Dissertation Proposal prepared by Grete Pasch
GSLIS, University of Texas at Austin
December 15, 1997
 
 

Committee:
Dr. Francis Miksa, Chair (GSLIS)
Dr. Don Davis (GSLIS)
Dr. David B. Gracy II (GSLIS)
Dr. Mary-Lynn Rice Lively (GSLIS)
Dr. Nicholas Shumway (ILAS)

External Advisors:
Howard Williams (DEC, Digital Equipment Corporation)
Dr. Ning Lin (LANIC Technical Director)
 
 

Abstract
Schemes derived from the tradition of library cataloging are being proposed as standards for the cataloging of Internet resources. These new schemes should be based on the characteristics of the new Internet Information-Bearing Entities (IInBEs), which vary considerably from those of the traditional library materials. As an important step in the process of defining the metadata elements that serve as building blocks for these new descriptive schemes, I propose to conduct an in-depth study of a sample of a broad array of existing kinds of Internet InBEs. The study will focus on the process of identifying, selecting, and organizing the attributes needed to describe and access InBEs on the World Wide Web. A sample of 330 resources, or 10% of the total listed in the LANIC (Latin American Network Information Center) website of the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas at Austin, will be examined both for standard kinds of metadata, and for other kinds of metadata not included in standard lists. The attributes identified will be classified, and their usefulness for end user searching will be tested.

Keywords
Internet information resources, Information-Bearing Entities (InBEs), Internet Information-Bearing Entities (IInBEs), resource description and access, metadata, attributes, attribute indentification, attribute selection, attribute organization.