Database quality: a literature review of the past and a plan for the future

Database quality problems have been a major concern in recent years. With the increasing number of databases mounted online and on CD‐ROM, users are more exposed to errors affecting the quality of their search. This article draws attention to database quality problems in Library and Information Services (LIS) through a review of the literature concentrating on the implication of poor quality on users, work undertaken in the area and measures taken for further quality improvement. The Centre for Information Quality Management (CIQM) has been set up in the UK to deal with database quality problems. A CIQM project funded by the British Library, is investigating database quality problems and their effects on users. Suggestions for reducing database quality problems have been given by a variety of authors whose common idea is the creation of an organisation similar to CIQM, and an international standard which producers could use to provide higher quality databases.