Toward a metadata standard for digitized historical newspapers

ABSTRACT

This paper is a case study of metadata development in the early stages of the National Digital Newspaper Program, a twenty-year digital initiative to expand access to historical newspapers in support of research and education. Some of the issues involved in newspaper metadata are examined, and a new XML-based standard is described that is suited to the large volume of data, while remaining flexible into the future.

REFERENCES

• 1: Cole, B. The National Digital Newspaper Program. Organization of American Historians Newsletter 32 (May 2004).
• 2: Miller, F. Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts. Society for American Archivists, Chicago, IL, 1990.
• 3: Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS) Official Web Site. http://www.loc.gov/standards/mets/.
• 4: Library of Congress. National Digital Newspaper Program. http://www.loc.gov/preserv/ndnp.html.
• 5: Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS) Official Web Site. http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.3 INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
      H.3.7 Digital Libraries
          Subjects: Collection

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.3 INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
      H.3.7 Digital Libraries
          Subjects: Standards

General Terms:
Design, Experimentation, Standardization

Keywords:
digitization, historical newspapers, national digital newspaper program