The Getty Research Institute. Introduction to Metadata, 2nd ed. Edited by Murtha Baca. J. Paul Getty Trust, 2008.
http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/standards/intrometadata/
I loved this textbook. It does a great job giving a general history of metadata, and describing various types of metadata standards and their development for use with particular formats, in specific contexts.
In the final section, “Practical Principles for Metadata Creation and Maintenance” the editor confirms that metadata creation continues to be a core activity. Metadata creation is increasingly shared among many units and departments in an institution, and a metadata record can be enriched throughout its lifespan. User-created metadata has its place, especially when created by subject specialists, and can enhance discovery and access. The Catalog Department no longer has sole dominion over bibliographic control. For catalog librarians working with mainstream trade publishing resources for general collections, the traditional 20th century format MARC21 cataloging tasks are increasingly performed by others. For all formats in the mainstream publishing industry, metadata for 20th and 21st century formats are increasingly provided by book publishers and vendors, even for humanities topics in the area studies. As a greater percentage of material becomes available in digital format, our database providers and library systems developers are refining database structures and interfaces to make their products easier for library users to search and access information resources. Digital publications are already part of the mainstream publishing industry. As the library becomes an increasingly disintermediated environment, we refine and develop our metadata standards and best practices. Everyone’s looking for other ways to catalog their resources. Everyone’s looking for more convenient ways to find and access information. Modern libraries have more than a century of experience organizing information and providing access to knowledge. We need to be active participants in the development and use of a wide array of metadata standards and database infrastructures, by being actively supportive of work in other industries, and ready for change.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Future of Catalog Librarians and Cooperative Cataloging
Schuitema, Joan E. “The Future of Cooperative Cataloging: Curve, Fork, or Impasse?” Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 48:2, 258-270.
In summary: I thoroughly enjoyed the description of historical patterns in cooperative cataloging, and the reasons we’re having difficulty determining what the future might hold for professional catalogers, as well as cooperative cataloging.
The same issues seem to have arisen with each generation of catalog librarians: complex, yet time-consuming and costly rule structure vs. need for standardization; increased publisher output outstrips the pace of cataloging; cataloging copy provided at point of distribution creates fear of job loss among catalog librarians; changing technology forces catalogers to work in new ways. I found it helpful to see a description of the differences between past challenges and today’s situation.
Ongoing economic constraints mean libraries will continue to streamlining local processes. Our integrated library systems allow us to more easily combine acquisitions and cataloging tasks. Our day-to-day bibliographic description is increasingly being done by vendors, who have recognized the economic and practical benefits of their services in a world where the production of electronic information will forever outpace a library’s ability to keep up with the bibliographic description.
Because of the Internet’s content and interface options, users no longer go to the library catalog first. In the hard and social sciences users want access to information in digital format. The humanities are also increasingly favoring digital over print. Along with endless variety of digital content comes an increase in metadata creation by everyone from catalog librarians, to skilled library vendors, to folks sitting at home in their slippers. Metadata creation and distribution is increasingly beyond the control and sole domain of the highly-trained cataloger. At the same time, good metadata is more important than ever for discovery and access in today’s complex information environment.
What is the impact of these changes on career catalog librarians assigned to work exclusively in the traditional MARC-based/AACR2 cataloging environment? We have lost our identity as the primary experts for organizing knowledge. Schuitema makes a good point when she says, “Indications are that the products we have been producing while still scalable in terms of providing access to print materials if significant changes were made, will no longer meet the discovery needs of our clientele seeking information in today’s expanding digital environment.” I’m thinking that in our world, where libraries will likely continue to suffer funding constraints, where the demand for digital resources will continue to increase, where new infrastructures are evolving to store digital information, we catalog librarians must learn new metadata schema for a wide range of digital information types, must develop new ways to adapt our current skills and experience to the dynamic environment where production of digital resources will always be vastly larger than print, and must define who we are professionally through active participation in these changes.
