Recording evidence for data element values, in addition to the values themselves, in bibliographic records and descriptive metadata is likely to be useful for improving the expressivity and reliability of such records and metadata. Recorded evidence indicates why and how data values are recorded for elements. This article is Part II of a study to explore a way of assisting catalogers in recording evidence in bibliographic records, with the aim of minimizing the costs and effort of doing so. This article begins with a scenario for utilizing recorded evidence to which a cataloger refers for information and understanding of the ways that have been adopted to record data value(s) in a given element. In line with that scenario, the proper content of evidence to be recorded is first discussed. Second, the functionality of the system developed in Part I is extended and refined to make the system more useful and effective in recording such evidence. Third, the system's performance is experimentally examined, the results of which show its usefulness. And fourth, another system is developed for catalogers to retrieve and display recorded evidence together with bibliographic records in a flexible way.
IntroductionIt has been proposed that evidence for data element values should be recorded, in addition to the values themselves, in bibliographic records and descriptive metadata (Taniguchi, 2005). Both the records and the metadata generally consist only of pairs of a data element name/identifier and its data value. The evidence indicates why and how these values are recorded for elements. The aim of recording such evidence is to contribute to the improvement of the expressivity and reliability-ultimately, the interoperability and longevity-of bibliographic records and descriptive metadata. Through work to validate the recording of evidence and to show its usefulness for improving the expressivity and reliability of records and metadata, it has been recognized that we need more studies to discuss the following issues: (a) pursuing comprehensive examination of the usefulness of recorded evidence and (b) investigating ways to automate or semiautomate the recording of evidence when records and metadata are being created and modified.As its succeeding study, I have first focused on the second issue and proposed a scenario in which a cataloger and a system interact with each other to record evidence in bibliographic records, aiming to minimize the costs and effort involved in this work (Taniguchi, 2006). Simultaneously, a prototype system has been developed in accordance with the scenario, and an experiment has been conducted to measure the system's performance. So far, the study has focused mainly on the functionality of a possible system, that is, how and to what extent a system can assist a cataloger in recording evidence; and we refer to this as Part I.In Part II, as a continuation of that study, we should return to the first issue and address both issues in a combined way with the scenario adopted in Part I. That is, (a) we sh...
