Cataloging the Web:
Metadata, AACR, and MARC 21
edited by Wayne Jones, Judith R. Ahronheim and Josephine Crawford
A Review
My colleagues headed for Chicago to the ALA Preconference on Metadata for Web Resources, July 6-7, 2000, with enthusiasm and excitement. This landmark event, jointly sponsored by the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access (CC:DA), the Committee to Study Serials Cataloging (CSSC), the Networked Resources and Metadata Committee (NRMC), and MARBI (the Machine-Readable Bibliographic Information Committee), included 26 broad-ranging metadata topics described by knowledgeable presenters. This collection of papers from the preconference gives an overview of Web information control using metadata (i.e., data about other data).
Jennifer Younger introduces the text with, "Metadata and Libraries: What’s It All About?" She thoughtfully traces the caretaking of knowledge from the Alexandrian Library era to the cyber age. She focuses on changes in library catalogs and cataloging including: proliferation of metadata schemes; search engines; a wired, networked information environment; and library catalogs that link to full text. Library catalogs now have greater functionality with direct access to electronic resources and holdings. Metadata librarians and CORC contributors serve as the outreach force to promote the use and standards of metadata. Gateways, scholars’ portals, and partnerships highlight this new age where resource discovery is focused on a specific audience.
The remaining part titles best illustrate the composition of the text: "Cataloging the Web: AACR and MARC 21"; "Cataloging the Web: Other Approaches, Other Standards"; "Tools for Cataloging the Web"; "Digital Libraries: Practical Applications of the Standards"; "Conclusion: Where Are We? Where Are We Going?"
The body of this text presents viewpoints and offers instruction. Diane Boehr, Regina Reynolds, Rebecca Guenther and Elizabeth Mangan discuss metadata initiatives from our national libraries. Beth Picknally Camden, Constance Mayer, and William Fietzer give perspectives from the university environment. Jean Hirons reviews AACR2 and seriality. Text Encoding Initiative (TEI), Data Documentation Initiative (DDI), Encoded Archival Description (EAD), and crosswalks become familiar topics with the publication of Cataloging the Web. Michael Gorman, in the last chapter, speaks of trust and identity issues related to metadata creation.
I recommend a slow and careful reading of this work. The field is complex, new, and evolving. Metadata librarianships are now more visible, advertised and appointed to institutions more frequently.
This is essential reading for those who wish to become metadata librarians and a noteworthy reference for others. Curious librarians can use this as an instructional work to help understand the nomenclature and new acronyms. I recommend this work to archivists, library managers, library students, catalogers, Web designers, and computer experts.
Published in 2002 by: Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Md. (vii, 199 p.). ISBN 0810841436. $39.50.
Reviewed by: Meredith Horan
National Library of Medicine, NIH
Bethesda, Md.
Last updated: April 8, 2003
http://www.olacinc.org/reviews/.html
neumeist@buffalo.edu