Core competencies for cataloging and metadata professional librarians – the data deluge column
| Published date | 01 October 2018 |
| Date | 01 October 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHTN-08-2018-0047 |
| Pages | 15-20 |
| Author | Donna Ellen Frederick |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology,Library & information services |
Core competencies for cataloging and metadata
professional librarians – the data deluge column
Donna Ellen Frederick
On January 23, 2017, the ALCTS
(Association of Library Collections and
Technical Services) Board of Directors
approved a document called “Core
Competencies for Cataloging and
Metadata Professional Librarians.” The
document states that it was created to
“supplement the ‘American Library
Association’s Core Competences of
Librarianship’” and thus is a useful tool
in guiding the education of cataloging
and metadata professionals while
informing the professional development
of current practitioners. As this column
will explore, this document can also be
a useful tool for all librarians to
understand and appreciate ongoing
changes in both the theoretical and
practical aspects of creating and
managing library data or metadata.
The competency document identifies
three main areas of competency:
1. knowledge competencies;
2. skill and ability competencies; and
3. behavioral competencies.
This division of competencies is
unremarkable, as it is typical of other
similar documents. In fact, the entire
document may seem somewhat humdrum
to the non-cataloger being that it contains
numerous acronyms including references
to theoretical models and metadata
standards which may be of little interest
or relevance to those who are not
cataloging or metadata librarians. On
the contrary, a discussion of the
competencies listed in each of the
divisions reveals that the document brings
to light issues that are of great importance
not only to those librarians who are
interested in technological change but
everyone involved in the field because
they represent a fundamental shift in a
pillar of librarianship. While that pillar
has been identified and conceptualized in
different ways, it is essentially the
function in libraries whereby information
is tagged in a way that it can be
successfully retrieved when it is needed,
by the person who needs it and in a
useable format. We can build beautiful
library facilities, purchase fabulous
collections and provide highly
professional and personable public
service, but if the resources our users
require are not accessible, a pillar is
missing and the purpose of the library
fails. As we enter the era of the data
deluge and the never-ended growth of
electronic information, the need to be
highly adept at tagging or identifying,
organizing and curating our resources so
that they can be retrieved when needed, is
ever more important. It is not possible to
“browse” large data sets or electronic files
in the way that one might browse stacks
to find a missing book. Electronic
information has no physical presence
which can be detected by human beings
and is useless if there is no interface
which converts data between the human
and computer. Catalogers and metadata
librarians must create the data which
serve the purpose of representing
resources which cannot otherwise be
seen. The idea of card catalogue records
acting as a surrogate for books in order to
make the searching process more efficient
is a very old concept in librarianship. In
our current age, the importance of this
surrogate goes well beyond efficiency. In
many cases, an electronic document,
whether it be a journal article, eBook or
any other type of electronic file can
essentially become lost and inaccessible
when metadata is lacking or inaccurate.
Humans have limited ability to browse
through electronic information unless it is
tagged or marked in some way that is
recognizable by one of the interfaces we
use for accessing and utilizing electronic
information. In short, the competencies
aim at assuring that librarians who do the
work of organizing, identifying and
classifying have the knowledge and skills
they require to effectively accomplish this
essential task. For those who are not
catalogers, reflecting on the competencies
provides insight into the nuts and bolts of
the work that contemporary metadata and
cataloging professionals must undertake.
Introductory section
The introduction to the document
contains key assertions which point to a
shift in how the discipline of cataloging
and metadata creation is viewed within
librarianship. While catalogers themselves
may feel, for example, that the statement
“competence in cataloging and metadata
is obtained over the course of an
individual’s career” is an obvious
statement, it has been the experience of
the author of this column that this is a
reality that is not necessarily appreciated
by everyone in the library community. For
example, she once heard a non-cataloging
librarian comment that she “learned how
to catalog RDA” at a 5-h preconference
presentation. Another felt that it would be
possible for someone who has never
cataloged to learn or develop the
competency to catalogue specialized
materials such as serials, music and
manuscripts by watching a few free online
webinars. While it may only be a minority
of librarians who are dismissive of the
work of catalogers, it has been the
experience of the author that few
understand the initial learning curve and
the career-long commitment to keeping
up with new developments in the field.
The document makes the following
assertiontohelpclarifywhyitisthat
“learning to catalogue” is essentially an
ongoing process:
[...] metadata professionals are
responsible for advancing diversity
issues within the broader
information community. Human
beings unavoidably assign value
judgments when making assertions
about a resource and in defining
LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 8 2018, pp. 15-20, V
CEmerald Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/LHTN-08-2018-0047 15
To continue reading
Request your trial