Metadata services from SF Media Data Systems

Work

What we do with your media metadata

Metadata schema design

You get a schema built around your material, covering fields, controlled vocabularies and rules for what must be entered before an asset can be published.

Migration and clean-up

We move records out of spreadsheets, older databases and handover folders, tidy duplicates and standardise formats so everything sits in one coherent structure.

Search and discovery setup

We configure how your team and your audience find material, tuning filters, faceting and free-text search so a known item turns up in a few clicks.

Reporting and catalogue health checks

We produce regular reports on completion rates, gaps and errors, so you can see which parts of the collection need attention before they become a problem.

Process

How an engagement with us runs

An initial conversation

You tell us about your collection, your team and the deadline you are working towards, and we say plainly whether we are the right people to help.

A scoping review

We ask for sample records, spreadsheets or read-only access so we can size the job properly and flag the awkward parts before anyone commits.

Delivery and handover

We do the work in agreed stages, review each one with you, then hand over documentation and training so your team can keep the system running.

How long does a typical metadata project take?

A small single-collection clean-up can be done in two to three weeks. Larger migrations with custom schemas usually run six to twelve weeks, depending on how much source material needs reviewing and how quickly your team can sign off decisions.

Do you need access to our servers or archive?

For a scoping review, read-only access or a sample export is enough. During delivery we normally work on a copy of the data in our own environment, and we agree in writing what we can see and what we do with it.

Can you work with the spreadsheet we already use?

Yes. Spreadsheets are a common starting point, and we will map your existing columns to a proper schema rather than asking you to start from scratch. We will also flag which of those columns are worth keeping and which have become unreliable.

What happens to our data when the project ends?

Your data is returned in the agreed format, along with the schema documentation. Working copies held by us are deleted on a date set out in the contract, and we confirm in writing once that has happened.

Do you charge a fixed fee or by the hour?

Most work is quoted as a fixed price once scoping is complete, so you know the cost before we start. If the scope genuinely changes mid-project, we agree the variation with you before doing any further work.

Can you train our team to keep the metadata tidy afterwards?

Yes, and we would rather do that than leave you dependent on us. Handover includes written documentation and a practical session covering the entry rules, the quality checks you should run and who to contact when something looks wrong.