[Metadatalibrarians] IPTC metadata

[Caitlin O'Connor]

Kristin,

I wholeheartedly agree with embedding metadata into image files for the
reasons Suzanne outlines below.  I know our archived images will migrate
into other systems depending on how our needs develop and I love the idea of
the essential information about the image traveling with the image and not
being depended on one system in order to be read.


 I maintain a digital asset  management system  containing over 65,000
digital image files.  I created this catalog from scratch and dealt with
many of the same issues you mention regarding whether to embed descriptive
metadata and if so which standards to use.  I did a ton of research on XMP
vs IPTC and was set on using XMP because it maps nicely to many of the
Dublin Core fields  I wanted to use for our images.  However, I found some
issues with XMP itself and with how the many systems our images travel
through before coming to the archive read (or don’t read) XMP data.  I also
had many conversations with contract and staff photographers who unanimously
advocated for IPTC since they use this standard so heavily themselves.  Within
our workflow,  some metadata fields (such as creator or copyright
information) can be entered at any stage along the process (photographer,
editors, archivists)  and I have found that IPTC data is understood more
consistently across image editing software as well as digital asset
management systems.


I would be happy to share more off list if that would be helpful to you.


Thanks,

Caitlin



Caitlin O’Connor

Interactive Information Manager, Kelley Direct
Indiana University  Kelley School of Business
812.856.4847

croconno at indiana.edu


On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 4:55 PM, Pilsk, Suzanne <PilskS at si.edu> wrote:

> We have begun to explore embedding metadata in images and looking at the
> IPTC.  It is interesting to see what and how this can be done and there
> are some hurdles.
>
> The advantage of having some standard information travelling with the
> image helps insure that copyright information and basics of
> who/what/when/where the images came from stays with the image as it
> travels about.
>
> We are also looking at the XMP in Adobe PDFs.
>
> Suzanne
>
>
> Suzanne C. Pilsk
> Smithsonian Institution Libraries 40th Anniversary
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> 10th & Constitution Avenues, NW, NHB-30
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> PilskS at si.edu
> P Please consider the environment before printing this email.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: metadatalibrarians-bounces at lists.monarchos.com
> [mailto:metadatalibrarians-bounces at lists.monarchos.com] On Behalf Of
> Kristin E. Martin
> Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2009 4:50 PM
> To: metadatalibrarians at lists.monarchos.com
> Subject: [Metadatalibrarians] IPTC metadata
>
> I'm wondering if anyone on the list has experience with IPTC
> (International Press and Telecommunications Council) metadata.  I've
> been talking with a colleague here who is a professional photographer
> and uses it as part of her professional work, and suggested the library
> use the standard for its descriptive metadata  for image digitization
> projects.  The advantages: the metadata would be imbedded within the
> image itself, and many image software programs are compatible with IPTC
> metadata standards.  I am not terribly familiar with the standard and
> wonder about it being developed for a specific purpose versus (press
> images) versus the more general purpose of library digital image
> collections. 5 of the elements map to Dublin Core.  Has anyone out
> worked with the standard?  What has your experience been?
>
> I also wonder, in a more general context, about the advantages of
> embedding metadata within an image.  I'm more used to thinking of
> metadata as residing along side the digital object, particularly with
> descriptive metadata.  Most digital library programs keep the two
> separate and link them up. I suppose you can always extract the embedded
>
> metadata for searching purposes.  I'm curious as to anyone's thoughts
> and feelings on embedded metadata.
>
> I realize this is sort of vague, but I'm just starting to consider what
> to do with this.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Kristin
>
> --
> Kristin E. Martin
> Metadata Librarian
> Catalog Department (MC 234)
> 2-390 Richard J. Daley Library
> University of Illinois at Chicago
> 801 S. Morgan
> Chicago, IL  60607
> 312-413-5052
> 312-413-0424 (Fax)
> kmarti at uic.edu
>
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