Cataloging Futures

RDA Training Booklet

One of my ATLA colleagues just pointed out this practical guide to RDA: RDA Training Booklet by Marielle Veve. It can be used as a quick reference for cataloging changes needed for the switch from AACR2 to RDA.

Catalogers, metadata librarians, digital humanists and coding

I'd like to revisit a recurring theme for this blog — catalogers and metadata librarians learning to code. It's a topic I think about a lot — especially with regard to the direction our profession is going in and the skills we're expected to have.

Recently, digital humanists have helped me fine-tune my understanding of this issue. I think digital humanists and catalogers have a lot in common because, at heart, many catalogers are humanists — our background is often not computer science, but the humanities. I know that's true for me. At college, I majored in art and fashion design before switching to religion and theology.

The most insightful post I've found so far is The Code Problem written by Rafael Alvarado, Associate Director of SHANTI at the Unversity of Virginia. He addresses the question — Why should digital humanists code? — and talks about the assumptions swirling around coding that often cause anxiety and hold people back from learning what's becoming (in both our fields) an essential skill.

More on LC's Bibliographic Framework Initiative: Kevin Ford's presentation

Last week, Kevin Ford (who works in LC's Network Development and MARC Standards Office (NDMSO)) presented on LC's Bibliographic Framework Initiative at the Semantic Web in Libraries conference in Cologne, Germany.

Here's the abstract:

This presentation will provide a general update about the Library of Congress's Bibliographic Framework Initiative, including a short synopsis of its historical import, information about the attractiveness of Linked Data, and details about the work – models, tools, and findings - completed to date about transitioning from a MARC-based environment to a new bibliographic ecology. The general update about the Bibliographic Framework Initiative will include work and progress since the Library's update at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Anaheim in June. The first phase of the Initiative is complete. Among many objectives set for the initial phase, the most relevant outcome is the presentation of a draft model for community appraisal and on which to further build. Because an open process is desirable and expected, the community will already have seen the draft model, but this forum will provide an opportunity to go into greater detail, present the outcomes as a cohesive whole, and explore the ramifications and future directions stemming from the initial stage. Linked Data methods and strategies are proving to provide a very consistent yet flexible means to communicate data, which has always been one of the main aims of the MARC communication formats.

The presentation is available in two formats: video and slides [pdf].

I'd recommend the video if you really want to get a good understanding of the work of this important initiative for the future of cataloging and library metadata.

(Update: The video works fine with Chrome or Firefox, but not Internet Explorer.)

LC Bibliographic Framework Transition: Eric Miller's update forum

The Library of Congress recently posted a webcast: Library of Congress New Bibliographic Framework Initiative: Update Forum with Eric Miller. This is LC's initiative to develop a replacement for the MARC format.

The new bibliographic framework transition initiative will be focused on the Web environment, Linked Data principles and mechanisms, and the Resource Description Framework (RDF) as a basic data model. Zepheira, led by Eric Miller, has been active in the development of Semantic Web and library standards as well as open source tools to support linked data technologies and library applications. Zepheira will provide both a model (or models) to serve as a starting point for discussion and an analysis of related initiatives. Miller spoke to Library of Congress staff with an overview of the project and a report of progress to date.

In this webcast, Eric Miller describes the transition away from MARC as an evolution, not a revolution. It's a very interesting talk on how Zepheira is developing a linked data model that "deconstructs" and repurposes the valuable entities, subjects, etc. that are already contained in MARC records.

My persistent question, which I haven't seen an answer to yet is: Why at such an early stage of data modeling are we narrowing in on Linked Data? Shouldn't we be looking at a variety of models for a MARC replacement?

CatalogingPractices website

At a time when we're awash in theory, it's nice to find such a practical project, the CatalogingPractices website. Marielle Veve briefly described the project in a recent issue of Cataloging & Classification Quarterly:

CatalogingPractices (http://catalogingpractices.wikispaces.com/) is an open database started in Feb. 2012. Its purpose is to serve as repository of current cataloging practices of university and college libraries inside and outside the United States. It is open to everybody and is created for the benefit of the whole cataloging and technical services community. If you know the current practices of your institution's Technical Services Department, please provide them below by answering the following ' or by filling the online form at http://catalogingpractices.weebly.com/.

