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- Metadata Schemas and Examples
You may not like this answer, but there is no one size fits all for metadata. The metadata that would best describe your data depends on the nature of your data. However, due to the fact that specialised systems for description (know as schemas) take time and expertise to implement, there are some generalised schemas that have been developed. These schemas include what are considered essential elements to describe any data.
Some disciplines have their own metadata schema. Each will have their own specified elements and structure:
| Discipline | Metadata standard |
| General | |
| Arts | |
| Astronomy | Astronomy Visualization Metadata (AVM) |
| Biology | Darwin Core |
| Ecology | Ecological Metadata Language (EML) |
| Geographic | Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) |
| Social sciences | Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) |
DDI (Data Documentation Initiative) is used by the ADA (Australian Data Archive).
Dublin Core is used by VU Special Collections and Archives.
RIF-CS (Registry Interchange Format for Collections and Services) is used by RDA (Research Data Australia).
We would like to acknowledge the contribution made by Curtin University Library to this page.