Metadata. A Basic Tutorial for Records Managers. ARMA TR 03-2009

Article Type: Professional resources From: Records Management Journal, Volume 20, Issue 3

ARMA International,Overland Park, KS,October 2009,ISBN 978-1-931786-89-8 (paperback); 978-1-931786-90-4 (PDF),

Keywords: Records management, Information management

This ARMA technical report “provides a tutorial for the application of basic metadata elements necessary to support Records and Information Management(RIM) activities” (p. iv). The content is based on ISO 15489 Information and Documentation – Records Management and ISO 23081 Information and Documentation – Records Management Processes – Metadata for Records. Where there are differences between international and North American practice this is noted.

The report is clearly arranged into sections, including: the importance of metadata (with definitions of metadata); and descriptions of metadata elements related to the transaction and to stages in the records lifecycle, namely,capture, registration, classification, storage and handling, access, tracking,and disposition.

The report is very brief (nine pages) and introductory. Though the title states that the report is aimed at records managers, in practice the target audience for this report is not clear: It is too basic for records managers(unless they are students/trainees), and although it contains useful information for information managers and other staff in an organisation it is unlikely that they would read it as the source and title might not seem appropriate to them. The content is clearly written and shows all the different categories of metadata relevant to a record. Using a concrete example to illustrate the discussion is a good approach, although use of bullet points to highlight metadata elements is only used in some of the sections. The report states that it “illustrates metadata elements and their implementation in a records management setting where a computer-based tool is in place to allow electronic data management” (p. 1). However, the report does not achieve this as there is little about implementation or about the tool. This report might be better re-titled: “Metadata elements for records management: a basic tutorial”. Such a title would reach out to a wider audience who would benefit from such an introductory text.

Sue ChildsSchool of Computing, Engineering ad Information Sciences, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK