NISO Launches New Project to Develop Best Practices for Ensuring Findability of Video and Audio Outputs from Scholars
Baltimore, MD -- The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) Voting Members have approved a new project, Assess Video and Audio Metadata and Standards for Academic Research and Professional Information, to determine best practices and recommendations for metadata associated with scholarly output and instructional materials in video and audio formats. NISO is now forming a working group; community members with an understanding of the various use cases of such media are invited to participate in this initiative intended to formulate recommendations for consistent and precise identification and description of these increasingly common presentations of research findings.
“The result of a researcher’s work or instructional materials are just as likely to appear as a video or as an audio file as it is to appear as an article or book. While there are a variety of available models of metadata applicable to those formats, none fully encompass a complete set of properties that can support collaboration and interoperability between systems. Without such models, the community can’t rapidly disseminate, index or make those assets discoverable by other scholars or by students,” notes Violaine Iglesias, CEO, Cadmore Media, and one of the initial proposers of the work.
Technology consultant Bill Kasdorf agrees, saying, “The modern information environment relies upon cross-linking between related materials in order to ensure that the user is able to discover the full scope of relevant materials. This work sponsored by NISO will enable the community as a whole – librarians, archivists, publishers, discovery services – to exchange and integrate complete information about media assets between systems.”
Marti Heyman, Executive Director, Metadata Strategy and Operations, OCLC offered her understanding of the value for students and scholars: “The librarians responsible for depositing faculty output into the local repository or for managing streaming collections know that consistent metadata makes that material more immediately discoverable by both humans and machines. Service providers are equally concerned that their high-value content information is adequately described and made findable across systems. We all want to avoid technical glitches and ensure user success.”
“This effort will require a cross-section of participants as well as a cross section of expertise and skill sets,” adds Nettie Lagace, NISO’s Associate Director of Programs. “The success of the Working Group’s effort requires collaboration between those possessing an in-depth knowledge of the various metadata models as well as those with expertise in streaming technologies.” Those interested in participating in the Working Group now being formed should contact Lagace at nlagace@niso.org.
About NISO
NISO, based in Baltimore, Maryland, fosters the development and maintenance of standards that facilitate the creation, persistent management, and effective interchange of information so that it can be trusted for use in research and learning. To fulfill this mission, NISO engages libraries, publishers, information aggregators, and other organizations that support learning, research, and scholarship through the creation, organization, management, and curation of knowledge. NISO works with intersecting communities of interest and across the entire lifecycle of information standards. NISO is a not-for-profit association accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). For more information, visit the NISO website.