In summary: I thoroughly enjoyed the description of historical patterns in cooperative cataloging, and the reasons we’re having difficulty determining what the future might hold for professional catalogers, as well as cooperative cataloging.
The same issues seem to have arisen with each generation of catalog librarians: complex, yet time-consuming and costly rule structure vs. need for standardization; increased publisher output outstrips the pace of cataloging; cataloging copy provided at point of distribution creates fear of job loss among catalog librarians; changing technology forces catalogers to work in new ways. I found it helpful to see a description of the differences between past challenges and today’s situation.
Ongoing economic constraints mean libraries will continue to streamlining local processes. Our integrated library systems allow us to more easily combine acquisitions and cataloging tasks. Our day-to-day bibliographic description is increasingly being done by vendors, who have recognized the economic and practical benefits of their services in a world where the production of electronic information will forever outpace a library’s ability to keep up with the bibliographic description.
Because of the Internet’s content and interface options, users no longer go to the library catalog first. In the hard and social sciences users want access to information in digital format. The humanities are also increasingly favoring digital over print. Along with endless variety of digital content comes an increase in metadata creation by everyone from catalog librarians, to skilled library vendors, to folks sitting at home in their slippers. Metadata creation and distribution is increasingly beyond the control and sole domain of the highly-trained cataloger. At the same time, good metadata is more important than ever for discovery and access in today’s complex information environment.
What is the impact of these changes on career catalog librarians assigned to work exclusively in the traditional MARC-based/AACR2 cataloging environment? We have lost our identity as the primary experts for organizing knowledge. Schuitema makes a good point when she says, “Indications are that the products we have been producing while still scalable in terms of providing access to print materials if significant changes were made, will no longer meet the discovery needs of our clientele seeking information in today’s expanding digital environment.” I’m thinking that in our world, where libraries will likely continue to suffer funding constraints, where the demand for digital resources will continue to increase, where new infrastructures are evolving to store digital information, we catalog librarians must learn new metadata schema for a wide range of digital information types, must develop new ways to adapt our current skills and experience to the dynamic environment where production of digital resources will always be vastly larger than print, and must define who we are professionally through active participation in these changes.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Horizon Report 2010
The Horizon Report: 2010 edition. A collaboration between the New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative.
http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2010/
Open Content. 1 yr or less to adoption. The report discusses large-scale initiatives. What about the vast number of smaller digital imaging projects? While having online visual access preserves this material and helps researchers decide whether to make a special trip to a distant collection, the multitude of metadata schema, and our current inability to easily search across the various schema and platforms (not to mention all the copyright issues) make discovery and use somewhat serendipitous in our massively diffuse content environment. It seems that many of us who are metadata specialists become familiar with one, or maybe a couple of metadata schema at any given time. Should more of us learn about a wider range of schema types and their application?
Visual Data Analysis. 4-5 yr horizon to adoption. These tools blend statistics, data mining and visualization, allowing us to better understand complex relationships and social processes. The report discusses how these tools have been used nearly exclusively in the hard sciences, but are now being applied to the social sciences and humanities. Fascinating examples: http://www.gapminder.org/
http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2010/
Open Content. 1 yr or less to adoption. The report discusses large-scale initiatives. What about the vast number of smaller digital imaging projects? While having online visual access preserves this material and helps researchers decide whether to make a special trip to a distant collection, the multitude of metadata schema, and our current inability to easily search across the various schema and platforms (not to mention all the copyright issues) make discovery and use somewhat serendipitous in our massively diffuse content environment. It seems that many of us who are metadata specialists become familiar with one, or maybe a couple of metadata schema at any given time. Should more of us learn about a wider range of schema types and their application?
Visual Data Analysis. 4-5 yr horizon to adoption. These tools blend statistics, data mining and visualization, allowing us to better understand complex relationships and social processes. The report discusses how these tools have been used nearly exclusively in the hard sciences, but are now being applied to the social sciences and humanities. Fascinating examples: http://www.gapminder.org/
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