Bazaar Style Metadata in the Age of the Web - An 'Open Source' Approach to Metadata Development

The aim of this paper is to discuss metadata standards and metadata development in the light of this communication perspective. We will also explore the consequences of the move to Internet and the Web as the dominant communication and dissemination medium for statistical information. Our assumption is (following the ideas of Marshall McLuhan) that the introduction of a new communication medium like the Web has an impact far beyond the structuring and packaging of content. New technology changes the very models of communication and creates new methods and patterns of collaboration. In the final section of the paper we are using one of the most interesting models of co-operation rooted in the Web-revolution - the open-source software development movement - to challenge our traditional monolithic view on metadata development as well as metadata standards.