A View of the Interface between Ethics and Metadata

Haynes, David

Abstract

Despite its advantages in improving access to information, metadata has the potential to cause harm, if used inappropriately. For instance, mass surveillance of phone calls can be used by intelligence agencies to target individuals. Language use can reinforce prejudices; poor language control undermines the efficiency of subject searches; and the opacity of discovery systems reduces the effectiveness of retrieval systems. There are also concerns about who owns the intellectual property associated with metadata creation. The talk concluded with a description of two proposed initiatives: by ISKO to investigate ways of improving metadata use in information discovery systems; and the recruitment for a fully-funded PhD studentship at Edinburgh Napier University to investigate the ethics of metadata.

Citation

Haynes, D. (2023). A View of the Interface between Ethics and Metadata. Brazilian Journal of Information Science, 17, Article e023053. https://doi.org/10.36311/1981-1640.2023.v17.e023053

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 15, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Nov 29, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-11
• Deposit Date: Nov 16, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 1, 2023
• Journal: Brazilian Journal of Information Science
• Electronic ISSN: 1981-1640
• Publisher: Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 17
• Article Number: e023053
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.36311/1981-1640.2023.v17.e023053
• Keywords: Metadata, Ethics, Privacy, State Surveillance, Information Retrieval, Controlled Languages, Information Discovery System
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/3387289