Parable of the Metadata: An Iterative Strategy for Digital Collections Description and Publishing

Do you have stories waiting to be told in undescribed and unpublished digital collections? How much metadata is enough for discoverability?

In this case study, we share our strategy for implementing a layered, collaborative approach to digital collections description to publish a large project with limited resources. The Jay Kay Klein Photographs collection comprises over 60,000 images of science fiction fan culture and reflects the importance of community stories in UC Riverside Library’s Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Balancing evolving internal constraints with user access, we define the levels of description necessary for publishing and how we designed and documented this layered approach to description labor, from the foundation laid by metadata staff to enhancements provided by subject specialists and community feedback, with reflection points for attendees to brainstorm applications in their own workflows. Takeaways include: tiered description levels, project management methods, and ideas for future assessment.