Hannah Tarver

This paper outlines iterative steps involved in metadata improvement within a digital library: Evaluate, Prioritize, Identify, and Correct (EPIC). The process involves evaluating metadata values system-wide to identify errors; prioritizing errors according to local criteria; identifying records containing a particular error; and correcting individual records to eliminate the error. Based on the experiences at the University of North Texas (UNT) Libraries, we propose that these cyclical steps can serve as a model for organizations that are planning and conducting metadata quality assessment.

The quality of metadata greatly impacts access to information resources, affecting both precision and recall of the search results. Metadata quality assurance is especially important for unique materials that are not widely available outside of the specialized digital repositories that provide access to them. One example of such unique and valuable materials is digitized historical patents. This paper describes a case study of the metadata management for a digital collection of U.S. patents issued in the 19^th‐early 20^th centuries, discusses the results of the evaluation of metadata change intended to support the metadata quality assurance for this collection and presents plans for further research. We expect the study to make a contribution to understanding of metadata management and metadata quality assurance and the role of metadata change in these processes.

Authors in the library science field disagree about the importance of using costly resources to create local metadata records, particularly for scholarly materials that have full-text search alternatives. At the University of North Texas (UNT) Libraries, we decided to test this concept by answering the question: What percentage of search terms retrieved results based on full-text versus metadata values for items in the UNT Scholarly Works institutional repository? The analysis matched search query logs to indexes of the metadata records and full text of the items in the collection. Results show the distribution of item discoveries that were based on metadata exclusively, on full text exclusively, and on the combination of both. This paper describes in detail the methods and findings of this study.

Considering the value of dates in the life cycle of the digital resource, capturing and storing dates metadata in a structured way can have a significant impact on information retrieval. There are a number of format conventions in common use for encoding the date and time values; the Extended Date/Time Format (EDTF) is one of the most expressive. This paper presents results of an exploratory analysis of representation of dates in over 8 million metadata records from one of the largest digital aggregators, Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), and compares it to EDTF specifications. This benchmark study provides empirical data – at both the individual provider level and the group level (content hubs or service hubs) – about the overall level and patterns of application of date metadata in DPLA metadata records in relation to EDTF.

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to develop and evaluate a workflow for establishing name authority in uncontrolled collections. Design/methodology/approach: – The authors developed a workflow incorporating command-line tools and tested it in the electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) collection. The authors narrowed the scope of the study to born-digital ETDs in the collection and to contributor names, including chairs and committee members. Findings: – This workflow can save staff time and allows for flexible implementation depending on staff numbers and skills as well as institutional needs. Originality/value: – This workflow could be used by other institutions with little or no modification, as it does not rely on specialized software or extensive expertise.