Research
Data Archive experts aid EU projects
The expertise of the UK Data Archive in dealing with metadata has been
recognised with high-level representation on a number of significant
European Union-funded projects.
Among these is MetaNet, a group that functions as 'a network of
excellence for harmonising and synthesising the development of statistical
metadata'.
It is part of the European Union Fifth framework Research and
Development programme under the Information Society Technology strand.
The UK Data Archive (UKDA) is contributing to one of the work packages
based on its expertise as an intermediary between producers and users of
statistics.
It will consider all aspects of metadata - or information which
describes data - relevant to the different strands of interest in
statistical organisations. The 'strands' identified are:
- Classifications or 'basic' metadata which give meaning to coded
numbers.
- Process metadata which aid the efficiency of statistical systems,
for example, for the production process.
- Dissemination metadata which are human-oriented, and help users in
finding and interpreting published data. This type of metadata is
close to the library world and is very much web based.
A second initiative involving the UKDA is the EU-funded Cluster of
Systems of Metadata for Official Statistics (COSMOS).
Co-ordinated by a team at Edinburgh University, this cluster involves
five projects of the 5th Framework Research Programme.
The objectives of the project include: building better metadata
repositories through the exchange of ideas and experiences from different
projects; identification of common metadata objects with agreed
definitions, attributes and methods; and implementation of a subset of
some of these objects to demonstrate interoperability between project
systems.
The UKDA will contribute substantive work in those areas of metadata
developed under the FASTER project.
This is likely to involve further work on so-called 'cubes' to
facilitate easier management of aggregate data between projects. The UKDA
organised and hosted the first technical meeting in October.
Also in the printed December edition of Wyvern:
- Bookshelf - new books by Essex academics
- AHRB fund £1million surrealist research centre
