Workbook on Digital Private Papers > Administrative and preservation metadata > Preservation metadata
Preservation metadata
Assessing the use of PREMIS semantic units and PREMIS XML schemas in the preservation of personal archives
The next portion of this chapter explores the semantic units defined by the PREMIS Data Dictionary in a personal archives context and outlines the beginnings of an application profile for personal digital archives. Paradigm decided to use the Object, Agent, Event and Rights XML schemas so that PREMIS metadata could be added to METS files alongside other metadata needed for digital objects in the preservation repository. Paradigm opted not to use the PREMIS container schema, as METS provides adequate metadata packaging. More information about using METS as an Archival Information Package can be found further on in this chapter.
Some PREMIS semantic units are containers that simply group together lower-level semantic components containing data. In order to make the hierarchical structure of semantic units clearer, a hierarchical number is assigned to each unit. For each semantic unit, information about: its usage (whether optional, mandatory, etc.); whether or not it is repeatable; and whether the unit requires a controlled vocabulary is available in the PREMIS Data Dictionary.
