Student-Created Dublin Core Metadata Representing Arabic Language eBooks: Comparison of Individual and Group Work Outcomes

Abstract

In the Arabian Gulf countries, including but not limited to Kuwait, digital library metadata education is currently in its early stages. Empirical data assessing student learning outcomes of metadata instruction would allow for data-driven curriculum development as the courses and academic programs that are intended to provide such education evolve in the region. The study presented in this article provides these much-needed data from an undergraduate library and information science program in Kuwait. In this project, we examined the metadata records created to represent Arabic-language ebooks as part of individual and group assignments. A total of 187 student-created Dublin Core metadata records were collected from multiple sections of the metadata course (including female-only and male-only sections) over four semesters in 2021 and 2022. The dataset included 177 individually created records, and 10 records created by student teams. Accuracy and completeness of these metadata records were evaluated and compared across sections and between individual and team products. The study's findings are presented and discussed in the context of metadata teaching practices in this Kuwaiti undergraduate program, and specifically with regard to activities and assessments intended to develop the Dublin Core record-creation skills. The study results demonstrate that students overall experience the most problems with representing copyright and intellectual rights and source information, describing what times and locations the information resource is about, and representing those who made non-major contributions to the information resource. Substantial differences were also observed in the patterns of metadata accuracy and completeness between individual work and teamwork, and between the metadata created by students in female-only and male-only course sections. Ideas for future research projects that would collectively allow forming a robust understanding of current metadata education and its outcomes in the Arabian Gulf region, as well as suggested curriculum enhancements, are discussed.