This article was downloaded by: [University of Windsor]On: 15 November 2014, At: 22:56Publisher: Taylor & FrancisInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH,UK

Journal of Internet CatalogingPublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wzic20

Metadata for a Digital Libraryof Educational ResourcesJane Greenberg a , Karen Fullerton & EdieRasmussen ba School of Information Sciences, University of NorthCarolina , Chapel Hill, USAb School of Information Sciences, University ofPittsburgh , USAPublished online: 06 Mar 2009.

To cite this article: Jane Greenberg , Karen Fullerton & Edie Rasmussen (2000)Metadata for a Digital Library of Educational Resources, Journal of InternetCataloging, 3:2-3, 127-144, DOI: 10.1300/J141v03n02_02

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Metadata for a Digital Library of Educational Resources

Jane Greenberg Karen Fullerton Edie Rasmussen

SUMMARY. PEN-DOR (the Pennsylvania Education Digital Objec? R e p - sitory) is a digital library providing access to atomic Web-based objects for lesson plan construction, a set of fully constructed lesson plans, and curriculum standards for the state of Pennsylvania. PEN-DOR supports lesson plan construction and enhancement activities. Through a comrnuni- ty-based memory documentation process, PEN-DOR plans to provide ac- cess to the collective experience of teachers, students, and public school administrators working with the repository’s resources. The diverse activi- ties supported by PEN-DOR present a series of challenges in organizing and accessing Web-based objects, lesson plans, and other PEN-DOR re-

Jane Greenberg is Assistant Professor, School of Information Sciences, Universi-

Karen Fullerton is a Consultant for Celeron Consultants. Edie Rasmussen is Professor, School of Information Sciences, University of

Pittsburgh. The following PEN-DOR team members have played significant roles in metada-

ta development and implementation within the context of the larger PEN-DOR project: Darin L. Stewart, Project Director and Principal Architect, who is currently a Senior Systems ArchitectiSenior Software Engineer at Advanced Technologies and Architectures; Maureen W. McClure, Director of the GlNIE (Global Information Network in Education) project, Associate Professor, Department of Administrative and Policy Studies, and Senior Associate with the International Institute for Studies in Education (IISE), School of Education, University of Pittsburgh; and Sujata Ban- erjee, Associate Professor, School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh.

ty of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

[Haworth co-indexing entry note]: “Mefadata for a Digital Lihrary Of Educational Resources.” Green- berg, Jane, Karen Fullerton, and Edie Rasmussen. &-published simultaneously in Jound of Internet Colaloging (The Haworth lnfarmatioo Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press. hc.) Vol. 3, No. 213, 2000, pp. 127-144; a n d Metadala and Orga,tLing Educarionol Resounes on the lnlrniel (ed Jane Greenberg) The Haworlh Information Press. an imprint of The Haworth Press. lnc., ZWU. pp. 127-144. Single or multiple copies of this article are available for a fee hom The Haworth OOcumenl Delivery Service [1-800-342-9678, 9W a.m. - 5:OO p.m. (EST). E-mail address: getinfo@hawunhpressinc.coml.

0 2000 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 127

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is.

128 Metadata arid Organizing Educational Resources on the Internet

sources for use. This article focuses on the development and imple- mentation of the PEN-DOR metadata scheme, and discusses a number of metadata-related challenges that have emerged as a result of the project. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Ser- vice: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: cgetinf~~worthprrssinc.com> Website: chttp:llwww. HaworthPras.com>]

KEYWORDS. Metadata, digital library, educational resources, Internet

INTRODUCTION

Today, the information and library science literature is full of discussions about planning, implementing, testing, and enhancing digital library projects. By the same token, education literature, primarily that with a K-12 focus, regularly carries lead articles and special features that emphasize the need to successfully incorporate computer-based technology into educational curric- ula. Related to these two nodes of progress (the digital library and computer- based educational technology) is the development of a number of education- ally focused digital library projects functioning as technologically advanced curriculum development tools and innovative centers of student learning-of- fering, in both cases, a greater diversity of resources and a greater degree of access than the traditional library.

Among some of the digital library projects that help define this framework are the American Memory: Historical Collection for the Di ital Library at the

Michigan’s Digital Library, which focuses on earth and s ace sciences and

dia Digital Video Library at Carnegie Mellon University, which focuses on biology, math, and physics, and also supports high school science ed~ca t ion .~ PEN-DOR, the digital library discussed in this article, addresses general educational curriculum needs for K-12 and also focuses on local and regional history for the state of Pennsylvania?

