The post title says it all. I'm trying to create a listing of Dublin Core metadata for the School of Music Audio and I'm getting bogged down by the technical standards mentioned in my reference books. I'm not an audio engineer. What the heck is a "BEXT Chunk," and should I really attempt to edit it with my limited knowledge?
Even the non-technical is making my head spin. Basically, I'm trying to compile a listing of descriptive metadata (and probably some structural) so my student can start creating an inventory. I consulted the CUA music librarian last semester and ran into problems when he thought the test listing I compiled was too technical, and a musican would have difficulty searching for a piece. We also discussed who should be listed as "contributors." The performing ensemble, names of individuals of smaller ensembles, conductors, soloists, composers? When cataloging music records in a library, this is so much simplier--everyone has their own field. Should a composer's full name be listed (as with the name authority field), or should we list only what is written on the recording? Should I expect a non-music student worker to know which Bach wrote a piece? Getting the authorized heading means nothing if it's the wrong one! The only thing I decided upon at that time was that I will end up creating "user teminology" for the end-user display instead of the Dublin Core.
I know I'm over analyzing, but it seems to me (more and more) that this project seems like an MARC project, not a Dublin Core one, but because this is an Archives project...
I am using the Indiana University's Archives of Traditional Music catalog records as my reference, but it isn't stopping my head from spinning fast enough!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I'm intrigued that you have chosen Dublin Core "because this is an Archives project". DC is often criticised (sometimes unfairly) as being unsuited to archival description. So why?
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteI am using DC because it has been astablished by the Archives and University as the schema for our existent digital collections. Our collections are also accessed through Dspace, making DC an easy choice. I can't really change this protocol because of my position, but instead I am trying to modify it (enough) to suit my needs to describe a sound collection; currently, we only have manuscript and photo digital collections.
Do you have any suggestions for adding to or expanding this schema (beyond extended DC)? Any help would be greatly appreciated!