Metadata Quality in Texas Woman's University's Digital Collection

Accessibility to information despite physical proximity is now an expectation of many students and professionals. However, few appreciate what it takes to translate physical media and archival items into digital representations that can be stored, searched and retrieved virtually. A collection developed around a well-formed structure and metadata schema is necessary to address the complexities of this representation issue. However, the actual content and how it is entered will ultimately determine the usability of a digital collection. The Woman’s Digital Collection curated by Texas Woman's University Libraries is one case that exemplifies some of the challenges of creating quality metadata records for a rapidly expanding collection. Inconsistencies within this one collection are typical of those that are likely to occur elsewhere as the demand for digital content increases. In identifying the issues that adversely affect the completeness, accuracy and consistency of the information populating these records, solutions for avoiding these problems emerge that can be applied to future projects.