Image embedded metadata in cultural heritage digital collections on the web. An analytical study
| Pages | 339-357 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-03-2017-0053 |
| Date | 18 June 2018 |
| Published date | 18 June 2018 |
| Author | Emad Isa Saleh |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information user studies,Metadata,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Image embedded metadata in
cultural heritage digital
collections on the web
An analytical study
Emad Isa Saleh
Department of Information Science, Faculty of Arts and Humanities,
King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigate the availability of embedded metadata within images
of digital cultural collections. It is designed to examine a proposed hypothesis that most digitally derived
images of cultural resources are stripped of their metadata once they are placed on the web.
Design/methodology/approach –A sample of 603 images were selected randomly from four cultural
portals which aggregate digitized cultural collections, then four steps in the data collection process took place
to examine image metadata via the web-based tool and windows application.
Findings –The study revealed that 28.5 percent of the analyzed images contained metadata, no links exist
between image embedded metadata and its metadata record or the pages of the websites analyzed, and there
is a significant usage of Extensible Metadata Platform to encode embedded metadata within the images.
Practical implications –The findings of the study may encourage heritage digital collection providers to
reconsider their metadata preservation practices and policies to enrich the content of embedded metadata.
In addition, it will raise awareness about the potential and value of embedded metadata in enhancing the
findability and exchange of digital collections.
Originality/value –This study is ground breaking in that it is one of the early studies, especially in the
Arab world, which aim to recognize the use of image embedded metadata within cultural heritage digital
collections on the web.
Keywords Digital libraries, Cultural heritage, Digital collections, Cultural portals, Embedded metadata,
Image metadata
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Information institutions traditionally create metadata describing the content and properties
of information resources as separate entities from the resource itself. Nowadays, however,
given the web environment, the increasing number of published digital objects and the need
to share the metadata describing those objects, it has become possible to embed the
metadata as an integral part of the objects. In fact, embedding standard metadata in a file
structure makes a file self-describing, helps identify the resource outside its home system
and improves the searchability, discoverability and interoperability management of
information objects.
In recent years, the world has witnessed a growing trend to preserve cultural heritage
and make it accessible for public users over the web, and there have been several initiatives
and international collaborations, such as the World Digital Library (WDL) and Europeana.
Metadata is essential for identification and copyright protection. It should travel with the
content and remain with it over its lifetime, especially if there are many copies of a single
image (International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC), 2011).
Library Hi Tech
Vol. 36 No. 2, 2018
pp. 339-357
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/LHT-03-2017-0053
Received 11 March 2017
Revised 26 December 2017
20 February 2018
Accepted 28 February 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University,
Jeddah, under Grant No. G-94-125-1436. The author, therefore, acknowledges with thanks DSR’s
technical and financial support.
339
Image
embedded
metadata
In 2008, the Stock Artists Alliance (n.d.a, b) launched a comprehensive “MetaSurvey”to
investigate practices around metadata use and preservation among major stock image
distributors. Preliminary findings included the following: too many images in the licensing
market lacked key identifying and content information (caption/descriptive information,
color management information); there was little use of Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP)
(Adobe Systems Incorporated, 2016) or ICC (International Color Consortium, n.d.) profiles on
the web; IPTC (IPTC, n.d.a) “Legacy”metadata was the most popular; few thumbnails had
any metadata; slightly more than half of the sample in preview mode had IPTC/XMP; most
of the samples did not have XMP metadata; and the most popular IPTC metadata fields
were: credit, copyright notice, object name and caption. The survey attributed the reasons
for the missing metadata to internal workflows, server-side processing and special
processes, such as watermarking (Riecks, 2008)(SAA, n.d.a, b).
Embedded metadata is contained within the structure of a digital file and can be
descriptive, technical or administrative in nature. In digital imaging, there are two types of
embedded metadata: technical metadata, which is usually embedded automatically by the
equipment software that produces the file (i.e. equipment name, manufacturer and capture
date); and descriptive metadata, which requires manual input of additional information
about the image of a library, museum, archive; this input could be automated to a certain
degree, however, it may still require manual data entry of information that is distinctive to
the image (EMDaWG, 2010).
1.1 Role of image embedded metadata
By choosing to embed descriptive data, the following benefits can be achieved:
•The connection between the image and its data record can be strengthened. An image
with embedded metadata becomes an access point to additional information outside
the catalog record. Without embedded metadata, the identity of the image is lost and
the user has no point of reference to begin research (Frisch, 2012).
•A file becomes self-describing so that it can be identified and described outside of its
home system (Miller and Mullin, 2011a).
•The value of an image increases, in terms of both potential licensing arrangements
and the protection of culturally significant works. When descriptive, source and
ownership metadata are embedded in image files, users can properly identify and
attribute images from multiple sources, even if they have kept incomplete notes or
renamed files (Embedded Metadata: Share, Deliver, Preserve, 2010).
•There is an increasedflexibility for accessingacross platforms,which enables people in
and outside an organization to work more efficiently, provides valuable data to the
systemsthat preserve digital content and can assistin disaster recovery( FADGI,2015).
•It assists and facilitates interoperability between image management systems, and
adds descriptive metadata to a digital image, allowing it to take advantage of
technologies that can harvest and extract that metadata (EMDaWG, 2010).
•Users are able to search and sort image files in a system browser or a photo
organization application (Reser, 2012a, b).
•Without descriptive data, digital images will lose their cultural context. In this deluge
of images, how will future users know what they are looking at? Embedding
descriptive metadata in image files offers them the chance to survive (Frisch, 2012).
One important issue is that without image attribution information (such as the
creator/ author field, the copyright notice field or provider), an image could be considered
340
LHT
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