The User-Centered Development and Testing of a Dublin Core Metadata Tool

Digital libraries are supported by good quality metadata, and thus by the use of good quality metadata tools. The design of metadata tools can be supported by following user-centered design processes. In this paper we discuss the application and evaluation of several cognitively-based rules, derived from the work of Donald Norman, to the design of a metadata tool for administering Dublin Core metadata. One overall finding was that while the use of the rules supported users in their immediate interactions with the tool interface, they provided less support for the more cognitively intensive tasks associated with developing a wider conceptual understanding of the purpose of metadata. The findings have implications for the wider development of tools to support metadata work in digital libraries and allied contexts.