What tools are available to create metadata?
The hierarchy of metadata descriptions can go on forever, but usually context or semantic understanding makes extensively detailed explanations unnecessary. The role played by any particular datum depends on the context. For example, when considering the geography of London, “E83BJ” would be a datum and “Post Code” would be metadatum. But, when considering the data management of an automated system that manages geographical data, “Post Code” might be a datum and then “data item name” and “5 characters, starting with A – Z” would be metadata. In any particular context, metadata characterizes the data it describes, not the entity described by that data. So, in relation to “E83BJ”, the datum “is in London” is a further description of the place in the real world which has the post code “E83BJ”, not of the code itself. Therefore, although it is providing information connected to “E83BJ” (telling us that this is the post code of a place in London), this would not normally be considered metad
You can create metadata in SGML using a text editor. However, this is not advisable because it is easy to make errors, such as omitting, misspelling, or misplacing the tags that close compound elements. These errors are difficult to find and fix. Another approach is to create the metadata using a tool that understands the Standard. One such tool is Xtme (which stands for Xt Metadata Editor). This editor runs under UNIX with the X Window System, version 11, release 5 or later. Its output format is the input format for mp (described below). Hugh Phillips has prepared an excellent summary of metadata tools, including reviews and links to the tools and their documentation. It is at
