What are all the pictures for?
Cataloging challenges in between cultural heritage institutions and humanities research
Keywords:
Metadata behov, online kataloger, databaser, bildsamlingar, humanistiska forskare, metadataproduktionAbstract
Based on a survey on the production and use of descriptive metadata, this study discloses that there is a divide in interest between on the one hand information specialists in libraries, archives, and museums and, on the other hand, university scholars in the humanities, a very specific yet substantial end-user group for visual heritage material. 168 researchers at universities in Sweden were queried, using an online survey with multiple choice questions. A similar online survey were answered by 45 information specialists in museums, archives, and university libraries in Sweden. The survey discloses that while the interest in information about the historical origin and context of images are equally high in both groups, there is a decisive gap between the interest in image content between the two groups. In effect, the production of descriptive metadata does not match the needs and interest of researchers in the humanities, but rather other end users. An increased dialogue is needed between these two groups concerning what metadata should be attached to images. In extension, this could potentially lead to a broader and more extended scholarly use of visual heritage material.
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