In various research areas, the availability of open datasets is considered as key for research and application purposes. These datasets are used as benchmarks to develop new algorithms and to compare them to other algorithms in given settings. Finding such available datasets for experimentation can be a challenging task in technology enhanced…

An unprecedented amount of information encompassing almost every facet of human activities across the world is generated daily in the form of zeros and ones, and that is often the only form in which such information is recorded. A good fraction of this information needs to be preserved for periods of time ranging from a few years to centuries.…

Introduction: Specialised subject gateways have become an essential tool for locating and accessing digital information resources, with the added value of organisation and previous evaluation catering for the needs of the varying communities using these. Within the framework of a research project on the subject, a software tool has been developed…

The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (PMH) is designed to facilitate discovery of the "hidden web" of scholarly information, such as that contained in databases, finding aids, and XML documents. OAI-PMH supports standardized exchange of metadata describing items in disparate collections, of such as those…

At the sixth Dublin Core Metadata Workshop convened in Washington, DC, in November 19998, a work plan was developed to address unresolved issues in resource description. This report summarizes that work plan, highlights the progress that has been made on it and identifies a few significant projects that exemplify this progress. (AEF)

The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative has helped to create a community of people united in the common purpose of promoting cross-disciplinary resource discovery. DC-2001, the International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Applications 2001, is the first annual Dublin Core meeting in Asia, recognizing the growth of activities in the Asian…

Focuses on the retrieval of numeric data from information sources that present special challenges. Describes a new method to deal with the challenge of accessing this special type of data indexed by unfamiliar metadata vocabularies. Extends the entry vocabulary module (EVM) approach to deal with numeric database searching. (AEF)

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign undertook a project to test the efficacy of using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting to construct a search and discovery service focused on information resources in the domain of cultural heritage. Provides an overview of the Illinois project, with quantitative data about…

Describes emerging metadata practice and standards. Gives an overview of the environments in which metadata is used, before focusing on metadata for information resources. Outlines an approximate typology of approaches and explores different strands of metadata activity. Discusses trends in format development, metadata management, and use of…

Defines virtual documents and categorizes them, roughly, on how they are created, such as using templates, from computations, as composites, and as metadata. Describes the following information retrieval problems with virtual documents: search, revisiting, authentication, reference, version control, and annotation. (AEF)

Examines some of the incentives behind cataloging on the Internet. Discusses the Dublin Core metadata elements set which attempts to apply traditional cataloging practices to new technologies. Looks at the practicalities of such a system, including three obvious benefits to mapping Dublin Core elements to MARC fields. (AEF)

Introduces a prototype system for devising and using a metadata vocabulary for data retrieval, based on a project at the United States Department of Agriculture. A unified information-access system called REEIS (Research, Education, Economics, Extension Information System) is being designed to provide a knowledge base of programs, projects, and…

When the ISI(R) (Institute for Scientific Information (R)) decided to incorporate scholarly, research-oriented Web sites as an expansion of the "Current Contents Connect" (TM) database, the organization faces significant issues relating to establishment of evaluative criteria and the capture of appropriate metadata. This discussion…

The goal of the State Library of Queensland's (Australia) Metadata Project is the deployment of metadata using the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set in State Library Web pages. This is expected to improve resource discovery by Internet users, through providing index information (metadata) in State Library Web pages which is then available to search…

Describes common options and features to consider in evaluating which meta search engine will best meet a searcher's needs. Discusses number and names of engines searched; other sources and specialty engines; search queries; other search options; and results options. (AEF)