Canadian <Metadata> Forum

The MetaMap

James M Turner
Professor, École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l'information,
Université de Montréal

Outline of the presentation

• Quick demo
• Genesis of the MetaMap
• Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)
• Content of the map
• Plans for the future

Quick demo

For the benefit of those not already familiar with the MetaMap

http://mapageweb.umontreal.ca/turner/meta/english/

Genesis of the MetaMap

• Why not just an alphabetical list?
• The subway map idea
• Approaches to organisation of the map
• Searching for material
• Classification exercise
• Drawing the map: multiple iterations

Why not an alphabetical list?

• Since there are many (almost 200) MSSIs, grouping by themes was useful
• Also, we wanted to show relationships
• We end up with an alphabetical list anyway in the index

The subway map idea

• This grew out of a long-term interest in the London Underground map
• The key: the efficient way information is presented
• The design is so good it serves as a model for other subway systems

London Underground

Berlin U-Bahn + S-Bahn

Paris Métro

Approaches to organisation

• Information processes (creation, organisation, preservation, dissemination)
• Institutions with expertise in information management (libraries, archives, museums)
• Types of digital files (text, still images, moving images, sound)
• We planned to settle on one of these, but managed to include all three

Searching for material

• A search in the important sources, IS literature, Web, discussion groups, e- mail notes, etc.
• A register of leads to investigate
• Ongoing help from the IS community

Classification exercise

• Grouping by theme with no guidelines (looking for patterns of association)
• Grouping by theme with guidelines (according to the categories we planned to fill)
• As with any classification, ours is arbitrary and open to debate

Multiple iterations

• Once the lines were identified, attempts to draw and connect them
• At that stage, we had no idea whether this representation could work or not

Drawing the lines (1)

Drawing the lines (2)

Mapping attempt (1)

Mapping attempt (2)

Mapping attempt (3)

Mapping attempt (4)

Mapping attempt (5)

SVG

• Scalable Vector Graphics
• Recommendation of the W3C
• Written in XML
• Like Flash, but public
• Really taking off now

Our choice for the MetaMap

• A public tool, in the spirit of the Web and of the MetaMap
• Works in any computing environment
• Text file can be edited to keep map up to date
• Editing text files facilitates making versions in other languages

Content of the map

• Scope
• Structure of the lines
• Order within the lines
• Attempts at showing relationships
• The MetaMap and this Forum

Scope

• Metadata standards, sets, initiatives (MSSIs) related to information science
• Goal: gather in one place useful MSSIs
• We exclude what is clearly not related to information science, or too specialised

Scope not clearly defined

• We have purposely kept this vague to be as flexible and inclusive as possible
• Subject area metadata not included (e.g. medical, construction industry, e- commerce)
• We don't exclude developing the granularity of the MetaMap in the future
• The map gathers MSSIs, but the yellow line is an exception

Structure of the lines

• We ended up including all 3 approaches (information processes, institutions with expertise, file types)
• Information processes mostly horizontal
• Institutions mostly vertical
• File types grouped in one area

The yellow line

• Organisations such as the W3C, the IEEE, and the IETF are not MSSIs
• However, they play a critical role in the development of MSSIs
• We added the yellow line to include them
• The line runs through the centre of the map to allow connecting it to other lines as necessary

Order within the lines

Related MSSIs grouped where possible, e.g.

• SGML, HTML, XML, etc. on the Creation Line
• DDC, UDC, LCC on the Organisation Line

Attempts at showing relationships

• Nodes where MSSIs related to two or more themes
• Attempt to place lines in proximity when MSSIs are related across lines
• Lines bent or run parallel when several elements are common (e.g. multimedia MSSIs)
• NB: None of this is cut and dried, sometimes messy but hopefully useful anyway

The MetaMap and this Forum

• Titles of some presentations include MSSIs on the MetaMap (FRBR, RAD, EAD)
• Other titles show clear connections (Public library applications, Metadata for archival collections, Multimedia metadata panel, Museum metadata)
• In other cases, on hearing presentations we will make connections

Plans for the future

• Versions in other languages
• Granularity: "Local neighbourhood" maps
• What we'd really like
• Resources available

Versions in other languages

• Technical aspects
• Projects and possibilities

Technical aspects (1)

Web site for the map: translate or write new text

The map itself:

• translate names of lines to local language
• take our SVG files and substitute local language text between tags if appropriate
• add local MSSIs if appropriate

Technical aspects (2)

After a click:

• search for local language text or translate
• point to local language version of official source if there is one
• search for additional local-language sources

We are preparing a kit to help other language communities prepare their versions

Projects and possibilities

• Spanish and Portuguese: project underway
  • Prof Cristiane Galvão (Universidade de Brasília, Departamento de Ciência da Informação) is coordinating this work
• Chinese, German, Turkish: serious offers of help
• Swedish, Finnish: investigating possibilities

Granularity - 1

• Some MSSIs represent complex reality, e.g. MPEG, XML
• We might try to make "local neighbourhood maps" to represent this, e.g. XML
  • bank, government ministry, commerce,, library, home, university

Granularity - 2

What we'd really like

• An idea: create an XML file with an elaborate record structure to include complete information on each MSSI
• The XML file generates the MetaMap in SVG
• Reality check: is this even theoretically possible?

Resources available

• Of course, this work depends on funding
• We gratefully acknowledge CoRIMedia, a research consortium at the Université de Sherbrooke, which currently funds the MetaMap:
  • Thank you, CoRIMedia!

Thank you, too!