Metadata and the small special library

Abstract

As small special libraries become involved in creating content for World Wide Web sites and corporate intranets, they need the ability to create metadata which will assist the retrieval of electronic resources. This essay evaluates the information management and retrieval needs of small special libraries and their users, and proposes a small, three-level metadata scheme (TLMS) which allows the creation of metadata by both information providers and librarians at differing levels of content and structure. Three current metadata schemes are compared to see which best fits the criteria of the TLMS. GILS is the final choice, although each scheme has its own strengths.