{"id":1186,"date":"2016-09-27T16:33:45","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T21:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/beyondreviews\/?p=1186"},"modified":"2018-03-14T08:29:11","modified_gmt":"2018-03-14T13:29:11","slug":"metadata","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/beyondreviews\/2016\/09\/27\/metadata\/","title":{"rendered":"Metadata"},"content":{"rendered":"

MathSciNet is full of metadata. \u00a0We create our own metadata. \u00a0We receive metadata from many of the publishers of the journals we cover. \u00a0So what are\u00a0metadata? \u00a0(Or what is<\/em><\/a>\u00a0metadata?) \u00a0The simplest explanation of metadata is that they are\u00a0a type of data that describes other data. \u00a0The classical example is the metadata found in card catalogs from libraries.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lots of information is on the card. \u00a0Note that before the annotation, nothing is labeled. There are accepted rules that tell a librarian (or a patron) what each piece of data is. \u00a0For most pieces of this data, a non-librarian would be likely to figure out what everything meant. <\/p>\n

In an online catalog (such as from the Library of Congress), you might see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Personal name:<\/strong><\/td>\nMalinowski, Bronislaw, 1884-1942.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Title:<\/strong><\/td>\nMagic, science and religion and other essays<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Published\/Created<\/strong>:<\/td>\nBoston, Beacon Press, 1948.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LCCN Permalink:\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\nhttps:\/\/lccn.loc.gov\/48006987<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Description<\/strong>:<\/td>\nxii, 327 p. front. 22 cm.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LC classification (full)<\/strong>:<\/td>\nGN8 .M286<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LC classification (partial)<\/strong>:<\/td>\nGN8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Related names<\/strong>:<\/td>\nRedfield, Robert, 1897-ed.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Contents<\/strong>:<\/td>\nMagic, science and religion.–Myth in primitive psychology.–Baloma: the spirits of the dead in the Trobriand Islands.–The problem of meaning in primitive language.–An anthropological analysis of war.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Subjects<\/strong>:<\/td>\nAnthropology.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Notes:<\/strong><\/td>\nBibliographic footnotes.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LCCN:<\/strong><\/td>\n48006987<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dewey class no.<\/strong><\/td>\n572.04<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Type of material:<\/strong><\/td>\nBook<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Notice that now the data fields are all labeled.<\/p>\n

However, in modern libraries, there is more information than (normally) meets the eye. Here is a more detailed view of the digital record, as provided by the MARC<\/a> record:
\n
\n000 01142cam a22002891 4500
\n001 8352402
\n005 20050721194408.0
\n008 750617s1948 mau b 000 0 eng
\n035 __ |9 (DLC) 48006987
\n906 __ |a 7 |b cbc |c oclcrpl |d u |e ncip |f 19 |g y-gencatlg
\n010 __ |a 48006987
\n035 __ |a (OCoLC)1395532
\n040 __ |a DLC |c FTS |d OCoLC |d DLC
\n042 __ |a premarc
\n050 00 |a GN8 |b .M286
\n082 __ |a 572.04
\n100 1_ |a Malinowski, Bronislaw, |d 1884-1942.
\n245 10 |a Magic, science and religion, and other essays; |c selected and with an introd. by Robert Redfield.
\n260 __ |a Boston, |b Beacon Press, |c 1948.
\n300 __ |a xii, 327 p. |b front. |c 22 cm.
\n504 __ |a Bibliographical footnotes.
\n505 0_ |a Magic, science and religion.--Myth in primitive psychology.--Baloma: the spirits of the dead in the Trobriand Islands.--The problem of meaning in primitive language.--An anthropological analysis of war.
\n650 _0 |a Anthropology.
\n700 1_ |a Redfield, Robert, |d 1897- |e ed.
\n985 __ |e OCLC REPLACEMENT cdsdistr
\n991 __ |b c-GenColl |h GN8 |i .M286 |t Copy 1 |w OCLCREP
\n991 __ |b c-GenColl |h GN8 |i .M286 |p 00017792015 |t Copy 2 |w CCF
\n<\/code><\/p>\n

Wow! Lots more information! Moreover, I can’t understand most of it. \u00a0It is all labeled, but using a secret code. \u00a0How is this helpful? \u00a0Well, MARC stands for “MA<\/span>chine R<\/span>eadable C<\/span>ataloging”. \u00a0So I’m not supposed to be able to understand this, but a computer parses the information easily. \u00a0This is an example of metadata for the digital world. \u00a0(The\u00a0machine code is available here<\/a>\u00a0as an XML file, in case you want to be unable to read it in another format.)<\/p>\n

Metadata at Mathematical Reviews<\/h2>\n

In the right hands, metadata are pieces of\u00a0information that is developed, structured, and maintained to describe materials in ways that meet the particular needs of a group of users. At Mathematical Reviews, metadata for each bibliographic entry in MathSciNet are created to serve the research needs of mathematicians, librarians, and others who work with the mathematics literature. Metadata describe each item listed in the database in terms of its type of publication, creators and publisher, length, edition, online availability, subject area (using MSCs<\/a>), and other identifying characteristics.<\/p>\n

