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Enterprise Metadata Environment (ME) is a single source total control center designed to
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directly support all aspects of enterprise metadata tagging of Web objects regardless of location using the MetaIndexer
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facilitate sophisticated metadata searches by end users for enhanced information seeking using the MetaSearcher
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integrate controlled vocabulary terminology from external databases for metadata tagging of Web objects using the Enterprise Vocabulary Server (VS)
The Enterprise Metadata Environment is based completely on a fully integrated Web-based architecture that enables a website to be accessed, tagged, and searched regardless of physical location or type of computer used. Its open architecture allows the use of any platform, including UNIX, NT or Linux; any Web server, including Apache, Netscape Enterprise server, and IIS; and any client, including the PC and Macintosh. And, it supports most popular data types, including HTML page, XML page, image, video/audio, PDF, Microsoft® Office documents, and database records.
The Enterprise Metadata Environment consists of the following two metadata services:
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MetaIndexer a metadata tagging service that enables enterprise editors to tag any kind of data on any website using metadata and to organize websites using user-definable facets or categories. more..
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MetaSearcher is a metadata searching service for enterprise websites supporting users in finding what they are looking for through metadata searching and/or category browsing. more..
MetaIndexer and MetaSearcher can be used independently or together to provide a complete solution to metadata tagging and searching.
Enterprise Metadata Environment (ME) not only provides a complete and sophisticated metadata solution, but also tightly integrates controlled vocabularies into metadata tagging with the help of the Enterprise Vocabulary Server (VS), illustrated in the Metadata Environment and Vocabulary Server Integration Diagram. It is this tight integration with the Enterprise Vocabulary Server (VS) that sets the Enterprise Metadata Environment apart from other metadata tools. The importance of controlled vocabularies in metadata tagging has been addressed by many experts. As Murtha Baca from the J. Paul Getty Trust puts it, “Choosing the most appropriate metadata standard or standards for describing particular collections or materials is only the first step in building an effective, usable information resource. Unless the metadata elements or data structure are populated with the appropriate data values (terminology), the resource will be ineffectual and users won’t be able to find what they are looking for, even it is actually there.”
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