Sweet, Sweet Metadata

Since I am the Metadata Maven, I thought that I should address this subject in some way. I recently took a metadata class at the University of Alabama with Dr. MacCall (great teacher). I really enjoyed the class in which I learned more about Web 2.0 than I could have ever hoped to learn on my own. Although the class was taught in a more "this is the future of metadata and not the creation of metadata itself" I still became fascinated with the topic. I work in a archive at the University and I spend all day looking at metadata as I scan documents into their database. I really would like to explore this topic in some type of job where I would be able to interact with both people and metadata.

The field of metadata is developing before our eyes. Its not like cataloging, where the rules have been set down and everybody follows them. When dealing with metadata, everyone has their own way of doing things. Standards are developing, but they are by no means suitable for every user. Its going to take several years before we even begin to really get into figuring out how to deal with metadata and how to make its creation efficient for more people.