Metadata Entry Tools

[cfa@ozemail.com.au (Shawn Callahan)]

Dear Collegues

I've been dabbling with a metadata entry tool (PC based) and it occured to
me how useless they can be.  I guess my frustration stems from a belief
that people wont enter information unless there is a clear benefit for the
person entering the metadata.  I have said in the past that a formal
recognition process is essential (turn metadata collection into part of a
dataset publishing process) which means the metadata problem is an
enterprise one requiring an enterprise solution.

Building a PC based metadata collection tool is only useful if you are
prepared to implement a organisation-wide client/server application.  But
this is way too expensive and diffcicult to justify - have you tried to
convince people of the Return of Investment in metadata collection?  Or
have you tried to distribute a PC application to 100s of PCs on a network -
a nightmare.

At this point in time the best solution appears to be implementing a web
based application that hooks into a database.  The application resides in
one location (no distribution problems) and the metadata is stored safely
(sometimes) in a database.

I think if you combine web technology, with database technology and take a
work flow approach to the application development (ie. develop something
akin to a dataset publishing process) it may work.  No guarantees in
information systems development.

Shawn Callahan

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shawn Callahan                                                       Level 11
SMS Consulting Group                                  60 Marcus Clarke Street
0411 491132                                             Canberra   ACT  26001
cfa@ozemail.com.au                                                  AUSTRALIA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-