Impact of User-driven and User-generated Metadata
Impact of User-driven and User-generated Metadata in Libraries: An Annotated Bibliography by Jessie A. Abraham
Alemu, G., Stevens, B., & Ross, P. (2012). Towards a conceptual framework for user-driven semantic metadata interoperability in digital libraries. New Library World, 113(1), 38-54. doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/10.1108/03074801211199031
Modern metadata standards, such as MARC, Dublin Core, Library of Congress classification and LC Subject Headings are criticized for failing to consider the diversity of cultural, language and local perspectives in library users. The problem can partly be attributed to an absence of theoretical and conceptual metadata frameworks that serve as a basis for a better understanding as to the use of Web 2.0 services. (Alemu, Stevens, & Ross, 2012). In this study, the authors propose that libraries and institutions that are archiving information objects that require enriched metadata should implement a social constructivist approach. Researchers argue that libraries should embrace collaborative metadata approaches to reflect the diversity of views and perspectives that can be held by their users. The study inevitably found that the ability for institutions to provide continuous access to information and make sense of the information accessed by users is the main challenge in today’s digital libraries. In addition, in order to address potential issues of metadata inoperability and considering the variety of digital libraries, collections and user needs, a social constructivist approach would have the potential to be successful.
Alemu, G., Stevens, B., Ross, P., & Chandler, J. (2012). The social space of metadata: Perspectives of LIS academics and postgraduates on standards-based and socially constructed metadata approaches. Journal of Library Metadata, 12(4), 311-344. doi:10.1080/19386389.2012.735523
With the arrival of social media and Web 2.0 technologies, there are new opportunities for libraries to expand contemporary metadata standards with the social space of metadata. This study suggests conventional library metadata standards are limited in their ability to organize and make digital content accessible and findable for the diverse group of digital library users. (Alemu, Stevens, Ross, & Chandler, 2012). The suggested use of the discussed model in this study provides users of libraries with user-friendly, flexible, collaborative, and personalized tools to proactively tag, rate, link, review, comment, highlight, and recommend content without the need to adhere to the restrictions of standards-based metadata approaches. However, user-generated metadata is considered to lack structure and reliability due to the absence of editorial quality controls. While metadata created by librarians using metadata standards is considered to be of higher quality due to its accuracy, completeness, and consistency. Through interviews, it is proposed that a conceptual metadata framework that includes socially constructed metadata approaches should be implemented. The social element of metadata should be considered equally important to the standardized metadata elements that have previously been used to describe the physical characteristics of information objects.
Bainbridge, D., Twidale, M. B., & Nichols, D. M. (2012). Interactive context-aware user-driven metadata correction in digital libraries. International Journal on Digital Libraries, 13(1), 17-32. doi:10.1007/s00799-012-0100-5
The inspiration for this research was finding user-generated information was producing a lack of results, specifically with names of people. The authors of this study present a system for user-driven integration of name variants when interacting with web-based information. This system particularly applies to digital libraries. In addition, the authors describe the system as orthogonal (yet complementary) to these approaches by allowing users to adapt and enhance the representation of authors across a broad range of the systems they use for information searching. (Bainbridge, Twidale, & Nichols, 2012). Certain challenges are faced when attempting a resolution to produce results through name variants. Although it might be expected that authors would have an interest in both getting their name correct and also keeping a consistent form to maximize impact, it is proposed that authors should be asked to identify variants of their name when depositing work in an institutional repository. In this study, authority data has been moved from server to client, and placed it under interactive control of the user. The system Computer Says No (CSN) relies on the judgement of the user and may only be successful with users who have some domain knowledge. With limitations, the system is still able to work with a degree of human-like fuzziness on real-life data, across numerous web-based databases without needing access to the detail of underlying data.
Hooland, S. v., Rodríguez, E. M., & Boydens, I. (2011). Between commodification and engagement: On the double-edged impact of user-generated metadata within the cultural heritage sector. Library Trends, 59(4), 707-720. doi:10.1353/lib.2011.0011
Librarians and information professionals are eager to have the ability to modify Web 2.0 applications through metadata and collection management strategies. Current research regarding the use of social web technologies for metadata creation and management is hindered by focusing too narrowly on comparing the quality of user-generated and professionally created metadata in the context of information retrieval. (Hooland, Rodríguez, & Boydens, 2011). This article challenges common opinions regarding the use of the social web by cultural heritage institutions by inclosing user-generated metadata within the larger context. This is done by analyzing the current relationship with cultural heritage of two specific types of user-generated metadata-folksonomies and user comments. New ideas are addressed regarding the potential long-term impact of the social web for cultural heritage institutions and their users. It is determined that with this being somewhat of a new phenomenon, it is too early to tell where web shifts will take place and the long-term effects.
