5.1: The Enrich View

Use the "Enrich" view to assign metadata to the documents in the collection. Metadata is data about data -- typically title, author, creation date, and so on. Each metadata item has two parts: "Element" tells what kind of item it is (such as author), and "Value" gives the value of that metadata element (such as the author's name).

On the left of the "Enrich" view is the Collection Tree. All the right-click functionality that was available for the Collection Tree in the "Gather" view is available here too. To the right is the Metadata Table, which shows metadata for any selected files or folders in the Collection Tree. Columns are named in black at the top, and can be resized by dragging the separating line. If several files or folders are selected, black text indicates that the value is common to all of the selected items, while grey text indicates that it is not. Editing grey values will only affect those documents with that metadata. Any new metadata values entered will be added to all selected items.

A folder icon may appear beside some metadata entries. This indicates that the values are inherited from a parent (or ancestor) folder. Inherited metadata cannot be edited or removed, only appended to. Click on the folder icon to go immediately to the folder where the metadata is assigned.

Clicking on a metadata element in the table will display the existing values for that element in the "Existing values for ..." area below the table. This "Value Tree" expands and collapses. Usually it is a list that shows all values entered previously for the selected element. Clicking an entry automatically places it into the value field. Conversely, typing in the value field selects the Value Tree entry that starts with the characters you have typed. Pressing [Tab] auto-completes the typing with the selected value.

Metadata values can be organized into a hierarchy. This is shown in the Value Tree using folders for internal levels. Hierarchical values can be entered using the character "|" to separate the levels. For example, "Cards|Red|Diamonds|Seven" might be used in a hierarchy that represents a pack of playing cards. This enables values to be grouped together. Groups can also be assigned as metadata to files.

Greenstone extracts metadata automatically from documents into a metadata set whose elements are prefixed by "ex.". This has no value tree and cannot be edited.