Generating Geographic Terms for Streaming Videos Using Python: A Comparative Analysis

• Main Author: Patrick Harrington
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Code4Lib 2019-08-01
• Series: Code4Lib Journal
• Online Access: https://journal.code4lib.org/articles/14676

In libraries, the relationship between textual descriptions of audiovisual material and access to that material is a primary concern, as users expect to have access to all the library’s resources—which increasingly include audiovisual content—through a simple and effective web interface. At UW-Oshkosh, library staff developed a unique site for its streaming video collection that would allow users to search for videos and browse collections on particular topics across each of the three vendors. In order to create more meaningful and topical collections, various programming tools and techniques were employed to identify geographical locations in vendor-supplied MARC records. This article describes three different methods for generating geographic terms for streaming videos using different Python libraries and evaluates them based on the number of terms generated, overlap in terms generated between the three methods, and the amount of cleanup needed to generate useful geographic terms.