Metadata

Metadata are indispensable for the preservation, retrieval and reuse of datasets. We see metadata as all added information which describes a dataset (or any other information source). It answers questions like: “whose data is this, what kind of data is it, which type of file, which geographical location, etc.”. For short ‘data about data’.

As metadata helps to gather information about research data, for example the subject, it’s important that the metadata has a fixed structure. This structure is put into standards with the same –or almost the same- metadata elements. The structure we use as 3TU.Datacentrum is based on the standard of the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI). Dublin Core is easy to use and applied worldwide.

The following elements are the core metadataset of 3TU.Datacentrum

Creator                        (dc:creator)

Title                              (dc:title)

Date created                 (dcterms:created)

Description                   (dc:description)

Subject                         (dc:subject)

Besides the mentioned elements, it’s also possible to use other Dublin Core metadata elements, when necessary.

The owner/creator of a datasets provides 3TU.Datacentrum with the metadata. He/she is the one with all the knowledge of the data. But of course our team is happy to support you by choosing the most appropriate metadata. They also know the effects of metadata on searching and finding data.