Metadata Realities for Cyberinfrastructure: Data Authors as Metadata Creators

Mayernik, Matthew S.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/14943 Copy

Description

Title

Metadata Realities for Cyberinfrastructure: Data Authors as Metadata Creators

Author(s)

Mayernik, Matthew S.

Issue Date

2010-02-03

Keyword(s)

• Cyberinfrastructure
• metadata
• scientific data practices

Abstract

Cyberinfrastructure systems for digital data will depend on effective ways of creating and sharing metadata. In distributed scientific collaborations, creating and collecting metadata is a significant challenge. Metadata creation is often an unfunded mandate. We present a preliminary study of metadata creation by data authors in a large science and technology research center. We asked researchers to create metadata using the Dublin Core-based metadata fields for inclusion in a center-wide metadata repository. The results of our pilot test indicate that data authors face a number of challenges in creating metadata, including organizing group vs. individual knowledge, adapting an unfamiliar metadata scheme to the specifics of their project, and drawing boundaries between data sets.

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/14943

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