Using educational metadata in a learning repository that supports lifelong learning needs of rural SMEs

ICT can be a potential solution in order to cover agricultural professionals' lifelong learning needs. An application area of particular interest is the one of digital learning repositories (DLRs). These are online databases where digital learning resources are systematically organised and classified. In such repositories, educational metadata play an important role since they allow the description and categorisation of learning resources using widely-accepted, interoperable and reusable metadata specifications and standards. In this paper, we study the design of appropriate educational metadata for a DLR that aims to support vocational training of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in rural areas. For this purpose, a specialisation of the IEEE Learning Object Metadata (LOM) standard is introduced. The work presented in this paper is expected to provide useful insight into the use of metadata for researchers, managers and developers of learning repositories that aim to support rural development.