Do We Need a Perfect Metadata Standard or is Good Enough Good Enough?

The role of the data archivist focuses on the collation and sharing of research information. Historically, the quality of incoming digital content has been poor, a state that has driven the need for standards which can adequately capture research activities. One such standard, the Data Documentation Initiative is held as the perfect standard for archivists due to its complex promotion of reuse of survey metadata. However, its complexity has made the creation of software targeted at researchers difficult. As such, with minimal uptake of the standard in the research community, the onus still falls on archivists to transcribe incoming data into this complex standard. This presentation takes an alternative approach and examines how it might be possible to create software targeting basic researcher needs, by simplifying the task of survey research. The aim of this is to create and promote an XML standard that is "good enough" for survey researchers that will increase software adoption among the survey research community, thereby improving the quantity and overall quality of incoming metadata delivered to social science archives