The Feral Cataloger blog

One of the newer cataloging blogs I've been reading lately is The Feral Cataloger written by cataloging educator, Cheryl Tarsala. It's thought-provoking and well worth reading!

This blog discusses issues of cataloging and metadata from the perspective of cataloging instruction. My doctoral research explored the intersection of bibliography and cataloging, which I believe is the fertile ground for understanding the future role of “human-crafted” metadata in libraries.

The relevance of quality cataloging

Software developer from Harvard's Library Innovation Laboratory, Paul Deschner, writes about the importance of quality cataloging for the development of new library applications.

One of the primary challenges in this work is getting data describing books and periodicals (catalog records) to relate to data from non-library sources, such as data about book talks on YouTube or to NPR broadcasts of author interviews or to archival collections. It’s all about connections in the data. The barer the data, the less describedit is, the more it falls flat.

On the bibliographic side, every new Library of Congress subject heading a cataloger adds to a record creates a rich set of connective possibilities downstream for people like me. Likewise, every uniform title entry inserted into a record allows us to show users of our software another edition of a given work in the context of all its editions — a crucial feature for any discovery service in the library materials space.

No software can create these connections if the underlying data hasn’t been carefully composed into richly structured records, based on solid analysis and comprehensive description. The difference is like that between reading a newspaper consisting of headlines only and reading one which also has accompanying articles. It is dramatic.

I hope in moving forward that we don’t lose sight of the importance of this kind of quality analysis and description.

He goes on to describe the essential contribution that catalogers make to the development team:

At the Law Library, the catalogers are a few hallway steps away, and are as crucial to my being able to create smart software as anyone on my development team. I’ve spent countless hours, regularly throughout the years, with my cataloger colleagues exploring the complexities of MARC data structures, uniform title rulesets, authority record uses, holdings data locations, and much much more. Having them as a co-located resource has been crucial to my being able to get my software written.

h/t @john_overholt

Cataloging Futures: change of focus a misstep

Back in January (almost five months ago) I thought I was going to take this blog in a new direction. But, you know what, I made a mistake.

I realized that the future of cataloging and metadata in libraries is a topic I'm still involved with, beguiled by, and enmeshed. My work in digital collections has me going back to my roots in cataloging frequently, practically daily. And MARC is now just MARCXML.

So, I'm back to the original focus of this blog and hopefully can make a worthy contribution to the ongoing discussion.

Now time to catch up.....

Cataloging Futures takes a new direction

Those of you who've been reading this blog know that it's focus has been the future of cataloging and metadata in libraries. I started the blog in April 2007 when this was a "hot topic" and also a personal passion. At the time I was the head cataloger of a small cataloging department with a strong background in cataloging and RDA. When I first started Cataloging Futures there weren't many catalogers blogging (that's really changed!), so it seemed to fill a much-needed niche.

For the past four years, I've been the metadata librarian on our gradually growing digital collections team. And last month I started a new job: XML Database Administrator. Our team works with a production mindset in a agile environment. We work in focused two-week sprints. Both work and learning my new job don't afford me the luxury of keep up with the trends and issues of cataloging and metadata with the intensity that blogging requires.

So, while the blog is still called "Cataloging Futures," the focus with now be primarily using XQuery (and MarkLogic Server) for digital collections development in libraries. I hope that some of my current readers stay on board, but totally understand in the busy work-a-day world of cataloging that you might have other things to focus on. I am truly grateful for all the Cataloging Futures readers who've encouraged and challenged me over the last several years. Thank you!

Interesting post: CodeYear Catalogers

If you're interested in learning programming, check out Shana L. McDanold's blog post: CodeYear Catalogers.

CodeAcademy is offering an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in getting started with coding: Code Year. Each week they'll be emailing out to anyone that signs up an interactive lesson on coding. Code Academy offers some fantastic interactive courses, so you learn in a supportive environment.

Naturally this has piqued the interest of a number of catalogers that have been interested in learning to code or want to brush up or learn new code languages, myself included. Catalogers work with massive amounts of curated bibliographic data, and being able to manipulate it in new and different ways and in ever increasing amounts is key as we move forward into the bibliographic future and the world of linked data and the semantic web.