The Metadata Working Group ensures software can be discovered, described, shared, and reused across institutions. Metadata is essential to long-term preservation, and this group supports practical, consistent approaches to documenting software. Key outputs include the Software Metadata Recommended Format Guide (SMRF), which helps organizations build local strategies grounded in community best practices.
Overview
The group is currently entering a new phase. With the original cohort stepping down, SPN is seeking new members to help shape the group’s next direction and leadership. This is an exciting opportunity to influence the future of metadata work in the software preservation field through the following activities:
- Maintain and Advance the SMRF Guide: Update and expand the Software Metadata Recommended Format Guide to reflect emerging needs, technologies, and use cases in the software preservation community.
- Develop Training and Outreach: Support the design and delivery of educational materials that help institutions implement and adapt consistent metadata practices, regardless of their size or technical capacity.
- Address Emerging Metadata Challenges: Explore complex metadata topics—like documenting software dependencies, using controlled vocabularies, or improving interoperability across systems—and help define shared approaches to these issues.
- Facilitate Community Collaboration: Lead working sessions, contribute to documentation, and test new strategies for describing software artifacts across a range of institutional contexts.
- Build a Shared Metadata Foundation: Strengthen the discoverability, accessibility, and long-term usability of software collections by supporting practical, sustainable, and widely adoptable metadata practices.
The Metadata Working Group is a collaborative space for experimentation, learning, and leadership. Whether you’re interested in shaping tools, refining standards, or supporting education, this group offers a meaningful way to advance software preservation across the field.
How You Might Engage
The Metadata Working Group welcomes anyone passionate about improving how we describe, contextualize, and sustain access to software. If you’re interested in creating and refining metadata standards, tools, or practices, there’s a place for you here. Get involved in the following ways:
Shape the Future of Metadata Work: Join a group in transition and help define the MWG’s next major project, informed by your expertise and community needs.
Promote Best Practices: Contribute to the ongoing refinement and promotion of SMRF and other community-aligned resources.
Lead Training and Outreach: Help educate others on metadata strategies that improve the accessibility and sustainability of software collections.
Collaborate on Practical Solutions: Bring a practitioner mindset to solve real-world challenges alongside colleagues committed to scalable, effective metadata practices.
If you’re excited about ensuring software is discoverable, usable, and well-documented into the future, we invite you to bring your voice to the Metadata Working Group.
Resources
Software Metadata Recommended Format Guide (SMRF)
Abstract The Software Metadata Recommended Format Guide (SMRF) summarizes and defines the metadata elements recommended by the Software Preservation Network to describe software materials in the context of a wide range of collections. It aims to be adaptable, so that …Continue Software Metadata Recommended Format Guide (SMRF)
Reports, Resources
If you’re passionate about making software preservation more feasible and sustainable through legal and policy work, we encourage you to join the MetaData Working Group and help shape the future of this critical area.