Abstract

This study aims to design a metadata schema for the integrated management of adoption records, supporting adoptees’ rights to access information and establish identity. Adoption records are complex, involving multiple entities such as birth parents, adoptive parents, and adoptees, as well as diverse events and document types. Existing single-entity metadata structures are insufficient to capture these relationships and contexts. To address this, the study introduces a multi-entity model to ensure authenticity, integrity, accessibility, and reliability. A four-step procedure is used. First, a semi-structured group interview is conducted with two practitioners managing adoption records in public institutions to understand practical metadata needs. Second, metadata elements from the National Center for the Rights of the Child’s projects (2019-2022) are analyzed by year and record type. Third, 94 legal and manual-based adoption forms are reviewed to extract legally grounded metadata elements. Fourth, domestic and international metadata standards are compared and mapped to identify common and unique elements. Based on these steps, the study proposes a draft metadata schema based on a multi-entity model, capable of representing actor- and event-specific relationships. This schema lays the foundation for a trustworthy recordkeeping system that supports adoptee rights and reflects the legal and social context of adoption records.