Dublin Core Metadata Created by Kuwaiti Students: Exploration of Quality in Context

Abstract

Metadata education is evolving in the Arabian Gulf region. To ensure the effective instruction and skill-building, empirical data is needed on the outcomes of these early metadata instruction efforts. This paper is the first one to address this need and provide such data from one of the countries in the region. It reports results of the examination of metadata records for Arabic-language eBooks. The records were created by novice metadata creators as part of the undergraduate coursework at a Kuwaiti university in one of the classroom assignments over three semesters. Analysis focused on two important criteria of metadata quality: accuracy and completeness. The results are presented in-context, after introducing the metadata teaching practices at this undergraduate program, and the major Dublin Core skill-building assignment. Discussion of results is followed by discussion of future research.