Using PREMIS with METS

Introduction

The Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS) allows for the use of externally developed metadata schemesto be used in its two defined metadata sections, <dmdSec> and <amdSec>. METS itself is agnostic concerning the descriptive or administrative metadata schemes that its implementers choose to use, although some community based standards are recognized by the METS board. PREMIS has been registered as a recognized metadata scheme to be used as administrative metadata with METS. The PREMIS schema was designed to be implementation neutral, and, because of the flexibility of METS, some decisions need to be made about how to use PREMIS with METS. Issues include which METS sections to use for which of the four PREMIS root elements (object, event, agent, rights), how many of those sections to use, whether to use the PREMIS containter (the root element premis), how to incorporate format specific metadata with PREMIS, and how to deal with redundancies between METS structures and PREMIS elements. Guidelines were developed and made available in 2009 as a joint effort between the METS and PREMIS communities. The PREMIS Editorial Committee revised these guidelines following the release of PREMIS version 3.0. Both sets of guidelines (those from 2009 and the revised 2017 guidelines are available on the PREMIS web site). In addition examples of using PREMIS with METS are available at http://lcnetdev.github.io/standards/premis/examples.html.

METS Profiles that specify use of PREMIS

METS Profiles are intended to describe a class of METS documents in sufficient detail to provide both document authors and programmers the guidance they require to create and process METS documents conforming with a particular profile. The METS Editorial Board approved application profiles and they are registered with the Library of Congress. Many include the use of PREMIS as an extension schema. For further information, please see individual METS application profiles.

Useful Links for PREMIS with METS

2008 Guidelines for PREMIS with METS (PDF, 127 KB)
2017 Guidelines for PREMIS with METS (PDF, 33 KB)
2010 Checklist for Documenting PREMIS-METS Decisions (PDF, 312 KB)