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Image embedded metadata in cultural heritage digital collections on the web: An analytical study

Emad Isa Saleh (Department of Information Science, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)

Library Hi Tech

ISSN: 0737-8831

Article publication date: 16 April 2018

Issue publication date: 9 May 2018

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the availability of embedded metadata within images of digital cultural collections. It is designed to examine a proposed hypothesis that most digitally derived images of cultural resources are stripped of their metadata once they are placed on the web.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 603 images were selected randomly from four cultural portals which aggregate digitized cultural collections, then four steps in the data collection process took place to examine image metadata via the web-based tool and windows application.

Findings

The study revealed that 28.5 percent of the analyzed images contained metadata, no links exist between image embedded metadata and its metadata record or the pages of the websites analyzed, and there is a significant usage of Extensible Metadata Platform to encode embedded metadata within the images.

Practical implications

The findings of the study may encourage heritage digital collection providers to reconsider their metadata preservation practices and policies to enrich the content of embedded metadata. In addition, it will raise awareness about the potential and value of embedded metadata in enhancing the findability and exchange of digital collections.

Originality/value

This study is ground breaking in that it is one of the early studies, especially in the Arab world, which aim to recognize the use of image embedded metadata within cultural heritage digital collections on the web.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, under Grant No. G-94-125-1436. The author, therefore, acknowledges with thanks DSR’s technical and financial support.

Citation

Saleh, E.I. (2018), "Image embedded metadata in cultural heritage digital collections on the web: An analytical study", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 36 No. 2, pp. 339-357. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-03-2017-0053

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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