dream lab x minimal computing

working on metadata & item data for your collection

06.14.2021

data

• i.e., collection assets
• comprises the digital files representing the source object
• e.g., a JPEG, PDF, MKV, CAD
• many file formats include their own technical metadata within the spec; boundaries are porous!

metadata

• i.e., collection records
• "data about data"
• generally text-based
• can be descriptive, structural, administrative
• e.g., label or keyword; page number or file path;  ISSN or copyright
• can be stored and restored in many formats, e.g., XML, CSV, JSON, MARC

vs

collection items

"collections as data"

Wax tries to follow a "collections as data" model by separating canonical data from prose and styling and by using open formats for re-usability.

wax examples

See examples at

drive.google.com

wax data & metadata

what does a CSV *actually* look like?

tips & gotchas

• Gotcha: Avoid Microsoft Excel! It uses custom, hidden newline characters than can break your character encoding
• Gotcha: Avoid styling within metadata as much as possible (e.g, a bold phrase within a description)
• Gotcha: Use UTF-8 whenever possible for your metadata and text editing. It'll support diacritics and special characters with less chance of breaking something
• Tip: Pay attention to quotation marks! They are functionally significant in many file formats
• Tip: Use linters like CSVLint, JSONLint, and YAMLlint to troubleshoot formatting problems

preview: what will wax do with this data & metadata?

1. Use your high quality images and PDFs to create derivatives: i.e., copies and transformations of the files that are optimized for online viewing & sharing
2. Use your metadata records to:

a. automatically generate 1 web page per item

b. add alt text where appropriate

c. populate the search index

d. and more