Metadata and Data Quality Problems in the Digital Library

Jeffrey Beall
Email: jeffrey.beall@cudenver.edu
URL: http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~jbeall/

Key features: Figures; Tables ; References

This is a summary version of the paper. The author's authoritative fulltext is available as PDF (20 pages, 292 kb). Download latest PDF viewer

1. Introduction
2. Related Literature
3. A Taxonomy of Data Quality Errors
4. Metadata Errors
5. Responsibility for Error
6. Example and Analysis of Typographical Errors
7. Managing Data Quality and Typos in Digital Libraries
8. Conclusion

Abstract

This paper describes the main types of data quality errors that occur in digital libraries, both in full-text objects and in metadata. Studying these errors is important because they can block access to online documents and because digital libraries should eliminate errors where possible. Some types of common errors include typographical errors, scanning and data conversion errors, and find and replace errors. Errors in metadata can also hinder access in digital libraries. The paper also discusses the responsibility for errors in digital documents and offers suggestions for managing digital library data quality.

Editor's Note

The original version has been removed because it had typos and was not the final, edited version of the article. This is the authoritative final version republished February 24, 2006.

Index of Figures

Figure 1. Typographical Error in an online document

Index of Tables

Table 1. Summary of the error categories Table 2. Number of hits in JSTOR for five common typographical errors

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