Skip this if you are not interested in Metadata

Apologies to vegetarians, but to me Metadata is the "meat and bones" of the project. It's not the gravy, the fun artistic part (images, design, etc.) of our online projects, but it sets the structure. As with our accessCeramics project, selecting Metadata for graffiti and street art has been a challenge. If at all possible, we like to ground our Metadata for projects within an approved data standard schema as it adds validity and a type of scholarly seriousness to our decisions (well, almost.) We decided on elements from VRA Core 4.0 that we thought would capture the information we are after without bogging down the students in their field study. Plus, portions of the information will be guess work or simply not available. For example, students may not be able to discern correctly whether a graffiti "throw up" was made with spray paint, permanent markers, etc. And the support structure for graffiti or street art (subway train, wall, sidewalk) is just as intrinsic a part of the art as is the medium in which it is created. We've decided to create one non-VRA Core 4.0 field titled "Support", as we felt it did not fit well under the "Materials" VRA Core 4.0 field. (At least not for our purposes.) The main intent of this project is not to create an online, searchable database. It is an experiment in using mobile devices and social software to collect examples in the field that can then be scrutinized and critiqued for the possible importance of "location" in this style of art. Now that we have decided on the Metadata, Jeremy will add it to a web interface which he will create. He will make a post about that process when he is finished.

Metadata Element Set for LC Graffiti and Street Art Project

Elements chosen from VRA Core 4.0 data standard schema

R = Required field for our project

NR = Non-required field for our project

Work Type (R)

Measurement (R)

Support (R) (non-VRA Core4 Element)

Relation (R)

Technique (NR)

Agent (NR)

Inscription (NR)

sub-element: Location (of inscription)

Subject (NR)

Description (NR)