{"id":1035,"date":"2024-07-03T14:12:39","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T18:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/?p=1035"},"modified":"2024-07-03T14:35:48","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T18:35:48","slug":"designing-your-metadata-schema-heres-where-to-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/03\/designing-your-metadata-schema-heres-where-to-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Designing Your Metadata Schema &#8212; Here&#8217;s Where to Start"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Designing the metadata schema is a critical task when deploying a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system.&nbsp; Metadata is the data that facilitates the search of assets in your DAM; the collection of metadata <strong>fields<\/strong> used in your DAM is called a \u201c<strong>schema<\/strong>\u201d. &nbsp;When users upload (or ingest) digital assets to the DAM, they complete a form based on the fields in the schema.&nbsp; A well-designed schema will ensure that digital assets in your DAM are searchable and usable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Metadata-Collection-Process-1-1024x540.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1036\" srcset=\"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Metadata-Collection-Process-1-1024x540.png 1024w, https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Metadata-Collection-Process-1-300x158.png 300w, https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Metadata-Collection-Process-1-768x405.png 768w, https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Metadata-Collection-Process-1-1536x810.png 1536w, https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Metadata-Collection-Process-1-2048x1080.png 2048w, https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Metadata-Collection-Process-1-920x485.png 920w, https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Metadata-Collection-Process-1-230x121.png 230w, https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Metadata-Collection-Process-1-350x184.png 350w, https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Metadata-Collection-Process-1-480x253.png 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Metadata is divided into two types, or \u201cvalue pairs\u201d: metadata <strong>fields<\/strong> and metadata <strong>values<\/strong> (the value that aligns to the field).&nbsp; For example, if our DAM stores digital assets of wristwatches, our metadata <strong>fields<\/strong> would include <em>face color<\/em>, <em>band material<\/em>, and <em>brand<\/em>.&nbsp; The corresponding metadata <strong>values<\/strong> would be <em>silver<\/em>, <em>leather<\/em>, and <em>Timex<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Metadata Field\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <strong>Metadata Value<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Face Color\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Silver<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Band Material&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Leather<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Brand\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Timex<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Band Color\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Silver<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Analog or Digital&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Analog<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where to Start<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Organize metadata fields into <em>categories<\/em> in preparation of designing an effective metadata schema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are four categories of metadata fields:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Content-related:<\/strong> Fields related to the content within the asset: <em>model<\/em>, <em>color<\/em>, <em>features<\/em>, for example.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Native:<\/strong> Data embedded within the asset at production.\u00a0 Includes <em>date taken<\/em>, <em>camera type<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Administrative:<\/strong> Non-content fields related to the asset, like <em>rights usage<\/em> or <em>archive date<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>System-generated:<\/strong> Data added when the asset is ingested: <em>data added<\/em>, <em>ingest user<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When defining the fields for your metadata schema, <strong>review the categories <\/strong>listed above and define the relevant fields for each category.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Content-related<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Content-related fields are, as the name suggests, fields that describe the content within the digital asset. All the metadata fields used in the previous example are content-related metadata fields as they describe the content within the digital asset \u2013 the wristwatch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, in this image, the content would include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Metadata Field<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <strong>Metadata Value<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Face Color\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0White<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Band Material&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Metal<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Brand\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Timex<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Analog or Digital\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Analog<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another content-related field is the <em>Description<\/em> or <em>Title<\/em>.&nbsp; Too often, assets are ingested without a descriptive title for the asset; only the raw file name is uploaded, which is meaningless.&nbsp; A solid title value is a concise description of the assets \u2013 usually 40 characters or less.&nbsp; In the above example, a good title might be <em>TIMEX Men\u2019s Explorer Mod 402-1A Silver. <\/em>With this title, the image would be returned in a search that included the brand, model, model number or color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now the question is <em>how many<\/em> fields?&nbsp; There is no optimal number.&nbsp; We\u2019ve discovered that a comprehensive group of fields may be appealing, but unless the fields are designed as mandatory, it\u2019s likely they won\u2019t be populated by ingesting users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">List as many content-related features as possible. Determine which of these fields users are most likely to search for.&nbsp; Group the remaining features in a \u201cfeature\u201d multi-select field (the user can select one or several options).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Native<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Native metadata is information \u201chidden\u201d within the digital asset.\u00a0 This information is referred to as <em>Exchangeable Image File Format<\/em> or <strong>EXIF<\/strong> data; it is information generated when the asset is produced and remains with the asset as it is and ingested and transferred from point to point. Think of it as the asset\u2019s digital \u201cfingerprint\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It is hidden but available to view in most DAMs or EXIF viewers.\u00a0 The following are typical \u201chidden\u201d fields:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Date and time photo was taken<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Camera Type<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Location<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To illustrate, let\u2019s look at a photos taken with your cell phone. Select any photo on your iPhone and click on the <em>Info <\/em>button at the bottom.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"473\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Native-File-Metadata-Example-473x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1037\" srcset=\"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Native-File-Metadata-Example-473x1024.jpeg 473w, https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Native-File-Metadata-Example-139x300.jpeg 139w, https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Native-File-Metadata-Example-768x1662.