Competency G

Demonstrate understanding of basic principles and standards involved in organizing information such as classification and controlled vocabulary systems, cataloging systems, metadata schemas or other systems for making information accessible to a particular clientele

Introduction

A library collection is a group of items, often books or documents, but essentially just items. Once this collection is assembled one needs to create an easy way to find the items one is looking for. Information professionals do this by storing data about each item in the collection in an ordered way. The first records created for items were cards in the card catalog. This was a highly manual system that has evolved into the modern integrated library system (ILS) which uses digital records for each item. By follow standards, the record created for each item is easily searched and items in the collected are able to be found. Records can also be shared between libraries.  Mainstream ILS databases offer an easy way to create and search these records but the importance of following standards cannot be understated.

Metadata is defined as data about an item. Metadata is the information we store on each record. We use this data to aid in our ability to find that specific item. The most common metadata schema in libraries is currently the MARC record. The MARC record was created in the late 1960’s by the Library of Congress and endures still today. The MARC format encodes information about each item in MARC numbered fields and subfields. For example, the 245 field is used to record the title information and the subfield 245 $c is used to record the statement of responsibility. One MARC record includes all of the metadata stored for one item. The core bibliographic access points are title, edition, publisher, publication date, physical description, series, and notes. 

When creating the metadata we use a special convention called authority control for some data points like the author and subject. Authority control is the process of standardizing all possible forms of a thing into a single authorized form (Bolin, 2018, P. 149.) By looking at the Author field one can see the necessity for authority control. Many authors have multiple possible permutations of their names and even possible pseudonyms. All of these possibilities are gathered into the authority control record and one name chosen as the preferred form (Bolin, 2018, P. 149.) In this way, we can guarantee that all works written by an author are attributed to this author, including text written under a pseudonym. Authority control also facilitates search so that authors with the same name are disambiguated. In this situation, the authority control record amends a birth date to the name.  

Within the MARC metadata schema one also follows a standard for the information stored within each MARC field. For example, when cataloging subject content we can use one of three standards, the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), the Library of Congress Classification (LCC), or the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) to express the aboutness of a resource. LCSH, LCC, and DDC are all controlled vocabularies. Both the DDC and LCC are used by many libraries worldwide and are revised continually. Unfortunately, they remain heavily influenced by the 19th century worldview of their creation and often are criticized for containing biased headings (Bolin, 2018, P. 151.)

Since all MARC records follow the same standard, libraries can share these records between themselves. Following a shared format for MARC records allowed the OCLC to create the WorldCat database which is a collection of the records of all 10,000 member libraries (Bolin, 2018, P. 144). This is an amazing example of the power of standards to connect people to information.

Although I have focused heavily on the MARC record metadata schema because it is widely used in libraries it is not the only metadata schema. Another popular metadata schema is Dublin Core (DC) which includes 15 core terms. DC is often used to create records for digital resources because it includes terms like accessRights which is pertinent to digitally native items. Folksonomies are another example of a metadata schema. Folksonomies are a form of social tagging using electronic metadata. Many online file sharing sites like FLICKR use folksonomies.

Currently there is an initiative underway to develop an updated standard to replace the MARC record. This project is being undertaken by the Library of Congress and the new BIBFRAME record will take advantage of the linked data concept. Linked data was first introduced by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the internet. Linked data requires that each piece of information is a record with its own url. A new standard that includes linked data would allow for more cooperative cataloging and would expand the information displayed in a search. For example, a search for J.K. Rowling would return not only the books she has written, but also bibliographical data and other journal articles written about her.

Competency development

I have developed my understanding of cataloging schemes, controlled vocabularies, and folksonomies through my entire coursework at SJSU. Starting in INFO 202 I was initially introduced to the concepts. The database design group project was helpful in that it allowed me to work directly with the concepts. I have broadened my knowledge through the Data Asset Management class and saw how digital assets had additional metadata needs. Finally, the INFO 248 class was invaluable to me as a librarian working with books. It gave me a solid foundation in the MARC record format. During my internship at the Los Gatos Public Library I used this foundation to copy catalog a new collection of recently purchased Spanish language books. In a professional capacity as a school librarian I now create my own MARC records for purchases when needed.

Evidence Description

INFO 248 – Final MARC Record Set

I chose this example of 12 records created for INFO 248. This demonstrates my understanding of MARC record creation and cataloging standards.

INFO 282 – Medical Drill Image DAM System

This culminating project in Digital Asset Management shows my understanding of how to create a custom metadata model and taxonomy. Controlled vocabularies are recommended for multiple access points in the DAM system. 

INFO 202 – Game Project Database Design

The design document for a custom database for board games shows my understanding of data modeling and the use of authority control.

INFO 202 – Folksonomy Discussion

This discussion post details the benefits and limitations of using a folksonomy vs a controlled vocabulary using the Library Thing website as an example.

Concluding Remarks

Information is stored about each item within a library collection. This information is called metadata and within libraries the most common metadata schema is the MARC record. Both authority control and controlled vocabularies are used to standardize metadata to increase the usefulness of searches and thus findability. The use of standards is a valuable tool that librarians use when organizing information.

References

Bolin, M. (2018). Metadata, Cataloging, Linked Data and the Evolving ILS. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information Services today: An introduction. (Second edition, pp. 142-155). Rowman & Littlefield.

Last Updated October 3, 2021 12:00pm