The requirements for metadata, intended for projects federated by MESA, are now available on the ARC wiki. ARC is Advanced Research Consortium, the umbrella organization for MESA and sister “nodes” NINES, 18thConnect, REKn, and ModNets.

Metadata in MESA, as in the other ARC nodes, is based on a series of fields, represented in a standard format called the Resource Description Framework, or RDF.

The standard guidelines for ARC RDF are described here: http://wiki.collex.org/index.php/Submitting_RDF

The requirements and recommendations for MESA, where they differ from the standard guidelines, are here: http://wiki.collex.org/index.php/MESA_Metadata_Information

Sample XSLT (designed to output RDF from the TEI manuscript description element), plus a sample RDF file, is here: http://wiki.collex.org/index.php/RDF_XSLT#Walters_Art_Museum_Example_.28MESA.29

We’ll be bringing in our first twelve projects through early 2013. During the intervening time, we’ll be refining our policies and procedures for bringing in new projects and collections. If you are interested in joining MESA next year, keep your eyes here and in the meantime familiarize yourself with the specifications. Questions or comments? Post them here!