Metadata Management Design
•Not just recording mapping & transformation processes
•Also includes:
–Decision processes that arrived at the mapping and transformation tools
–Documentation of all this work
•Metadata management design results in:
–Promotion of sharing and reuse of tools
–Recognition that librarians are users too
–Improvement in operational activities
–Reduction in the risk that metadata generation and transformation processes will be lost
As you can see, we’ve been talking about different kinds of metadata mappings and transformations that have been implemented in different digital library projects. With a disperse library system and staff like Cornell has, these tools need to be broadly available to library staff rather than centralized in a single library unit, or on a single library staff computer. They should be gathered together in one place accessible to all library staff. Not only should the tools of metadata mapping and transformation be recorded and made available, but also documentation about the intellectual work—the decision processes that arrived at these tools and how they have been implemented for specific collections. This whole process is part what could be called a metadata management design.

A metadata management design would:

1. Promote the sharing and reuse of tools
2. Recognize that library staff are users too but at the same time doesn’t forget the end user. If library staff are able to utilize a service that helps them reuse metadata mappings and transformations, they will be able to more efficiently create new digital library projects, that, in turn, will serve the end user.
3. Improve operational activities by making it easier to access better managed metadata
4. Reduces the risk that metadata generation and transformation processes will be lost as an organization’s structure, staff, and activities change over time.