which was developed to solve problems of digital library interoperability on the World Wide Web. Topics include metadata; HTTP; XML; Dublin Core; the OAI Metadata Harvesting Protocol; data providers; service providers; reference linking; library policies; shared semantics; and name authority systems.…

Explains the concept of a semantic Web where software agents perform jobs for end-users by using hierarchies, metadata, and structured vocabularies. Discusses taxonomies; defining ontologies and taxonomies; standardized language and conceptual relationships; different points of emphasis; and topic maps as new Web infrastructure. (LRW)

Provides an overview of a planned session to describe the work of the World Wide Web Consortium, including technical specifications for HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), XML (Extensible Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), and over 20 other Web standards that address graphics, multimedia, privacy, metadata, and other technologies. (LRW)

Discusses metadata standards that help manage and locate Web-based educational resources, based on experiences at the University of Arizona. Highlights include GEM (Gateway to Educational Materials); Dublin Core protocol; national and international efforts; and MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching). (LRW)

These four articles discuss the role of metadata registries for the Semantic Web; the development of a community digital library called the Digital Library for Earth System Education using meta-design; digital preservation and levels of service for digital repositories; and digitizing cultural materials and indigenous cultural and intellectual…

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 XML (extensible markup language), particularly as it relates to libraries. Topics include organizing information; cataloging; metadata; similarities to HTML; organizations dealing with XML; making XML useful; a history of XML; the semantic Web; related technologies; XML at the Library of Congress; and its role in improving the…

This paper looks at three avenues of exploration related to bibliographic records that the World Wide Web environment invites--sorting out the level of control for Web material, reevaluating aspects of descriptive content requirements for these materials, and experimenting with new format structures. Part I discusses extending MARC for Web…

The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (PMH) is designed to facilitate discovery of the "hidden web" of scholarly information, such as that contained in databases, finding aids, and XML documents. OAI-PMH supports standardized exchange of metadata describing items in disparate collections, of such as those…

Includes six articles focusing on the purpose of digital public libraries; encoding electronic documents through compression techniques; a distributed finding aid server; digital archiving practices in the framework of information life cycle management; converting metadata into MARC format and Dublin Core formats; and evaluating Web sites through…

Describes the Scout Reporting Signpost (http://www.signpost.org/signpost), a Web site that demonstrates that Internet resources can be cataloged, classified, and arranged using existing taxonomies such as Library of Congress classification and subject headings in conjunction with the Dublin Core, an emerging metadata standard. A theoretical…

In this interview Professor Stuart Sutton discusses proliferation of metadata schemas as an outgrowth of various discourse communities as they find their niche on the semantic Web. Highlights include interoperability; cataloging tools, including GEMCat; and the role of librarians and information science education in the development of Internet…

Describes a major digital imaging project just completed at the Ewell Sale Steward Library of the Academy of Natural Sciences (Philadelphia, PA). Discusses options that were considered for Web delivery of images and text, and reasons for choosing Innovative Interfaces, Inc.'s image management function. Describes the data entry process and reviews…