No field? No problem! Enriching IR metadata via the DOI registrar

Abstract

Many DSpace institutional repositories rely on the Dublin Core metadata schema, limiting what can be described in the metadata records. This is true even when IRs locally adapt or extend Dublin Core. When IRs accept research data to help institutional personnel comply with public access mandates or journal requirements, this becomes a bigger issue. Rich metadata is crucial for data deposits not only to describe the data itself, thereby facilitating reuse, but also to ensure they are properly represented in the growing web of interconnected reporting systems that track research outputs. For example, dataset contributors should be linked to other entities through permanent identifiers such as ORCIDs, and bidirectional linkages to all related publications and software should exist. This talk describes an ongoing project at Auburn University Libraries to improve the metadata shared about data deposits in the institutional repository using its DOI registrar. As a member of DataCite, Auburn University utilizes its services to assign DOIs to items in the IR. The DSpace IR employs a modified Dublin Core metadata schema, but describing data using the more complex DataCite metadata schema would allow for much greater functionality. Since September 2023, a librarian and an undergraduate have been working together to decouple the local DC records from the DOI records in DataCite and create a process to feed more extensive metadata to the latter. This dual system permits information and relationships that cannot be represented in the repository's schema to be reported via the DOI public registration metadata. It will also enable DOIs to be reserved at the draft stage, a common request from researchers. Finally, this presentation will summarize the pros and cons of moving to a more complex workflow requiring greater manual intervention.