Something (e.g., an image, an audio recording, a text document) that has been digitally encoded and integrated with metadata to support discovery, use, and storage of those objects. ¶ It should be noted that there is an important distinction between

Something (e.g., an image, an audio recording, a text document) that has been digitally encoded and integrated with metadata to support discovery, use, and storage of those objects. ¶ It should be noted that there is an important distinction between digital objects (e.g., an encoded text document or a digitized image) and the digital collections (e.g., the Online Archive of California) to which they belong. The distinction between digital objects and digital collections is analogous to the distinction between a collection of works by Arthur Conan Doyle and a particular copy of the Hound of the Baskervilles. Continuing the analogy, this document would describe standards for the description, structure and content of the digital Hound. This document, however, would be silent on how to represent the fact that A Study in Scarlet was also part of the collection.