Designing Metadata to Meet User Needs for Special Collections

Allison Jai O’Dell

Image: Special Collections Reading Room, Library East, University of Florida, Gainesvillehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UFHistoricBuildingSmathersLibraryEastInteriorSpecialCollectionsRoom.JPG#/media/File:UFHistoricBuildingSmathersLibraryEastInteriorSpecialCollectionsRoom.JPG

What do users need?(the question that answers all the other questions)

Schaffner’s synthesis of user studies• Users search by subjects and keywords• Users expect results ranked by relevance• Users expect comprehensive coverage• Users know how to scan and scroll• Users lack awareness about collections

Schaffner, The Metadata is the Interface. http://www.oclc.org/programs/publications/reports/2009-06.pdf

Users search by subjects & keywordsLet’s buff up subject and keyword access!

Better Indexing• Appropriate hierarchies & subdivisions

match the granularity of user searches and browses

• User-supplied “tags”added value

show how users want to access and organize library resources;

data that libraries can use to inform better metadata and services

• Control (and publish!) local vocabularies• URIs

Things, not Strings

Abstracting• Support keyword access• Provide context• Let users know:

What it featuresWhat it isWhat it can be used for

Topic Modeling• Cluster related subjects together

ID collection strengths (“shop your closet”)

Let users surf related things

• Lets us get away with iffy dataDoes not require that every item in a subject area has the exact same heading

Users expect results ranked by relevanceLet’s support appropriate results!

Relevancy Ranking• Based on: where the search term appears

Subject headings TitleAbstracts Author-supplied keywordsFull text

• Based on: what it isCurrent publication Peer-reviewedType of material Length of material

… We can do better

Semantic SearchSemantic search technology relates user search queries to their probable intent, thereby offering more relevant results. This technology is built on a combination of understanding humans (e.g., natural language processing, concept matching) and understanding data (e.g., easily-parsed, uses URIs).

Understandable DataLinked Data = Data that machines understand

• BIBFRAME• Microformats

Schema.orgBib Extend

Users expect comprehensive coverageLet’s describe all the things!

Aggregate Description• Collection records in catalog• Finding aids• Landing pages• Subject guides

Greene & Meissner, More Product, Less Processhttp://www.uiowa.edu/~c024120/Readings/Greene-Meissner.pdf

Iterative Description• Content upgrades • Cooperative description• User-supplied content• Links to external resources• Ingest external data

Ascher, Progressing toward Bibliographyhttp://rbm.acrl.org/content/10/2/95.full.pdf

Users know how to scan and scrollLet’s support browsing!

Arrangement• Classification & call numbers• Shelflists• Series• Controlled access points

Subject & genre headingsCreators & other names

Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs)Controlled access points … For the interwebs!

• Connect library collections

• Let users surf library resources alongside the Web

Guided SearchOrientation, Inspiration & Interpretation• Subject guides• Saved searches • Bibliographies • Pathfinders• Visualization

Visualization

Users lack awareness about collectionsLet’s put collections in their face;Let’s get the metadata out there!

Put Your Metadata Other Places

Let Folks Access Your Metadata• OAI-PMH & OAIster• APIs• SPARQL endpoints• Data dumps• Export options

• Linked Data: expose data to the Web• URIs: create links between library metadata & other resources

Create Shareable Metadata• Content is optimized for sharing• Metadata … reflects consistent practices• Metadata is coherent• Context is provided• The metadata provider communicates with aggregators • Metadata and sharing mechanisms conform to standards

Shreeves, Riley, and Milewicz, Moving Towards Shareable Metadata.http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1386/1304

More ConsiderationsInternationalization• Use clear, concise language

• Cultural relevance

• Character encoding

Policy• Explicit CC license

• Own the data you share

Thank you!@AllisonJaiODell | ajodell@gmail.com