Name of Database: American Consumer Culture: Market Research & American Business, 1935-1965 (via GMU Library)
The metadata describes the word related or connected to the digital object. It describes the features of a general category of produce, place of origin, product name, and type of industry. For example, when I search “fruit,” I receive results with either “banana” or “pineapple.” When I search “Hawaii,” the results show either the origin or location of where the pineapple is grown. When I search a brand name (e.g. Dole), the results show Dole product proposals pertaining to pineapple. However, the metadata does not describe the type of fruit and the physical features of the fruit. When I search for “tropical fruit,” there are no search results.
Furthermore, the metadata allows me to ask for the origin, category, taste, and brand associated with pineapple. For example, when I search for “sweet fruit,” the results displayed pineapple and pineapple juice. On the other hand, the metadata does not allow me to ask for the physical features, texture, and colors of the digital object.
Metadata matters when searching for a particular item or image. Searching for words related to the keyword will result in some interesting finds. Sometimes, the user may end up finding other things that might be of interest. Searching for the digital objects by using metadata provided resources that I did not consider at the beginning of my search. As a result, I found some interesting things about the pineapple.
