Metadata Schemas in Cataloguing the GLAM Domain: an Overview

Cultural heritage holds a profound significance in fostering community cohesion and shaping individual identities, acknowledged as a fundamental human right by global authorities. Central to its preservation and dissemination, cataloguing plays a pivotal role in integrating traditional practices with advancements in digital technology. By establishing metadata schemas, related guidelines and conceptual models, these efforts ensure meticulous documentation and facilitate seamless collaboration among diverse cultural institutions such as museums, libraries and archives. This article explores this critical theme, offering insights into the nuanced definitions and applications within the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) domain and its associated standards. The evolution and interconnection of standards in the GLAM domain are described, showing their evolution to manage and describe cultural resources over time. Efforts to unify standards aim to enhance interoperability and continuity, complemented by recent trends towards ontology adoption which enhance the efficiency and accuracy of managing and researching cultural resources.