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Metadata
Mapping
Mapping is one of the important elements
for metadata interoperability. It is the method that indicates
the equivalence between concepts in different schema,
especially in semantics. By mapping the metadata schemas
for different types of digital resources, users could
search these resources together using one software or
interface without knowing the different characteristics
among the resources. What they only need to know is the
common concepts. The typical case is that user searches
several databases simultaneously, each of which contains
different types of digital entity such as text, image,
video.
This functionality becomes more and more
important since the number of metadata schemas or standards
is increasing dramatically, lots of them will co-exist
for certain usage. Mapping (sometime called crosswalk)
ensures the consistence of semantic interoperability.
Most of Metadata can be mapped to other
schemas for certain elements. There always happen that
some elements and data are lost when mapped to another
metadata. This phenomenon depends on the characteristics
of both side of metadata, and the design of the crosswalk.
Currently lots of Websites provide different types of
crosswalk. Several famous are:
Dublin
Core/MARC/GILS Crosswalk and MARC to Dublin Core Crosswalk,
both of which are maintained by Library of Congress.
The UK
Office for Library and Information Networking also
maintains a site that lists dozens of crosswalks that
map different types of Metadata.
The Getty
Research Institute has a Web page contains several
charts that map major metadata standards to one another.
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