’Marketing’ with Metadata – How Metadata Can Increase Exposure and Visibility of Online Content.

This document has just been released by the PerX Project (a project funded by JISC, as part of the UK Digital Repositories Programme).

It is an advocacy document, aimed at content providers of various kinds (for example – journal publishers, professional societies and database providers and owners) who may have descriptive data (metadata) available for the actual content they produce. It introduces the various benefits of sharing metadata, in standardised and reusable ways, with other websites. It explains how sharing metadata can result in increased exposure and visibility of the actual content, whether that content itself is freely available, available to subscribers, or available via pay-per-view.

The document is intended primarily for a non-technical audience who may require an overview for decisions regarding the best means of exposing metadata. It may also be of interest to anyone with an interest in digital repositories.

It looks at exposing metadata via harvesting (OAI Repositories, Static Repositories), via distributed searching (Z39.50, SRU/SRW, other emerging standards), and exposing content for syndication (RSS).

It provides illustrative case studies and links to technical specifications which will provide useful starting points for those tasked with actually implementing the exposure of standardised metadata. Common questions are answered.

If you wish to increase the visibility and exposure of your content in the online environment, then read this document.