Digitisation / Cataloguing of non-textual objects: Metadata standardization for digitized recordings in scientific collections based on the ASR2-METS/MODS profile and compilation of a discographic authority file

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Thomas Bürger
• Subject Area: Musicology
• Term: from 2014 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 247988593

The project will focus on digitized audio files, for which there are to date, in contrast to printed and archival material, no established standards in Germany. Paying special attention to the specific characteristics of audio files, the aim will be to map the descriptive features onto already existing international data formats (METS, MODS, MIX). Seeking to develop the necessary infrastructure, the project will follow the model established by the successful projects that developed format descriptions for files to be used in the DFG-Viewer, particularly regarding the quality of documentation, tool support, and stable reference implementation, which lead to a rapid and wide acceptance of the aforementioned data formats (cf. the current “DFG-Praxisregeln Digitalisierung“). In order to increase the acceptance of the format in the professional community, the project proposal includes the implementation of the DFG-Viewer’s reference resolution.A further structural shortcoming of the current situation is the lack of an authority file for historical recordings. The project will therefore initiate such an authority file, based on existing metadata and making use of a discography of 5,000 vocal recordings, and integrate it into the German General Authority File (German: Gemeinsame Normdatei or GND).

• DFG Programme: Cataloguing and Digitisation (Scientific Library Services and Information Systems)
• International Connection: Austria
• Participating Persons: Christiane Hofer; David Kleingers; Francesca Schulze; Brigitte Wiechmann