Web Metadata Workshop

1. Web Metadata Workshop Ensure your web content can be easily found by including good quality metadata

2. What is Metadata? • All content published on the Curtin website should incorporate descriptive information • For example: author, title, subject • This is known as metadata • Metadata is not visible to website users

3. Why Review Metadata? • Providing good metadata helps your web pages to be found • Search engines give higher weightings to metadata than page content to provide more relevant search results • Reviewing and improving metadata on the Curtin website is a necessary preparation for flow web

4. Some Common Problems • All pages in a website have exactly the same title • Limited number of keywords included • Page descriptions are brief • Not all mandatory meta-tags are used • Tag pairs that should be identical aren’t

5. Curtin’s Metadata Standard • Established by CurtinLink Metadata Working Party in July 2001 • Standard is made up of 7 mandatory and 6 optional elements • Based on the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative • Metadata User Guide provides definitions, guidelines and examples for each element

6. URL / Domain meta-tag Mandatory • The URL (address) of the web page or resource • Guidelines: • When the metadata is generated the URL will automatically appear in the Resource Identifier tag • Examples: • http://www.curtin.edu.au/ • http://www.computing.edu.au/ • <meta name="DC.Identifier" content="http://www.curtin.edu.au/">

7. Title meta-tag Mandatory Unique • The concise name given to the web page or resource, usually by its creator or author • Guidelines: • Should concisely describe the document or reflect the role of the website in order to be meaningful • The metadata generator will reproduce the content in a <title> tag too • Examples: • Employment Vacancies • Centre for Aboriginal Studies • <meta name="DC.Title" content="Employment Vacancies">

8. Description meta-tag Mandatory Unique • A brief textual description of the content of the web page or resource • Examples: • Home page for Curtin University of Technology, located in Perth, Western Australia • A map of the location of the Department of Applied Physics on the Curtin Bentley Campus • <meta name="Description" content="Home page for Curtin University of Technology, located in Perth, Western Australia."> • <meta name="DC.Description" content="Home page for Curtin University of Technology, located in Perth, Western Australia.">

9. Keywords meta-tag Mandatory Unique • Words or phrases that describe the theme or content of the web page or resource • Guidelines: • Can be selected from the Title or Description fields but always choose the most significant and unique words • Separate keywords or key-phrases by commas • Do not repeat keywords unnecessarily as this may prevent your web page or resource from being indexed by commercial search engines • Use both upper and lower case letters for acronyms (some search engines distinguish between upper and lower case letters) • Consider including synonyms, acronyms, alternative word endings and different spellings (eg colour and color, LIS and Library Information Service)

10. Keywords meta-tag Mandatory Unique • Examples: • Telephone directory, Australia, White pages, Telstra • Library and Information Service, Curtin University of Technology, LISWeb • Curtin University of Technology, Computer Shop • CBS, Curtin Business School, cbs, business school • <meta name="Keywords" content="Library and Information Service, Curtin University of Technology, LISWeb"> • <meta name="DC.Subject" content="Library and Information Service, Curtin University of Technology, LISWeb">

11. Category meta-tag Mandatory • Describes the subject or activity of the content of the web page or resource • Guidelines: • Select as many options as is appropriate from the check boxes provided • Browse the full Curtin Common Vocabulary to view descriptions of terms and their relationships to each other • Examples: • Community Relations • Teaching & Learning • Information Management • <meta name="Curtin.Classification" content=“Teaching and Learning">

12. Author/Creator meta-tag Mandatory • The person or organisation primarily responsible for creating the intellectual content of the web page or resource • Guidelines: • If the Author/Creator field and the Publisher (optional met-tag) field are the same, only fill in the Author/Creator field, and leave the publisher field blank • In the case of a group or organisational unit, if a hierarchy is known, list the parts of the hierarchy from largest to smallest, separated by full stops • In the case of an individual, give the family name first with a comma, followed by the given name or initials - Otherwise, enter the name in the order in which it appears

13. Author/Creator meta-tag Mandatory • Examples: • Smith, John • Lee Hon-ling • Curtin University of Technology. Department of Computing • National Drug Research Institute • <meta name="DC.Creator" content="Smith, John">

14. Date of Creation meta-tag Mandatory • Date associated with the creation or initial availability of the web page or resource • Guidelines: • Give the date in the form YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. 2005-06-26 corresponds to 26th June 2005. • Separate the digits with dashes • Dates that refer to what the document is about should be entered in the optional Coverage field. • Example: • 2005-05-20 • <meta name="DC.Date" content="2005-05-20">

15. Date Modified meta-tag Mandatory • Date associated with the last alteration to the web page or resource • Guidelines: • Give the date in the form YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. 2009-06-24 corresponds to 24th June 2009. • Separate the digits with dashes, i.e. - • Dates that refer to what the document is about should be entered in the optional Coverage field. • Example: • 2009-11-20 • <meta name="DC.DateModified" content="2009-11-20">

16. Audience meta-tag Mandatory • Describes the intended target audience of the web page or resource • Guidelines: • Use generic names for groups of people rather than titles of organisations, areas or positions. • Multiple audiences may be specified for a single web page or resource. • Separate audiences by commas.

