The metadata (=catalogue data) at
archive.org is notoriously bad, for perfectly understandable reasons. Many people have thought about this issue, obviously, but it would be a very expensive undertaking to catalogue even a part of what's there and even at a minimal cataloguing record level. The
Archive.org people take the "Google search" approach, i.e., you find what you need by searching using carefully-constructed keywords. This is surprisingly effective, but lots falls through the cracks, as we all know from personal experience.
My personal approach has been twofold:
- When I can, I add proper metadata in the "review" field. And a permalink URL pointing to worldcat.org.
- Specifically for manuscripts, when I can, I add a link from PanditProject.org and vice-versa.
What I do is purely opportunistic and just a drop in the ocean, but it helps me in the long run, and may help others.
Best,
Dominik