Mid-Term Assignment Part 1:  Metadata Schema

• Start:  Week 4 
• Due:  Week 6, beginning of class February 16th
• Task:  Create a content metadata schema for the MSIM web site (http://www.ischool.washington.edu/msim/default.aspx).   

This is the first installment of your course project.  For this section of your work, you should put yourself in the position of the administrator of the system, responsible for managing content and making it possible to maintain and organize it in an effective way.  You will need to consider both administrative and descriptive elements in your schema, and should provide evidence that you have explored the appropriate standards to support your choices.  You will have an opportunity to revisit your subject access elements later in the quarter, so put the primary emphasis on your administrative and simple descriptive metadata at this point.

The deliverable will consist of:

• A table showing the application profile containing the metadata elements you have chosen, a citation to the source of those elements (the standard or other resource you have obtained them from) and the reason for choosing this element, supported by reference to appropriate resources.  You may well choose to adopt a complete standard if you feel it is appropriate, or to mix and match if you find that none of the existing standards are appropriate for your approach.  This part of your submission should be formatted as shown in the sample template on the course web site (use columns A, B, and C).  (Maximum 10 points)

Mid-Term Assignment Part 2:  Authority Control/Encoding Schemes

• Start:  Week 5 
• Due:  Week 6, beginning of class February 16th
• Task:  Create authority control and encoding schemes for your metadata schema for the MSIM web site (http://www.ischool.washington.edu/msim/default.aspx).

In the second installment, you will define the authority control for each of your administrative elements and non-subject descriptive elements (not your subject elements, that's Part 3).  For each of the metadata elements you defined in Part 1 of your assignment, provide the rules and authorities or encoding schemes that will determine the appropriate values that can be entered for the element. 

Your deliverables for this part will be an extension of Part 1:

• You should add your authority control and encoding schemes (rules and references) to column D of the table that you created (using the sample template) in the first part of the assignment, so each metadata element will now have a set of rules associated with it that determine allowable values.  Be sure to reference any standards that you are using, or clearly define a rule if you are creating it yourself. (maximum 10 points)

And a summary paper describing your overall approach:

•  The paper should include a brief (three to five pages—see the suggested template) description of your approach to designing your metadata schema, telling me why you have chosen the approach that you did and what you are trying to accomplish with your metadata elements.  This should be based upon and grounded in the readings, lectures, and class discussion we have had to this point in the quarter, and should explain how you as an administrator of the website will benefit from adoption of this particular approach to using metadata.  Don't worry about subject access at this point, that's for your final assignment. (maximum 10 points)

Maximum points for mid-term assignment:  30