Resource description for Islamic digital resources: issues and problems in the Malaysian e-Government

Abstract

The current information management trend requires any information, no matter how it is created to be also represented in digital form. The condition applies also to Islamic information. However, reservations are raised with regard to the extent of authoritativeness of the widely available digital Islamic information. It is imperative that Muslims are assured of access to authoritative and valid information on Islam The identification and accessibility of reliable and trustworthy Islamic digital resources, especially from government agencies are most crucial. Hence, it is essential for government agencies to ascertain and ensure the resource description used and applied is effective and practical. Precise and appropriate resource description is prerequisite for effective and efficient resource discovery and usage of digital resources. The full application and compliance to resource description framework, standard and principles is most important in describing information resources. And, the foundation for resource description is metadata. Metadata explores the data elements used to describe and represent digital resources. It is significant as it supports both the discovery and the use of objects and provides information about the entire resource or part of it. Besides that, metadata promotes the share, reuse and interoperability of data and information, especially in the access, browsing, cleaning and aggregation of databases. Useful and cost effective metadata requires appropriate and suitable structures, semantics and syntax that conform to widely accepted and supported standards. Research in the area of metadata concludes that the underlying principle for any metadata initiatives is to link and integrate heterogeneous, multi-platform, massive digital information collections contributed by multiple institutions into a single unified resource to enable access to digital repository by anyone, from any place, at any time. A number of these metadata initiatives provide detailed and descriptive information about the digital resource to facilitate discovery by users, however describing digital resources in a consistent fashion may not be an easy task, and in some cases a very complex and unique process. Thus, this paper attempts to highlight the issues and problems faced in developing digital resources, such as visibility and accessibility issues, and also the adoption of various standards for resource description which will definitely affect the resource discovery and interoperability of Islamic digital resources in Malaysia. In conclusion, the paper will recommend some workable solutions to the relevant authorities for consideration, especially in overcoming the issues and problems raised.