MetadataStandards

METADATAStandards are frameworks, schemas, and encoding rules used to describe digital objects and data in a consistent way. They define data elements, their meanings, allowed values, and relationships, enabling efficient discovery, access, interoperability, and long-term preservation across systems and institutions.

These standards address different metadata needs, including descriptive metadata for identification and discovery, structural metadata for the organization of complex objects, and administrative metadata for rights, provenance, and preservation actions. Many standards also specify encoding formats and vocabularies to ensure machine-readability and interoperability.

Domain-specific examples include bibliographic standards such as Dublin Core, MARC, MODS, and METS; archival standards like EAD; preservation-focused standards such as PREMIS and PREMIS+METS for encoding and packaging; and geospatial standards such as ISO 19115 and FGDC. In the research and data-management communities, DataCite and schema.org provide widely used metadata schemas for datasets, while RDF-based vocabularies and linked data efforts promote semantic interoperability.

Common technical features include defined element sets, controlled vocabularies or ontologies, and metadata encoding in XML, JSON-LD, or RDF. Interoperability is often achieved through mappings and crosswalks between standards, as well as through harvesting protocols like OAI-PMH.

Governance is shared among standards bodies and professional communities, such as the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, ISO, W3C, and national libraries. Adoption is driven by repository requirements, data-management policies, and the need for interoperable, reusable information across systems.