Workflow

The workflow for questionnaire documentation was developed early in the CLOSER project and has proven to be effective. The error rate on review by the studies has been very low and this gives a high level of confidence in the content that will go into CLOSER Discovery. Every questionnaire goes through two phases: Entry and Verification.

Entry

Entry is completed by a trained Metadata Assistant using the guidance included in this wiki. The aim is to reproduce the questionnaire as faithfully as possible following the Principles set out by CLOSER. The entry can take a varied period of time depending on the length and complexity of the questionnaire from one day to several weeks. Queries and issues might mean a questionnaire sits in entry for longer, whilst a decision is made about a new complexity or functionality is added to Archivist to take into account something not seen before. Very long CAI scripts can take over a month to input.

Verification

Given the need to essentially break the questionnaire into pieces and reassemble it and the large time scales, there is a risk of error beyond that of a simple data entry task. Therefore a robust checking process has been put in place. This is always completed by a different Metadata Assistant. As well as bringing fresh eyes to a piece of work, this also helps ensure consistency of practice across the team. The verifier goes through a checklist of items and then listens to the rendered questionnaire (i.e. entered questionnaire in Archivist) via a text to speech software. Please see Verification for more details.