XuMP

XuMP is an XML-based packaging and metadata framework intended to unify the handling of digital media across creation, archiving, and distribution workflows. The XuMP specification defines a container format, a manifest, and an interconnected metadata graph, enabling consistent description, provenance, and rights information for media assets.

Typically, a XuMP package contains a set of media files, a manifest.xml that describes the structure and relationships among assets, and a metadata component that encodes descriptive, technical, and rights information. The framework emphasizes extensibility through namespaces and supports optional digital signatures to verify integrity. Implementations aim to be codec-agnostic and interoperable with existing metadata ecosystems by mapping to schemas such as XMP, Dublin Core, or guidance from MPEG-21.

XuMP was proposed in the mid-2010s by a cross-industry collaboration seeking to reduce fragmentation in media workflows. The effort drew on earlier standards such as MPEG-21 Digital Item Declaration and XMP, aiming to provide a single packaging layer with rich metadata. Adoption remained limited to pilot projects and specialized archives.

Today, XuMP persists mainly as a reference model and in a small set of open-source tools used in digital libraries and research contexts. It is often discussed as a historical stepping stone toward more integrated packaging and metadata strategies rather than as a widely deployed standard.

See also: XMP, MPEG-21, Dublin Core, Digital Item Declaration, metadata packaging.