Understanding what metadata is tagged on your assets is essential, whether auditing your site or assessing if metadata aligns with user needs. Controlled metadata fields are straightforward to analyze, while free-text metadata fields require additional steps. This article explains how to extract free-text metadata using the search export feature and spreadsheet tools.

Benefits¶

Evaluate free-text metadata to:

• Spot unused or outdated terms and consider removing them.
• Make informed decisions about the creation of new controlled vocabulary terms.
• Identify common search terms not included in your controlled vocabularies.
• Create a “do not use” list for user training.
• Generate reports on metadata health based on the number and percent of keywords rarely tagged.
• Find inconsistent spellings or variations (for example, “gray” and “grey”).

Step-by-step guide to extract free-text metadata¶

1. Check that you have the Export Asset Search Reports permission and that the Export Search Results to CSV - Comma feature is enabled.

2. Access the classic search experience using one of the following methods:
   a. Run a search, and then select the View in classic search button.

   b. Alternatively, turn off Redesigned Search in User Preferences. Select your avatar > User Preferences > disable the Redesigned       Search toggle.

3.  Export your search results as a CSV file.
4. Open the CSV file in your preferred spreadsheet software (such as Excel or Google Sheets). Locate the column labeled with the name of your target free-text metadata field.
5. Copy all the values from this column, excluding the header row.
6. Make a copy of the provided Google Sheets template (or download the Excel version). Paste the values into column A.

After you paste your data:¶

• Column B displays each individual metadata value on a separate row.
• Column C generates a clean list of unique values, with duplicates removed, giving you a clear overview of your free-text metadata.