17. Audience meta-tag Mandatory • Example: • Staff • Academic Staff • Prospective Staff • Current Students • Current Undergraduate Students • Current Postgraduate Students • Prospective Students • Prospective Undergraduate Students • Alumni • Media • General Public • <meta name="DC.Audience" content="Staff" >

18. Security Classification meta-tag Mandatory • Describes the security level to be applied to the content of the web page or resource • Guidelines: • Only one security classification should be selected for each web page or resource. • Security classifications must be in accordance with those published in the Information Security Classification procedure. • Security classifications must be written in UPPERCASE. • Examples: • INTERNAL ONLY • PUBLIC • <meta name=" AGLSTERMS.protectiveMarking" content="INTERNAL ONLY" >

19. Authorised By meta-tag Mandatory • Used when the information needs to be approved by a person or a corporate unit within the organisation, before the information is made available publicly • Guidelines: • Guidelines are the same as Author/Creator • Examples: • Curtin University of Technology. Curtin Business School • Respinger, Mark • <meta name="Curtin.Authorised-by" content="Curtin University of Technology. Curtin Business School">

20. Maintained By meta-tag Mandatory • The name of a person or a group who maintains the web page or resource • Guidelines: • Guidelines are the same as Author/Creator • Examples: • English, Tamara • Curtin University of Technology. Department of Language and Intercultural Education • <meta name="Curtin.Maintained-by" content="English, Tamara">

21. Publisher meta-tag Conditional • The person or organisation responsible for making the web page or resource available in its present form • Guidelines: • If the Publisher is the same as the Creator do not fill in this field • Guidelines are the same as Author/Creator • Examples: • Curtin University of Technology. Curtin University Postgraduate Student Association. • Spencer, Frank • <meta name="DC.Publisher" content="Curtin University of Technology. Curtin University Postgraduate Student Association">

22. Contributor meta-tag Recommended • A person or organisation who has made significant intellectual contributions to the resource but whose contribution is secondary to any person or organisation specified in an author/creator field • Guidelines: • Guidelines are the same as Author/Creator • Examples: • Curtin University of Technology. School of Biomedical Science • Coles, Phil • <meta name="DC.Contributor" content="Curtin University of Technology. School of Biomedical Science">

23. Coverage meta-tag Recommended • The extent or scope of the content of the web page or resource - Data in this field may include spatial locations (a place name, geographic coordinates, or jurisdiction i.e. named administrative entity) • Guidelines: • If the content of a document covers a specified time period, enter dates here in the form YYYY-YYYY • Note that the dates in this element refer to what the resource is about rather than when it was created or made available • Examples: • 1996-1998 • US Civil War era; 1861-1865 • Mt Gambier, South Australia • <meta name="DC.Coverage" content="1996-1998">

24. Source meta-tag Recommended • Cites another resource from which the web page or resource is derived • Guidelines: • This field can be a URL, ISBN, or textual description • Examples: • Curtin University of Technology Annual Report 2004 • ISBN 0631226656 • <meta name="DC.Source" content="Curtin University of Technology Annual Report 2004">

25. Metadata Exercises • Develop a set of metadata for a page on the Curtin website • Ensure you complete all mandatory elements and consider if the optional ones are relevant • Review the current metadata on a page on the Curtin website • Identify which elements are missing and how the existing metadata elements could be improved

26. Web Metadata Reporting Tool • A tool is available that produces a metadata report for a particular Curtin sub-domain • The report details all the metadata on the test or prod version of a website • Metrics are provided and problems are highlighted • Schedule reports from the flow website

27. Reviewing Your Metadata • Consider the different types of terms people may use when searching for your web page • Search log reports are available • Review the contents of your web metadata report • Note corrections and additions on a printed copy of the report

28. Updating Your Metadata • Update your web pages with your revised metadata using the same process to update your content: • Send a web maintenance request to CITS • Ask your local web developer • Use Adobe Dreamweaver • Re-run the metadata report as a QA check before you publish the changes

29. Using Adobe Dreamweaver • Create your metadata from the metadata generator at: • http://online.curtin.edu.au/tools/metadata/index.cfm • Paste the generated metadata code into the header.cfm file of your site • Comment out the unique metadata elements in the header.cfm file

30. Using Adobe Dreamweaver • Insert a snippet of code, available from the flow website, into each one of your web pages • Add your unique metadata to the code in each page

31. Further Assistance • The flow team can help you review and improve your metadata • One-on-one help is available, just contact us at: • flow@curtin.edu.au • For more information on metadata visit the flow website at: • flow.curtin.edu.au/support/webmetadata.cfm