M a d i • W e l a n d • S o l o m o n
L o n d o n N 6 U K
madi@taxonomysociety.com
Skills
taxonomies • ontologies • controlled vocabularies • semantic interoperability
metadata standards • project management • policy and standards • presentation and training
Professional History
PEARSON • London, UK August 2008
Director, Content Standards
CONSULTANT • London, UK 2007 – 2008
Metadata and taxonomy consultant specializing in descriptive metadata for rich media.
THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY • Burbank, California 2002 - 2006
New Technology & New Media
Corporate Nomenclature Taxonomist
Lead efforts in a comprehensive strategy for semantic interoperability and digital media preservation
through the use of metadata standards, nomenclature and taxonomies. Developed core metadata and
moving image specific standards, established cataloging best practices; maintained a corporate
taxonomy for entertainment media; established controlled vocabularies; constructed a Disney ontology.
Member of the Media Technology Board MAM Working Group; Chair of the Standards & Policies
Taskforce; Chair of the Nomenclature Forum.
THE GETTY CENTER • Los Angeles, California
Information/Research Institute
• Project Associate, Network Initiatives, Standards and Research 1998 – 1999
Supported efforts for the exchange of cultural information through the use of technology
and vocabulary standards; promoted the Getty Vocabularies (the Art & Architecture Thesaurus [AAT],
Union List of Artists’ Names [ULAN], and the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names [TGN]).
• Project Management Assistant, The Digital Experience 1997 – 1998
Manager of an interactive exhibition in the Getty Museum for the inaugural opening of the Getty Center.
The Digital Experience, an exhibition of thirteen laptop computers with T1 connections to the internet,
provided hands on training in research and navigational techniques to museum goers interested in
accessing global cultural information. Managed a staff of three employees and twenty-seven museum
volunteers.
THE ELI BROAD ART FOUNDATION • Santa Monica, California 1990 - 1997
Curatorial Assistant
Provided curatorial support for three contemporary art collections: The Eli Broad Art Foundation; The Eli
and Edythe L. Broad Collection; The Sun America/Kaufman & Broad Corporate Collection.
ARTTABLE, INC. • Los Angeles, California 1991 - 1994
Event Coordinator
Part-time administrator for professional organization of women in the arts.
ACTOR • New York, New York 1983 - 1990
SAG, EQUITY. Credits include off Broadway, primetime television series, classical regional theater.
Details on request.
Education
BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS
Boston University • College of Fine Arts
Affiliations
- FOCAL International 2007
- Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE)
- W25 (metadata and wrapper technology) Working Group 2006 -
- Women in Technology International, 2005 -
- Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies (PREMIS), 2004 - 2006
- Moving Image Collections (MIC), Cataloging and Metadata Working Group, 2003 -
- Association for Moving Image Archivists (AMIA), Co-Chair, Digital Initiatives Metadata
Subcommittee, 2002 -
- Visual Resources Association (VRA), 2002 - 2005
- Center for Peace through Culture, Board, 2002 - 2005
- Fellows of Contemporary Art, Board, 1998 - 1999
- Museum Computer Network, 1995 - 2000
- Los Angeles Culture Net, 1996 –1999
Recent Speaking & Conference Engagements
The HS Digital Asset Management and Marketing Operations Symposium
- Metadata and Taxonomy: an A-Z Guide
- The Practicalities of Effective Enterprise Metadata and Taxonomies Standards, Governance and IP Protection
The Essentials of Metadata and Taxonomy: a one-day conference
Conference Chair
March 10, 2008: London, England
The European Media Wrapper Round Table 2
Taxonomy & Semantics
October 25, 2007: Paris, France
London Media Summit
Panel: Is Digital Rights Management the
spoilsport of the media playground?
November 16, 2007, London
BBC Future Technology/Information Architecture
What is FRBR?
London, November 7, 2007
Henry Stewart DAM/MOM Symposium
November 12 & 13, 2007
Los Angeles, California
* Smackdown – Taxonomist vs. Developer: When to compromise, when to go to the mat; a
point/counterpoint session on priorities and compromises in DAM
* Executive Roundtable: Industry Standards - When to Use them
FIAT/IFTA Conference 2007
Issues, Dilemmas, and Inspiration in Metadata and Media Asset Management
Oct 14, 2007, Lisbon, Portugal
The European Media Wrapper Round Table II
Taxonomy and Semantics
October 25, 2007, Paris, France
IBC Conference 2007
Archive Solutions
September 7, 2007, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) and Moving Image Collections (MIC),
Moving Image Metadata and Cataloging Workshop,
May 2007, New York University, NYC,
Henry Stewart Digital DAM & MOM Symposiums
• The Search for Meaning in DAM, London, June 2006
• The Rise of the Librarian in DAM, Los Angeles, CA, November 2005, and New York City, March
2006
• Creating, Using and Maintaining a Corporate Taxonomy and Metadata Standard: Disney Case
Study, New York City, May 2005
• Fundamental Approaches to Media Interoperability: Applying Nomenclature Methods in a Media &
Entertainment Company, Los Angeles, 2003
Semantic Technology Conference 2006
The Search for Meaning: A Taxonomist’s Ontological Journey
March 2006, San Jose, CA
Visual Resources Association (VRA) Southern California Chapter
Disney’s Metatopia: Applying Museum Standards in a Media & Entertainment Company
2005, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles,
Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE)
Technical Conference and Exhibition
Getting the Word Out: Media Interoperability and Semantic Confluence
2004, Pasadena, CA
Seybold Conference 2004
Panel: Taxonomies I: Using Taxonomies in Content Workflows, moderated by Bill Rosenblatt. San
Francisco, 2004
