Table of Contents

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Glossary of Metadata Terms
Glossary of Metadata Acronyms

1. Introduction to Metadata
   
   1. Definition of Metadata
      1. Metadata Classifications
      2. Vocabularies
   2. The Importance of Metadata
   3. Metadata Interoperability - What Is It and Why Is It Important?
   4. Machine Readability
   5. Getting Started - How You Can Publish Your Data
   1. Meeting NSF Data Policy Requirements
   6. Writing Good Metadata
   7. Some Examples of Metadata
2. Metadata Standards
   
   1. The Importance of Metadata Standards
   2. Metadata Standards vs. Metadata Specifications
   3. Common Standards
      
      1. Standards Bodies
      2. Discipline-Specific Profiles and Extensions
      1. Metadata for Species Location (Biodiversity) Data
   4. Metadata Extensions and Profiles
   5. Moving Between Standards (Crosswalk)
      1. Harmonization
      2. Semantic Mappings
      3. Rules
      4. Transformation
   6. Selecting a Standard
3. Vocabularies: Dictionaries, Ontologies, and More
   
   1. Types of Vocabularies
      1. Usage vs. Discovery Vocabularies
      2. Metadata vs. Vocabularies
      3. Semantic vs. Syntactic Vocabularies
      4. Categories of Vocabularies
         
         1. Authority File (Flat Vocabulary)
         2. Glossary (Flat Vocabulary)
         3. Dictionary (Flat Vocabulary)
         4. Gazetteer (Flat Vocabulary)
         5. Code List (Flat Vocabulary)
         6. Taxonomy (Multi-Level Vocabulary)
         7. Subject Heading (Multi-Level Vocabulary)
         8. Thesaurus (Relational Vocabulary)
         9. Semantic Network (Relational Vocabulary)
         10. Ontology (Relational Vocabulary)
   2. Choosing and Implementing Established Controlled Vocabularies
      1. Choosing a Controlled Vocabulary
      2. Implementing Controlled Vocabularies in Your System
      3. Mapping Among Controlled Vocabularies
         
         1. Using the VINE Tool
         2. How to Hold a Vocabulary Mapping Workshop
      4. Achieving Semantic Interoperability
   3. A Last Resort: Developing a Local Vocabulary
      1. Developing Controlled Vocabularies
         
         1. How to Determine the Terms
         2. How to Create a Scalable Controlled Vocabulary - Allowing for Additions
         3. Tips and Tricks
      2. Developing Controlled Vocabularies for Legacy Data
         
         1. How to Approach Developing Controlled Vocabulary for Legacy Data
         2. Tips and Tricks
         3. Example Case
   4. Ontologies: Relational Vocabularies
      1. What is an Ontology?
      2. The Importance of Ontologies
         
         1. Document Domain Knowledge
         2. Document and Develop Community Understanding
         3. Organize and Share Data
         4. Enable Interoperability
      3. Using Existing Ontologies
         
         1. Finding Ontologies
         2. Citing Terms
         3. Extending Existing Ontologies For Your Use
      4. Creating and Serving Ontologies
         
         1. Creating a Domain Ontology
         2. Creating Ontologies Using Vocabularies
         3. Who Serves Your Ontology?
         4. Registering and Accessing Your Ontology
      5. Core Technologies for Ontologies
         
         1. Ontology Standards
         2. Storage and Access Fundamentals
         3. Software Libraries
         4. Inference Engines
      6. Ontology Tutorials

4. Technical Tools
   
   1. What is a Tool?
   2. The Importance of Tools
   3. Choosing a Tool
      1. Functions
      2. Licensing
      3. Implementations
5. Case Studies
   
   1. Case Study: DIGARCH Cruise Harvest
   2. Case Study: Controlled Vocabularies (CV) for Metadata Harvesting
   3. Case Study: Controlled Vocabulary (CV) Dictionary

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