Metadata is "data about data." The term applies to records in the Rhizome ArtBase, as they contain information about data-based artworks. Rhizome will need to manage two types of metadata in the preservation process (some of this metadata is already captured and managed in the ArtBase). It is standard practice in the cultural heritage community to identify at least three types of metadata: descriptive (information which is used to search for, identify, and explain the artwork being described); administrative
(information needed for the internal management of the artwork such as legal, storage, and non-public provenance information); and technical (information about the infrastructure and materials of an artwork necessary for preservation and handling). Rhizome should capture or create these three types of metadata, once for the artwork and again for the technology.
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