The metadata elements clustered under COLLECTIONS help define to what agency, institution or group an aggregation of related media items, assets or learning objects are attributed, although the Collection Name does not necessarily convey who contributed the collection of media items.

The metadata elements clustered under SUBJECTS define the broad topical areas for the intellectual content present in a media item. Typically, a subject area is expressed by a limited number of keywords, key phrases, or even specific classification codes. Controlled vocabularies, authorities, or formal classification schemes are employed when selecting descriptive subject terms rather than using random words.

However, UMAP draws a distinction between its use of the content class "Subjects" and the more conventional use of "Subjects" in other metadata schemas. In other schemas "Subjects" is often synonymous with "Keywords." But because of its close affiliation to Utah's K-12 public education, UMAP (through eMedia) defines subject areas according to Utah's state core curriculum definition of subjects, classes, and objectives. Nevertheless, other curriculum definitions of subjects, as well as higher education's preference for correlations with "academic disciplines," are accommodated in UMAP. More granular "subject/keyword descriptions" related to the intellectual content of media items are handled by the metadata fields clustered under the content class KEYWORDS.

The metadata elements clustered under KEYWORD DESCRIPTIONS are an aggregation of descriptors that identify people, places, things, activities, and time/date/year associations, using established picklists and authorities for recommended words, phrases, and values where possible. KEYWORD DESCRIPTIONS is intended to collect under a single "umbrella" summary field all the relevant, searchable field topics and names (similar to the way in which end users "Google" online resources).

The metadata elements clustered under TITLES identify given, supplied, and alternative titles for media items, as well as the type of title being assigned and its unique media identifier. Included under TITLES is a Contextual Title which helps identify the hierarchical context in which a media item exists; the Contextual Titles also alphabetize search results nicely as they identify the components of a title statement from the largest context down to the smallest context.

The metadata elements clustered under Relationships identify media items of similar intellectual content to the asset management record currently being browsed. Related media items fall into four groups:
1. Suggested Related Media
2. Is part of (parent relationship)
3. Is related to these parts (sibling relationship)
4. Has these parts (child relationship)

In each case, the four related groups exist as "Container" fields in Telescope. Only items and records internal to Telescope can be added to a Container Field. A related media item that is physically held external to Telescope cannot be added to a Container Field...but the record describing the external, physical media item could be. If it cannot, then the search that is conducted by the end user in order to discover media items on a certain subject will result in a list of externally held, physical media items.

If a media item is simply a different file format of exactly the same content as another media item, then, according to Telescope protocols, the assets are considered "renditions" of the same metadata record. For example, a transcript in PDF form is another rendition of a video clip.

The metadata elements clustered under TECHNICAL: MEDIA TYPES, MANIFESTATIONS, RENDITIONS, LOCATIONS & IDS provide both formal and informal designations for the technical manifestations (or instantiations) in which a media item exists.

The metadata elements clustered under the Utilization group describe how a media item is best suited for a particular audience or age range in a learning or training setting. The media item thus becomes more than a file; it becomes a "learning object" that has an application within a specific learning context, with a degree of appropriateness and suitability for an audience.

Some of the descriptors found under Utilitization are the components typically included in a "lesson plan" developed to teach a specific subject or topic, to a particular audience, with certain classroom or venue prescriptions and proscriptions.

These metadata elements are partially based on the IMS Global Learning Consortium Meta-data Best Practice Guide for IEEE 1484.12.1-2002, Learning Object Metadata Standard: LOMV1.0 Base Schema + Extensions and the Public Broadcasting Metadata Dictionary Project (PBCore). In UMAP2, however, the number and extent of Utilization metadata elements has been reduced from the IEEE-LOM recommendations. The pedagogic descriptions are simply not used or referenced by educators looking for content to teach within their classrooms. Rather, educators search, evaluate and retrieve learning objects and media based on Utah's state core curriculum guidelines, subjects, courses, and objectives (that are identified in the content class "Subjects" under the metadata element usoe_k12_subject_areas.

The metadata elements clustered under Accessibility Options include the need or preference for alternative presentations of media items, alternative methods of controlling the presentation or playback of media itmes, alternative equivalents to the items themselves and enhancements or supports required by the user. Examples include DVI (Descriptive Video Information), SAP (Supplementary Audio Program), ClosedCaptions, OpenCaptions, Subtitles, Language Dubs, and Transcripts. The WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) is working with the IMS Global Learning Consortium to publish a specification: Accessibility for Learner Information Package (LIP). This specification and metadata schema is intended to address user needs and preferences for alternative presentations of content found in a media item.
NCAM WGBH <http://ncam.wgbh.org/news/pr_20030430.html>
IMS GLOBAL <http://www.imsglobal.org/accessibility/>

The metadata elements clustered under Rights and Use Restrictions group together the intellectual property rights and conditions of use for a media item. In many circumstances, the information that is gathered and reported under rights and use restrictions only tracks data about the rights holder and about how the end user can use or repurpose a media item or piece of content.

However, the UEN Digital Media Service desires to more aggresively manage the various rights restrictions and obligations which are attached to the media items they obtain, either themselves or through licensees and external vendors. Consequently, several dozen metadata fields have been distilled from an open source digital rights initiative supported by the W3C and folded into UMAP. Most of this information is valuable for its searchability by UEN DMS administrators and its incorporation into Telescope functional rules that bind dates and rights to specific audiences under time periods of use or termination.

The metadata elements clustered under LifeCycle group the features related to the history and current state of a media item and those who have affected this media item during its evolution.

The types of data that should be included in the LifeCycle group are:
1. Version: the edition of the learning object
2. Status: the completion status or condition of this learning object (draft, final, revised, unavailable). NOTE: eMedia uses 011: vw_workflow_status to represent the status of media items as they move into the DAM system.
3. Contribute: those entities (i.e., people, organizations) that have contributed to the state of this learning object during its life cycle (e.g., creation, edits, publication). Subcategories may include Roles, Entity Contacts, and Dates).

The metadata elements clustered under Meta-Metadata group information about the metadata instance itself (rather than the media item that the metadata instance describes). This category describes how the metadata instance can be identified, who created this metadata instance, how, when, and with what authorities, systems, and references. The language of the metadata records may also be identified.

NOTE: Meta-Metadata elements are not implemented within UMAP.

The metadata elements clustered under vCard identify the names of people, companies, institutions and entities, along with their contact information. It is a digital address book that conforms to vCard protocols with discrete, individual metadata fields for each piece of contact information related to an entry. With the Unique ID for a vCard entry acting as a database keyfield, then all companion contact information can be shared between database tables.
NOTE: Until the UEN DMS services reaches a greater critical mass, we will not engage a vCard relational table at this time.

The metadata elements clustered under Telescope Video Manager separate out the objective metadata that is automatically assigned to media items ingested through the Telescope Video Manager system and communicated with the North Plains Telescope DAM System. Indicators of status and completion in the overall workflow are also grouped in this Content Class.