We've got so used to thinking
about metadata as a protection for copyright we sometimes forget how useful it
is in other ways. It is a sad fact that the vast majority of images on museum
web sites contain no metadata if the images are downloaded. Right-click/download is such an easy way of
sourcing images for personal use, for example in education. But without
embedded metadata the images float on the desktop without any information about
the museum or organisation they came from. How irritating for the user and for
the museum providing the resource.
Despite years of campaigning with
the IPTC Photometadata Working Group and the Embedded Metadata Manifesto, I see
things moving at snails pace. Even preview images downloaded from heritage
image libraries often contain no metadata.
Meanwhile the orphan works
bandwagon rolls on…..
Who do we blame for this? Lets
put it this way; the only people who can make a real difference are the
software developers who create web sites. Generally speaking these people, who
have great skills in software and coding, are not very image-aware. It was
never on their job description. Now imagery plays such a large role on the web
it’s time for a wake up call. The metadata may add a tiny bit to the image
size, but in my view photographers, image libraries and yes, main museum
departments, can hardly be said to be doing sensible business if their images
are circulating on the web without so much as a single line of attribution.
Who will make the software people
play ball with metadata? This means ENABLING METADATA EMBEDDING and NOT STRIPPING METADATA when images are uploaded to the web. People
working in a heritage environment need to speak up. If a software developer
says ‘ Ah this isn’t on my development list’ perhaps the answer is ‘It should
be. Metadata embedding is essential to our business, and we are essential to
yours. ' Stand up for yourselves!
Interest in metadata workflow is
growing, with collections management and image library departments starting to
talk to each other. Attribution will be one of the topics at the heritage
session at the IPTC Conference at CEPIC in Barcelona in June. Topics we will discusss are:
- Embedded metadata and attribution of museum images
- IPTC Fields and the Cultural Heritage Sector (what new fields are needed?
If you are interested in these things get in
touch……
sarah@electriclane.co.uk
