Abstract: GILS databases respond to a late-1994 initiative to "identify public information resources throughout the Federal government, describe the information available in those resources, and provide assistance in obtaining the information [and] serve as a tool to improve agency electronic records management practices". GILS metadata records describe agencies' automated information systems, Privacy Act systems of records, and locators that cover its information dissemination products. The authors used record content analysis, and several other methods, to examine whether GILS is meeting user expectations. Criteria used in the current analysis were informed in part by results of user and service-implementor questionnaires and focus groups. The record content analysis itself, in turn, informed creation of a scripted online assessment for users, and data from that user assessment supplemented results of the content analysis. The quality of metadata for networked resources is as of yet a relatively unexplored research area. At this point, no consensus has been reached on operational and conceptual definitions of quality; likewise, validated procedures for assessing metadata are lacking. On the basis of the exploratory analysis described here, the authors conclude that a range of criteria and procedures may be needed for different types of metadata (e.g., descriptive, transactional, etc.). In addition to supporting the larger evaluation study of GILS, the results of this analysis of metadata content will contribute to a developing dialog about assessing the quality of metadata.