The success of any educationally-focused digital library project relies heavily on instructors’ and students’ willingness to work with a new tool, effective project management, and available state-of-the art technology-not only in terms of computers, but classroom wiring, space, lighting, and other structural features that help provide an environment that is conducive to working with digital resources. In addition to these factors is the need for a metadata scheme that facilitates resource discovery and use of the objects, lesson plans, and other resources residing in the digital library.

As one may expect, there are a number of parallels between the evolving

Library of Congress, which focuses on American history; P the University of

supports middle school and high school science education; Y and the Informe-

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education-oriented digital library and thc traditional school library or mcdia center. In fact, even whcn servicing the best tcachers-with an excellent pro,;- ect management team and a state-of-the art structural setup, the traditional education-based library (or any library for that matter) requires an effective metadata system, or multiple-metadata systems, in order to function In other words, a consistent and stable metadata scheme i s a critical component ot a traditional library operation, and is also rcvealed as a necessary component of a digital library.

Along these lines, defining and implementing a suitable metadata scheme has been a central consideration for PEN-DOR. This article bcgins by introducing PEN-DOR and providing an ovcrview of general topic of meta- data and educational-based metadata. The article then tocuscs on PEN- DOR's metndata initiative. Finally, the article addrebscs a number of metada- ta-related cllallenges that h;ive cmcrged as a result of the project.

THE PEN-DOR PROJECT

The Pc~insylvania Education Network Digital Ob,ject Repository (PEN- DOR) system is a digital lihrary developed by the University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences and School of Education to serve the Penn- sylvania Education System and its 120,000 educators and their studcnts. PEN-DOR is a component of a much largcr education technology endcavor funded by the state of Pennsylvania, Link-to-Learn (L2L), which has as its goal the establishment of a statewide network, linking every Pennsylvania education facility to every other, the Internet, and the world at large.

FEN-DOR is both a digital library and an authoring environment, so that teachcrs can search for images, text and video on a topic in thcir curriculum, and use the materials they find to build a prqject for use with their studcnts. It is hoped that teachers will also contribute thcir own digital resources for use by others. Teachers can also find and use prqjects submitted by other teach- ers, and document their use by contributing to a community memory associ- ated with that project. Completed lcsson plans are also included in the reposi- tory for teachcrs' use. Important resources which cannot be added to the rcpository because of copyright restrictions are linked to thc site via an "educational resources" page, as are administrative resources and informa- tion on Pennsylvania's educational standards.

PEN-DOR contains a growing number of atomic objects, ranging frorn textual documents, graphic images, moving image clips, and sound pieces to multi-media lesson plans composed of a variety of objects. PEN-DOR began to activcly capture Web-based atomic objects during the summer of 1998, when two school librarians (media specialists) and approximately 20 school teachers. representing a variety of subject disciplines arid Pittsburgh area

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schools, participated in a numher o f object collecting sessions at thc Univer- sity o f Pittsburgh. During these sessions, participants learned how to capture and upload atomic objects into the PEN-DOR database.

In an effort to seed tile repository, PEN-DOR also obtained a number of educational-based learning collections from various other educational digital lihrary and electronic resource initiatives. PEN-DOR's subject collection strengths from this activity include coverage of the planetary science as a result of ob,jects obtained from the NASA; U.S. history as a result of objects/ fi lm clips obtained from the Baltimore Learning ~ o m n ~ u n i t y , ~ and maps and data about the countries of the world from the CIA World acth hook.^ PEN- DOR also contains a collection of over 1,000 clernentary and middle school lesson plans that were developed via the Link-2-Learn lnitiativc.' Lesson plans consist o f three segments:

plat~s that assist educators in structuring and organizing a Icsson; activity sheets that guide students in working through an activity, which can also be used as online or as a printed handout; and branchirig out lips that direct instructors to other Web-based resources, which can be integrated into the classroom learning environment.

The lcsson plan segmentation permits teachers to prescnt material at a variety o f depth levels, and provides a numher o f ways that students can learn via Web-based technology (e.g., as a group, an individual, and through vari- ous levels o f connectivity with Web rcsources). The Link-2-Learn lesson plans available via PEN-DOR covcr a range o f subjects. The PEN-DOR metadata scheme is tlexible enough to support access to both atomic ohjccts and lesson plans, and also supports lesson plan enhancement and modifica- tion activities.

