Metadata Quality in Digital Repositories: A Survey of the Current State of the Art

Abstract

This study presents the current state of research and practice on metadata quality through focus on the functional perspective on metadata quality, measurement, and evaluation criteria coupled with mechanisms for improving metadata quality. Quality metadata reflect the degree to which the metadata in question perform the core bibliographic functions of discovery, use, provenance, currency, authentication, and administration. The functional perspective is closely tied to the criteria and measurements used for assessing metadata quality. Accuracy, completeness, and consistency are the most common criteria used in measuring metadata quality in the literature. Guidelines embedded within a Web form or template perform a valuable function in improving the quality of the metadata. Results of the study indicate a pressing need for the building of a common data model that is interoperable across digital repositories.