Establishing sustainable and scalable workflows for cataloging and metadata services
Pages | 308-316 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-04-2016-0031 |
Date | 08 August 2016 |
Published date | 08 August 2016 |
Author | Myung-Ja K. Han |
Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,HR in libraries,Library strategy,Library promotion |
Establishing sustainable and
scalable workflows for cataloging
and metadata services
Myung-Ja K. Han
Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
Abstract
Purpose –Academic and researchlibraries have been experiencing a lot of changes over the last two
decades. The usershave become technology savvy and want todiscover and use library collectionsvia
web portals instead of coming to library gateways. To meet these rapidly changing users’needs,
academic and research libraries are busy identifying new service models and areas of improvement.
Catalogingand metadata services unitsin academic and research librariesare no exception. As discovery
of library collections largely depends on the quality and design of metadata, cataloging and metadata
services units must identify new areas of work and establish new roles by building sustainable
workflows that utilize available metadata technologies. The paperaims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper discusses a list of challenges that academic libraries’
cataloging and metadata services units have encountered over the years, and ways to build sustainable
workflows, including collaborations between units in and outside of the institution, and in the cloud;
tools, technologies, metadata standards and semantic web technologies; and most importantly,
exploration and research. The paper also includes examples and uses cases of both traditional
metadata workflows and experimentation with linked open data that were built upon metadata
technologies and will ultimately support emerging user needs.
Findings –To develop sustainable and scalable workflows that meet users’changing needs,
cataloging and metadata professionals need not only to work with new information technologies, but
must also be equipped with soft skills and in-depth professional knowledge.
Originality/value –This paper discusses how cataloging and metadata services units have been
exploiting information technologies and creating new scalable workflows to adapt to these changes,
and what is required to establish and maintain these workflows.
Keywords Academic libraries, Information technology, Cataloging and metadata workflows,
Collboration, Metadata transformation, Research and exploration
Paper type Viewpoint
Introduction
Academic and research libraries have been experiencing a lot of changes over the last two
decades that have impacted library services and workflows. Among all these changes, one
thing that stands out is our users. First, our users’information search behaviors have
changed. As Kaufman (2005) said, “[our users] appear to share a voracious appetite for
new technologies, new access methods and new ways to get and use information”(p. 1).
Coyle and Hillmann (2007) added that “libraries have lost their place as primary
information providers,”andourusersvisitwebsearchengines first, rather than the
library,whentheyneedtofindresources.Unfortunately, while libraries are actively
working on adapting to these new user practices, our rich collections are not yet
searchable, findable, or discoverable through those web search engines. Second, the way
that our users apply resources has changed, i.e., scholars use the resources differently in
their research and teaching. Once they have identified and found the resources that they
wouldliketouse,scholarsnowwanttocontrol those resources by customizing them for
their specific needs. They want to select and cite a portion of the resource as a web
Library Management
Vol. 37 No. 6/7, 2016
pp. 308-316
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/LM-04-2016-0031
Received 19 April 2016
Revised 9 June 2016
Accepted 10 June 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
308
LM
37,6/7
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