Hi Cairie, I've used a variety of different methods to embed metadata at the item level. Right now my favorite tool is Photo Mechanic, which has a Code Replacement feature that allows users to copy metadata from a spreadsheet (tab-delimted) and embed it into an image file using the IPTC schema.
There are five fields that overlap between Dublin Core (DC) and IPTC as follows: DC / IPTC Title = Headline Creator = Byline Subject = Keywords Description = Caption Date = Creation Date Time I typically use quite a few more fields than these, but they are most useful with employing a DAMS. It may be wise to have the spreadsheet and the embedded metadata, but I have found that once I have embedded the metadata in the files, I can extract it later and re-create the list as needed. I also like ExifTool but it is a little more difficult to use than Photo Mechanic. ExifTool is amazing and powerful, but I think most of the power user features require knowledge of how to use Command Line Interface. If you are comfortable with CLI, ExifTool is fantastic. As far as the usefulness of embedded metadata for images, I say it is very much worth it. That said, it is also wise to create a controlled vocabulary and to find easy ways to add and edit metadata. This is where I think Photo Mechanic is quite helpful. If you are working with images, there are a lot of other features in PM that make it one of my favorite applications. Hope this helps, Edward ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? (George) Edward McCain Library Assistant, Senior Center for Creative Photography M.A., School of Information Resources and Library Science emccain at email.arizona.edu mobile: (520) 990-0999 Portfolio: www.mccainphoto.com Stock Archive: http://archive.mccainphoto.com ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? On Apr 24, 2013, at 5:00 AM, mcn-l-request at mcn.edu wrote: > From: Cairie Riney <cairie.bird at gmail.com> > Subject: [MCN-L] Photo Metadata sans DAMS > Date: April 23, 2013 5:46:54 PM MST > To: mcn-l at mcn.edu > Reply-To: Museum Computer Network Listserv <mcn-l at mcn.edu> > > > I have a question about photo metadata and how to record it. So while > digitizing negatives, I've been recording the metadata into an excel > sheet. I'm following Dublin Core and added some preservation metadata > fields. Anywho, considering the institution I'm volunteering for > doesn't have a DAMS or CMS, I was thinking of embedding the metadata > using Photoshop. I successfully completed one image's embedded > metadata and it wasn't difficult or too time consuming. The REAL > question is...is it worth it? Should I just be doing the Dublin Core > metadata in the Excel sheet OR just the IPTC metadata in Photoshop? Or > is both great? Ultimately, I want to prep these photos so that if/when > they do get a DAMS, they'll be easily added to the system with all > their information. > > Any input or completely different suggestions would be greatly appreciated :D > Thank you!!
