metadataarkiv

A metadataarkiv is a centralized repository designed to store, manage, and expose metadata about digital objects and resources within an information system. It supports discovery, access, management, and long-term preservation by providing consistent descriptive, structural, and administrative metadata.

A metadataarkiv typically contains descriptive metadata (such as titles, creators, subjects), structural metadata that describes how components relate within complex objects, administrative and preservation metadata (including rights, provenance, technical characteristics, preservation events, and checksums), and access policies. It may also store relationships between objects, versions, derivations, and lineage information to document the history and authenticity of items.

Standards and formats commonly used in metadataarkiv implementations include Dublin Core, MODS, MARC, and PREMIS for preservation metadata, with METS or other packaging formats to bundle descriptive and technical metadata. Metadata may be expressed in XML, JSON-LD, or RDF to support interoperability and linked data. Access to metadata is typically provided through APIs and harvesting protocols such as OAI-PMH, RESTful services, or SPARQL endpoints.

A metadataarkiv often plays a core role in digital preservation architectures, aligning with OAIS concepts to support preservation planning, provenance capture, and evidence of authenticity. Governance and lifecycle considerations are important, including metadata quality control, versioning, retention schedules, and access controls.

Users include librarians, archivists, researchers, and IT staff. Benefits include improved discovery, re-use of digital assets, and better interoperability across systems and institutions.