The first version of the Public Broadcasting Metadata Dictionary (PBMD), a standard way to describe all public broadcasting content in computer searches, has completed the Request for Comments (RFC) process and is moving toward an expected release this Fall.
Under development since January 2002, the PBMD is the result of cross-organizational cooperation by a team of public radio and television producers and managers, archivists and information scientists. Implementation of the PBMD allows those responsible for describing and retrieving content assets with a consistent methodology to do so.
This uniform method of metadata description, with an anticipated lifespan of several decades, is expected to make public broadcasting content more easily retrieved and shared. End users include content producers, distributors, software systems, institutions, production partners, teachers and scholars.
In February, forty-seven invited panelists participated in a Request for Comments survey to determine the usefulness of individual elements and the PBMD as a whole. The panelists consisted of metadata experts as well as generalists.
The PBMD is currently deployed in test scenarios to determine how well it facilitates content description and exchange. The results of the RFC and test implementations will influence changes to the PBMD for version 1.0 to be published by fall 2004. It is anticipated that the PBMD will be available free of charge.
Project updates, presentations, background articles and resources are available on the PBMD Web site at www. utah.edu/cpbmetadata/.com . A summary of the RFC results will be posted in early June.
