Sentence-based metadata: an approach and tool for viewing database designs

Abstract

This paper describes the concepts behind MARS, a research tool which, by means of a common thesaurus structure, enables organizations to exchange digital images and documents, and merge the descriptive data and metadata of their collections. This is seen as one of the key issues, along with interoperability, for electronic libraries and collections of the future. The Museum Archive Retrieval System (MARS)* is ideally suited for all sorts of knowledge sharing and exchange and has been successfully applied to Holocaust memorials and museums.† The information exchanged between these types of memorials and museums is scattered between, and within, many institutions; as well as existing in several different languages and holding many synonyms or translations for the same place, event or person etc. MARS was designed to allow multiple museums to share their data with one another and has tremendous exploitation potential in other areas where sophisticated content management and archiving functions are required.