Process Module: Describe Entity

Process Title: Delete Metadata

Definition: The process used to remove information about an entity. Entities can include resources, collections, people, organizations, services, events, courses, facilities, finances, relationships, etc.  Entities can be electronic/digital or physical. Entities can be held/maintained locally or remotely.  Metadata will identify the entity and can be descriptive, structural, technical, and/or administrative.  Metadata can be deleted in real-time or via a batch process.  Metadata will generally be encoded using XML and will generally conform to an identified metadata content standard.  The Delete Metadata Process is independent of application end point, resource, data object, or underlying communications protocols and service models.

Workflow / Process Diagrams:

Use Cases: Metadata of any type is permanently removed, supporting the management of entities by administrators or curators.  Metadata deletion activities can occur for any entity in a collection, to delete incorrect or outdated information not needed for historical/audit purposes. Metadata deletion occurs at the end of an entity’s life-cycle.  System should allow for metadata to be removed manually or in batch processes, removing either single metadata objects or large numbers of metadata objects.  Metadata being deleted may include descriptive, holdings, authority, financial, structural, and administrative or other types of metadata.

For example, a library withdraws a portion of its serial print collection due to online availability.  The metadata for the print collection is permanently removed from the system—item records are deleted, holdings records are deleted and bibliographic records are removed.

Reference(s):

1. (NLA Services Framework 5.4: Remove) ““Disassociate a known business object from a collection.” https://wiki.nla.gov.au/display/LABS/3.+Service+framework (v. 0.91, p. 28/46)
   
2. (e-Framework Service Genre: Remove)“Disassociate a known business object from a collection (Synonym: Delete)”http://www.e-framework.org/Contributions/ServiceGenres/tabid/987/Default.aspx