An Introduction to Collection Description
About This Document
This briefing document provides an introduction to Collection Description.
What Is Collection Description?
Collection Description is a term which is used to describe structured information about a group of resources (a collection) that have some identifiable relationship to each other.
Where traditionally collection descriptions have been included in directories and guides of various forms, metadata records are used in today's digital environment.
Why Use Collection Description?
Collection description can be used for several reasons:
- To provide easier high level navigation of a large resource base.
- To facilitate the selection of the most appropriate collections for item level searching.
- To support effective searching across archive, library and museum domains.
- As a tool for collection management.
Metadata Schema Model
The digitisation strand of the Research Support Libraries Programme (RSLP) identified a need to describe resources at a collection level. An entity-relationship model for collections, created by Michael Heaney, was used as the theoretical basis for a metadata schema for collection description for RSLP.
Further information on the model is available in the document "An Analytical Model Of Collections And Their Catalogues" by Michael Heaney. This can be accessed at the URL: <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/rslp/model/>
RSLP Collection Metadata Schema
The key attributes of this metadata schema are:
- Title, description
- Resource type, collection identifier
- Language, physical characteristics, dates collected, dates items created
- Legal status, access control
- Accrual status (method, periodicity, policy)
- Custodial history, collector, owner, administrator, location
- Subject (concept, object, name, place, time)
- Sub-collection, super-collection, catalogue, associated collection, associated publication
- Note
Dublin Core Collections Application Profile
The key attributes of this metadata schema are:
- Title, alternative title, description
- Resource type, collection identifier
- Size, language, item type, item format, dates collected, dates items created
- Rights, access rights
- Accrual method, periodicity, policy
- Custodial history, collector, owner, location
- Audience, subject, place, time
- Sub-collection, super-collection, catalogue, associated collection, associated publication
Further Information
Further information is provided by the Collection Description Focus Web site tutorial which is available at the URI: <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/cd-focus/cdfocus-tutorial/schemas/>.
