Week 1: So...What's Metadata?

Main Street, Oviedo, FL. (1900)
Source

Welcome to my blog! While I'm not completely new to blogging this experience should be interesting. Up until recently I never thought of historians as bloggers. But as with most professions in the 21st century, having a digital presence is necessary. Historians are increasingly using social media and blogging platforms to connect with each other and the public, which can result in incredibly valuable discourse. Will my blog offer that sort of thing....eh, probably not, but I'm working towards making this a space that exemplifies my growth as not only a graduate student, but burgeoning-- hopefully-- public historian.

Now, you may be asking yourself dear reader, what the %#&*! is metadata. I too, asked the very same question only a few months ago in my Public History course, and looked on with great horror that soon turned into soul crippling dismay as I tried to grapple with a lot of big words and esoteric terminology that even with that cute Bachelor's Degree I got last year, still had to ask my good friend Google to explain.

As of today, I still struggle to give a definitive answer to inquisitive (and slightly concerned) family members and friends who want to know exactly what it is that I am doing for my internship with RICHES, the Regional Initiative for Collecting the History, Experiences, and Stories of Central Florida. Seeing as I am still struggling, let's ask Google in her infinite knowledge about metadata and why it's kinda important-- is it important?---yeah, it is.

While that answer may seem simple and not at all problematic, don't be lulled into a false sense of understanding. That definition does not even begin to describe the amount of detail that goes into the process of mining data and using said data in a way that researchers and other interested parties are able to find the things they are looking for in anything from search engines to digital archives. As the internship progresses and I learn more about metadata through readings and hands on experience, I will kindly share those findings with whoever ends up reading this blog (Hi Mom! Hi Dr. French! Hi random tumblr user!). I know you're all dying to know.

For my first week on the job I mostly stumbled around Microsoft Excel, asked a bunch of what I'm sure were very silly questions, and made headway on two of the data sheets I was working on. I'm writing metadata for the Oviedo History Harvest Collection which will be housed on the RICHES Mosaic Interface once it's complete. For my next post I'll go into greater detail about the History Harvest and some of the awesome items people brought in to be scanned and archived for the collection.

I'll be posting every Friday, so check back and see what I've been up to!

Porsha