Community Digitization at Washington State Library: Metadata

Metadata can and should be collected at multiple steps during the digitization process. Basic information about items or collections should be gathered during the planning phase. Preliminary metadata, such as file name, title, and description, including attributes of the physical item that may not be evident in the digital surrogate, should be recorded for individual items as part of the digitization process. Further metadata can be added at the time of upload. Finally, metadata is not always final once materials have been posted. Members of the public may contact libraries with additional information about items. Metadata standards continue to change and libraries may revisit metadata from previous projects to ensure it meets current standards and best practices.