SPARC is pleased to announce an Open Metadata 101 series that will provide an overview of the latest developments to open up this crucial layer of information and the growing number of institutional open metadata policies.
Metadata is the engine that drives research and scholarly communication. It underlies nearly every library service, including acquisitions, discovery, access, collection management, storage, and preservation. Accordingly, open metadata can provide libraries a range of benefits, from cost efficiencies to creating more impactful services. Open metadata is also rooted in and helps advance open research and open education. For these reasons, SPARC has followed developments in this space closely, and based on member interest, we want to deepen support for libraries in this emerging area. As technology develops, now is a critical moment for libraries to play a defining role in shaping an information landscape built on open metadata.
We are grateful to collaborate closely with Tom Cramer and Rochelle Lundy, Co-Directors of the Stanford Center for Open Metadata at the Stanford University Libraries, to organize these sessions. Each session will benefit from their experience, with the second session also featuring additional expert speakers.
Recordings of the presentation portion of each session will be made available afterward; however, there will also be space for discussion and Q&A which will not be recorded.
These sessions are open to anyone working in libraries, knowledge organizations, or cultural heritage institutions. Participants can register for just those sessions that are of interest. SPARC membership is NOT required, and our goal in this series is to support the wider community, particularly those at institutions with fewer resources to support their open-related work.
Session 1: Open Metadata Foundations
Monday, November 9th from 3-4pm ET / 12-1pm PT | Link to Registration
Speakers:
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- Tom Cramer, Co-Director, Stanford Center for Open Metadata, Stanford University Libraries
- Rochelle Lundy, Co-Director, Stanford Center for Open Metadata, Stanford University Libraries
There is an emerging global movement among libraries and other knowledge organizations around open metadata–metadata that is free to access and to reuse, unencumbered by copyright, contract, or licensing restrictions.This session will outline key concepts and explain the importance of open metadata for the research, education, and cultural heritage sectors. Drawing on real life examples, it will present theoretical, legal, and practical considerations relevant to opening our metadata environment. These include examining the function of metadata in the current information services landscape; addressing common questions around copyright and contracts; and exploring the economics of creating and sustaining an open metadata ecosystem. The session will conclude by outlining concrete steps participants can take in the open metadata space.
Session 2: Adopting an Institutional Policy
Monday, November 30th from 2-3pm ET / 11-12pm PT | Link to Registration
Speakers:
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- Karen Estlund, Dean of Libraries, Colorado State University and Chair, Open Metadata Task Force, Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries
- Mark Paris, Dean of Libraries, West Virginia University
- Carol Smith, Dean of Libraries, University of Kansas
- Simeon Warner, Associate University Librarian, Cornell University
Adopting a policy on open metadata is a small but significant step institutions can take to promote a healthy information landscape. Driven by concern over the barriers presented by commercial enclosure of the scholarly communications ecosystem, scores of institutions have adopted policies that dedicate their metadata to the public domain and principles and practices that actively promote a more open ecosystem. This session will outline the rationale and benefits of open metadata policies, and introduce the Open Metadata Policy Toolkit, which is designed to assist libraries in writing their own. It will also present the experiences of multiple organizations with diverse perspectives that have implemented policies or are in the process of doing so.