Extended eLectronic Metadata Schema (ELMS)

WORK INFORMATION

Title

Names the specific work to which the entry refers

Work ID

Identifies a work with a unique number

Work Description

Provides detailed information about a work

VERSION INFORMATION

Version

A version of a work is different from other versions in its code and it thus provides a distinct experience. The NEXT may hold multiple copies of any given version of a work.

Version ID

Identifies a version of a work with a unique number

Version Number

Identifies the specific version of a work

Version Letter

Modifies version number where needed in order to identify small differences between versions

Gallery Images

Identifies images featured in the carousel for a work

Gallery Image Caption

Describes an image featured in the carousel for a work

Image Highlight

Identifies an image that appears in carousels for a category or collection

Image Thumbnail

Identifies a smaller version of a full-sized image

Original Publication Status

Identifies the status of a version of a work as either published or unpublished

Incomplete

Describes a work that was never finished as originally envisioned by the author

Authorial Version

Identifies a given version of a work as the authoritative version and emphasizes it in search

Original Publication Month

Identifies the month or season in which a version of a work was published

Original Publication Year

Identifies the year in which a version of a work was published

Original Publication Type

Describes unique versions of works and the containers in which they are collected

Original Publisher

Identifies the individual or group responsible for publishing a specific version of a work

Original Publisher Authority

Locates the authority that identifies a publisher of a version of a work

Original Volume

Identifies the volume of a journal that published a version of a work

Original Issue

Identifies the issue of a journal that published a version of a work

Original Media Format

Describes the type of physical media on which a version of a work resides

Software Dependency(ies)

Identifies software platforms, programs, and standards required to access and experience the work

Authoring Platform

Describes the primary digital tool used in the production of a work

Hardware Dependencies

Identifies the kind of computing device and its onboard components required to access and experience the work

Peripheral Dependencies

Describes additional hardware not integral to the ordinary function of the original computing device

Computer Languages

Describes the code base used in the production of a work

Digital Quality(ies)

Describes the technical aspects of a work See controlled vocabulary.

Sensory Modalities

Describes the sense(s) the work evokes

Genre(s)

Describes the artistic genre(s) of a work See controlled vocabulary.

Language(s)

Identifies the language(s) used in creation and/or translation of a work

Accessibility

Describes the hardware, software, and physical aspects involved in accessing and experiencing the work, including the work’s compliance with current accessibility standards

Rights Notice

Describes the permissions an end user has been granted to use the work

VERSION - ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION

Content Timing

Describes the speed of a work's content. See controlled vocabulary.

Text Format

Describes how a work implements font families, font size, and effects. See controlled vocabulary.

Color and Contrast

Attends to partial visual disability and color blindness. See controlled vocabulary.

Visual Impact

Describes visual elements that may startle, surprise, or be hazardous for visitors. See controlled vocabulary.

Auditory

Describes sounds produced by the work. See controlled vocabulary.

Touch

Describes how visitors interface with the work physically by making contact with screens, buttons, dials, etc. See controlled vocabulary.

Haptic Feedback

Describes how the work registers meaningful physical feedback in a visitor's body, usually with varied methods of vibration. See controlled vocabulary.

Repetitive Motion

Describes works that require repetitive physical input from visitors. See controlled vocabulary.

Movement and Gesture

The work registers the visitor's non-touch physical movements as input. See controlled vocabulary.

COPY INFORMATION

Copy

Each copy of a version of a work is identical, though may differ in media format (e.g. CD-ROM or Web). The NEXT holds one or more copies of a given version of a work.

Copy ID

Identifies a copy of a work with a unique number

Copy Images

Identifies images of a unique copy of a work

Highlight (Category)

Designates a copy highlight image featured in the category highlight carousel

Highlight (Collection)

Designates a copy highlight image featured in the collection highlight carousel

Copy Publication Status

Identifies the status of a copy of a version of a work as either published or unpublished

Copy Publication Month

Identifies the month or season in which a copy of a work was published

Copy Publication Year

Identifies the year in which a copy of a work was published

Copy Publication Type

Describes unique copies of works and the containers in which they are collected

Copy Publisher

Identifies the individual or group responsible for publishing a specific copy of a work

Copy Publisher Authority

Locates the authority that identifies a publisher of a copy of a work

Copy Volume

Identifies the volume of a journal that published a copy of a work

Copy Issue

Identifies the issue of a journal that published a copy of a work

Copy Media Format

Describes the type of physical media on which a copy of a version of a work resides

Original URL

Locates where the copy of a work was initially hosted

Hosted URL

Locates a copy of a work held locally within the archive

Download Link

Provides a copy of a work for download

Provenance

Provides the acquisition history of a particular copy of a version of a work

Availability

Indicates the extent to which a copy of a version of a work can be experienced

Preservation Method(s)

Describes process(es) used to make an outmoded copy of a version of a work able to be accessed and experienced

Preservation Notes

Provides information about how an outmoded copy of a version of a work was made to be accessed and experienced

Last Tested Date

Identifies when a preserved copy of a version of a work was last tested by the Electronic Literature Lab (ELL)

