All presentations from the PALINET Future of Cataloging Symposium, held on Thursday May 29, 2008, are now available for download. This includes all slide presentations and audio recordings from each presenter.
I can't believe I actually sound coherent! Enjoy. It was a fun day and I'm looking forward to listening to the presentations I missed. (There were 4 afternoon speakers in 2 time slots, so we had to choose.)
Via PALINET
** Deadline Extended 1 Week -- Now June 20 **
The Code4Lib Journal [ http://journal.code4lib.org/ ] is accepting proposals for articles, book & software reviews, code snippets & algorithms, conference reports, opinion pieces, etc., for its September issue. The Code4Lib Journal strives to fill a communication niche above simple description of software implementations but below pure theoretical digital library investigation. The editorial committee is looking for content that is practical, demonstrates how to exploit technology to create digital library collections and services, or offers insight and forethought regarding the use of computers in any type of library setting.
While articles in the journal should be of a high quality, they need not follow any formal structure or guidelines. Writers should aim for the middle ground between, on the one hand, blog or mailing-list posts, and, on the other hand, articles in traditional journals. We want publishing in the journal to be easy and painless, helping the community to share timely, relevant information that is currently shared all too rarely.
The Journal welcomes submissions at any time on a rolling acceptance basis. We publish quarterly in March, June, September, and December. Proposals received by Friday, June 20, 2008, will receive consideration for publication in issue 4, late September 2008. Upon provisional acceptance, authors will be given an article deadline, typically 6-8 weeks before journal publication. Proposals are typically abstracts sent in the body of an email to c4lj-articles@googlegroups.com
Send in a submission. Your peers would like to hear what you are doing.
Ken Varnum
Coordinating Editor, Issue 4
Code4Lib Journal
So, the current state of affairs seems to be that catalogers are still getting mixed messages. On the one hand, we're told that there's exciting and interesting things happening on the Web and that all librarians need to embrace this change and adapt. On the other hand, we're told that cataloging is obsolete. And let's be clear about this, the message we're hearing is that AACR2/ISBD, the MARC format, Library of Congress Subject Headings, and Library of Congress Classification (Dewey also?)--all our structures and standards-- are obsolete and in major need of an overhaul.
This is a hard thing to hear when you've developed your professional skills over a number of years. It's also tough because we thought we were providing a service to the users who rely on us for access to library resources. Most of the catalogers I know have a deep commitment to and passion for their work. In my local catalogers' interest group we've never run out of things to talk about--for years!
I feel like over the last several months I've been rather negative about the cataloging community. I am mostly addressing these criticisms to myself first. I am a traditional cataloger who has great respect for our work. In fact, I am very much a cataloging standards geek. But now working almost exclusively with digital collections and non-MARC metadata I'm being stretched to think and work differently. It's really interesting, but in many ways non-MARC metadata creation and the issues involved are more complex than traditional cataloging. We are trading one set of complexities for another. Now more than ever we need to respect professional catalogers and the contribution they are making and will continue to make to libraries' metadata future.
Demystifying Library Standards: a NISO/ALCTS webinar
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 from 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. (EDT)
The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) and the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) has announced the first in a series of webinars on standards in the library environment. “Demystifying Library Standards,” will focus on placing standards in context. It will be presented by Trisha Davis, Ohio State University, Julia Gammon, University of Akron, Karen Wetzel, NISO, and Pamela Bluh, University of Maryland Law School and current ALCTS President.
The speakers will address why standards are important to libraries and not just in the traditional technical services areas. As libraries are changing and evolving in an increasingly digital world, so are standards. This webinar will explain how standards are critical to the developments in such areas as e resources, user access, description and metadata, licensing and preservation. Some specific standards, both published and forthcoming, will be touched on as examples. Future webinars in the series will discuss those and other standards in more depth. Participants will learn how they can become actively involved in standards development.
If you want to learn how standards can provide benefits to organizations, their users, and yourself and are involved with library technical services, the acquisition and management of e-resources, library systems implementation including ILS, ERMS, link resolvers, and Web interfaces, cooperative electronic arrangements with other libraries, consortia, content providers or long-term preservation activities, then this webinar is for you.
Cost: $20 for NISO and ALCTS members; $25 for non-members.
To register online go to: http://www.regonline.com/ALCTS08.
For questions, email nisohq@niso.org.
Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI) have become a regular part of my life as a metadata librarian. In fact, identifiers have become somewhat of an obsession. So, I was happy to find the URI Resource Pages via the Library of Congress standards website.
I've been waiting for this one. Radical Cataloging: Essays at the Front edited by K.R. Roberto is now available in paperback.
This collection of critical and scholarly essays addresses the state of cataloging in the world of librarianship. The contributors, including Sanford Berman, Thomas Mann, and numerous front-line library workers, address topics ranging from criticisms of the state of the profession and traditional Library of Congress cataloging to methods of making cataloging more inclusive and helpful to library users. Other essay topics include historical overviews of cataloging practices and the literature they generate, first-person discussions of library workers' experiences with cataloging or metadata work, and the implications behind what materials get cataloged, who catalogs them, and how. Several essays provide a critical overview of innovative cataloging practices and the ways that such practices have been successfully integrated in many of the nation's leading libraries.
Recent Comments