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Native-File-Metadata-Example-710x1536.jpeg 710w, https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Native-File-Metadata-Example-230x498.jpeg 230w, https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Native-File-Metadata-Example-350x757.jpeg 350w, https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Native-File-Metadata-Example-480x1039.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Native-File-Metadata-Example.jpeg 828w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 473px) 100vw, 473px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Notice the date and time taken, the device used \u2013 even the location where the asset was taken!&nbsp; Depending on how you configure the camera, you can also pre-populate these native fields (like <em>photographer name<\/em> or <em>usage rights<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most DAM systems allow you to \u201cexpose\u201d the data as metadata values, but you must set the metadata field to transfer the data from the appropriate EXIF field.&nbsp; One of the more popular fields to export is <em>Date Taken<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Administrative<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Administrative fields describe external information regarding the assets.&nbsp; <em>Rights<\/em> and <em>Usage<\/em> fields are typical administrative fields.&nbsp; Documenting the rights is integral when designing your DAM metadata schema, as users will want to know whether they can use the asset for their intended purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other administrative fields may include the uploader\u2019s name and contact information.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">System-generated<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is information that is pulled from the system when the asset is ingested into the DAM, like <em>uploader id<\/em>, <em>filename<\/em>, and <em>date ingested<\/em>.&nbsp; You may have to explicitly request that these metadata values are presented to a user, but usually this information accompanies the asset by default.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">System-generated fields are not presented on the asset metadata form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Metadata Design<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All four categories of metadata should be used when designing a comprehensive metadata schema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let\u2019s look at a sample schema for our wristwatch DAM:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Metadata Field<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Type<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Purpose<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Sample Metadata Value<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Title<\/td><td>Content-related<\/td><td>Unique, high-level description of the digital asset<\/td><td>Timex 440 Men\u2019s Pilot Wristwatch<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Brand<\/td><td>Content-related<\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>Timex<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Face Color<\/td><td>Content-related<\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>Silver<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Analog or Digital<\/td><td>Content-related<\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>Analog<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Band Color<\/td><td>Content-related<\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>Silver<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Band Material<\/td><td>Content-related<\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>Metal<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Date Taken<\/td><td>Native<\/td><td>Date that the photo was taken<\/td><td>3\/3\/2024<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Camera Type<\/td><td>Native<\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>Hasselblad X2D<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Photographer<\/td><td>Native (Although this information may not be in the EXIF data)<\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>Magnum Studio<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ingest User<\/td><td>System-generated<\/td><td>The person who ingested the asset into the DAM<\/td><td>Jane Doe<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Asset Ingest Date (Date when added to the DAM)<\/td><td>System-generated<\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>4\/5\/2024<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ingest User Email<\/td><td>Administrative<\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>jane.doe@z-agency.com<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Rights involved (Y\/N)<\/td><td>Administrative<\/td><td>Describes whether there are rights associated with the asset<\/td><td>Yes<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Rights Information<\/td><td>Administrative<\/td><td>If the previous answer is <em>Yes<\/em>, this text box describes what rights are associated with the asset.<\/td><td>Digital usage only; no geographic restrictions.&nbsp; Rights in effect until 12\/31\/2026.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Designing the metadata schema is a critical task when deploying a Digital [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","sydney-large-thumb":"","sydney-medium-thumb":"","sydney-small-thumb":"","sydney-service-thumb":"","sydney-mas-thumb":""},"post_excerpt_stackable":"<p>Designing the metadata schema is a critical task when deploying a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system.&nbsp; Metadata is the data that facilitates the search of assets in your DAM; the collection of metadata fields used in your DAM is called a \u201cschema\u201d. &nbsp;When users upload (or ingest) digital assets to the DAM, they complete a form based on the fields in the schema.&nbsp; A well-designed schema will ensure that digital assets in your DAM are searchable and usable. Metadata is divided into two types, or \u201cvalue pairs\u201d: metadata fields and metadata values (the value that aligns to the field).&nbsp; For&hellip;<\/p>\n","category_list":"<a href=\"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/index.php\/category\/uncategorized\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Uncategorized<\/a>","author_info":{"name":"admin","url":"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/index.php\/author\/adminharttalbot-com\/"},"comments_num":"0 comments","featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","sydney-large-thumb":"","sydney-medium-thumb":"","sydney-small-thumb":"","sydney-service-thumb":"","sydney-mas-thumb":""},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"<p>Designing the metadata schema is a critical task when deploying a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system.&nbsp; Metadata is the data that facilitates the search of assets in your DAM; the collection of metadata fields used in your DAM is called a \u201cschema\u201d. &nbsp;When users upload (or ingest) digital assets to the DAM, they complete a form based on the fields in the schema.&nbsp; A well-designed schema will ensure that digital assets in your DAM are searchable and usable. Metadata is divided into two types, or \u201cvalue pairs\u201d: metadata fields and metadata values (the value that aligns to the field).&nbsp; For&hellip;<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"<a href=\"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/index.php\/category\/uncategorized\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Uncategorized<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"admin","url":"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/index.php\/author\/adminharttalbot-com\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1035"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1038,"href":"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035\/revisions\/1038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harttalbot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}