Metadata and Semantics Research : 7th International Conference, MSTR 2013, Thessaloniki, Greece, November 19-22, 2013. Proceedings

**Everything we need to know about metadata, the usually invisible infrastructure for information with which we interact every day.** When "metadata" became breaking news, appearing in stories about surveillance by the National Security Agency, many members of the public encountered this once-obscure term from information science for the first time. Should people be reassured that the NSA was "only" collecting metadata about phone calls -- information about the caller, the recipient, the time, the duration, the location -- and not recordings of the conversations themselves? Or does phone call metadata reveal more than it seems? In this book, Jeffrey Pomerantz offers an accessible and concise introduction to metadata. In the era of ubiquitous computing, metadata has become infrastructural, like the electrical grid or the highway system. We interact with it or generate it every day. It is not, Pomerantz tell us, just "data about data." It is a means by which the complexity of an object is represented in a simpler form. For example, the title, the author, and the cover art are metadata about a book. When metadata does its job well, it fades into the background; everyone (except perhaps the NSA) takes it for granted. Pomerantz explains what metadata is, and why it exists. He distinguishes among different types of metadata -- descriptive, administrative, structural, preservation, and use -- and examines different users and uses of each type. He discusses the technologies that make modern metadata possible, and he speculates about metadata's future. By the end of the book, readers will see metadata everywhere. Because, Pomerantz warns us, it's metadata's world, and we are just living in it. "When "metadata" became breaking news, appearing in stories about surveillance by the National Security Agency, many members of the public encountered this once-obscure term from information science for the first time. Should people be reassured that the NSA was "only" collecting metadata about phone calls -- information about the caller, the recipient, the time, the duration, the location -- and not recordings of the conversations themselves? Or does phone call metadata reveal more than it seems? In this book, Jeffrey Pomerantz offers an accessible and concise introduction to metadata. In the era of ubiquitous computing, metadata has become infrastructural, like the electrical grid or the highway system. We interact with it or generate it every day. It is not, Pomerantz tell us, just "data about data." It is a means by which the complexity of an object is represented in a simpler form. For example, the title, the author, and the cover art are metadata about a book. When metadata does its job well, it fades into the background; everyone (except perhaps the NSA) takes it for granted. Pomerantz explains what metadata is, and why it exists. He distinguishes among different types of metadata -- descriptive, administrative, structural, preservation, and use -- and examines different users and uses of each type. He discusses the technologies that make modern metadata possible, and he speculates about metadata's future. By the end of the book, readers will see metadata everywhere. Because, Pomerantz warns us, it's metadata's world, and we are just living in it"-- Provided by publisher This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th Metadata and Semantics Research Conference, MTSR 2013, held in Thessaloniki, Greece, in November 2013. The 29 revised papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 89 submissions. The papers are organized in several sessions and tracks. The sessions cover the following topics: platforms for research datasets, system architecture and data management; metadata and ontology validation, evaluation, mapping and interoperability; content management. The tracks cover the following topics: big data and digital libraries in health, science and technology; European and national projects and project networking; metadata and semantics for open repositories, research information systems and data infrastructures; metadata and semantics for cultural collections and applications; metadata and semantics for agriculture, food and environment. This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 8th Metadata and Semantics Research Conference, MTSR 2014, held in Karlsruhe, Germany, in November 2014. The 23 full papers and 9 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 57 submissions. The papers are organized in several sessions and tracks. They cover the following topics: metadata and linked data: tools and models; (meta) data quality assessment and curation; semantic interoperability, ontology-based data access and representation; big data and digital libraries in health, science and technology; metadata and semantics for open repositories, research information systems and data infrastructure; metadata and semantics for cultural collections and applications; semantics for agriculture, food and environment. Pomerantz Explains What Metadata Is, And Why It Exists. He Distinguishes Among Different Types Of Metadata -- Descriptive, Administrative, Structural, Preservation, And Use -- And Examines Different Users And Uses Of Each Type. He Discusses The Technologies That Make Modern Metadata Possible, And He Speculates About Metadata's Future. By The End Of The Book, Readers Will See Metadata Everywhere. Because, Pomerantz Warns Us, It's Metadata's World, And We Are Just Living In It. Introduction -- Definitions -- Descriptive Metadata -- Administrative Metadata -- Use Metadata -- Enabling Technologies For Metadata -- The Semantic Web -- The Future Of Metadata. Jeffrey Pomerantz. Includes Bibliographical References (pages [225]-232) And Index. Contents 6 Series Foreword 8 Preface 10 1 Introduction 14 2 Definitions 32 3 Descriptive Metadata 78 4 Administrative Metadata 106 5 Use Metadata 130 6 Enabling Technologies for Metadata 146 7 The Semantic Web 166 8 The Future of Metadata 200 Glossary 222 Further Readings 228 Figure Credits 236 Bibliography 238 Index 246