7 - Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research

Syntax, though, is not strictly part of the metadata scheme, the data will be unusable,
unless the encoding scheme understands the semantics of metadata scheme. The encoding
allows the metadata to be processed by a computer program. A few of these are:
• HTML (Hyper Text Make-up Language)
• SGML (Standard Generalized Make-up Language)
• XML (Extensible Make-up Language)
• RDF (Resources Description Framework)
• MARC (Machine Readable Cataloguing)
• MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension)
• Z.39.50
• X.500
• LDAP (Light-weight Directory Application Protocol)
Typically, the semantics is descriptions of the contents, location, physical attributes, type
(eg: text, image, map or model.) and form (e.g. Print copy, electronic file, and manuscript).
The metadata elements supporting access to published documents include the originator of
work. When and where it was published and the subset areas it covers where the
information is issued in analog form, such as print material, additional metadata is
provided to assist in the location of the information e.g.: call numbers, accession numbers,
used in libraries. The resource community may also define some logical grouping of the
elements or leave it to the encoding scheme.
4. Metadata Standards For Manuscript Cataloguing
Many metadata standards are available for cataloguing of manuscripts, out of which
Digital Scriptorium and Text Encoding Initiative are briefly discussed here:
4.1 Digital Scriptorium
Digital Scriptorium, a project started in 1996 with a grant of the Andrew W. Millon
Foundation to the Bancroft Library of the University of California at Berkeley and the
Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Columbia University, in New York. Consuelo W.
Dutschke, Curator of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts at Columbia, says “Digital
Scriptorium is a web-based visual union catalogue of medieval and renaissance
manuscripts: web based, in that it was intended form the start as on expendable and
correctable tool, in the way that the static media of print or even CD-ROM cannot be;
Union, because it meshes into one database the holdings of a number of institutions; and
visual, because it includes at least one image of every manuscript described, thus allowing
the user to test and eventually correct the catalogued information by means of his own
specialized knowledge.”
At present Digital Scriptorium contains about 2,200 entries, and 2000 images. Digital
Scriptorium has been created with an Access database compatible with the TEI-DTD.
Digital Scriptorium database dictionary accompanies the Microsoft. “Access 97”
database structure designed in 1997 at the University of California, Barkelay by John
Hassan and Merrillee Profitt in consultation with C.W Dutschke (Curatov of Medieval and
manuscripts at Coloumbia) and Martha Rust (then at Berkely), has been incorporated over
a period of time. The database in intended to collect in an efficient and organized manner
basic information about manuscripts held by the Digital Scriptorium partners, and to
provide searching prints for images form these holdings.
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