Out of the Past: The Challenges of B.C.E. Dates in Metadata
Annamarie Klose Hrubes, Scott M. Goldstein, Morris Levy · Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology · 2021
Abstract While well‐established standards for encoding date metadata exist, Before Common Era (BCE) dates, previously referred to as Before Christ (BC) dates, are a challenge. Libraries, archives, and museums have a rich variety of artifacts from this era. However, the lack of encoding or underuse of available standards hinders the ability to search and browse for this content. While several metadata standards support encoding of BCE dates, the full capability is often not exploited. By analyzing metadata in the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA, https://dp.la/ ), the authors examine the benefits and limitations of the Extended Date Time Format (EDTF) and related interoperability issues.