Eco Companion Australasia
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Document metadata for effective resource discovery

Contents:

Introduction

Member's documents in the Eco Companion catalogue are stored as Structured Generalized Markup Language (SGML) files. This means that the actual documents are free of proprietry formats and so can outlive any computer management system. Presentation documents are produced in HTML and plain text, when the member edits the documents using the online facilities.

The structured content is separated from its presentation. The methods that produce the presentation formats can then be changed to keep pace with digital library management techniques. In this way, the author can concentrate on the content of the document. In the background, we continually develop facilities to utilise the latest methods for enhancing resource discovery.

Metadata (information about the document at hand) is automatically added as hidden elements to the <HEAD> section of the HTML document. These include Dublin Core Metadata Elements and elements for some specific search engines. Our site also has ratings for the Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS).

Eco Companion documents

The documents are edited by the member, using the online document management facilities, and presentation documents are generated in both HTML and plain text formats. When a member chooses to publish, the documents are added to the public catalogue and indexed for searching.

HTML metadata

Metadata elements are automatically inserted in the HEAD section of all of your HTML documents. Whenever you update your documents then they are re-generated. As the techniques for resource discovery evolve, we will revise the production methods.

Only the BODY of a document is displayed by your WWW browser. Use the "View source" option of your browser to see these hidden elements.

Dublin Core

The Dublin Core Metadata Elements are a well-defined set of elements for enhancing resource discovery. An international workshop process has led to agreement by interdisciplinary experts.

The HotMeta broker at the Distributed Systems Technology Centre (DSTC) regularly indexes the documents that are published by Eco Companion members - you can readily find your documents there.

The Dublin Core elements include: Title, Creator, Subject, Date, Coverage, Language.

Internet search engines

Not all Internet search facilities utilise these new metadata elements, so the additional tags DESCRIPTION and KEYWORDS are added.

Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS)

This site has ratings for Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS).

SafeSurf Rated RSACi Rated


URL:http://www.indexgeo.com.au/ec/about/meta.html
Last Modified: 1 July 1998