Hyperion is a digital media management tool used to preserve and provide access to digital resources in your library or other information management system. It interacts with the SirsiDynix Symphony system to provide access to a SirsiDynix Symphony Library’s patrons through OPAC Gateways in the e-Library. However, the data is structured according to current standards in order to be accessible to a broader range of users.
Understanding Metadata
Traditional library materials are primarily physical copies of bibliographic material, and the printed form has remained consistent for centuries. MARC is an excellent tool for describing the traditional library form of materials. However, the range of digital options that are available to users is virtually unlimited, and the media itself is evolving faster than the tools that are used to describe it. The digital media equivalent to the MARC record is Metadata. However, different types of digital media are, by necessity, described using different rules. While the rules of description are somewhat less restrictive than those found in MARC, the principals are quite similar. The universal standard for digital media description is the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative.
Hyperion uses metadata to describe the digital resources available in the database. Just as different types of MARC data require different types of descriptive formats (such as SERIAL, BOOK, or MAP) different formats are delivered with Hyperion. The standard Dublin Core (DUBLIN) format, which was specifically designed for digital media, is delivered with Hyperion. If you have purchased the Hyperion Metatdata Manager, you can create additional formats in your library that are based on the metadata rules governing the types of digital collections held by your library.
In addition to Hyperion’s DUBLIN format, a DUBLINCORE format, used only in cataloging, has been created that maps the DUBLIN attributes into a traditional MARC record. This makes the digital collections searchable along with traditional collections for both library staff and from within the e-Library.
Understanding Resource Types
Because there are so many types of digital information requiring description, there are several Resource Types and a multitude of relationship hierarchies that can be described. If the analogy with traditional libraries was carried through, the Resource Types in digital media serve a purpose similar to the Call Number subdivisions that are used in the Library of Congress Classification tables, ensuring that each object is oriented to its proper place in the collection. The Resource Types and relationships are established in Hyperion’s Resource Attributes policy. In addition to identifying the Name, Description, and icons associated with a particular resource metadata type, these other important values are defined.
A Resource Attribute’s Type can be either Content or Parent Characteristic. All Resource Types are to be defined as Content, except for ABSTRACT. ABSTRACT is the only policy that can be defined as Parent Characteristics. ABSTRACT can describe any type of media file, but it displays alongside its parent in the e-Library. When it is displayed, it describes the use of the entire collection displaying beneath it. Although ABSTRACT is defined as a Parent Characteristic, it cannot be associated with what is referred to as “Children” types. However, it can itself be listed as a child, to describe a subcategory of the group. Each Content type of resource can be associated with “Children” types. This means that the described Resource Type is at a higher level in the directory tree than the Children associated with it.
Each Resource Type can also be associated with a Hyperion Extended Attribute Format policy. When the resource is displayed in a search, only the attributes in common with that resource, according to the format, are used to qualify the search.
Each Resource Type that is a Content type can also be associated with Children. Children provide another associative relationship for the Resource Type, which is the hierarchical structure of related Resource Types. Similar types are tied together, but parent/child relationships prevent inappropriate content associations.
For example, the CATEGORY type can have SUBJECT,ABSTRACT as children. The SUBJECT type can have RESOURCE,ABSTRACT as children. RESOURCE can have ABSTRACT,PHOTO,REPORT,VIDEO, as children. The PHOTO, REPORT, and VIDEO types can have no children, because they are the actual document pieces in the metadata structure.
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