CA In order to make electronic archives useable, archivists will need to enhance and link access systems to facilitate resource discovery while making the whole process as seamless and low-cost (or no-cost) as possible for the user.
Phrases
<P1> Rather than assuming that the archival community will succeed in transferring all valuable electronic records to archival institutions for preservation and future access, archivists must develop strategies and methods for accessibility and usability that can span a variety of custodial arrangements. (p.9) <P2> Maintaining linkages between different formats of materials will become increasingly burdensome if archvists do not find ways to develop integrated access systems. (p.10) <P3> Archivists must also think about ways to teach users the principles of a new digital diplomatics so that they can apply these principles themselves to make educated judgements about the accuracy, reliability, and authenticity of the documents they retrieve from electronic archives. (p.15)
Type
Journal
Title
Towards Frameworks for Standardising Recordkeeping Metadata
CA There are many challenges to devising metadata schema to manage records over time. Continuum thinking provides a conceptual framework to identify these problems.
Phrases
<P1> It is clear from the SPIRT Project definition that recordkeeping and archival control systems have always been about capturing and managing recordkeeping metadata. (p.30) <P2> One of the keys to understanding the Project's approach to what metadata needs to be captured, persistently linked to documentation of social and business activity, and managed through space and time, lies in the continuum view of records. In continuum thinking, [records] are seen not as 'passive objects to described retrospectively,' but as agents of action, 'active participants in business processes and technologies.'" (p.37)
CA Metadata is a key part of the information infrastructure necessary to organize and classify the massive amount of information on the Web. Metadata, just like the resources they describe, will range in quality and be organized around different principles. Modularity is critical to allow metadata schema designers to base their new creations on established schemas, thereby benefiting from best practices rather than reinventing elements each time. Extensibility and cost-effectiveness are also important factors. Controlled vocabularies provide greater precision and access. Multilingualism (translating specification documents into many languages) is an important step in fostering global metadata architecture(s).
Phrases
<P1> The use of controlled vocabularies is another important approach to refinement that improves the precision for descriptions and leverages the substantial intellectual investment made by many domains to improve subject access. (p.4) <P2> Standards typically deal with these issues through the complementary processes of internalization and localization: the former process relates to the creation of "neutral" standards, whereas the latter refers to the adaptation of such a neutral standard to a local context. (p.4)
Conclusions
RQ In order for the full potential of resource discovery that the Web could offer to be realized, a"convergence" of standards and semantics must occur.
