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Describes the Web Characterization Project that characterizes the use of metadata in Web documents by extracting a valid sample. Discusses Web resource discovery and description; sampling methods; metadata and embedded document description; HTML; Dublin Core metadata elements; and home pages versus internal Web pages. (Author/LRW)

The Web is often characterized as a universal information space, in the sense that the provision of and access to Web content is open to all. It is well known, however, that the majority of Web content originates from a small group of English-speaking countries, chiefly the United States. This paper examines trends in the internationalization of Web content, and in particular, whether the Web is becoming increasingly globalized as it matures, and to what segment of the world's countries and languages it currently extends. Sample data from 1998 and 1999 suggests that the Web's content is still far from a true global cross-section, but is slowly expanding both in terms of its geographical origins and the languages in which it is made available.

Discovery and description of Web resources are currently facilitated by the use of metadata. Although much work has been conducted in developing metadata architectures and standards, few studies have undertaken to assess current metadata usage in Web documents. An analysis of this kind is challenging in view of the difficulty of data collection. A practical approach is to collect a representative sample of Web documents, from which valid inferences can be made concerning the Web as a whole. The Web Characterization Project has developed a methodology for extracting a valid sample from the Web. Using data from a sample collected in June 1998, this paper characterizes the use of metadata in Web documents.

The rapid growth in the number of libraries providing Web access services has created a need for reliable, timely statistics characterizing the content of Web-accessible information. The size of the Web makes it impractical to develop descriptive statistics based on an exhaustive survey. An alternative approach is to collect a representative sample of Web pages. This report describes a methodology for sampling the content of the Web through the use of randomly generated IP addresses.

Includes five articles that examine key trends in the development of the public Web: size and growth, internationalization, and metadata usage; Flexible Extensible Digital Object and Repository Architecture (Fedora) for use in digital libraries; developments in the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI); the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mataurangao Aotearoa (NLNZ) knowledge collection/preservation/access; and usage statistics for the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database. (AEF)

This article provides information on preservation of metadata. Preservation of metadata is information that supports and documents processes aimed at preserving digital materials. It subsumes a broad range of information, including, but not limited to, descriptions of the technical environment needed to access, display and use an archived digital object, results of procedures validating the ongoing integrity and authenticity of the object in storage and a careful accounting of the archived object's provenance, including details about its origin, chain of custody and the outcomes of preservation actions. Preservation metadata is bundled either physically or logically with the archived digital object and accompanies it throughout the period of archival retention. Preservation metadata supplies a context for the archived object, this context is essential for securing the object's long-term accessibility and usability. The need for preservation of metadata is amplified by the characteristics of digital information environments. The principal challenge in creating a preservation metadata schema is to anticipate what information will actually be necessary in order to meet a particular set of preservation objectives.

This article presents an introductory guide to the open archival information system reference model. The impact of digital information environments has been remarkably universal, extending to industry, government and the academy, to business persons, scientists, engineers, and scholars of the humanities, to the individual in the workplace and the individual in the home. Vast quantities of information in digital form, such as text, images, audio, video, Web pages, computer programs, databases, are produced, exchanged, and used in a variety of settings, for myriad purposes. Such diverse applications of digital technology rest on a common foundation of shared benefits, including powerful search and retrieval capabilities, network delivery, perfect duplication, and interoperability. Just as the benefits of digital information environments transcend people, systems and domains, so do the challenges which accompany them. Nowhere is such an environment more evident than in regard to digital preservation, securing the long-term persistence of information in digital form. The capacity both to create and consume digital information has allegedly advanced steadily. Unfortunately, the capacity to manage the long-term stewardship of such information has been comparatively slow to develop.

Focuses on the application of bibliographic control to World Wide Web resources. Process in bibliographic unit identification; Types of bibliographic units in the Web; Parallelism between journals and Web sites, and journal articles and Web pages; Usability of cataloging and indexing in the control of journal literatures.