Standards & Best Practices : Digitization & Metadata : Products & Services : Minitex

Digitization & Metadata Standards & Best Practices

Minitex Exhibit at 2007 Minnesota State Fair.

Data Structure Standards
Data structure standards are sometimes referred to as metadata schemes. A metadata scheme defines the structure and the meaning (semantics) of elements. Visit this page to find out more information about metadata schemes such as The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set, Categories for the Descriptions of Works of Art (CDWA), and the Visual Resources Association Core Categories (VRA).
Data Content Standards
Data content standards are guidelines for creating metadata. Cataloging Cultural Objects (CCO), Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS), The Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR), Resource Description and Access (RDA), and more are defined here.
Data Value Standards
Data value standards are established lists of terms used as data elements to ensure consistency. Examples of data value standards include thesauri, controlled vocabularies, and authority files. The Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), Library of Congress Thesaurus of Graphic Materials (LCTGM), Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), LC Name Authority File, and more are included in this section.
Data Format/Exchange Standards
Data format exchange standards are markup languages that provide a standardized way to structure and express metadata schemes for machine processing. This section includes information about the Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS), Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS), MARCXML, and more.

Digital Imaging Best Practices
Provides minimum guidelines for image capture, presentation, storage, and preservation. Look for links to version 1 and version 2 of this guide at the bottom of the page. These guidelines are used by the Minnesota Digital Library and many other large consortia in the region.
Moving Theory into Practice: Digital Imaging Tutorial
A self paced online tutorial created by Cornell University Library.

Learn more about the Minnesota Digital Library Coalition (MDLC) projects and resources.

Minnesota Reflections is an online collection of more than 85,000 photographs, maps, journals, and documents.