Metadata in the networked world is "structured data ;iboul data."8 Meta- data is significant becausc it supports hoth the discovery and the use of objects and lesson plans (which arc essentially objects in the hroadcr sense). Metadala elements such as "creator," "title," or "subject" support discov- ery, and mctadata elements such as "platform requirements," "rights use," or "gradc level" support object or lesson plan usc. Metadata helps to estab- lish the parameters o f distinct digital library environments by adding value through descriptivc activities in order to assist search engines and users in discriminating, selecting and using resources. Metadata may he viewed as a quality control device in that i t helps to filter non-relevant materials and produce retrieval results that have more precision than the results generally obtained via most of today's commercial Web search engines and i n d e x ~ s . ~

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With the exponential growth of the Internet, particularly the Web, mcm- bers of various communities with a vested interest nctworked resource dis- covery have developed mctadata standards. Among one of the most ofen noted metadata schemcs is the Dublin Core, which is a general standard comprised of 15 core elements that can be used to describe resources in any community.I0 The goal of the Dublin Core standard is to support lhc creation of a quality metadata record that cxists somewhcrc between the sophisticated catalog rccvrds found in library catalogs and the type of data-extracted re- cords produced with most Weh search cngines.ll The Dublin Core has served as a foundation and stimulus for the development of metadata standards that support the unique descriptive needs of specialized information comrnunitics. Examples of specialized metadata standards include the Encoded Archival Description (EAD)'? for archival materials and Government Information Locator Service (GILS)'~ for government documents.

META DATA FOR EDUCATIONA L RESOURCES

Metadata schemes designed specifically for educational resources in the pre-digital environment werc mainly limited to institutional and consortium levcl implementation. One reason for this is that historically educators have worked with an array of mcdia formats, such as maps, kits, gamcs, filmstrips, and so forth. Traditional cataloging methods, although accommodating on a basic levcl, are not suited for providing access to the noted varicty of formats and their specified pedagogical placements. Over the course of time, howcv- cr, librarians and teachers have worked together and devised effective orga- nization systems to service both tcachers and studcnts.

Today, cven in this digital era, it's rzoi uncommon to find a local card catalog, printed or computer generated list, logbook, or otlicr locally created metadata system that describes an item and identifies its designated location in a school media centcr or other type of rcpository. Whilc these local devel- opments havc worked within sclccted environments, they have seldom sup- ported aspects o f intcroperability and data exchange that are found with metadata structures and content standards used for cataloging monographs, serials, and other traditional library materials.

MAchinc Readable Cataloging (MARC), developed initially for printing library catalog cards for books, but now the underlying communication stan- dard in most online public access catalogs (OPACs) and bibliographic utili- ties, has provided school mcdia specialists and users of these collections with a standardized metadata scheme. The development of thc Curriculum-En- hanced MAKC format (CE- MARC)'^ has resultcd in the implementation of the following MAKC fields to assist with the cataloging of educational rc- sources: MARC field 520 "Summ;try Note," MAKC ficld 521, "Target

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Audience," M A R C field 526, "Stucly Program," and M A R C field 658, "Curriculum Ob,jective."

The CE-MARC format, combined with the introduction o f MARC I'icld 856, "Electronic Location and Access," permits networked educational re- sources to he directly accessible in the Web-based OPAC environment. CE- M A R C fosters collocation of educational resources with other educational and general library materials that have been cataloged in a system where MARC is the underlying communication format. Overall, the use of M A R C for cducational resources supports interoperability, data exchangc, and other benefits that have not always been within thc province of custodial activities surrounding educational resources.

Coinciding with the development o f educational digital libraries has been the dcvelopment of a number of metadata schcmcs to specifically support resource discovery and usc o f educational resources in tlic networked envi- ronment. Two o f the more popular and widely deployed educational-bascd metadata standards are the Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM and the EDUCAUSE Instructional Management Systcms (IMS) schcmcs.)6 Both of these metadata systcms are a part of larger prqjects that focus on Wcb- based education and technology, and are supported by teams of persons with expcrtise in the arcas of education in general, educational-technology, text- encoding, and resource discovery and description. Extensivc efforts have taken place recently to harmonize tlic GEM and IMS metadata standard." While the GEM and IMS standards are among the most widely deployed, there are a host of other metadata standards developed for educational rcsources- a number of which arc discussed in other articles in this volume. Many ul' these other schemes work with or build on the GEM or IMS schemes. The PEN-DOR metadata schemc is based on tlic GEM scheme.

