Moodle in English: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

by Matt Bury - Thursday, 25 June 2015, 7:15 AM

Hi Moodle researchers,

I'm not sure if this should be addressed directly to Moodle developers but this seems like the most relevant place to put this question.

I use a bibliography manager ( https://www.zotero.org/ ) which comes with browser plugins (Firefox, Chrome, and Safari) and word processor ( https://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_installation ) plugins so that I can download and store research papers automatically (one click of the mouse) and then cite them in papers and have everything managed for me automatically. It's incredibly convenient and saves hours of unnecessary work.

However, for bibliography managers like Zotero and Mendeley to work on databases like research.moodle.net, they need to have the relevant metadata correctly configured on the entry item page. As far as I can see, research.moodle.net only provides an APA Style formatted reference at the end. Would it be possible to include the metadata in a "bibliography manager friendly" format?

Perhaps this would also encourage more scholars to cite research.moodle.net?

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Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

by Michael de Raadt - Wednesday, 1 July 2015, 2:35 PM

Hi, Matt.

We did look at extending the existing database on research.moodle.net to include more information, but as a Moodle database activity, it's not easily indexed by research related search engines.

We've been exploring setting up an ePrints repository to capture this information instead. If you (or anyone else) would like to be involved in that, you'd be welcome.

What metadata fields should we include?

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Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

by Matt Bury - Wednesday, 1 July 2015, 9:42 PM

Hi Michael,

Thanks for responding

Looking at how other research databases do it (and what works with bibliography managers), here's an example from SagePub.com:

<head>
	<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
	<title>Working for washback: a review of the washback concept in language testing </title>
	<meta name="googlebot" content="NOODP" />
	<meta name="HW.ad-path" content="/cgi/content/abstract/13/3/257" />
	<meta content="/spltj/13/3/257.atom" name="HW.identifier" />
	<meta name="DC.Format" content="text/html" />
	<meta name="DC.Language" content="en" />
	<meta content="Working for washback: a review of the washback concept in language testing"
	name="DC.Title" />
	<meta content="10.1177/026553229601300303" name="DC.Identifier" />
	<meta content="1996-11-01" name="DC.Date" />
	<meta content="SAGE Publications" name="DC.Publisher" />
	<meta content="Kathleen M. Bailey" name="DC.Contributor" />
	<meta content="Language Testing" name="citation_journal_title" />
	<meta content="Language Testing" name="citation_journal_abbrev" />
	<meta content="0265-5322" name="citation_issn" />
	<meta content="1477-0946" name="citation_issn" />
	<meta name="citation_author" content="Kathleen M. Bailey" />
	<meta content="Working for washback: a review of the washback concept in language testing"
	name="citation_title" />
	<meta content="11/01/1996" name="citation_date" />
	<meta content="13" name="citation_volume" />
	<meta content="3" name="citation_issue" />
	<meta content="257" name="citation_firstpage" />
	<meta content="279" name="citation_lastpage" />
	<meta content="13/3/257" name="citation_id" />
	<meta content="13/3/257" name="citation_id_from_sass_path" />
	<meta content="spltj;13/3/257" name="citation_mjid" />
	<meta content="10.1177/026553229601300303" name="citation_doi" />
	<meta content="http://0-ltj.sagepub.com.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca/content/13/3/257.abstract"
	name="citation_abstract_html_url" />
	<meta content="http://0-ltj.sagepub.com.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca/content/13/3/257.full.pdf"
	name="citation_pdf_url" />
	<meta content="http://0-ltj.sagepub.com.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca/content/13/3/257" name="citation_public_url" />
	<meta name="citation_section" content="Articles" />

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Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

by Matt Bury - Wednesday, 1 July 2015, 9:48 PM

They can vary slightly so here's another example, this time from OxfordJournals.org:

<meta content="/applij/4/1/23.atom" name="HW.identifier" />
	<meta name="DC.Format" content="text/html" />
	<meta name="DC.Language" content="en" />
	<meta content="Analysis-by-Rhetoric: Reading the Text or the Reader's Own Projections? A Reply to Edelsky et al.1"
	name="DC.Title" />
	<meta content="10.1093/applin/4.1.23" name="DC.Identifier" />
	<meta content="1983-03-20" name="DC.Date" />
	<meta content="Oxford University Press" name="DC.Publisher" />
	<meta content="JIM CUMMINS" name="DC.Contributor" />
	<meta content="MERRILL SWAIN" name="DC.Contributor" />
	<meta content="Applied Linguistics" name="citation_journal_title" />
	<meta content="Applied Linguistics" name="citation_journal_abbrev" />
	<meta content="0142-6001" name="citation_issn" />
	<meta content="1477-450X" name="citation_issn" />
	<meta name="citation_author" content="JIM CUMMINS" />
	<meta name="citation_author" content="MERRILL SWAIN" />
	<meta content="Analysis-by-Rhetoric: Reading the Text or the Reader's Own Projections? A Reply to Edelsky et al.1"
	name="citation_title" />
	<meta content="03/20/1983" name="citation_date" />
	<meta content="4" name="citation_volume" />
	<meta content="1" name="citation_issue" />
	<meta content="23" name="citation_firstpage" />
	<meta content="41" name="citation_lastpage" />
	<meta content="4/1/23" name="citation_id" />
	<meta content="4/1/23" name="citation_id_from_sass_path" />
	<meta content="applij;4/1/23" name="citation_mjid" />
	<meta content="10.1093/applin/4.1.23" name="citation_doi" />
	<meta content="http://0-applij.oxfordjournals.org.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca/content/4/1/23.full.pdf"
	name="citation_pdf_url" />
	<meta content="http://0-applij.oxfordjournals.org.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca/content/4/1/23"
	name="citation_public_url" />
	<meta name="citation_section" content="Article" />

