Metadata and Databases
According to our textbook...
Metadata is the information used to describe data, objects, or records.
However, like usual with digital humanities terms, it is not just as simple as that definition. Metadata can be further broken down into three different types. These include:
- Descriptive Metadata- the most common type of metadata, provides us with basic information about online data, like file type, time, and categorization.
- Administrative Metadata- aids in classifying information and documents according to their kind or purpose.
- Operational Metadata- gives information on the functional requirements, or what is required for processing or displaying it.
When it comes to digitally preserving, examining, and interpreting historical records, cultural relics, and other humanistic research materials, metadata is an essential resource. Metadata plays a crucial role in this interdisciplinary field by providing context, structure, and accessibility to digital resources. I interpret metadata to overall be the deeper more in-depth version of data. Metadata will be crucial in understanding my project "Slave Revolt in Jamaica, 1760-1761". My project uses maps, diaries, private correspondences, military records, and historical accounts to express and portray this world of slavery in the past. By using metadata the individuals who created this project could easily portray the importance of this piece of history and add together information that relates to show the larger picture.
Our textbook did not give an exact definition of databases like how it did for metadata however, doing my own research...
- Databases are organized collections of data, typically stored electronically in a computer system. They are designed to efficiently manage, store, retrieve, and manipulate large volumes of structured or unstructured data.
Our textbook did discuss how data is formatted in places like a database. "structured data can be made and managed in a variety of formats: spreadsheets, XML files, JSON, ... as data becomes more complex and relations among elements of data more elaborate, neither flat (spreadsheet) nor hierarchical (XML or JSON) structures are efficient for managing or processing" Databases are commonly used every day by individuals and it would be hard to not use it within out projects because most of them are all collections of different data to show a larger picture or point being made.
To put the two topics of this blog together, a database can be an organized structure and storage of data such as metadata. They are both relevant in our continuing understanding of analyzing what digital humanities truly is.
Your three definitions of metadata really helped me understand it better than the textbook did. What I really like is how you went out of your way to actually find an exact definition of a database. Databases and metadata are closely related. One can't exist without the other. I appreciate how you brought emphasis to this and made it easy to understand.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you separated the three definitions of metadata. It helped me understand it better because sometimes in the textbook it can get confusing. I also like how you did your own research for databases because the textbook did not provide us with a definition. I appreciate the pictures you showed too.
ReplyDeleteI found the way you included a lot of different definitions throughout your blog post to be super helpful in understanding this chapter! I also definitely agree with your statement on how with a lot of digital humanities terms, the definitions aren't always so simple. You definitely have to dig to understand some of the terms the textbook uses to understand the field of digital humanities better. I think your project sounds super interesting and I can definitely see how metadata will play a key role. with so much information being gathered it definitely requires a way to organize and display this data in a way that is easy to analyze and understand. I also found your last sentence of your post to be super helpful in seeing how both metadata and databases are interlinked and how both of these can help us develop a better understanding of what digital humanities really is.
ReplyDeleteMetadata is fairly confusing to me so I really liked how you broke it down into three different types of data and described how each of them work. I find the textbook to be really wordy and fairly difficult to understand so your breakdown of the definitions helped me a lot. The comparison of metadata being a more in depth version of data was very useful and straight forwards as well. I will definitely utilize this information when working on my own project, it will help me analyze and understand the metadata within my project.
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