DEVELOPING THE PEN-DOR SCHEME

Developing the PEN-DOR metadata scheme involves thrce main steps: (1) scheme research and evaluation; (2) metadata dcsign; and (3) advisory board feedback.

Scheme Research and Evabtation

The first slcp in designing thc PEN-DOR metadata scheme involved rc- search on and an evaluation of existing educational resource-rclated metadata schemes. The PEN-DOR team wantcd to avoid the "rccrcating the wheel" syndrome that can easily take placc when a thorough investigation is not conducted before embarking on this type of pro,jecr. Tcam members did not

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want to put time and effort into developing a scheme, only to find out during the implementation stage that a suitable scheme had already been developed. PEN-DOR team members considered the probability that a numbcr of the existing schemes had benefited from input from experts in the field of re- source description and discovery, and that some of these existing schemes were implemented in top-level educational-digital library projects and recog- nized as a standard within a defined community. These steps allowed the PEN-DOR team to benefit from work executed in projects with a sinlilar or related scope.

In undertaking this part of the investigation, the following three well- documented metadata schemes were identified and examined on an in-depth Icvel:

I . Gateway to Educational Resources (GEM) mctadata schemc;I8 2. EDUCAUSE Instructional Management Systcms (IMS) mctadata speciti-

cation;I9 3. Courseware Description Language (CDL) mctadata dictionary for K-12

educational r e ~ o u r c c s . ~ ~

The GEM and IMS mctadata schemes, already mentioned above, were selected because they have enjoyed fairly widespread deployment and accep- tance within tlie educational non-profit sector. Tlic CDI- educational-based meladata scheme was selected for evaluation because of its depth and thor- oughness. Authors of this paper have not been able to document tlie exact impetus for the CDL mctadata scheme, but it appears to have had a connec- Lion with activities focusing on networkcd access electronic educational re- sources that involved Apple Computer@. CDL is currently under the aus- pices of Intelligent Automation Inc., an artificial intelligence research and dcvclopment company that sponsors activities ranging from robotics and manufacturing technology to education and training. The CDL schemc is composed of four segments: (1) resource, (2) curriculum, (3) instruction, and (4) uscr of resource. Each segment is comprised of a scrics of metadata element groupings, which include elements and sub-elements, and most of which map to the GEM and IMS schemes.

A crosswalk was designed to facilitate a closer comparison of the GEM, IMS, and CDL metadata schemes as part of PEN-DOR's in-depth study of existing Inetadata schemes for educational resources. The crosswalk not only permitted a mapping of the data elements that each schemc considered essen- tial, hut also allowed for a comparison of the following data element aspects: maximum occurrence (rcpcatable or non-repeatable), obligation (mandatory

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or optional), and source o f generation (creator or system gcncrated). A sam- ple of element comparisons from thc crosswalk is given in Table I.

Metadata Design

The crosswalk served as a basis for the second step-designing the PEN- DOR metadata scheme. Three PEN-DOR team mclnbers formed a rnetadata task forcc. Task force members had expertise in the areas o f metadata, educa- tional-technology, abstracting and indexing, informalion retrieval, and digital library development. Through a series o f meetings, task Force members ana- lyzed each o f the individual metadata elements in the GEM, IMS, and CDL crosswalk, and considered cach element's placement in the PEN-DOR schemc. Dur ing thesc discussions, task l'orce members made decisions about the maximum occurrence, obligation, and source o f generation for each ele- ment incorporated into the PEN-DOR scheme. The mctadata task force also made decisions about thc metadata content value for various elements. That is, they identified which metadata clcments required the use o f a controlled list o f terminology or values. Specified lists o f terms werc developed for thc "sub,ject," "topic," "grade range," and "format" metadata elements. The most current version o f the PEN-DOR metadata schemc contains 28 elc- ments, which are user supplied or automatically generated. A syriopsis o f the PEN-DOR scheme is presented in Table 2. Thc ful l PEN-DOR Mctadata Scheme is found in Appendix A.

