Metadata requirements for digitisation projects

Why collect metadata?

It serves several purposes, such as:

• helping users locate and access digital images
• linking images to the business processes they document
• proving the authenticity of digitised images
• documenting the digitisation process for accountability and future reference.

Without proper metadata, digital images risk becoming inaccessible, reducing the project's long-term benefits.

Where does metadata come from?

Organisations may already have metadata sources such as:

• Existing systems: Metadata from an electronic document and records management system (EDRMS) or similar systems.
• Optical character recognition (OCR): Automated metadata capture from standardised document formats.
• Inherited metadata: Extracting metadata from linked business systems via XML schemas.

Manual metadata collection is a costly last resort, prone to errors. Automating metadata capture is strongly recommended.

Consider metadata early in the project

Plan metadata requirements early to:

• Identify equipment or software features needed for metadata capture.
• Ensure seamless integration with EDRMS or business systems.
• Avoid issues, such as incompatible metadata during transfer to archival systems.

Example: An organisation failed to predefine metadata, leading to problems transferring records to the State Archives Collection with Museums of History NSW.

Determining metadata needs

Metadata requirements vary based on project goals. Examples include:

• Unique identifier: Distinguishes each digital image or file.
• Title: Facilitates retrieval with meaningful names like “Minutes 2024-02-24.”
• Naming conventions: Consistently structured, meaningful, and unique file names.
  • Avoid special characters and spaces; use underscores instead.
• Date of creation: Refers to the original paper record's creation date.
• Who/what created the record: Indicates the creator of the original paper record.
• Business function: Links the record to its business purpose.

Technical metadata

Technical metadata ensures image quality and accessibility over time, including:

• file format
• resolution
• colour depth
• compression settings
• any image manipulation processes.

File format metadata is critical for future-proofing access to images.

Process metadata

This captures specific actions performed on records, documenting:

• digitisation methods
• approval steps
• migration processes.

Recommendations:

• Collaborate with vendors, technical teams, and archival organisations during planning.
• Automate as much metadata capture as possible to minimise errors and reduce costs.
• Document all metadata processes to ensure the project’s success and maintain records’ usability over time.

Checklist