Metadata is often defined as “data about data.” This takes the form of structured textual descriptions of digital resources that enable users to determine information such as provenance, context, appearance, and/or material conditions of objects that have been represented in digital formats. 

Metadata is important because, in the process of digitizing objects or texts, we create digital representations that remove the original resources from the context in which they can be best appreciated and understood. For instance, when I took a picture of my pressure cooker, a viewer could not see how big or heavy it was, or what it is used for? Similarly, a picture of my favorite banana bread recipe taken from a cookbook, could not explain a casual viewer where the recipe came from? When was it written or published? And who wrote it? 

And yet, these are the very questions one needs to ask in the context of Digital Humanities. Metadata that allows users to contextualize a digital resource and understand what it is, what was or is its function, who created it, under which conditions, where it is presently stored, and how it can be accessed, are of significant value to digital humanities scholars. In the case of the objects I digitized, working with Metadata forced me to investigate the objects more carefully and put myself in the place of a potential user. For instance, when I first took the pictures, I was simply looking to document some useful things around my kitchen. It was not until I had to add metadata to the description of said objects that I had to investigate, for instance, who were the manufacturers of these objects, how much they weighed, how could I explain their function to someone who had never seen or used them? For me, they were just familiar, even essential objects of my everyday life. But by adding metadata I was able to add context that helped me understand these objects better, and also left important information for anyone who may, in the future, see new stories in these mundane items. 

For Metadata to be useful, however, it needs to be applied systematically. It is here where tools like Tropy and Omeka are particularly helpful. When one enters items in either one of these tools, one can choose existing templates to add metadata. However, this is not a silver bullet, one still has to be careful to use the categories within each template consistently. I found this to be the most challenging and useful part of the exercise. How is one to think about “genre”, for example, when one is talking about items as distinct as a collection of kitchen utensils and a pressure cooker? In Omeka, having a description of each category made the exercise a little easier, but I found myself having to revise my entries for different items as I realized that my entry for one item was not consistent with what I had entered in other items. For example, the “Type” category was difficult to fill, I knew I was not trying to describe the item as a photograph, but as an object, so what type of object would it be? I chose to use descriptions that spoke of the context of the kitchen. So for instance, I used descriptors such as “container”, “cooking tools”, and “foods”. 

What I found most interesting in the exercise of creating metadata for the items I digitized was the challenge of both adding information about the context of an object, but also adding information so that said object could be appreciated in a different context. Creating the Omeka exhibit meant creating a representation of what I thought was useful in my kitchen. In the exhibit, I chose to highlight the function of the items I selected as tools that aided me in the cooking process. But hidden in the Metadata were other stories that could have been told about manufacturers, design styles, materials, cooking methods, etc. If what we do in the study of the humanities is asking ourself how the creations of other times speak to ours, how we are both connected and disconnected from other times and places, there is no doubt that metadata is essential for users of digital media to continue answering these questions.