In dcvising the metadata scheme, the task force needed to consider the prqject's goal to automale as much o f thc metadata creation as possible. l'hc

TABLE 1. GEM, IMS, and CDL: A Comparative Crosswalk

CDL Descriptors Key Index (http:/Nw.l-a-/.corn/ servlceslcdl/allkey.html)

CDL Curriculum Descriptor Describes materials' domain knowledge, prerequisne e x p r ~ knce, suitable age range, suteble grade range, reading level, tang- uage, end sunability for users wth lomiled English proficiency.

CDL Resource Descriptor Location of the resource. e.g.. URL.

CDL Curriculum Descriptor Describes materials domain in the curriculum, coulse subject.

- Gateway to Educational Materlals fhnpr/M..gernlnfoo~orkbench /Meradala/GEM Element Llsl.htm!J

Grade Level Grade, grade span, or educational level of the entity's eudience.

Identifier String or number to uniquely identify the resource, eg.. URL,

Subject The topic of the resource, or keywords or phrases that descrlbe the subiect matter.

IMS Metadsta Speclflcatlon pf fp /M. lmspm~t tors /metada~ 1ndex.hlml)

Learnlng Level Difficulty of the materia$ . . . Age and skill . . . prerequlstes. Course and/or capabilities required to use the material.

Rasource ldenllfler String or number lo uniquely ~denlity the resource, e g . URL.

Sublect The topic 01 Ihe resource. or keywords or phrases that descr~be the subject inaner.

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TABLE 2. Synopsis of PEN-DOR's Metadata Scheme (Current: September 4,1998)

- Date depmiled in repsilory

Date object was creabd

Date of source mater~al s

networked cnvironment offers a host of advanccd options for metadata cre- ation, especially comparcd to more traditional nietadata environments. The distributed networkcd environment permits subject experts, in PEN-DOR's case teachers, to participate in metadata creation activities by submitting metadata records to a central host through electronic means.

Perhaps the most significant development in the design and implcmcnta- tion in the networked cnvironrnent is the ability to automatically generate mctadata elements. Through communicaliun paths, such as a crcator's identi- fication code, or thc resource format, ccrtain object or lesson plan aspects can be automatically cspturcd for a metadata rccord. PEN-DOR supports the automatic generation of the following eight metadata elements: submitted by, author/creator, date deposited, ob,ject format, identifier, size, vcrsion, and repository locqt' ion.

A final and primary consideration with the design of PEN-DOR's metada- ta schemc was the desire to adhcrc to the GEM metadata scheme. PEN-DOR

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and GEM prqiect leaders plan to explore resourcc sharing as PEN-DOR progresses, and working with a compatible metadata scheme is essential for this activity. The wide-spread deployment,of the GEM metadata schemc and the fact that its development has benefited I'rom the input and expertise of leaders in rcsource discovery and computer-based educational technology is another reason that PEN-DOR elected to work with this schcme.

When tlic PEN-DOR metadata task force was relatively comfortable with their metadata scheme, they sharcd it with other team memhers. The PEN- DOR database designer, with the assistance of other PEN-DOR team mem- bers, implemented the metadata specifications. Work hegan on a module that would support the automatic generation of specified metadata elements and a template was designed I'or encoding o f uscr-supplied mandatory and optional metadata elements. The metadata tcmplate included pull-down menus for the metadata elements that rcquired selection of terminology from a controlled content value list. With this step complete, PEN-DOR team memhers madc plans to obtain feedback from the advisory board, which included librarians and teachers who had a chance to work with the prrliminary metadata schcmc, and experts in the field of educational technology in (he state o f Pennsylvania.

Advisory Board Feedback

Once the preliminary PEN-DOR metadata scheme was implcmcnted, the PEN-DOR team organized a session in which they could solicit feedback from the librarians, teachcrs, and other individuals who would eventually be working with the metatlata schcme while contributing ohjects to, or constructing or modifying lesson plans in, the PEN-DOR database. In August 1998, members o f PEN-DOR's advisory board gathered at the University o f Pittsburgh for a meeting on PEN-DOR's dcvclopment status. A scgment of the meeting was devoted to discussing the PEN-DOR metadata scheme.

