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Descriptive richness of free‐text metadata: A comparative analysis of three language archives
Author(s) -
Burke Mary,
Zavalina Oksana L.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
proceedings of the association for information science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.193
H-Index - 14
ISSN - 2373-9231
DOI - 10.1002/pra2.429
Subject(s) - metadata , computer science , upload , indigenous , world wide web , indigenous language , metadata repository , information retrieval , ecology , biology
As archiving became a priority in documentary linguistics only in the 1990's, existing research indicates that language archives are not yet up to date on best practices in information organization. As a result, metadata in language archives varies substantially, depending on the depositor, self‐upload procedures, and metadata creation guidelines. Focusing on free‐text metadata, known to provide rich information, this study analyzes item‐level metadata in three language archives: the Endangered Language Archive, Pacific Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures, and the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America. The study identified categories of information included in Description metadata fields and the relative distribution of these categories. The most commonly occurring categories of information observed in this study can serve as a basis for the development of best practice guidelines for item‐level metadata in language archives.