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HOWTO Create your own metadata sets

Metadata Management feature

Metadata Management action What it does Why it matters
Browse available metadata formats Open My Workspace → Metadata Management to view existing formats grouped by governance level: Standard, Personal, and Community. This gives you a clear overview of what already exists before creating something new.
Search and sort existing formats Use the available search and sorting tools to explore metadata formats more efficiently. It helps you identify relevant formats faster and avoids unnecessary duplication.
Inspect an existing format Open an existing metadata format to review its fields, data types, and structure before deciding whether to reuse or adapt it. This helps you understand whether a format already covers your needs and supports consistency across projects.
Reuse an existing structure Before creating a new format, review existing templates and expand their field definitions to see whether one can be reused directly or duplicated. Reusing established structures improves interoperability, keeps metadata more coherent across teams, and reduces redundant work.
Create a new metadata format If no available format matches your needs, use + New Metadata Format to start a new reusable metadata template. This is especially useful for advanced users and projects with domain-specific description requirements.

Creating a metadata set: complete workflow

Metadata creation action What it does Why it matters
Open Metadata Management Go to My Workspace → Metadata Management, then stay in the Metadata Sets Format tab. This is the workspace where metadata formats are created and managed. It centralises all metadata templates in one area and makes governance levels immediately visible.
Start a new metadata format Click + New Metadata Format to launch the creation wizard for a new reusable metadata template. This is the entry point for building a format that can later be reused when describing Marketplace resources.
Step 1
Enter main information In Step 1 – Main information, fill in the Name field (required) and optionally add a Description explaining the purpose of the format. A clear name and description make the format easier to recognise, maintain, and reuse later.
Choose the governance level In the same first step, choose whether the metadata format is Personal, Community, or Standard. Governance level determines whether the format is meant only for you, for a research community, or as a broader platform reference.
Step 2
Choose how to start In Step 2 – Creation mode, choose between Create from scratch or Duplicate Metadata. This defines whether you want to design the structure entirely yourself or start from an existing template.
Create from scratch Select Create from scratch when you want to define all fields manually from the beginning. This is useful when your project has very specific metadata needs not covered by existing models.
Duplicate an existing format Select Duplicate Metadata when you want to reuse all or part of an existing format, such as a recognised structure like Dublin Core, and adapt it. Duplication saves time and keeps your structure aligned with already accepted metadata practices.
Expand and select fields from an existing format In duplication mode, expand an existing format and use Add all or select specific fields to include them in your new metadata format draft. This lets you inherit useful field structures without having to recreate them manually.
Step 3
Define the metadata fields In Step 3 – Metadata Set Definition, add the fields that will be used later to describe resources. For each field, define at least a Name and a Type / datatype. These fields form the actual structure of your metadata format and determine what information users will later provide.

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Metadata lifecycle

Metadata formats also follow a lifecycle:

  • Draft → creation phase
  • Submitted → under review
  • Approved → reusable
  • Updated → versioned changes

Good practices

  • use clear field definitions
  • avoid redundancy
  • use controlled vocabularies where possible
  • ensure consistency across records

hortus/fair/creation.1775563744.txt.gz · Last modified: by savino.frisardi