Participants were given the latcst draft of the metadata scheme and a draft of the "Contributing Objects to the PEN-DOR Datahase: Ob.iccl Uploading ~rocess, "~ ' which was to be used in conjunction with the metadata templatcs. During this session, participants were introduced to the concept of metadnta, and prescnted with scenarios dcscribing why a metadata scheme designed specifically for educational resources was rcquired for the PEN-DOR data- base. A discussion session followed during which participants provided thc rnetadata task force with feedback on the metadata scheme and the cataloging metadata template. Among the main issues discussed during this session was the option of breaking down thc grade level element by ranges (e.g., grades 1-3, 4-6, etc.) as suggested by teachcrs in the state of Pennsylvania, or hy providing individual grades (1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd gradc, ek.) as usrtl in the GEM profile. Participants voted unanimously to follow the gradc lcvcl

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range that was suggested by Pennsylvania state tcachers. Attention was also given to clarification of thc subject metadata clement, which had initially hccn identificd as "ma~ior" and "minor" subjects. Participants decided that "subject" and topic" were more appropriate labcls for thcsc elements. A final suggestion madc was the creation of separate template fields for repeat- able elcments. Thc original metadata template rcquired multiple "keywords" to bc recorded in a singlc field and separated by commas. Participants indi- cated that it if the mctadata template repeated the "kcyword" field several times, metadata creators would not have to be concerned about syntactical punctuation. Overall, the August 1998 mceting was successful. A numbcr of changes were incorporated into the ovcrall metadata scheme that ultimately hclped PEN-DOR to build a bettcr and more serviceable prqject.

While the August 1998 meeting was significant in tcrms of unveiling the metadata a schema and soliciting feedback, the evaluation of and utility of the PEN-DOR scheme has a bcen an ongoing process. During the initial database secding stages, two doctoral students, both of whom had expericnce as pro- fessional lihrarians and had backgrounds in the area of cataloging and infor- mation retrieval, worked with the PEN-DOR metadata scheme. Thc doctoral students cvmmunicatcd observations and concerns about thc metadata scheme's utility and flexibility with PEN-DOR tcam members. In addition to this work, PEN-DOR tcanr membcrs participated in a scries of ovcrall data- base evaluations that addressed aspects of the metadata scheme. In particular, thcy focused on interface design, label clarity, accuracy of element tcrminol- ogy, labcls, and pull-down menus of controlled lists. The use of mctadata elcments in thc database's searching template was also evaluated. The evalu- ation activitics highlighted abovc along with the general ongoing develop- ment of PEN-DOR have resulted in a robust and llcxible mctadata scheme.

THE PEN-LWR METADATA SCHEME

The currcnt PEN-DOR metadata scheme consist% of 28 clements (sce Appendix A). PEN-DOR metadata clcment5 fall into three categories: (1) mandatory nieta- data elcments: uscr supplied, (2) mandatory met;idBta elements: system gcn- crated, (3) optional mctadata elements: user supplied. The division of ele- ments assists with creation of quality metadata records. Librarians and teachers who contribute ob.jeets or build or modify lesson plans are required to fill out the template for the mandatory elements, and can enhancc the metadata records with the optional elements. The systcm-generated metadata elements are mandatory, and are automatically created by extracting data from the creator's PEN-DOR login identification codc and the actual object or lcsson plan that is being contributed or modificd in the PEN-DOR data- base.

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136' Metudutci otrd Oryatrizitrg Edircatio~r~l R e ~ o r ~ ~ e s otr the I~lrer~ret

The PEN-DOR mctadata schcme incorporates thc GEM metadata scheme. As indicated above, PEN-DOR electcd to use GEM hecausc its development benefited from inpul of experts in the fields of education in general and educational technology, text encoding, and resourcc discovery and descrip- tion. PEN-DOR also elected to use GEM because o f the desire to be compat- iblc with other educational-based digital library projects and a plan to share resources with the GEM project. The relationship betwecn the PEN-DOR and GEM mctadata schcme is discussed in Fullerton et

