August 2, 2005
Interactive Fiction Metadata
Because sometimes the scheme that works for baf’s guide is not enough: M.D. Dollahite offers IFMES (Interactive Fiction Metadata Element Set), derived from the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set, and invites comments on this proposal. The plan is to use this system to create a Mozilla-based IF organizer application, one that is already in development and sounds similar to the “iFiction” front-end that Andrew Hunter’s Zoom interpreter provides on the Mac. For compatibility with the Semantic Web and to foster the re-use of work, Dollahite has offered this proposal for an open metadata standard, rather than just making up something ad hoc to suit a particular program.
The Electronic Literature Organization’s ELD (Electronic Literature Directory) has dealt with some questions of appropriate metadata for IF and other e-lit, but integration with an organizer application (potentially more than one) and integration with the Semantic Web makes certain questions more immediate and may lead to clearer answers. In addition to helping users sort their IF, IFMES also might provide a good example of how to use the Dublin Core to structure metadata about other sorts of e-lit. But any metadata experts in the house should certainly chime in, after taking a look at the proposal.