Peter Batchelor has developed a Dreamweaver metadata extension to manage the inclusion and revision of metadata in webpages. This metadata editor operates as an extension to Dreamweaver (versions 3, 4 and MX, on Macs and PCs), so it requires pages to be edited using this application.

Download the Dreamweaver metadata extension here.

The metadata extension uses a tabbed interface to arrange the elements in three logical groupings: Content, Intellectual Property, and Instantiation and META tags.

The 15 Dublin Core metadata elements are used, as well as the extensions to these elements that have been created for the Minimal Victorian Education Metadata Standard. The ht://Dig META elements used on the NGV website, and some additional ht://Dig elements are also included in the interface. Help is provided as links to the appropriate DCMI and htDig sites, and general metadata and mVEMS information is provided as web pages on the ITS website.

The metadata extension must use text fields if special characters such as acutes and accents are to be preserved. Text areas cannot be used as part of the extension form.

The extension allows for "round trip" metadata editing, taking the existing metadata and meta tags and populating the interface with this information. Once the required edits have been made the metadata is placed into the head of the HTML document, and the old metadata tags are removed.

The metadata that is returned to the HTML document is currently schemeless, but the interface makes recommendations regarding format of fields, to meet current DC standards.

The META tags used by the ht://Dig search engine have been included in the interface. Apart from facilitating resource discovery by the ht://Dig search engine, this also allows the web developer take advantage of the ability to specify the date that a notification should be sent to the creator of the page, or others. Multiple email addresses may be specified. The Subject of the email can also be specified. This may be useful for maintaining a series of reminders regarding timeliness of resources, copyright expiry of images, and so on. Each time ht://Dig is run to index the site, pages that contain htdig-notification-date elements with dates prior to the current date will be noted and emails automatically sent to the email addresses listed in the htdig-email field.

Creation of metadata for a resource may not necessarily be the responsibility of the web developer. For the metadata to be regarded as valuable, it is essential that the content creators be involved in this process. Metadata that is intended for the Victorian Education Channel should be created by education experts with detailed knowledge of where the content described fits into the Victorian Curriculum and Standards Framework II (CSFII). It is suggested that in future, when the creation of a new resource is requested, a metadata record should be created by the content creator as part of the request process, to ensure that the new resource is discoverable as soon as it has been added to the website.

At present the metadata generated is schemeless. The metadata is embedded in the HTML document, as HTML. It applies to HTML documents, not to other digital resources.