The future of cataloging

The Future of CatalogingKathryn Knight

unmediated information discovery and access

Zipf’s Law: ‘The Principle of Least Effort’ –

People will use information that is easy to find, even if it’s of poor quality.

The future of library cataloging “will be collaborative, decentralized, international in scope, and Web-based.”

On the Record: Report of the Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control . January 9 , 2008.http://www.loc.gov/bibl iographicfuture/news/lcwg-ontherecord-jan08-final .pdf

“Utilizing cataloging expertise and experience in establishing the proper metadata to populate any digital repository is vital to enable more efficient use of the data by researchers.”

–Cerbo, Michael A. “Is There a Future for Library Catalogers?” Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 49 (2011): 323-327.

Good Metadata…

• Conforms to community standards appropriate to the collection’s materials as well as to both current and future users.

• Supports interoperability.

• Uses authority control and content standards to describe objects/collocate related objects.

• Describes the conditions and terms of use for the digital object.

• Supports long-term management, curation, and preservation of collections.

• Records are objects: they should possess authority, authenticity, archivability, persistence, and unique identifiers.

NISO Framework Working Group. A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections. 3rd ed., December 2007.

Semantic WebEnhance Access to Hidden Collections

Position Technology for the Future

Collaboration

• Devote more time cataloging unique materials / collections.

• Devote more effort and time on local implementation decisions for metadata schema(s).

• Will consider what information is important to users.

Catalogers of the Future will…