# Introduction

This guide is for users of CARARE's [MINT tool](http://mint-projects.image.ntua.gr/cararedsi/) and the version of MINT customized for CARARE by the team at the National Technical University of Athens. Users of the tool can map their metadata to the CARARE schema, EDM or LIDO and to test different data modeling or schemas approaches. MINT can be used to harvest, map and transform metadata for publication to the CARARE Repox aggregator, or to help to define an export format for metadata harvesting. Once a mapping has been completed it can be exported as an XSL file and used on a local system, or it can be used on MINT to transform and publish the data to Repox Flow CARARE's Aggregator platform. 

MINT is a metadata mapping tool, which you can use to prepare a mapping between the elements in your metadata and one of the standard schemas.  CARARE's version of MINT allows for mappings to  the tool can map their metadata to the CARARE schema, to EDM or to LIDO.  This means that you can test different approaches and work with the schema that is most familiar to you.  

Using MINT you can upload or harvest your metadata, prepare a mapping and transform your metadata for publication to Repox Flow.  You can also use MINT to help to define an export format from your own system. Once a mapping has been completed it can be exported as an XSL file and used on a local system, or it can be used on MINT to transform and publish the data to Repox Flow. 

This document provides an introduction to CARARE's version of the MINT mapping tool and the four main steps: 

1\. Registration \
2\. Importing metadata \
3\. Metadata mapping \
4\. Transforming and publishing your dataset


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