eknowledge transformation phần 6 ppt

8 2 Tr a n s f o rming e-Knowledge

M e t a d a t a. This is a fundamental digital

building block of the Know l e d g e

Ec o n o m y. Metadata describes know l e d g e

objects, and is used to support the index￾ing, search, discove ry, re t r i e val, and use of

those objects. If one thinks of the analogy

of a web-based store, the metadata is anal￾ogous to the online catalog of pro d u c t s

and the knowledge objects are analogous

to the products themselve s .

Metadata adds descriptive, technical,

a d m i n i s t r a t i ve, and structural value to

data and information. Metadata assists in

clustering related information re s o u rc e s

and in providing the capacity for "chunk￾ing" information for easy reuse, intero p￾e r a b i l i t y, transaction, archiving, and

p re s e rvation. A digital object that is not

enriched with metadata cannot be used

e f f e c t i vely in contexts for which it was

not designed.

Hi g h - value digital repositories re q u i re

well-described and organized metadata

t h roughout the collection. Print collec￾tions can rely on a single fro n t - c over or

catalogue descriptions of content and

context. Digital collections re q u i re exten￾s i ve tagging that enables an e-book or

journal article to be segmented into

m o d u l a r, durable, and independent

chunks. The tradecraft of achieving meta￾data chunking in a cost-effective manner

will be one of the critical emerging com￾petencies of the e-Knowledge In d u s t ry.

Metadata is about both "how" and

"what." The initial focus of work i n g

g roups defining metadata standards such

as the IMS Dublin Core was h ow t o

describe characteristics of information

t h rough metadata fields and related sub￾categories. The w h a t of metadata is

twofold—deciding what fields among the

d o zens defined by these metadata stan￾d a rds are necessary for a particular mark e t

or application (e.g. Dublin Core), and

h ow to specifically identify the subcate￾gories within the identified metadata fields

to make sense in different markets (e.g.

p o s t s e c o n d a ry education, K-12, corporate

training). This invo l ves a narrowing of

options and providing a sort of "pull

d own" menu for many categories (part i c￾ularly those related to subject area) so

users can understand easily what the

descriptors mean and objects can be more

easily tagged. For example, the commu￾nity of practice for physics could deter￾mine the subcategories appropriate for

learning objects in the discipline. T h e s e

would differ subtly from subcategories

used in nearby disciplines and sub disci￾plines. Descriptions of concept domains,

like physics, with controlled and specified

vocabularies, meanings and re l a t i o n s h i p s

a re called ontologies.

The early focus of metadata description

has focused on technical, administrative

and content-fixated description of infor￾mation. A key challenge in the deve l o p￾ment of the Knowledge Economy will be

to develop metadata standards to enable

the flexible economic exchange of infor￾mation objects. Knowledge objects will

become substantially more complex, com￾bining content, context, and best practices

and requiring complex mechanisms for

recognizing value. A sort of "matrix of eco￾nomic value statements" will emerge as an

essential component of metadata. This will

enable the value webs that will develop for

each market. But the most difficult eco￾nomic challenge is to drive down the cost

and price of metadata through dynamically

generated knowledge objects, autotagging,

and sophisticated tradecraft. Routinely and

economically creating ontologies and

metadata will be an important capability

for the Knowledge Ec o n o m y.

.

Content Management. It is now over a

decade since the first standards began to

emerge in the field of computer-support e d

learning. The Aviation In d u s t ry delive re d

the first such specifications; what’s more ,

t h e y’re re f e renced today in an updated

form within the SCORM (Sh a r a b l e

Technologies, Standards, and Marketplaces for e-Knowledge

The web is a serious

commitment to common

meanings.

Tim Berners-Lee