Metadata: A Catalogers Primer

Citation

Gourkova, H. (2006), "Metadata: A Catalogers Primer", Library Management, Vol. 27 No. 9, pp. 656-658. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120610715572

This highly useful and easy readable book is a comprehensive instructional resource which addresses numerous aspects of cataloguing and metadata. The Editor, Richard P. Smiraglia, is a professor at the Palmer School of Library and Information Sciences at Long Island University in Brookville, New York and is obviously an expert in the field of knowledge organisation, cataloguing and bibliography.

For a short life span of the term “metadata” it became a hot topic in the domain of knowledge organization and information management. The purpose of this volume, as stated by the editor, is to provide a learning resource on metadata for cataloguing librarians and students. There are 11 comprehensive chapters in the book with the detailed introduction by the Editor. Each paper is completed by an extensive bibliography for further references and the whole volume is finalized by the index. Part I includes introductory and theoretical material to metadata application and management. Here we commence our journey to the intriguing world of metadata along the stepping‐stones of numerous definitions of metadata and its aspects. The contributors to this part of the volume present an outline of the evolution of metadata, discussions of metadata techniques based on their knowledge and expertise working in cataloguing and metadata environment. Part II contains instructive material introducing metadata schemes, including the Dublin Core, Encoded Archival Description and Extensive Markup Language (XML), discusses the Metadata Encoding Transmission Standard, and investigates how to plan and manage a metadata driven digital library.

Two articles that begin the volume lead the reader to the understanding metadata and metadata schemes, fundamental metadata concepts, evaluate functions and attributes of various types of metadata, as well as evolution of metadata in bibliographic control, and the concept of interoperability. The next four papers present discussions of the ways of metadata application for the resource description. In a very curious, to my mind, paper, D. Grant Campbell uses literary principles of metaphor and metonymy to distinguish between metadata applications for resource discovery such as bibliographic records and metadata applications for resource use such as semantic markup languages and database schema. Leatrice Ferraioli discusses a case study of metadata creation in a Health care agency, thus exploring the use of personal data in a business environment.

The research in personal classification schemes is for sure mostly needed for future technologies supporting information search and retrieval. The article by Jennifer Cwiok covers a specific subject of authorship attributes, discussing the Creator element within metadata schemas to reveal how it functions within each specific schema, and similarities and differences across different schemas.

The use of content metadata for museum artifacts is described in the final paper of part I by Richard Smiraglia. The many metadata schemes developed appear to experience lack of distinction between content and carrier, and the retrieval tools based on “resources in hand” are often selected without knowledge of the characteristics of other similar resources. Richard Smiraglia's paper is a one step towards the research required to clarify this problematic issue.

The five papers in part II can be referred as hands‐on guides of how to create, apply and manage metadata. Dublin Core elements and the steps for cataloguing web resources are discussed in the excellent paper by Anita S. Coleman supplemented by the DC metadata creation form and the sample resource descriptions form. Metadata standards for archival control are demonstrated in the next paper by Alexander C. Thurman, which can be seen as a detailed guide to the structure and use of the Encoded Archival Description and Encoded Archival Context metadata standards. The author brings forward the discussion on the current status of EAD implementation as well as issues affecting it. Examples of EAC records support this valued paper. Patric Yott provides a detailed description of two most commonly used markup languages: HTML and XML, demonstrating the concept of the document modelling and document validity using the Document Type Definition, supported by markup examples. A brief introduction to XSLT as a transformation and display language is given. The following article by Linda Cantara brings forward the description of the Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard, designed specifically for digital libraries. The paper brings together the information on the brief history of METS development and focuses on how to build a METS document, providing practical examples. Finally, the article by Michael Chopey discusses the vibrant topic of planning and implementing a metadata‐driven digital repository and concludes the volume. The role of metadata in digital library environment is becoming more vital, as the effective organization of the information accessed via the internet depends on the effective management and organization of metadata. The chapter is the overview of the steps and strategies required for the development of the local repository managed by metadata.

The book is the valuable collection of knowledge filled with theoretical, research and practical material with the recognition of the areas requiring further investigation.

Articles are carefully selected to demonstrate the continuing convergence of cataloguing and metadata in library and information science.