OpenMetadata.org opens

OpenMetadata.org has launched. It's a catchy but very misleading name since it deals only with statistical and scientific metadata. The site is the property of "a small group of private companies working with research data and statistics, dedicated to providing services around metadata standards such as SDMX and DDI. Our goal is to provide better visibility and use of existing data resources, whether these are publically available or require permission to access." (About Us).

One of the databases you can consult that makes use of these standards is the Open Survey Catalog, compiled in collaboration with the International Household Survey Network (established 2004). As the name implies these are essentially questionnaires on a wide variety of topics. You may or may not, however, be able to access the actual data because the word catalog means this is a database describing these surveys.

Canadiana Discovery Portal opens in beta mode

The Canadiana Discovery Portal has opened in beta mode. The portal is a one-stop search portal through which you can search by keyword for thousands of catalog (metadata) records from contributing institutions across Canada. As yet there is no advanced search facility, just a Google-like search box. The portal is a new service from Canadiana.org. For digitized content such as publicly accessible documents from Early Canadiana Online or photographs from institutions such as the Library and Archives Canada or the Vancouver Public Library, you can view the digitized content with one mouse click.

Changes at Canadiana.org

Canadiana.org announced some significant changes through Issue 2 (August 02010) of its newsletter e-mailed to various mailing lists. Among the changes are:

1. A new version of the Canadiana Discovery Portal can be viewed at http://voyageur.canadiana.ca
2. Canadiana is now ready to receive metadata from all sources into the Canadian Metadata Repository, but you have to e-mail info@canadiana.ca to find out how to do this or to get more information.

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Let's get visual with metadata standards

Jenn Riley, Indiana University, has a free, terrific PDF poster called Seeing Standards: A Visualization of the Metadata Universe, supplemented with a metadata standard glossary, also available as a free PDF in poster or brochure formats.