Words feel very careless out in the world today. It seems that anyone can say anything about anything, which is an unofficial slogan of the Semantic Web and the original reason for the openness of the Resource Description Framework[1]. Facts, information that is supposed to be indisputable and a matter of objective reality, are in constant competition with interpretation. When applying metadata to our collections, we are categorizing, organizing, and describing. Does this mean we are only working in facts? How does this impact the way people search and discover our collections? Should we only be factual or is there a use for interpretation in metadata? What does it mean to be factual when describing archival and special collections?
Join us for a conversation about facts in metadata. Bring and share your examples of how the line between fact and interpretation blurs in your work.
DATE: Thursday, March 22
TIME: 9-10 am
PLACE: Wells Library Room E174
MODERATORS: Julie Hardesty & Jennifer Liss
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