6.3 Appending New Metadata

This section explains how to add metadata and values to files, and how to add new values for metadata elements.

Contents
Simple instructions
  Adding to files
  Adding to directories or multiple files
Advanced instructions
  Adding to the metadata table
  Subject hierarchies
    Introduction to subjects
    Metadata set editor
  Text field entry
Problems and solutions
  "How do I fix a value that has ended up in the wrong subject?"
  "What if I have a value and a subject with the same name?"
Simple Instructions:

We now add a metadata item -- both element and value -- to a file. First select the file from the Collection file tree on the left. Notice that the Select action causes some changes to the right of the view. If this is the first file selected, the MetaEdit Controls will appear in the upper right, ready for you to start editing. The name of the selected file appears in the text field in the middle on the right. Any metadata previously assigned to this file appears in a table at the bottom right.

Next, select the metadata element you want to add. Click on the triangle at the right of the 'element' ComboBox and scroll to find the element name you wish to add; then click it. The Value Tree below may change when you change elements -- but probably, right now, it's blank.

Now focus on the 'value' text field, either by pressing [Tab] several time or by clicking anywhere in the field. When the flashing caret appears in the field, you can type your value. Be careful not to use the character '\', because it is used for constructing hierarchies. When finished, press [Enter] or [Tab], or just click elsewhere on the screen. If you have entered a new value for the first time a pop-up will ask for confirmation of the value. When you confirm by clicking [Y]es, the value is added to the Value Tree, and the [A]dd button is enabled. Click [A]dd to add the new value as metadata for the chosen file. The metadata immediately appears in the Metadata Table. If the file already had a value assigned for that specific metadata element you may be prompted for what action to take. This prompt and the available actions are described below.

You can also add metadata to a folder, or to several files at once that have been multiply selected. This adds it to all files within the folder or selection, and to any child directories. However keep in mind that if you assign metadata to a folder that any new files added to that folder will automatically inherit the aforementioned metadata.

When you add metadata in this way, or if previous metadata exists for the element you have selected, you will be prompted for the action to take on the files it contains. The prompt includes the name of the file in question, the element's title, any previously-assigned values for this element, and the new value that you have entered. The buttons offer different options: '[A]ppend' appends the metadata to the specified file without altering any existing values; 'Append All ([D])' adds the new value in the same way to all child files; '[R]eplace' replaces any previous value with the new one; 'R[E]place All' adds the new value in the same way to all child files; '[S]kip File' skips the current file and proceeds to the next; '[C]ancel' undoes any changes and cancels the action.

If you choose metadata that is not common to all the selected files, and you press the Add button in the edit controls, the metadata will be added as necessary to make it common to all files in the selection.

Advanced Instructions:

You can add structure to metadata values by using paths. When Greenstone builds certain classifiers, it uses as additional information a hierarchy of possible values. No longer is the classifier a flat list; instead it has a tree structure which can make large collections far easier to navigate. The Librarian Interface automates the process of generating hierarchy files.

All values you assign in the Librarian Interface can also be subjects. They begin with no subvalues, and so appear flat. However, you can create a value that is a child of another value, and now the parent appears as a folder in the Value Tree. Expanding the folder shows the value contained within. Remember that all subject folders are also values, so you can assign a folder from the Value Tree as the value for a metadata element. For instance, the subject folder might be the default value of some element, while its child values and folders offer increasingly specific metadata values.

The way to build hierarchies is to specify a path, using '\' as a level separator, when typing into the Value text field of the MetaEdit Control. If you type in a new path, any subject folders that aren't already in the tree will be created. This method can be used to build arbitrarily complex structures.

Anywhere you can type in a value for the metadata value, you can use a fully-qualified path to specify its position in the hierarchy. However, be warned: a spelling mistake may introduce several new subject folders unintentionally.

Problems And Solutions:

"A value has ended up in the wrong subject."

The easiest fix is to create the value in the right place and ignore the incorrect one. It won't vanish from the tree, but it won't matter as long as you assign the correctly located value. Alternatively you can use the Metadata Set Editor, explained in chapter 11, to move the value from its current parent subject to the desired one.

"What if I have a value and a subject with the same name?"

At first this seems a problem. What if I wanted a Words subject folder, and then one of the values I wanted to place in it was Words? There are two solutions. First, it is perfectly ok to add "Words\Words". It may look strange but it works -- just make sure you get the right one when adding it as metadata to files. The second, preferred, solution is to use the folder Words when you want to assign the values Words. Remember, all folders are also values!