Refined description vs. better user access experience: metadata creation for digital image collections
Title
Refined description vs. better user access experience: metadata creation for digital image collections
Description
Paper presentation overview: One of the most work-intensive tasks for digital image collections is creating the image metadata. At UIC, this work was traditionally done by the archivists. We've recently expanded that workflow to engage catalogers in our Technical Services Department.
This session will showcase the new metadata workflow of one of our digital image collections, the Richard J Daley Era Photographs Collection, and discuss the changes in perspective and practice as catalogers shifted from books to images.
Unlike MARC catalog users, digital image collection users rarely look for a specific photo. They are more likely to have an interest in the overall subject matter of the collection, as opposed to a research need for one image only. Compared to a book, an image has relatively less information. When users find a photo of interest, they continue to explore among other images that meet their criteria. So our overall goal is to lead users to a large, relevant set of search results that reveal the content of the collection, rather than to describe each image as accurately as possible as in book cataloging. Our metadata should be able to generate a browsable list of subjects to support the goal. The list should be brief enough for quick understanding.
The scale of image collections also required a change in perspective. With 13,000 images expected for this collection, catalogers had to adjust both their pace and focus on details. We expect this new collaboration to allow us to ramp up our overall scale of digitization.
This session will showcase the new metadata workflow of one of our digital image collections, the Richard J Daley Era Photographs Collection, and discuss the changes in perspective and practice as catalogers shifted from books to images.
Unlike MARC catalog users, digital image collection users rarely look for a specific photo. They are more likely to have an interest in the overall subject matter of the collection, as opposed to a research need for one image only. Compared to a book, an image has relatively less information. When users find a photo of interest, they continue to explore among other images that meet their criteria. So our overall goal is to lead users to a large, relevant set of search results that reveal the content of the collection, rather than to describe each image as accurately as possible as in book cataloging. Our metadata should be able to generate a browsable list of subjects to support the goal. The list should be brief enough for quick understanding.
The scale of image collections also required a change in perspective. With 13,000 images expected for this collection, catalogers had to adjust both their pace and focus on details. We expect this new collaboration to allow us to ramp up our overall scale of digitization.
Creator
Seneca, Tracy
Li, Mingyan
University of Illinois at Chicago Library
Publisher
Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) Midwest Chapter
Date
2018-05-11
Contributor
Darcovich, Jane
Harper, Daniel
Rights
This resource may be copyright-protected. You may make use of this resource, with proper attribution, for educational and other non-commercial uses only. Please contact the author for permission to reproduce.
Format
application/powerpoint
Language
eng
Type
Presentation
Bibliographic Citation
Seneca, T., and Li, Mingyan. (2018, May). Refined description vs. better user access experience [PowerPoint slides]. Paper presented at the 2018 CALA Midwest Chapter Annual Program. Retrieved from http://midwest.chapters.cala-web.org/annual-programs/2018-cala-midwest-chapter-annual-conference/2018-cala-midwest-chapter-annual-program/.
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Files
Collection
Citation
Seneca, Tracy, Li, Mingyan, and University of Illinois at Chicago Library, “Refined description vs. better user access experience: metadata creation for digital image collections,” CALASYS - CALA Academic Resources & Repository System, accessed March 5, 2026, http://ir.cala-web.org/items/show/494.