Metadata

Teachers and trainers seeking a text that covers the theory as well as the practice of metadata application design, implementation, and evaluation will find it in this new, authoritative textbook by internationally recognized metadata experts Zeng and Qin. They have created a comprehensive primer for advanced undergraduate, graduate or continuing education courses on metadata in a range of key areas. Divided into four main sections - Fundamentals of Metadata, Metadata Building Blocks, Metadata Services, and Metadata Outlook in Research - the text covers:

• current standards
• schemas: structure and semantics
• schemas: syntax
• metadata records
• metadata services
• metadata quality measurement and improvement
• achieving interoperability
• the metadata research landscape.

An outcome-based approach allows learners with different orientations to adapt their new knowledge and skills to any electronic domain. Examples and practice problems focus on tasks typical to all metadata application projects. Other useful features include sample problems with solutions, quizzes, hands-on tutorials, and a recommended list of sources at the end of each chapter. A companion website offers lists of sources, quizzes and exercises. A digital library for instructors on a companion CD-ROM, which includes answer keys and additional exercises, is available for those who adopt the book as a required textbook. Readership: An ideal classroom tool, this book works equally well for self-guided study. Individual modules can stand alone, for reference on an as-needed basis, when making the transition from traditional cataloguing to compilations of metadata for locally created resources and websites, for example. Or you can study metadata systematically, module by module. Regardless of your approach, this book is the ideal guide to metadata for both students and working information professionals.