An overall benefit o f working with the GEM metadata scheme, which is not noted above, is that it is bascd on the Dublin ~ o r c . ~ ~ The Dublin Corc serves as a base for both the GEM and IMS schcmes, but also for 21 host of other metadala schemes being developed in the networked world. The inclu- sion o f Dublin Core element set supports interoperability and compatibility with other metadata schemes beyond thc educational resourcc horizon. For cxarnple, metadata records for objects and lesson plans cataloged according to the PEN-DOR scheme can be easily transferred to a database using the another metadata scheme that is also based on the Dublin Core, such as the Visual Resource Association (VRA) Corc ~ a t e g o r i c s . ~ ~ Exporling PEN- DOR rccords, with their basc Dublin Core elements, to a visual image data- base, can make the lattcr more serviceable to the learning environment. This is because both resources (PEN-DOR and visual image resources) can be collocated during retrieval activities. The same interoperability and colloca- tion would bc supported i f PEN-DOR metadata records wcre exported into a geo-spatial, humanities-oriented, or other network-based collection that is based on the Dublin Core metadata standard. And perhaps even more signifi- cant is the exchange of data in the reverse tlircction. That is, metadata records for objects and other lesson plans encoded according to thc Duhlin Core scheme can be importcd into the PEN-DOR database. PEN-DOR's ability to import metadata rccords from Dublin Core-based databases wil l not only save time and money directed towards cataloging, but wil l also greatly assist PEN-DOR's becoming an evcn richer educational tool.

FUTURE PEN-DOR METADATA CHALLENGES

Developing and implementing the PEN-DOR nletadata scheme has been a joint activity of the PEN-DOR metadata task force and PEN-DOR team members. Librarians, teachers, and otlicr members o f PEN-DOR's advisory board also contributed a great deal to PEN-DOK's metadata scheme devclop- ment.

The next phase of PEN-DOR development plans to address several met:l- data-related challenges that have emergcd throughout the prnject dcvelop- ~nent process. These challenges deal with issues of metadata effectiveness,

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metadata preservation and transfer, and metadata flexibility and are discussed below.

Metadata Effectiveness

The PEN-DOR metadata scheme has been operational for a little over two years, and despite minor changes, i t has remained relatively stable. The PEN-DOR team plans to evaluate the effectivenesr of thc metadata schcmc through both content and transaction log analyses. A content analysis will involve sampling and examining the application and consistency of metadata elements in PEN-DOR object and lesson plan metadata records. Through transaction log analyses, the use and popularity of various metadata elements for search and retrieval activities will be documented. Together, both of these examination methods will provide empirical cvidencc about the metadata content and overall effcctivcness of the PEN-DOR mctadata schemc, and revision activities.

Metadata Preservation and Transfer

One of the central aims of PEN-DOR is to use atomic objects to create or modify existing lesson plans. This activity requires either Ihc creation of a new metadata record, or revision of an existing metudata record. Creating a new metadata record is repetitive in that the atomic objects residing in PEN- DOR already have metadata records. One ofthc challenges for the PEN-DOR team is to develop a way in which the ob.jcct level mctadata can he preserved and transferred to the lesson plan metadata record, in order to avoid duplica- tion of effort. Metadata literature often discusses this activity as mctadata i/rl~eri/at~ce. A corresponding challenge is to develop a way in which metada- ta can bc deleted or divorced from a lesson plan metadata rccords when an atomic ob,ject is removed.

Metadata Flexibility

The final PEN-DOR metadata challenge to note in this article deals with testing the metadata scheme's flexibility. The current metadata schcme has heen applied to both objects and lesson plans. The PEN-DOR database also contains access to curriculum standards for the state of Pennsylvania and plans to build a community memory store to document the use of and opin- ions and experiences of working with lesson plans. Studies nced to be con- ducted to sce i f and how well PEN-DOR's mctadata schemc can support the description of these two additional classes of rcsources.

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This article documents the PEN-DOR team's expcrience in developing and implementing a mctadata schemc for ohjects and lesson plans. Issue o f data creation, intcroperability, and compatibility havc been discussed. The current PEN-DOR metadata schemc was presented, and futurc PEN-DOK rnetadata-relatcd challenges were highlighted.

The discussion o f PEN-DOR's metadata-rclated challenges and the evolv- ing naturc o f the ovcrall PEN-DOR project clcarly indicatc [hat metadata monitoring, maintenance, and revision arc necessary and critical colnponents of educational-bascd digital library prqiects. I n summing up PEN-DOR's current mctadata activities, the existing scheme has been suft'icient for cur- rent pro,ject needs, proven robust during the database transfer process, and remains intact as the central means o f support for okjcct and lesson plan discovery and use in the PEN-DOR database.

