Metadata Fireworks

Dates can be a really useful way of filtering search results, but they can also easily be formatted improperly, especially when moving data across systems (I’m looking at you, Excel). Finding improperly formatted dates is often relatively straightforward in OpenRefine or other tools, using things like pattern matching or even just the length of the value.
– Elliot Williams, Digital Initiatives Metadata Librarian (University of Miami)

For more information regarding remediation on dates, check the below blog posts:

• Cory Lown’s Enjoy your Metadata: Fun with Date Encoding - January 22, 2016
• Mark Phillips’ Using the Extended Date Time Format (EDTF) - January 18, 2015.
• A longer PDF co-authored by Mark is available here: Lessons Learned in Implementing the Extended Date/Time Format in a Large Digital Library

Standardizing names is a big challenge, but time well spent. Using tools like OpenRefine or other scripts can make it much easier to do this. I’ve read some things that indicate that names are one of the most valuable access points in a metadata record, so if they’re standardized, that will 1) benefit users and 2) make it easier to do additional authority and reconciliation work down the road.
– Anne Washington, Metadata Coordinator (University of Houston)

For more information on using OpenRefine, check out it’s website! http://openrefine.org/