Difference between Element Sets and Item Types in Omeka
First of all, what is an element set?
It’s best to think of an element set as a set of related elements that are available to all items, regardless of item type. For example, we’ve included the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set in all new Omeka installations. Dublin Core is an internationally recognized standard for describing any conceivable resource. This element set comprises 15 elements, including “title,” “description,” “date,” and “format.” While it is not required, we strongly recommend that you mark up all your items using the Dublin Core element set because doing so will standardize your repository’s metadata and facilitate interoperability.
Whereas Dublin Core is a generic set of elements used to describe any item, there can be other, more domain-specific element sets. For example, art museums may consider adding a CDWA Lite element set, which contains elements that describe core records for works of art and material culture. Libraries may consider adding a METS element set, which contains elements for encoding descriptive, administrative, and structural metadata regarding objects within a digital library. And archives may consider adding an EADelement set, which contains elements for describing the content and intellectual organization of collections of archival materials.
You may have noticed that element sets resemble Omeka’s item types, so it is important to make a distinction. An element set is intended to represent a formal metadata schema that may be applied to all items. An item type is a useful but informal aggregation of custom elements that describe a particular type of item. (“Document,” “Email,” and “Oral History” are examples of item types.) The biggest difference here is that element sets are available for all items, while item type elements are available only to those items that belong to that item type. So, if you need a standardized set of elements that is available across all item types, an element set is the way to go.
Popcorn Maker working doc
Lessons learned at the Web Made Movies developers group call this afternoon…
The Future of Radio?
Jim Colgan, head of media at Mobile Commons, moderated a panel at Soundcloud titled “The Future of Radio” on February 2, 2012. The Pop Up Archive team happily attended the event, in part to gain perspective on the seemingly inevitable shift from push broadcasts to on-demand digital content. One panelist described the transition to digital content as “radio without radios!” It was great to hear experts address issues that overlap with this project.
Nikki Silva opened the event with a reminder that, while “crowd sourcing” has become a buzz worthy Web 2.0 term, The Kitchen Sisters have crowd sourced content for years. Their crowd sourced content is compiled from hundreds of voice messages left by audience members across the country. While it may be out of scope for our team’s current project, these messages will hopefully be archived in the future as a way to preserve nuances of geographically dispersed culture.
The audience was treated to a segment from the “Hidden Kitchens” series. Afterwards, the moderator inquired, “Why radio when so many other forms are available?” (this may not be an exact quote). Nikki Silva replied that radio is a primal, living thing that captures your imagination. This is akin to treating audience members as co-creators who fill in tactile and visual gaps of oral content with their own perceptions.
Ian Hill from KQED gave a nod to “the voice of the person on the street” and noted that social media has made engaging with the public ever more important. In a similar vein, the Internet is often praised as a great democratizing force for information access. This concept seems to rear its head with each major technological innovation (radio, television, etc.). However, it seems that a crucial difference is that technology now affords the general public an opportunity to not only access content, but to create content. This ability has the potential to inspire riffs on content that can then be uploaded and shared within a community. For example, if you attend the Angola Prison’s Annual Rodeo after learning about it from a Hidden Kitchen episode, you can upload video or audio that reflects on your experience.
Creating new element sets in Omeka?
Not quite sure how this relates to creating new metadata fields (which can be done easily, through the GUI) — but people writing plugins for multiple output formats seem to be dealing with it.