Huang, H., & Jörgensen, C. (2013). Characterizing user tagging and co‐occurring metadata in general and specialized metadata collections. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 64(9), 1878-1889. doi:10.1002/asi.22891
Through the internet and shared digital collections, social-tagging systems have grown rapidly and tags generated by users are used to describe many different materials and formats. The authors describe tagging as becoming a popular activity and produce a large amount of additional descriptive terminology. Popular tags are sometimes referred to as “power tags”. Power tags can serve as a tool for finding people or resources within groups sharing similar interests, as well as finding items. This study moves toward understanding simple word occurrence frequencies and how they might fit in to an overall model of categorical analyses, along with users’ interests and social-tagging trends. The study found that popular tags reflect the culture of tagging, but also the social impact of collaborative social-tagging activities. The authors’ proposed image metadata usage ratio metric characterizes a term use to tag or metadata in user-generated metadata collections. This study also found that collaborative tagging could help develop interactive, efficient cross-language in museum collections.
Hulseberg, A., & Monson, S. (2011). Investigating a student-driven taxonomy for library website design. Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship, 23(4), 361-378. doi:10.1080/1941126X.2011.627806
This article discusses a case study conducted to help improve the library’s website and prompt a student-driven taxonomy for library website terminology, features, and organization. The approach is to analyze how students label, categorize, and arrange tax-oriented information on the library website. The study was conducted through focus groups, usability testing, free listing, and collaborative website design. The process of gathering student-generated data, ultimately helped the library focus their efforts toward a process that would enhance the student research process. The study also suggested that librarians and students are using similar terminology and there was not much distinction between student-driven and librarian-driven language. The study has raised many questions for future research to provide better tools for more accurate student-generated results.
Kakali, C. (2014). A utilization model of user's metadata in libraries. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 40(6), 565-573. doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2014.08.004
Knowledge organizations systems were created by experts/scientists and handled by professionals: cataloguers, indexers or classifiers who have historically created order in the universe of knowledge. (Kakali, 2014). The implementation of Web 2.0 technologies has resulted in the transformation of the information environment, especially in libraries. One of the most important library innovations is the introduction of new generation catalogs. These catalogs are enhanced with significant features such as social tagging and annotations. The purpose of these applications are used to manage library users’ personal information space and operated as a way of inserting metadata. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of social tags for subject indexing enrichment of bibliographic records. When the authors reviewed the overall process and utilization of folksonomies in information systems, they saw added value. The study demonstrated that the use of folksonomies in a library system are worth exploring and provide semantic value.
Lu, C., Park, J., & Hu, X. (2010). User tags versus expert-assigned subject terms: A comparison of LibraryThing tags and library of congress subject headings. Journal of Information Science, 36(6), 763-779. doi:10.1177/0165551510386173
This article discusses the use of user tags and examines the connections and differences with expert-assigned subject terms. The authors’ research found that combining formal classification and folksonomies could have many benefits to the library and its users by incorporating social tagging. However, due to the lack of structure, some researchers are concerned with the quality issues of social annotation. Social tagging, as a recent approach for creating metadata, has caught the attention of library and information science researchers. (Lu, Park, & Hu, 2010). Utilizing the LibraryThing website allowed the authors the ability to compare social tags created by users. The analysis was completed by comparing the use of social tags and expert assigned subject terms according to the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). The results of the study demonstrate that it is possible to use social tags to improve the accessibility of library collections for users. However, using social tagging in a traditional library cataloguing system may be less successful due to the existence of non-subject related tags.
Short, J. (2014). Take ten to tag! Smithsonian gardens public tagging initiative. Technical Services Quarterly, 31(4), 319-331. doi:10.1080/07317131.2014.943005
This article covers an examination of a month-long project wherein Smithsonian Gardens focused on promoting the Archives of American Garden’s digitized images by applying user-generated metadata to catalog records metadata. The author found that the way that the public interacts with digitized materials is substantial to the organization. In addition to influencing the public to add their own language to museum records, the study found that public tagging can open doors to new opportunities in discovery. However, inviting public users to participate in record creation comes with error and it was determined that it is not yet a perfect system. Research has shown that it is riskier to do nothing than to take the risk of incorporating social tagging within libraries and museums. The study has implemented a program called “Tag-it Tuesdays”. With the help of interns and social media, tags are reviewed on a quarterly basis. Not only were Virtual Volunteers provided new access points to records, but were also able to identify previously unidentified images.
Petek, M. (2012). Comparing user-generated and librarian-generated metadata on digital images. OCLC Systems & Services, 28(2), 101-111.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/10.1108/10650751211236659
The purpose of this article is to examine how users describe images and whether differences exist between users and librarians when creating metadata on images. The author discusses how images can be seen and described in different ways by different users. What a user sees depends on their perception which can differ between physical properties of the image. The study was carried out by the selection of a random same images, and students were asked to assign tags to each image. The author found that there was a large variety of tagging and majority reflected personal attributes. User tagging represents the best and the worst. They suffer from problems of inaccuracy and ambiguity, as opposed to the use of controlled vocabularies and name authority control. The results demonstrated that further research is needed, but the authors have and want a better understanding of users’ needs to improve access to the digital images. In addition, social tagging systems have been extremely responsive to users’ needs. Insert non-formatted text here
