Now more than ever, metadata is crucial for finding something (or not) online. In an age of an over-abundance of information, in which much of life and most transactions occur via the Internet and in apps, everything is virtual and relies on metadata. Complete and correct metadata ensures that something is found, while if it’s incomplete or incorrect, it likely won’t be found.
In libraries, we talk about metadata in terms of cataloging, information literacy and reliable sources, as well as collections of materials and their content. If there’s a misspelling in a title or an author name is omitted or an item has a wrong topic or discipline listed, a user won’t find that item in a search that usually would include it had the metadata been complete and correct. During a time in which usage statistics are one factor to determine what electronic/online resources are kept versus which are cancelled in order to meet the current budget, metadata can make all of the difference. Tracking metadata trends in vendor cataloging records and reporting findings to the provider to ensure metadata is complete and correct at the source improves both the metadata and its discovery for everyone. While not all librarians, catalogers, or library staff are able to spend the time needed to do so, it is beneficial to know the quality of the vendor records received for electronic/online resources at the very least and, if able, to help ensure that it is the highest quality possible from the source.
In the world more generally and in daily life, I also frequently notice issues with metadata. One example is searching for music in a streaming service and finding the same artist multiple times, listed with slight variance of their name instead of all grouped together as they should be in one. That’s a less problematic example but a simple one. Another occurs with in-app shopping and how out-of-stock items are handled. This recently changed in the grocery app that I use, and now instead of being able to add an item to the cart that they know is not available, the item just doesn’t show up in a search if they know that it’s not going to be fulfilled in my next order. Metadata or the misuse of it can contribute to the propagation of misinformation or promotion of an unrelated website that’s using terms for the sole benefit of driving users to it instead of correct metadata for the actual content. It’s important to be aware of it use even in daily life since it typically is hidden, or at least below the surface.
Good metadata takes work but is entirely worth the effort. We, as users and consumers and even librarians, must do what we can and be ever vigilant. Over the years I have worked towards this professionally and made recent strides with co-workers and our vendor and publisher partners. This week, we are presenting one of our projects at ER&L 2022 in our session titled “Partnering with Publishers and Vendors to Improve Metadata Worldwide: An OhioLINK Case Study about Collaborating with Springer Nature and OCLC on High-Quality MARC Records and e-Resource Metadata”. In a presentation about the same project but with more cataloging details, OhioLINK and OCLC also presented last year at OVGTSL 2021. I am very proud and thankful that we’ve been able to partner and work on such efforts to improve metadata for all worldwide. Plus, there will likely be more in the future about this project as well.