Social Cataloging; Social Cataloger

Abstract

Purpose

This is an attempt to introduce proactive changes when creating and providing intellectual access in order to convince catalogers to become more social catalogers then they have ever been in the past.

Approach

Through a brief review and analysis of relevant literature a definition of social cataloging and social cataloger is given.

Findings

User contributed content to library catalogs affords informational professionals the opportunity to see directly the users’ perceptions of the usefulness and about-ness of information resources. This is a form of social cataloging especially from the perspective of the information professional seeking to organize information to support knowledge discovery and access.

Implications

The user and the cataloger exercise their voice as to what the information resources are about, which in essence is interpreting the intentions of the creator of the resources, how the resource is related to other resources, and perhaps even how the resources can be, or have been, used. Depending on the type of library and information environment, the weight of the work may or may not fall equally on both user and cataloger.

Originality/value

New definitions of social cataloging and social cataloguing are offered and are linked back to Jesse Shera’s idea of social epistemology.

Citation

Miksa, S. (2013), "Social Cataloging; Social Cataloger", New Directions in Information Organization (Library and Information Science, Vol. 7), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 91-106. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1876-0562(2013)0000007009