In week 3 I learned what metadata is and as well as the different uses for metadata. In addition to metadata, I also learned about Zotero and how it can be a very useful tool when citing documents, books, news articles, etc.

Metadata is structured information that describes, explains, locates, or makes it easier to use, retrieve, or manage an information resource. In different communities, metadata is sometimes used to refer to machine-understandable information, whereas others use it only for records that describe electronic resources. In addition, in the library environment metadata is commonly used for any formal scheme of resource description, applying to any type of object, digital or non-digital.

Descriptive metadata, Structural metadata, and Administrative metadata are the three types of metadata.

Descriptive metadata: describes a resource for a purpose such as discovery and identification.

Structural metadata: indicate how compound objects are put together.

Administrative metadata provides information to help manage a resource. There are two types of administrative data: Rights management metadata, which deals with intellectual property rights, and Preservation metadata, which contains information needed to archive and preserve a resource.

From reading those definitions I had a vague idea of what metadata was used for, but Miss Esprit not only solidified my idea but she also gave me a new use for metadata that I never thought about. Metadata is used to facilitate the discovery of relevant information. Furthermore, metadata can help organize electronic resources, facilitate interoperability and legacy resource integration, provide digital identification, and support archiving and preservation. It is said that metadata is key to the preservation of digital resources and to ensure that it will continue to survive and be accessible into the future.

In week 3 I also learned about a new useful tool called Zotero. Zotero is a tool used to collect, cite, organize and share information from different forms of sources. These sources can include journal articles, books, newspaper articles, audio recordings, and much more. Miss Espirit told us how she has been using Zotero for years because of how useful it can be and with my experience with the tool for the past few days I can see why she said it was very helpful throughout her time using Zotero in Create Caribbean and her general life. I was a bit confused at first when miss explained Zotero to the class but as I got to use it, it became much easier. This tool is very useful and I surely plan on using it in the future.