If you haven't already, take a look at Jonathan Rochkind's post, "My Cataloging/Metadata Credo". A few selections:
"I do NOT think the solution lies in getting rid of everything we’ve got, or in nothing but machine-analysis of full text. I think the solution requires continual engagement by metadata professionals, which will be continually needed. We will always need catalogers—that is, metadata professionals involved in the generation and maintenance of metadata. Because that’s what catalogers are and have always been."
"I think abandoning control in a mis-guided effort to save money would be disastrous. And I’m not alone, I see many people in many professional forums sharing my perspective. Our current environment is fundamentally broken, and the solution lies only in professional attention to metadata, to apply better, smarter control of metadata. Not to give up controlled metadata.""The deprofessionalization of cataloging and decimation of cataloging staff is exactly the wrong direction, when we are facing serious problems that can only be solved by a collective effort from a community of metadata professionals. We need to strengthen that community within the library world, not decimate it. This is a tragedy because our current environment is so broken."
"But it’s not the best we can do. Solutions to the serious problems we are facing will take serious change, which can in fact only come with the strengthening of a professional cataloging and metadata community within libraries."
A lot of quoting, right? Okay, I wish I wrote this it's so good!
Also, read the companion post. Here Jonathan continues answering the question--In what ways is our current metadata environment broken?
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