METS

From JISC Standards Catalogue

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Entry

METS

Area

Metadata Standards

Standard

The Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS) is for encoding descriptive, administrative, and structural metadata regarding objects within a digital library, expressed using the XML schema language.

Standardisation

The standard is maintained in the Network Development and MARC Standards Office of the Library of Congress, and is being developed as an initiative of the Digital Library Federation.

Versions

The current version of METS Schema is 1.7

Maturity

The standard is actively developed and an open mailing list is available for support and discussion. METS is often cited as one of the standards used in preservation initiatives.

Risk Assessment

There is good information and support for using METS, including the frequently updated website, which contains a primer, tutorials and other supporting documentation, international meetings and the mailing list. Users of METS include major digital library initiatives and national libraries.

Take-up Elsewhere

The METS implementation registry contains descriptions of METS projects planned, in progress and fully-implemented.

Further Information

• Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS), Library of Congress, <http://www.loc.gov/standards/mets/>
• METS: Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard, JISC Techwatch Report TSW 02-05, Richard Gartner, Oct 2002, <http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=techwatch_report_0205>
• Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS), Cover Pages, <http://xml.coverpages.org/mets.html>

Author

Brian Kelly, UKOLN

Contributors

Monica Duke (responsible for entry from September 2006)

Date Created

7 Oct 2005

Version

v5 (updated by Monica Duke 21st April 2008)
v4 (checked by Monica Duke 27th March 2008 - minor typographical edit made)
v3 (updated by Monica Duke 24th May 2007)
v2 (revised by Monica Duke 5th October 2006)
v1 (created by Brian Kelly)