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Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

by Matt Bury - Wednesday, 1 July 2015, 9:58 PM

As far as I can see, bibliography metadata follows standards like the Dublin Core: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin_Core

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Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

by Michael de Raadt - Thursday, 2 July 2015, 6:41 AM

Thanks, Matt.

I intend to attack this after the MootUS15. I'll let you know how I go.

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Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

by Matt Bury - Friday, 3 July 2015, 6:25 AM

Hi Michael,

Thanks

I've looked into it in a bit more detail. For general web citations, the Dublin Core is appropriate - as an exercise, I customised the headers on my Wordpress blog to generate the necessary metadata automatically and Zotero correctly stores the reference as a blog post. See an example: http://blog.matbury.com/2015/04/13/online-cognitive-apprenticeship/ and view the page source. The metadata is in the head section.

For academic journal and paper citations, they use a different metadata schema. As an example, I took the information from this entry in research.moodle.net: http://research.moodle.net/mod/data/view.php?d=1&rid=67 and converted it, as best I could, into the appropriate metadata schema (attached).

<head>
<!-- start of citation metadata -->
<meta name="citation_doi" content="" />
<meta name="citation_journal_title" content="Proceedings of the 1st Moodle Research Conference (MRC2012)" />
<meta name="citation_title" content="A Community approach to staff development in eLearning" />
<meta name="citation_keywords" content="eLearning" />
<meta name="citation_keywords" content="capacity building" />
<meta name="citation_keywords" content="staff development" />
<meta name="citation_keywords" content="Community of Practice" />
<meta name="citation_keywords" content="tertiary" />
<meta name="citation_keywords" content="New Zealand" />
<meta name="article_references" content="Roder, T. & Rata-Skudder, N. (2012), A Community approach to staff development in eLearning. In Proceedings of the 1st Moodle Research Conference (MRC2012), Retalis, S. & Dougiamas, M. (Eds), 8-16." />
<meta name="citation_publisher" content="Moodle Research???" />
<meta name="citation_language" content="en" />
<meta name="citation_volume" content="" />
<meta name="citation_issue" content="" />
<meta name="citation_firstpage" content="8" />
<meta name="citation_lastpage" content="16" />
<meta name="citation_issn" content="" />
<meta name="citation_publication_date" content="2012/09/15" />
<meta name="citation_online_date" content="2013/05/01" />
<meta name="citation_author" content="Roder, T;Rata-Skudder, N" />
<meta xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" name="citation_author_institution" content="Te Puna Ako - eLearning team, Unitec Institute of Technology, New Zealand" />
<meta name="citation_author" content="Roder, Tabitha" />
<meta xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" name="citation_author_institution" content="Faculty of Social and Health Sciences, Unitec Institute of Technology, New Zealand" />
<meta name="citation_author" content="Rata-Skudder, Nicoletta" />
<meta name="citation_abstract_html_url" content="http://research.moodle.net/mod/data/view.php?d=1&rid=67" />
<meta name="citation_fulltext_html_url" content="" />
<meta name="citation_pdf_url" content="http://research.moodle.net/pluginfile.php/15/mod_data/content/670/A%20Community%20approach%20to%20staff%20development%20in%20eLearning.pdf" />
<!-- end of citation metadata -->
</head>

I hope this helps!

citation.html

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Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

by Michael de Raadt - Wednesday, 23 September 2015, 10:02 AM

I have an update on progress of implementing a new Research library.

We have set up an ePrints repository in a temporary location at http://research.moodle.net/library/

We're a bit stuck with some of the configuration. Currently uploads are not working. When that gets sorted out we'll begin transferring content into it and adding more before we promote it to the community.

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Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

by Matt Bury - Wednesday, 23 September 2015, 11:06 AM

Thanks Michael,

Here's what my Zotero grabbed from the abstract page on the article:

Cooch, M., Foster, H., & Costello, E. (2014). Our MOOC with Moodle (pp. 75–96). Presented at the HOME (Higher education Online: MOOCs the European way), Porto, Portugal. Retrieved from http://research.moodle.net/library/6/

There was no need to log in to get the metadata but the article itself was restricted. So, working pretty well so far. Good luck with getting the uploads to work

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Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

by Michael de Raadt - Wednesday, 14 October 2015, 1:54 PM

We've shifted the repository to its permanent home, replacing the old research.moodle.net.

http://research.moodle.net

We may do some styling to match moodle.org before we start making a big deal about it, but people can already access it, deposit to it and it is open to being indexed.

If you know of any places where we should register our repository to help promote the papers contained in it, please let me know.

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Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

by Martin Dougiamas - Tuesday, 8 September 2015, 6:36 PM

It's time!

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(Archived forum) Moodle research

Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

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Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

Re: Can we have better metadata in research database entries?

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