Metadata and its Applications in the Digital Library: Approaches and Practices

Over recent years there have emerged numerous monographs on the topic of metadata (see for example: Caplan, 2003; Foulonneau and Riley, 2008; Haynes, 2004; Hillman and Westbrooks, 2004; Intner et al., 2005; Smiraglia, 2005). Each has been very much welcomed and – given that developments in metadata have accelerated with the advent of XML – every addition to the metadata canon has been necessary. This is particularly the case for the practitioner who wishes to keep pace with the rapid changes but can ill afford the time to peruse the relevant journals or websites, or participate on the multitude of email discussion lists, wikis or blogs. It is therefore extremely disappointing that Metadata and its applications fails to build upon previous contributions or deliver anything new for the reader.