REFERENCES

1. American Memory: Historical Collection for the Digitill Library at the Library of Congress. (1999). Available [on-line] at: hllp:///cweb2./oc.go1~/~11unw1/unl1?1rnt/1o111e~ html

2. University of Michigan Digital Library. (1999). Available [on-line] at: http:flwww.si. rr~~zich.ed~rlUMDLl

3. lnformedia Digital Video Libray. (1999). Available [on-line] at: http:l1i1tf0r1?1ediu. cs. cntu.edril

4. PEN-DOR, Pennsylvania Educational Network Digital Object Repository. (1999). Available [on-line] at: http:/lcronoruh.sis.pi~ed~ilpe~~~dorl.~tur~t.h~n

5. Marchionini, G., Niolet, V., Williams, M., Wei Ding, Beale Jr., J., Rose A., Garden A,, Enomoto, E. and Harbinson, L. (1997). Content + connectivity => com- munity: digital resources for a learning community. Proceedings of the 2nd ACM 111- ternational Conference on Digital Libraries, Philadelphi" PA, 23- 26 July 1997. New York, NY: ACM, pp. 212-220.

6. The World Factbook 1999. Availahle from the CIA (on-line1 at: Irllp:l/www. odci.govlciulpu/~licutio~tsl~uctI~~~k/it~de~./~~?~l

7. Link 2 Learn Professional Development Classroum Activities. (1999). Avail- ahlc [on-line] at: /1ftp:lll2/.orglpdl.\rrccess/

8. Weibel, S. (1997). The Evolving Metadata Architecture for the World Wide Web: Bringing Together, Semantics, Structure, and Syntax of Resource Description. International Symposium on Research, Development, & Practice in Digital Libraries: ISDL97. November 18-21, 1997.

9. Roszkowski, M. and Lukas, C. (1998). A Distributed Architecture for Re- source Discovery. D-Lib Magazine, July, 1998. Available [on-line[ al : htrl?:N www dlib. orgldiibljr~ly981

10. Dublin Core Meladata Initiative. (1999). Availahlr [on-lint.] at: l111p:N p~~rl.oclc.orgI~nefrrdutuld~rbIi~t~core

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Gree~rberg, Fltllertotr, atrd Rasn~usserz 141

11. Weibel, S. (1995). Metadata: The Foundation of Resource Description. 0-Lib Magazine, July, 1995. Available [on-line] at: h~fp:/lw~~w.dlib.org/dlibljirly98/

12. Errcoded Archival Description. (1999). Available [on-line] a(: I~lrp:i/ Icweb. 1oc.go~deud

13. Government Information Locator Service. (1999). Available [on-line] at: I~rrp:l/ cvww.osedo,~~riusouri.edulmogilslstufegils.html

14. NWOET Resources. (1999). Available [on-line] at: I~ltp:/lt~woel.bgst~ed~t/.Ser~~icesl cdscrr~lmurc-records.I~~~~rI

15. Gateway to Educational Materials. (1999). Available [on-line] at: 1itlp:ll www.get~~i~~fo~urgIWorkber~chlMe~adatuIGEM~EIe~~~e~t~~List.l~ttnl

16. IMS Meta-dala Specitiwtion. (1999). Available \on-line] at: h~q~:llwww.i~~tsprojcct. orgl/t~etada~ulit~dex.I~tnr/

17. IMSIGEM Mapping. (April, 1999). Available [on-line] at: hltp://~~w.getnitlpo.o o,10/ Workbet~ch/Me~adu~a/IM~S~Mappi~~g.I~trnl

18. Gateway to Educational Materials. (1999). Ibid. 19. IMS Meta-data Specification. (1999). Ibid. 20. CDL Descriptors Key Index. Available [on-line] at: Irlrp:/lwwwi-a-i.con~/sen~ice~/

cdliallke~v.lzrml 21. Greenberg, J. (Ed.) (1998). Contributing Objects to the PEN-DOR Database:

Object Uploading Process. Draft. 22. Fullerton, K., Greenberg, J., Rasmt~ssen, E., S( Stewart, D. (1999). A Digital

Library for Education: The PEN-DOR Project. The Electronic Library, 17 (2), 75-82. 23. Dublin Core Metadata Initiative. (1999). Ibid. 24. VRA Core Categories. (1999). Available (on-line1 at: hftp:/lwwwoberlit~.edrrl-

urtlvrulwc1.1111nl

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