Project description

Metadata quality is a decisive factor for the function and acceptance of a comprehensive service like the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (German Digital Library – DDB). On the one side, there are the end-users of the DDB portal, for whom one of the main criteria of use is the ease with which objects in the DDB can be found. The quality of the metadata in the search index has a significant impact on the finding and selection of relevant objects.

On the other side, there are users who wish to use the data provided by the DDB through programming interfaces (API) in various contexts and applications. High-quality metadata makes it easier for them to select the data relevant to a specific application (metadata and objects) and to process the data in accordance with the application’s requirements.

Metadata quality is also invariably bound to a purpose and/or a specific type of user behaviour. Furthermore, data quality requirements are subject to frequent change due to the ongoing development of search engines and search engine technology. The core requirement – which by definition applies equally to most usage scenarios – is that the metadata must facilitate fast, reliable searches of the collection. The metadata accordingly has to fulfil certain requirements such as completeness, precision, logical consistency and contexts, accessibility, currency and provenance.

Various measures are taken to improve metadata quality in the long term: advisory and educational services relating to analytical and reporting tools, improvements in relevant cataloguing systems and all processing steps. Here, it is precisely the many manual steps that offer starting points for improvement and a higher degree of automation combined with greater standardization. Due consideration must therefore be given not only to the metadata itself but also to the processes. This being the case, the following fields of action have been identified: improving metadata quality, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of metadata processing, standardisation, and public relations work.

Project framework

Funding body

Minister of State for Culture and the Media

Partners

• Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (DDB)
• German National Library (DNB)

Duration

June 2020 until June 2022

Contact

c.berta@dnb.de