The more we can automate the annotation of data files with metadata, the more we can save time and effort in depositing eprints in OA repositories. Even though the manual process is not very time-consuming or difficult, it's still a workflow bottleneck that slows our advance toward 100% OA. So I follow progress toward metadata automation.
Here's a nifty breakthrough that applies to photos, not eprints. Digital cameras already do a great job of adding metadata about the time, date, and camera settings to each image. Now Zonetag allows digital cameras built into cell phones to annotate each photo with its location, based on the location of the nearest cell tower. (Thanks to Richard Akerman.)
I can imagine applications down the road in which this technology would be useful for research, say, in geology or urban planning, especially after it (or more precise GPS technology) is built into high-end digital cameras. But even if it won't affect digital scholarship --much, yet--, I hope it stimulates creative thinking about metadata annotation for run-of-the-mill text files.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 3/15/2006 08:37:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
