What Metadata Matters?: Correlation of Metadata Elements with Click-Through Rates for E-Books and Streaming Video in the Academic Library Catalog

ABSTRACT The relationship between metadata and a user’s ability to effectively locate and select a given resource has been a primary interest of library and information professionals. Important questions about how metadata can best meet emerging search behaviors require continuous and engaged analysis. This paper describes such an analysis of click-through rates for e-book and streaming video resources, attempting to correlate use rates with the presence and character of metadata elements in their associated records. We found no strong correlation between the length of a metadata record, or the presence of individual fields, and higher use rates. A discussion of the implications of these findings for further research is presented.