A Comparative Study on the Central Library Websites of Iranian State Universities in HTML and Dublin Core Metadata Element Usage*

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mahtab Ramezan Shirazi 1
Firoozeh Zarefarashbandi 2
Hasan Ashrafi Rizi 3
Rasool Nouri 4
1 Medical Library and Information Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
2 . Lecturer of Librarianship and Medical Informatics, Jundi Shapour University of Medical Sciences, Ahwaz, Iran; PhD Student of Librarianship and Medical Informatics, Shahid Chamran University, Ahwaz, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, Library and Information Sciences, Health Information Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
4 Lecturer, Medical Library and Information Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: Recent progress in providing innovative solutions in the organization of electronic
resources and research in this area shows the global trend in the use of new strategies such as metadata to
facilitate descripting, locating, organizing, and searching resources in the web environment. In this
context, library metadata standards are of great importance. Therefore, the purpose of the present study
was to compare the central library websites of Iranian state universities in terms of HTML and Dublin
Core metadata elements usage in 2011.
Methods: This was an applied–descriptive study. The data collection tool was the researcher constructed
checklist. The statistical population included 98 websites of Iranian state universities of the Ministry of
Health and Medical Education (MOHME), and the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. The
sampling method used was census. Data were collected by observing and referring directly to every website.
Data analysis was performed by descriptive statistics, and the graphs were prepared by Excel software.
Results: The findings of study indicated that none of the websites have used Dublin Core metadata. Some
of them have used corresponding elements of HTML and Dublin Core. In the MOHME the corresponding
elements of description and keywords (both 56%) were most used. In the Ministry of Science, Research
and Technology the element of keywords (45%) and description (39%) were most used. However, HTML
meta tag elements were mostly used in the library websites studied. The most-used elements of HTML
were keywords and description (both 56%) and the least-used elements were date and formatter (0%).
Conclusion: It seems we can expect both ministries to use Dublin Core standard more in the future for
designing these websites. As library's websites are scientific web pages, special attention should be paid to
designing them, in order to help researchers in accessing information resources faster and more accurately.
Moreover, the role of librarians in the awareness of designers and developers of library websites in using
metadata elements and applying their standards should not be overlooked.

Keywords

1. Taheri M. A Comparative Study on Efficacy of Dublin Core Metadata and MARC 21 in Organization of
Informational Materials on WEB. Library & Information Sience Quarterly 2008; 11(3): 139-58. [In Persian].
2. Nabavi F, Fattahi R. Digital Library. Mashhad, Iran: Astane Ghods Razavi Publication; 2007. p. 90. [In Persian].
3. Hynse D. Metadata for Information Management and Retrieval. Trans. Alijani S, Zakerifard F. Tehran, Iran:
Chapar Publication; 2006. p. 13. [In Persian].
4. Alimohammadi D. A Review on Hypertext Meta-Tags of HTML language. Informology 2003; 1(2): 137-52.
[In Persian].
5. Fattahi R, Taheri M. Computerized Cataloging. Tehran, Iran: Ketabdar Publication; 2009. p. 129. [In Persian].
6. Saadat Alijani AR, Jowkar A. Dublin Core Metadata Element Set usage in national libraries' web sites. Electronic
Library 2009; 27(3): 441-7.
7. Ahmadi N, Zardari S, OJagh F, Peimani, Namvar Z, Farizadeh Z, et al. Metadata Standars. Tehran, Iran: Chapar
Publication; 2009. p. 13. [In Persian].
8. Nadi Ravandi S. The Comparative Study Metadata Elements usage on Iran Digital libraries With Dublin Core
Standard [Thesis]. Tehran, Iran: School of Medical Informatics & Management, Tehran University of Medical
Sciences; 2009. [In Persian].
9. Shafiie Alavijeh S, Ghaebi A, Rezaie Sharifabadi S. Review of Metadata Elements within the Web Pages
Resulting from Searching in General Search Engines. Journal of Information Processing and Management 2009;
25(1): 71-89. [In Persian].
10. Pishva P, Majidi M. Study of HTML Meta-Tags Utilization in Web-based Open-Access Journals. Journal of
Information Processing and Management 2007; 22(3): 1-18. [In Persian].
11.Alimohammadi D. Measurement of the presence of keywords and description meta-tags on a selected number of
Iranian Web sites. Online Information Review 2004; 28(3): 220-3.
12. Park EG, Richard M. Metadata assessment in e-theses and dissertations of Canadian institutional repositories.
Electronic Library 2011; 29(3): 394-407.
13.Kurtz M. Dublin Core, DSpace, and a Brief Analysis of Three University Repositories. Information Technology
& Libraries 2010; 29(1): 40-9.
14.Mohamed KA. The impact of metadata in web resources discovering. Online Information Review 2006; 30(2):
155-67.
15. Zhang J, Dimitroff A. The impact of metadata implementation on webpage visibility in search engine results (part
II). Information Processing and Management 2005; 41(3): 691-715.
16.Nowick EA. Use of META Tags for Internet Documents. Journal of Internet Cataloging 2002; 5(1): 69-75.
17.Carl Drott M. Indexing aids at corporate websites: the use of robots.txt and META tags. Information Processing
& Management 2002; 38(2): 209-19.
18.Vinyard PE. An Analysis of Embedded Metadata Usage on the World Wide Web. A Master's Paper for the M.S.
in L.S. degree [Online]. 2001; Available from: URL: http://ils.unc.edu/MSpapers/2698.pdf/
19.Haghighi M. University Libraries. Encyclopedia of Library and Information. Tehran, Iran: National Library and
Archives of Iran; 2006. [In Persian].
Health Information Management
Volume 9, Issue 6
Winter 2012
Pages 822-832

Article View 1,301