MathSciNet metadata provide consistent and well-structured information about what has been published in mathematics over time and how publications are related to each other based on elements such as authors, publication date, subject matter, references, and editions. Staff members at Mathematical Reviews work to assure the consistency and accuracy of the metadata created for roughly\u00a0120,000 items each year. High quality metadata are essential to the many features of MathSciNet including author<\/a> and publications<\/a> searching, the Citation Database<\/a>, Author Profile pages<\/a>, and the rich and growing set of links within MathSciNet that enable efficient and accurate\u00a0exploration of the mathematical literature.<\/p>\n

The creation of bibliographic metadata at Mathematical Reviews takes place at two levels. The first level involves the bibliographic description of books, journals and issues. \u00a0At this level, the work resembles the cataloging at a library. \u00a0The second level focuses on the description of individual papers within journal issues and book collections. \u00a0At this second level, the work can be quite different, working in finer\u00a0detail with a narrower range of data. \u00a0 Cataloging principles and standards guide the bibliographic description of materials at Mathematical Reviews. One important set of principles is\u00a0found in the Resource Description and Access<\/a> (RDA) standards. \u00a0(See also this page<\/a> from the\u00a0Library of Congress.) These and other principles and standards\u00a0must be\u00a0interpreted and incorporated into a cataloging framework designed to meet the information needs of the mathematical community. \u00a0Adhering to principles and standards allows us to maintain continuity and consistency in MathSciNet across all the literature we cover,\u00a0and across the wider bibliographic world (e.g., your library).<\/p>\n

Preliminary Data<\/h3>\n

Publishers create metadata for their publications. \u00a0One of the earliest resources was Bowker’s\u00a0Books in Print<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0(See also this<\/a>.) Years ago, this was produced annually as a bound volume that you could find in your library or bookstore. \u00a0It attempted to list\u00a0the bibliographic information of every book printed in a given year. \u00a0It was a book about books – metadata! \u00a0 For scholarly and academic journals, there was Ulrich’s\u00a0Periodicals Directory<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0 Bowker’s and Ulrich’s only had the information from the publishers who gave it to them. Both resources were widely used in libraries, for purchasing as well as for identification and awareness purposes. Bowker\u2019s was also heavily used by bookstores and book distributors, particularly for making purchases. Needless to say, it was a good idea for publishers to provide data to Bowker’s and to Ulrich’s. \u00a0Both are now solely online.<\/p>\n

For books, Bowker’s established a format for the electronic delivery of metadata. \u00a0Data in this format was frequently used by both online bookstores and brick-and-mortar bookstores. \u00a0Other formats exist, such as what amazon.com uses<\/a>. \u00a0The Library of Congress records described above are important. \u00a0When readying\u00a0a book, the publisher applies for “CIP data<\/a>” – cataloging in publishing data. \u00a0The record returned to the publisher from the Library of Congress becomes an important component of the metadata attached to the publication.<\/p>\n

Mathematical Reviews receives\u00a0metadata from publishers through our\u00a0Preliminary Data program. Publisher metadata received in this program are used to create preliminary entries in MathSciNet, while editorial decisions, cataloging, and classification are completed. These items are marked in MathSciNet with the icon \u00a0\"screen-shot-prelim\"<\/a>. \u00a0Preliminary MathSciNet entries speed up\u00a0the availability of information about publications by several weeks.<\/p>\n

While preliminary data accelerate the posting of items to MathSciNet, it is\u00a0not<\/span> the case that the data arrive and we can just blithely post away! \u00a0Data arrive in all sorts of formats. \u00a0And with various extras. \u00a0Upon arrival, preliminary data go through an initial check, during which materials such as cover images, front and back matter, and other non-article information are removed. Duplicate materials are also removed and issue and journal level information is verified and corrected as needed. The papers are then sent to our editors, who select those for which permanent listings in MathSciNet will be made.<\/p>\n

The selected papers move through the departments at Mathematical Reviews and the bibliographic data are checked, edited, and enhanced at each point. Discrepancies between the data received and the published online version are addressed and additional information about the paper may be added. Author disambiguation<\/a> is done, links to Author Profile pages<\/a> are made, institutional codes<\/a> are added, and classifications<\/a> assigned. When these steps are completed, the preliminary entry is replaced with its permanent and complete MathSciNet entry. Articles from approximately 800 journals now arrive through our Preliminary Data program. We continue to add journals to the program and look forward to working with additional publishers in the future.<\/p>\n

Accurate, timely, and consistent metadata are integral to the information and services we provide to the mathematical community. MathSciNet metadata development is an ongoing process accomplished by experienced and dedicated staff throughout Mathematical Reviews.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

I am very grateful to Kathy Wolcott, \u00a0Librarian and Manager of the Mathematical Reviews\u00a0Acquisitions Department, for help with this post. \u00a0Large swathes of this post are plagiarized<\/del> verbatim from a document written by her.<\/p>\n

\n

Is “data” singular or plural? \u00a0For that question, I defer to the wisdom of xkcd<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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MathSciNet is full of metadata. \u00a0We create our own metadata. \u00a0We receive metadata from many of the publishers of the journals we cover. \u00a0So what are\u00a0metadata? \u00a0(Or what is\u00a0metadata?) \u00a0The simplest explanation of metadata is that they are\u00a0a type of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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