Gateway Standardization: A Quality Assurance Framework For Metadata

As digital library services develop from project demonstrators to mature, mission-critical services it becomes necessary to implement systematic procedures in order to ensure the quality of the content, the functionality of the service, accessibility to a wide range of users and interoperability with other services. This paper describes a quality assurance methodology which has been developed for digital library programmes in the UK higher education sector. The paper describes the approaches taken by the SOSIG subject gateway service in developing and maintaining a national service which is dependent on quality metadata. The paper then outlines a quality assurance framework which has been developed to support the JISC's digital library programmes in the UK and its application to metadata.