Metadata Links

Digital Media/P2P

Without Metadata, Content Is Just Bits

Excellent non-technical introduction to metadata in the context of peer-to-peer and other ubiquitous networking technologies. "In the Internet Age, there may be no data more valuable than data about data." From Stewart Alsop's column in Fortune. Published 2000-11-27, no longer available on Fortune website. Summary (with option to purchase) available at Northern Light.

Peer-to-Peer: Harnessing the
Power of Disruptive Technologies

The Power of Metadata

Chapter 11 of Peer-to-Peer: Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies by Rael Dornfest and Dan Brickley.

MusicBrainz.org

A free service designed to enable Audio CD and MP3/Vorbis players to download metadata about the music they are playing.

All The World's A Bootleg

Forbes ASAP article by Charles C. Mann demonstrates the problem of authenticity and quality when infosharing is decentralized and uncontrollable.

Web/General

Metadata at W3C

The World Wide Web Consortium's metadata-related projects.

Professional Xml Meta Data

Meta Data Architectures

Sample chapter from Professional XML Meta Data, describes embedded/external and centralized/distributed metadata.

Metadata For The Masses

Overview of web metadata, focusing on the Dublin Core. By Paul Miller.

Metadata: Cataloging by Any Other Name

Another overview of metadata activities, with a librarian's historical perspective. By Jessica Milstead and Susan Feldman.

Metadata at the Open Directory Project

The Open Directory Project's directory of metadata sites.

News/Discussion

InfoAnarchy

News and discussion about freedom of information.

ZeroPaid

"The file sharing portal" — news and a comprehensive list of filesharing applications.

OpenP2P

O'Reilly Network's peer-to-peer portal.

Decentralization

Mailing list for technical P2P-related discussions, including metadata issues.