Spreadsheet Builder

Spreadsheet Builder

In order to use the repository to store data and metadata related to different subject disciplinary areas and pedagogical contexts, while at the same time ensuring that these were then suitably formatted and described for integration into the triplestore (and then of course in web applications), it was essential to develop a custom ingestion interface. A new Java library underpins a web interface that presents users with a stage-by-stage spreadsheet creation process, beginning with their selection of the metadata standards and namespaces, which are necessary to describe their data.

This application generates spreadsheets that can then be completed to express both data and collection structures while avoiding the tendency for individuals to improvise metadata fields or to use established standards like Dublin Core in inconsistent ways. These are then used as the ‘manifests’ for the digital objects to be ingested, and can be used to construct either ‘virtual collections’ of external content or can also be used to control the upload of datastreams such as texts, images, audio or video. The generated spreadsheets can then be used in the Fedora Collections Manager. Some of the Metadata schemas supported by the application are the following:

Link to Web application

Metadata element selection

Dublin Core elements selection

Spreadsheet generation

Generate the spreadsheet