Educational Metadata FAQ Now Available

Anthony Roberts & Norm Friesen, February, 2005

"What is 'Learning Object Metadata?'" "How can I use XML to exchange metadata records?" "What the heck is vCard?" Answering these and other questions about educational metadata has kept the CanCore Initiative busy over the last four years.   Thanks to the recent collaborative efforts of individuals from CanCore, Dublin Core, the IEEE, and a variety of other organizations, these and other questions have now been collected and answered in a single "Frequently Asked Questions" document.

This group has met informally over the last two years or so, and has garnered input from a wide cross section of the metadata community.   The FAQ addresses very basic questions such as the purpose of educational metadata, as well as more specific and technical questions such as the definition of an application profile and when to implement local vocabularies. A forum is included for any reader to post questions, and a resources area has also been provided.   The questions addressed in the FAQ are divided into four types:

• General,
• Those related to metadata standards,
• Those concerning the creation and use of metadata, and
• Technical questions.

The Educational Metadata FAQ is available at: http://www.cetis.ac.uk/metadatafaq/FrontPage

Here is a more complete list of organizations and individuals contributing to the document:

• ADL (Advanced Distributed Learning)
• CanCore (Anthony Roberts)
• CETIS (Centre for Educational Technology Interoperability Standards)
• Dublin Core
• IEEE LTSC (Learning Technology Standards Committee)
• JES & Co. ("A non-profit Organization Dedicated to the Education of Youth")

For more about the metadata FAQ and related resources, see: http://www.cetis.ac.uk/content2/20050210042132