Int. J. Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2020 81 Copyright © 2020 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. The future of interlinked, interoperable and scalable metadata Getaneh Alemu* Solent University Library, East Park Terrace, SO14 0YN, Southampton, UK Email: getaneh.alemu@solent.ac.uk *Corresponding author Emmanouel Garoufallou Department of Library Science, Archives and Information Systems, School of Social Sciences, International Hellenic University, P.O. BOX 141, GR-57400, Thessaloniki, Greece Email: mgarou@libd.teithe.gr Email: garoufallou@gmail.com Abstract: With the growing diversity of information resources the emphasis on data-centric applications such as big data, metadata, semantics and ontologies has become central. This editorial paper presents a summary of recent developments in metadata, semantics and ontologies – focusing in particular on metadata enriching, linking and interoperability. National libraries and archives are devising new bibliographic models and metadata presentation formats. Bibliographic metadata sets are being made available using these new data formats such as RDF. The new formats are aiming to represent data in granular structures and define unique identification protocols such as URIs. The paper concludes by introducing the five papers included in the special issue. The papers in this special issue present novel approaches to metadata integration, interoperability frameworks, re-use of metadata ontologies and methods of metadata quality analysis. Keywords: Linked Data; open data; metadata models; enriched metadata; interoperability; metadata framework; future of metadata; metadata exchange. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Alemu, G. and Garoufallou, E. (2020) ‘The future of interlinked, interoperable and scalable metadata’, Int. J. Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp.81–87. Biographical notes: Getaneh Alemu is a Cataloguing & Metadata Librarian at Solent University, UK. He is a library and information professional with academic, research and practical work experiences in digital libraries, metadata, Linked Data, Web 2.0, digital preservation and open access. He previously worked as head university librarian and lecturer of computer science courses (Ethiopia); worked in European Commission funded research project for digital preservation (Portsmouth); researched and published peer-reviewed articles on overarching topics including the integration of digital libraries and VLEs, benefits of Linked Data for libraries, the social space of metadata (Web 2.0), preservation metadata for emulation, semantic metadata interoperability and the role of open access in scholarly communication. Emmanouel Garoufallou is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Library Science, Archives and Information Systems, School of Social Sciences at the International Hellenic University (IHU), Greece. He serves as General Chair of the MTSR (Metadata and Semantics Research) Conference. He has published extensively and appears in more than 120 publications and presentations. He edited seven MTSR Proceedings that have been published by the Springer’s CCIS (Communications in Computer and Information Science) Series. He currently serves as ‘Area Editor - Open and social data: data sharing’ of the journal Data Technologies and Applications, and as Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies. He served as Deputy Head & Division Leader at the Department, as Institutional Coordinator & Project Manager of the University Libraries, and as Director (currently deputy director) of the Master’s Program “Information Management in the Digital Environment” at IHU. He served as Vice-Chairman of the HEAL-Link, the Hellenic Academic Libraries Link and Consortium. He holds a Master’s degree in Library and Information Management from Northumbria University and a PhD in Digital Libraries from Manchester Metropolitan University in UK.