From Digital Commons to OCLC: Transforming your ETD Metadata into High Quality RDA Reliant Records

Abstract

The following presentation demonstrates a step-by-step semi-automated workflow implemented by the University of North Florida (UNF) to successfully repurpose metadata for electronic theses and dissertations (ETD) that are initially entered in Digital Commons and transform them into high quality, records that can be ingested in OCLC. The workflow consists of 5 main steps and attendants will learn how to: 1) customize a metadata entry template in Digital Commons to display specific metadata fields into the Open Archives Initiative (OAI), 2) map the metadata into Qualified Dublin Core (QDC) elements that can display correctly into the OAI, 3) customize an ETD stylesheet (XSLT) to convert QDC metadata into MAchine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) metadata that is Resource Description & Access (RDA) reliant, 4) use the free MARC Edit Harvester, 5) and finally perform the rest of the batch edits that could not be previously performed using a stylesheet.

When implemented, the process decreases redundant work and improves the overall workflow speed by releasing catalogers’ time to perform authority control and assign valuable Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) to the electronic theses and dissertations.