Data quality in cultural heritage collection: a semi-automatic diagnostic evaluation in cultural objects under management of the Brazilian Institute of Museums

Abstract

Objective: the objective of the article is to present the result of a diagnostic evaluation of data quality carried out in the databases of museums linked to Ibram in view of the good cataloging practices indicated in the reference guide in the field of digital culture, the Cataloging Cultural Objects. Methods: the exploration of the data was carried out by a semi-automatic solution using a script in Python programming language in 22 museum collections, representing more than 17 thousand items from the collections of the institutions under Ibram's management. Results: The diagnosis made it possible to verify that the data from the evaluated collections lack a more adequate treatment in dimensions such as physical characteristics of the information object, description, geographic location and chronological information. On the other hand, the collections proved to be qualified in terms of the proper use of taxonomies for the classification dimension. Conclusion: The diagnosis made it possible to verify that the data from the evaluated collections lack a more adequate treatment in dimensions such as physical characteristics of the information object, description, geographic location and chronological information. On the other hand, the collections proved to be qualified in terms of the proper use of taxonomies for the classification dimension. It is therefore recommended that mature cataloging practices derived from reference instruments be incorporated into the metadata modeling of the databases of museums managed by Ibram, in order to qualify their current documentation standards through more sophisticated information organization instruments and oriented towards end users of information systems.