Event Title
Perceptions on Aboutness of Documentary Films: Comparing FAST Headings to User-Created IMDb "Plot Keywords"
Publication Date
10-2020
Document Type
Poster
Start Date
13-10-2020 12:00 AM
End Date
16-10-2020 12:00 AM
Description
Many popular websites allow users to assign descriptive metadata to individual resources. Previous studies have analyzed user-created metadata with several comparing it to metadata created by information professionals. This study analyzed Faceted Application of Subject Terminology (FAST) headings and IMDb “plot keywords” for the same documentary films in order to determine how much of the aboutness identified by the former was covered by the latter. A randomized list of documentary films held at the Iowa State University Library, a large academic research library, was created. Records for titles without IMDb headings were excluded from analysis. The FAST headings were compared to each “plot keyword” used in the corresponding IMDb record to determine if they met one or more of the match types defined for this study: exact match, close match, closely-related match, broad match, and narrow match. In total, 604 FAST headings from 100 OCLC records were analyzed. This study found that relatively little of the aboutness expressed by FAST headings was represented by “plot keywords” in the corresponding IMDb records, with only 22.19% of FAST headings containing some type of match. By advancing our knowledge of the similarities and differences between subject metadata created by professionals and non-professionals for documentary films, this work supports the development of future innovations to increase the discoverability of motion pictures and other resources.
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Perceptions on Aboutness of Documentary Films: Comparing FAST Headings to User-Created IMDb "Plot Keywords"
Many popular websites allow users to assign descriptive metadata to individual resources. Previous studies have analyzed user-created metadata with several comparing it to metadata created by information professionals. This study analyzed Faceted Application of Subject Terminology (FAST) headings and IMDb “plot keywords” for the same documentary films in order to determine how much of the aboutness identified by the former was covered by the latter. A randomized list of documentary films held at the Iowa State University Library, a large academic research library, was created. Records for titles without IMDb headings were excluded from analysis. The FAST headings were compared to each “plot keyword” used in the corresponding IMDb record to determine if they met one or more of the match types defined for this study: exact match, close match, closely-related match, broad match, and narrow match. In total, 604 FAST headings from 100 OCLC records were analyzed. This study found that relatively little of the aboutness expressed by FAST headings was represented by “plot keywords” in the corresponding IMDb records, with only 22.19% of FAST headings containing some type of match. By advancing our knowledge of the similarities and differences between subject metadata created by professionals and non-professionals for documentary films, this work supports the development of future innovations to increase the discoverability of motion pictures and other resources.