Towards a framework for standardising recordkeeping metadata: the Australian recordkeeping metadata schema
| Date | 01 December 1999 |
| Pages | 173-198 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000007249 |
| Published date | 01 December 1999 |
| Author | Sue McKemmish,Glenda Acland,Barbara Reed |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Towards a framework for
standardising recordkeeping
metadata: the Australian
recordkeeping metadata schema
SUE MCKEMMISH, GLENDA ACLAND and
BARBARA REED
Abstract
In July 1999 the Australian Recordkeeping Metadata Schema (RKMS) was
approved by its academic and industry steering group. The RKMS has inherited
elements from and built on many other metadata standards associated with
information management. It has also contributed to the development of subse-
quent sector specific recordkeeping metadata sets. The importance of the RKMS
as a framework for mapping or reading other sets, and also as a standardised set
of metadata available for adoption in diverse implementation environments,
is now emerging. This paper explores the context of the Australian SPIRT1
Recordkeeping Metadata Project, and the conceptual models developed by the
SPIRT Research Team as a framework for standardising and defining record-
keeping metadata. It then introduces the elements of the SPIRT Recordkeeping
Metadata Schema and explores its functionality, before discussing implementa-
tion issues and future directions.
Introduction
Metadata has existed in record systems throughout time. But it is only
now that the recordkeeping community has begun the process of the
codification of recordkeeping metadata so it can be fully understood and
deployed both within and beyond our own profession. Metadata, which
can be generically defined as ‘structured data about data’, is simply
a new term for the type of information that has always been captured in
records and archives systems – indeed records managers and archivists
are metadata experts. Traditional archival finding aids, index cards, file
covers, file registers, the headers and footers on paper documents and
Records Management Journal, vol. 9, no. 3, December 1999, pp. 173–198
Records Management Journal, Vol. 9, No. 3, December 1999
© Aslib, The Association for Information Management.
All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without the prior
written permission of the publisher.
Aslib, The Association for Information Management
Staple Hall, Stone House Court, London EC3A 7PB
Tel: +44 (0) 171 903 0000, Fax: +44 (0) 171 903 0011
Email: pubs@aslib.co.uk, WWW: http://www.aslib.co.uk/aslib
their computerised equivalents are rich in metadata that helps record-
keepers to identify, describe, authenticate, manage and provide access
to records.
Within the context of various metadata related initiatives in Australia and
elsewhere, the SPIRT Recordkeeping Metadata project was envisaged to
build a framework in which other sector specific metadata standards
could be developed for targeted application. The major deliverable of the
eighteen month Research Project, Recordkeeping Metadata Standards
for Managing and Accessing Information Resources in Networked
Environments Over Time for Government, Commerce, Social and Cultural
Purposes is the Australian Recordkeeping Metadata Schema (RKMS),
a high level extensible framework for specifying, standardising and map-
ping recordkeeping metadata2. The project was administered by Monash
University on behalf of a collaborative group of researchers and industry
partners. The collaboration involved Monash University, the University
of New South Wales, and a consortium of industry partners – the
National Archives of Australia, the New South Wales State Records
Authority, the Queensland State Archives, the Australian Council of
Archives and the Records Management Association of Australia.3
The context of the SPIRT recordkeeping metadata initiative
In response to the policy directions announced in late 1997, as part of the
Australian Government’s Investing for Growth strategy4, a range of initia-
tives has been undertaken to support and encourage individuals and organ-
isations to transact business electronically. They include initiatives relating
to the establishment and accessibility of online government services and call
centres, e.g. the Australian federal government’s Government Online5and
Business Entry Point (BEP)6, and related projects in the state jurisdictions
like Connect.nsw, the New South Wales State Government’s Internet
Strategy7. Information resource management initiatives are addressing
challenges relating to dealing interoperably, at the global level, with facili-
tating resource description and discovery. They are also concerned with
the transaction of Australian government business, e.g. the Australian
Government Locator Service (AGLS) metadata initiative8, whole-of-
government directories like Ausinfo’s GOLD – Government Online
Directory (based on the X500 Directory Structure Standard) – and
Ausinfo’s web-based Functional Index of Federal Government9.
The thrust of government online initiatives is towards fully enabled
online transactions as a significant component of service delivery. The
Electronic Transactions Bill 199910 is a model law which potentially pro-
vides the regulatory framework for the use of electronic communications
in transactions (defined broadly to encompass all of the activities of gov-
ernment agencies in their roles as service providers). In the environment
174
Records Management Journal vol. 9 no. 3
Records Management Journal, Vol. 9, No. 3, December 1999
© Aslib, The Association for Information Management.
All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without the prior
written permission of the publisher.
Aslib, The Association for Information Management
Staple Hall, Stone House Court, London EC3A 7PB
Tel: +44 (0) 171 903 0000, Fax: +44 (0) 171 903 0011
Email: pubs@aslib.co.uk, WWW: http://www.aslib.co.uk/aslib
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