Last Tested With

Identifies the hardware and software on and with which a preserved copy of a version of a work was tested by the Electronic Literature Lab (ELL)

ENTITY INFORMATION

Entity Name

Identifies an individual or group involved in the production of a work

Entity ID

Identifies an individual or group involved in the production of a work with a unique number

Name Authority

Locates the authority that identifies an individual entity

Entity Type

Identifies a producer of the work as an individual or a group

Entity Country of Origin

Describes an entity’s country of origin

Role

Identifies the function performed by an entity in the production of a work, as described by MARC relators

Role Abbreviation

Abbreviates the function performed by an entity in the production of a work, as described by MARC relators

Primary Role

Identifies the lead entity in the production of a work

Role Pseudonym

Identifies an alternative name used by an entity in the creation or publication of a version of a work

Entity Role ID

Connects an entity with a copy or a version on the back end with a unique number while describing the role the entity performed in the production of the work

COLLECTION INFORMATION

Collection ID

Identifies a collection of works with a unique number

Collection Name

Identifies a collection of works

Collection Description

Provides detailed information about a collection of works

Collection Hosted URL

Locates a collection of works in the archive

Collection Meta Description

Provides a truncated version of a collection’s description for the purpose of search and findability

Collection Meta Title

Provides a version of a collection’s title for the purpose of search and findability

Collection Meta Keywords

Provides keywords for the purpose of search and findability

Collection Image

Identifies an image that represents a collection of works in the archive

Collection Header Image

Identifies an image that is featured at the top of a collection space

Collection Video Link

Locates a local video file that introduces a collection of works

Collection Video External Link

Locates an extended version of the video file hosted offsite that introduces a collection of works

Collection Video Thumbnail

Identifies the cover image for a collection video

Collection Type

Describes how the works in a given collection of works are grouped and categorized

Collection Provenance

Provides the acquisition history of a particular collection of works

Start Year Collected

Identifies the earliest original publication year of works within a collection of works

End Year Collected

Identifies the latest original publication year of works within a collection of works

Responsibility

Identifies the individual or group responsible for the creation or management of a collection

WORKS EXTERNAL LINK INFORMATION

External Link Name

Describes a piece of content located outside of The NEXT

External Link ID

Identifies a piece of content located outside of The NEXT with a unique number

External Link URL

Locates a piece of content located outside of The NEXT not affiliated with ELD, ELMCIP, or Rebooting Electronic Literature

GLOBAL INFORMATION

Alt Text

Provides a metadescription of an image file at the collection and version levels for the purposes of accessibility

Notes

Provides further information at the work, version, and copy levels where needed

ELMS (Extended eLectronic Metadata Schema) is the framework developed for The NEXT that provides a common understanding of the highly complex, interactive, digital artifacts held in its collections.

Because The NEXT collects and hosts a wide variety of interactive media pertaining to digital art and writing—the bulk of which it makes freely available for access and download in their original formats or in formats that have been preserved through migration and emulation—our schema both utilizes and extends the Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS) maintained by the Network Development and MARC Standards Office of the Library of Congress. By extending MODS, we attend to the media specificity of the works, an approach to the analysis of digital objects suggested by theorist N. Katherine Hayles in Writing Machines (29-33) and also reflected in taxonomies created by the global, scholarly federation, the Consortium on Electronic Literature (CELL), over a decade ago.

At the heart of ELMS is the contention that visitors accessing a work at The NEXT need to be made aware of the hardware, software, peripheral specifications, and other salient features so that it can be experienced fully. Equally important, visitors with disabilities need to know the physical requirements of a work in order to prepare for the experience via assistive technologies or other methods.

The taxonomies we developed for ELMS 2.0 extended MODS to include Software Dependency(ies), Authoring Platform(s), Hardware Dependency(ies), Peripheral Dependency(ies), Computer Language(s), Digital Quality(ies), Sensory Modality(ies), and Genre(s). Providing this detailed information means, for example, that when visitors access M. D. Coverley's net art piece, Endless Suburbs, they will find information they come to expect, such as publication date, publisher, and language. As important, however, they will learn information specific to its materiality: that it is a hypertext built in HTML and showcased on the web; that it leverages functionality afforded by Java Applets; that it is expressed as fiction and involves sight and sound; and that it requires visitors to navigate the work with a mouse.

ELMS 3.0 has been developed to include controlled vocabulary that attends to the needs of people with disabilities and sensory sensitivities. To accomplish this goal, The NEXT's staff worked disability justice scholars and artists during a week-long retreat hosted by Triangle SCI at Duke University. A proof of concept of this schema was funded by the Society of American Archivists. In 2024 a proposal was submitted to the National Endowment for the Humanities for support to implement ELMS 3.0 to all of the works in The NEXT.

Applying this detailed ELMS 3.0 framework to over 2400 works currently accessible at The NEXT takes time and patience. We are working methodically through the collections in stages, using analytics to pinpoint works most visited and, then, targeting them for refinement first. But ultimately the goal is to refine the metadata for all works hosted at The NEXT so that this crucial information about them is available to our visitors.