Guides Glossary
Clearinghouse A decentralized system of servers located on the Internet which provide standardized metadata to facilitate query and consistent presentation across multiple participating sites |
Dictionary In the context of metadata, a dictionary is a type of vocabulary, which provides a list of metadata terms, definitions and additional information within a specific domain. |
Flat Vocabulary A managed list of acceptable metadata values that associates acceptable values with particular metadata elements. Flat vocabularies include authority files, glossaries, dictionaries, code lists, and gazetteers. |
Formal Metadata Metadata that conforms to a specific standard, with consistent collection criteria, terminology and structure |
Harmonization In the context of crosswalking, metadata schema representing the source and the target standards or vocabularies are represented in the same syntax during harmonization. |
Ingest In the context of metadata, the ingest process is the method by which metadata is read into a system (i.e. a database import). |
Machine-Readable One of the essential criteria of metadata, machine readability means the descriptive information contained in the metadata can be discovered, ingested, and presented by an electronic system. To be machine-readable, metadata must be properly labeled and appropriately separated. |
Metadata Data about data. Metadata provides a context for research findings, ideally in a machine-readable format. It enables discovery of data via an electronic interface, and correct use and attribution of findings. |
Metadata Element Individual descriptor that is included in a metadata template. For example, "creator" is a metadata element. Metadata elements are sometimes called metadata parameters. |
Metadata Extension Addition to a metadata standard that allows users to provide information in additional fields, or additional ways, that were not mentioned in the original standard. |
Metadata Instance A syntactically correct document that provides metadata in a standards-compliant manner (in contrast to 'content standard instance', which is an existing content standard) |
Metadata Interoperability The ability of two or more information systems to exchange metadata with minimal loss of information |
Metadata Specification Any description of how to store metadata. Specifications have no limitations on the level of required documentation and no requirement for formal approval, publishing or governance by a broad community-based organization. |
Metadata Standard A set of documented rules which define the creation of metadata by providing a combination of terminology (vocabularies), syntactical rules, format rules, and other requirements. Metadata standards are approved, published and governed by a formal body or organization with broad community-based representation (international or national). |
Metadata Value Metadata values are the informative data connected to metadata elements in a metadata record. For example, if the metadata element is "date", the metadata value could be "May 13, 2007". |
Multi-Level Vocabulary A managed list of acceptable values, where the values are organized into categories. Multi-Level vocabularies include taxonomies and subject headings. |
Ontology A type of vocabulary, which provides for categories, relationships, rules and axioms among metadata values. Typically a hierarchy of terms, an ontology is a machine-readable way of relating metadata terminology. |
Protocol A strategy for transmitting data between systems. A protocol can be used not only over the internet, between computers, but also between applications running anywhere. |
Provenance The record of how a particular metadata value or record came to be. Provenance can include things like when the record was created, accessed or modified. |
Relational Vocabulary Managed list of acceptable values that makes use of relationships between metadata values. Relational vocabularies include thesauri, semantic networks and ontologies. |
Relationship(s) Connections between metadata values within a vocabulary. These relationships can connect values by scope, provenance, or other well-defined criterion. |
Rules In the context of crosswalking, rules are used to map elements from the source schema to the target schema, when there is not a one-to-one relationship between schema during the rules phase. |
Scalability The ability of a metadata system to expand. Well-designed systems are established with to scale up to larger data sets, enhanced metadata requirements, and a variety of growth factors. |
Semantic Framework The backbone of the semantic web, the semantic framework makes use of computer-interpretable programming languages, such as XML, to serve up information on the network. |
Semantic Interoperability The ability of multiple systems to exchange information in useful ways; in particular, the ability for each system to 'understand' the terms of the other sufficiently to use those terms correctly. |
Semantic Mapping In the context of crosswalking, elements in the source schema are explicitly mapped to elements in the target schema during semantic mapping. |
Semantic Technology Semantic technology provides the meaning behind data alongside the data itself. Software written to enable semantic technology explicitly separates the underlying code, data input and output, and data meaning from one another. |
Semantic Web The transformation of the web from an inherently human-interpretable medium to an inherently computer-interpretable medium. In the semantic web, machines can read and understand the content published in the network. |
Thesaurus In the context of metadata, a type of vocabulary, which provides a list of metadata terms, with specific relationships between the terms. |
Transformation In the context of crosswalking, metadata records are created from the source in the target schema during transformation. |
Web Service Standardized way of integrating Web-based applications using open standards over an Internet protocol backbone. Web services share business logic, data and processes through a programmatic interface across a network. The applications interface, not the users. |
