Cataloging and Metadata Commons^™

Maximizing Good: An Inquiry-Based Approach To Minimal Description For Online Archives, Sarah Dorpinghaus, Cory Lampert, Rebecca Pattillo, Kyna Herzinger

Library Faculty and Staff Publications

Minimal descriptive practices have been embraced by archives over the past fifteen years for their efficiency and practicality. This paper explores the strengths and weaknesses of minimal description within the context of digitized collections and evaluates them against the assumptions made by cultural heritage professionals. It considers whether minimal description provides digitized collections with sufficient metadata to meet MPLP’s user-centered goals of improving access, sufficient context to ensure collections are understandable within their digital environments, and sufficient framework to facilitate data exchange across systems, all while considering MPLP within archival ecosystems that impact labor and resource allocation. The authors offer …