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Abstract
Academic and research libraries have been experiencing a lot of changes over the last two decades. The users have become technology savvy and want to discover and use library…
Abstract
Purpose
Academic and research libraries have been experiencing a lot of changes over the last two decades. The users have become technology savvy and want to discover and use library collections via 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. Cataloging and metadata services units in academic and research libraries are 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 paper aims 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.
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This paper aims to report on the survey results relating to the current experience of cataloging and metadata professionals with emerging information standards and technologies…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to report on the survey results relating to the current experience of cataloging and metadata professionals with emerging information standards and technologies, as well as the state of professional training and existing barriers to continuing education (CE) in these emerging areas.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a quantitative analysis of the data collected in the online survey, supplemented with a qualitative analysis of some open-ended responses.
Findings
There was a wide interest in leveraging emerging Semantic Web and Linked Data approaches. Training activities on newer information standards and technologies were reported by more than half of the respondents. The survey data suggested the importance of increasing field-wide collaborations and institution- or organization-level support for professional development. Improving the discoverability of relevant CE resources and programs was also considered to be the key, as were affordability and the ability to incorporate ongoing learning into everyday practice.
Originality/value
There are currently no comprehensive studies or benchmarked data on how the existing CE system meets the needs of cataloging and metadata professionals. This study establishes a baseline for an understanding of their ongoing professional development preferences and requirements relating to new information standards and technologies.
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Misu Kim, Mingyu Chen and Debbie Montgomery
The library metadata of the twenty-first century is moving toward a linked data model. BIBFRAME, which stands for Bibliographic Framework Initiative, was launched in 2011 with the…
Abstract
The library metadata of the twenty-first century is moving toward a linked data model. BIBFRAME, which stands for Bibliographic Framework Initiative, was launched in 2011 with the goal to make bibliographic descriptions sharable and interoperable on the web. Since its inception, BIBFRAME development has made remarkable progress. The focus of BIBFRAME discussions has now shifted from experimentation to implementation. The library community is collaborating with all stakeholders to build the infrastructure for BIBFRAME production in order to provide the environment where BIBFRAME data can be easily created, reused, and shared. This chapter addresses library community's BIBFRAME endeavors, with the focus on Library of Congress, Program for Cooperative Program, Linked Data for Production Phase 2, and OCLC. This chapter discusses BIBFRAME's major differences from the MARC standard with the hope of helping metadata practitioners get a general understanding of the future metadata activity. While the BIBFRAME landscape is beginning to take shape and its practical implications are beginning to develop, it is anticipated that MARC records will continue to be circulated for the foreseeable future. Upcoming multistandard metadata environments will bring new challenges to metadata practitioners, and this chapter addresses the required knowledge and skills for this transitional and multistandard metadata landscape. Finally, this chapter explores BIBFRAME's remaining challenges to realize the BIBFRAME production environment and asserts that BIBFRAME's ultimate goal is to deliver a value-added next-web search experience to our users.
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The purpose of this study is to come to an understanding of the role of the Linked Data Librarian as well as to explain why this librarian requires significant skills and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to come to an understanding of the role of the Linked Data Librarian as well as to explain why this librarian requires significant skills and knowledge in the area of creating and working with legacy library metadata.
Design/methodology/approach
Typical job positions for cataloguing and metadata librarians from two different librarian job posting websites were monitored and examined over the course of nearly three months. The findings from the analysis were compared with a new job posting for a Linked Data Librarian to answer the question regarding whether or not the Linked Data Librarian is just a new type of cataloguer or if the job posting represents a new speciality within librarianship.
Findings
The analysis found that in the early days the position of Linked Data Librarian will appear to be very much like a cataloguer and linked data librarian. As linked data technologies become established in libraries and Bibliographic Framework is eventually implemented, the position will take on its full Linked Data leadership role.
Originality/value
Seeing as the Linked Data Librarian position is a new one, little analysis of it and how it fits into the cataloguing and metadata department as well as the library in general exists. This paper seeks to fill that gap.
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The silos of library cataloging data have long been recognized as barriers to the seamless discovery of library resources via the Web and to the interaction of library data with…
Abstract
The silos of library cataloging data have long been recognized as barriers to the seamless discovery of library resources via the Web and to the interaction of library data with Web data and other uses. In order to better serve users, library cataloging data must be available in a more open environment, and libraries are looking to linked data to present library resources in the data stream of the Web in a way that is seamless to users. This entails changing cataloging formats and tools to Web standards. While there is a lot of discussion and activity around linked data, this chapter approaches the highly technological topic in a way that is geared more toward a general and practical cataloging perspective.
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Abigail Bibee, Erin Gallagher and David Isaak
Academic libraries develop strategic plans as instruments for grounding operational work in shared vision and measurable goals. The authors of this chapter test the assumption…
Abstract
Academic libraries develop strategic plans as instruments for grounding operational work in shared vision and measurable goals. The authors of this chapter test the assumption that technical services work is often absent in library strategic plans, even if that work is an assumed component. They explore the representation of technical services through a rich content analysis of Association of Research Libraries member strategic plans to reveal key themes and use the results as a tool to more broadly develop a set of guiding principles for technical services professionals in the 21st century. To provide valuable and relevant services to users, technical services professionals must develop bold and sustainable guiding principles informed by both their representation in their libraries' strategic plans and emerging trends in academic libraries.
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This study aims to develop a Web-based application system called Infomediary of Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples (ITIP) that can help individuals comprehend the society and culture of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop a Web-based application system called Infomediary of Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples (ITIP) that can help individuals comprehend the society and culture of indigenous people. The ITIP is based on the use of Semantic Web technologies to integrate a number of data sources, particularly including the bibliographic records of a museum. Moreover, an ontology model was developed to help users search cultural collections by topic concepts.
Design/methodology/approach
Two issues were identified that needed to be addressed: the integration of heterogeneous data sources and semantic-based information retrieval. Two corresponding methods were proposed: SPARQL federated queries were designed for data integration across the Web and ontology-driven queries were designed to semantically search by knowledge inference. Furthermore, to help users perform searches easily, three searching interfaces, namely, ethnicity, region and topic, were developed to take full advantage of the content available on the Web.
Findings
Most open government data provides structured but non-resource description framework data, Semantic Web consumers, therefore, require additional data conversion before the data can be used. On the other hand, although the library, archive and museum (LAM) community has produced some emerging linked data, very few data sets are released to the general public as open data. The Semantic Web’s vision of “web of data” remains challenging.
Originality/value
This study developed data integration from various institutions, including those of the LAM community. The development was conducted based on the mode of non-institution members (i.e. institutional outsiders). The challenges encountered included uncertain data quality and the absence of institutional participation.
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Yacoob Hosein and Portia Bowen‐Chang
The purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of cataloguing training for professionals at the St Augustine Campus Libraries of the University of the West Indies…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of cataloguing training for professionals at the St Augustine Campus Libraries of the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago, with emphasis on the cataloguing of special formats and the overall importance of continuing education.
Design/methodology/approach
The research methodology is based on a questionnaire which involved the use of a rolling survey for the periods 2005‐2007 and 2007‐2010, and utilized a five‐point Likert scale.
Findings
The findings clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of cataloguing training in the quest for professional development amongst librarians and also serve to highlight the need for greater collaboration between libraries, library schools and library associations.
Practical implications
The paper considers effectiveness of training in cataloguing and thus of the skills adopted in practice.
Originality/value
The study brings to the fore the importance of structured training for cataloguing professionals over a five‐year period. It also provides further insights into bridging the gap between entry level and working cataloguers in a developing country.
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