From Tension to Support: Leveraging strengths of metadata, context, and prose

In the last year, OCLC has worked with a number of research libraries to determine workflow needs when leveraging Wikibase and its associated services as a descriptive toolset for library collections. Together, we learned important benefits and limitations of this toolset, and insights into the changes it brings to metadata workflows. Some details of the work of this Linked Data Prototype project have been covered in other presentations, at an operational and/or technical level. In contrast, this paper will explore the lessons learned, within a framework of cataloguing and metadata workflows, and place them in a broader conceptual framework. The paper will use the custom interface and documentation work that was pursued during the project as evidence for workflow needs not covered by out-of-the-box Wikibase solutions. The paper will illustrate the needs of the metadata professional in using these tools for describing specific types of items in library collections. Throughout, an outline of a co-dependent triad will begin to emerge. This triad – representing systems that manage content, context, and commentary - will be examined in the light of existing metadata ecosystems. It will also be used to explain the structure and data flows of past and existing metadata efforts. Its limitations, particularly as they vary among material types or other dimensions, will be considered. Finally, it will be used to make some predictions and recommendations for future research and collaboration. Throughout, the emphasis will be on increasing overall efficiency, reducing rework and latency, and enabling the surfacing of rare and unique materials, while placing them within a broader cultural context.