The MetaMap is meant as a study aid and reference tool for understanding metadata standards, sets, and initiatives (MSSIs) in the area of information management. It attempts to sort out the very many efforts worldwide in working out MSSIs in information science. It represents these in the form of a subway map to help the user navigate "metaspace", leaning heavily on the conventions of the London Underground Map, noted for its clarity in helping users sort out complex reality. Each MSSI is represented as a station on a line that has a theme. These include processes of information management: Creation, Organization, Dissemination, Preservation; institutions with expertise in information management: Libraries, Archives, Museums; types of digital documentation: Text, Still Images, Moving Images, Sound. An additional line was created to include organizations deeply involved in Web activity and metadata norms, such as the World Wide Web Consortium, OCLC, the IETF, the IEEE, and so on. Elements that have repercussions in a number of areas are represented as nodes in the network. For example, SMIL, the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language, is common to the lines representing Text, Still Images, Moving Images, and Sound. Simpler nodes represent intersections of themes, for example where the Libraries line crosses the Organizations line, the node is IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions). Within a line, an attempt to order the stations to show relationships among them is made. No single criterion can be used for ordering all the lines, but types of conceptual relationships include the purpose for which the MSSIs were created, their relatedness within the theme of the line, or chronological development (genesis) of them. We built the MetaMap using SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), which offers help in navigating the information space such as zooming in and out, moving the visible area around the screen, and searching on individual acronyms. When the user places the mouse over a station name, usually an acronym, the expanded name is displayed. Clicking on the name opens a new window containing information such as the purpose of the MSSI and who is sponsoring it, and offering links to the official Web site for the MSSI or organization. Where there is no official site, there is a link to the best or most complete available Web source of information. A mouseover in the map's legend locates the line on the map, and a click in the legend brings up a window with information on all the MSSIs on the line. New metadata initiatives spring up every day, it seems. The inherent instability of the wonderful world of metadata means that keeping the content of our map up to date will be quite a challenge. We rely on user comments and feedback to help us, and hope to find the necessary resources to keep it current. We feel the MetaMap is a good start on organizing the information about the world we are trying to describe, and we hope it will help users gain an understanding of the many elements that make up that world. The MetaMap is presently available in English and French. With the help of partners, Spanish and Portuguese versions are in the works. If you can help us build versions in other languages, please let us know and we will supply you with the computer files you need!
Grateful acknowledgment is made to CoRIMedia, a consortium for research in image, video and multimedia indexing and navigation, which is currently financing this project