From the Introduction: Structured metadata can be useful internally for collection management and public services, but is not always what users need most to discover primary sources, especially minimally-described collections and “hidden collections.” We understand archival standards for description and cataloging, but our users by and large don’t. Studies show that users often do not want to search for collections by provenance, for example, as important as this principle is for archival collections.5 One of several core competencies that special collections metadata librarians must have is “a keen understanding of users’ needs and preferences.” This is especially important now that discovery happens in multiple environments. Librarians and archivists need to manage archival collections by provenance, but also must describe what is in the collections for their users. This essay—part of a series of OCLC Research projects to mobilize unique materials—synthesizes evidence of what descriptive information people say they need for research. As this literature review got underway, it soon became evident that we already know most of what we need to know in order to get started making changes.
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