Cataloging and Metadata Commons^™

More Than A Name: Reparative Description For Women’S Archives, Allison Mccormack, Hallie Oines

Journal of Western Archives

This article describes a reparative description initiative at an academic library aimed at improving access to women’s archival collections. By hiring a metadata specialist through grant funding, the project revised legacy MARC records to update, expand, and standardize collection descriptions. Prioritizing inclusive language and accurate subject headings, the team addressed gaps that previously hindered discovery of women’s materials. Over two years, 818 records were remediated, enhancing creator, topical, and genre/form access points. The article discusses project challenges, strategies for respectful description, and the resulting improved discoverability, offering a replicable model for reparative archival work.

Ai And Cataloging: What Do We Know, 4 Years In?, Emily Baldoni, Angela Yon

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

This poster will disentangle AI hype from AI reality by providing a systematic review and meta-analysis of the current empirical research on AI applications for cataloging. Since the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022, AI has been proposed as a tool for increasing efficiency and freeing up librarians' time across all areas of librarianship, especially in the area of cataloging and metadata. There is often a gap, however, between current AI realities and the requirements of highly structured library metadata. Surveys show that many catalogers are already using Large Language Model (LLM) tools, with human intervention, to assist in tasks …

Serials Spoken Here, Michelle E. Colquitt, Megan Horn, Jessica Berkana, Joni L. Addis, Michelle Sharla Navarro, Rachel E. Scott, Nancy A. Henke, Amy Kendrick, David Fiora, Uyen Nguyen, Kayla Kipps

Publications

No abstract provided.

Olac Metadata Application Profile And Policy Statements For The Official Rda Toolkit, Sarah Hovde, John Dickson, Robert Freeborn, Peggy Griesinger, Jeannette Ho, Junghae Lee, Nicole Lewis, Treshani Perera, Madeleine Boyer, Liza Campbell, Sherab Chen, Jessica Hayden, David Norris, Diana Simpson

OLAC Publications and Training Materials

This document introduces a metadata application profile (MAP) and a set of policy statements (PS) for use with the Official RDA Toolkit, based on the OLAC Best Practices for Cataloging DVD-Video and Blu-ray Discs, Objects, Streaming Media, and Video Games Using the Original RDA Toolkit and MARC 21 (2023; hereafter OLAC Best Practices or Best Practices). These resources were developed by the OLAC Unified Best Practices in Official RDA Task Force (2022-2026).

Both the MAP and the PS are meant to be living documents, and it is expected that they will be regularly improved and updated to reflect the needs …

Reconceptualizing Metadata Management As A Design Discipline, Rebecca B. French

Faculty Scholarship

Libraries are increasingly exploring design approaches, but their utility has been overlooked in the area of metadata management. This article argues that metadata management should be considered a design discipline. Key elements of design epistemology and their relevance to cataloging and metadata work are explored through a case study of developing a workflow to update OCLC numbers in a library catalog. Conceptualizing metadata management through the lens of design provides a new view of the field that expands possibilities for education, advocacy, research, and practice.

Beyond Rules And Tools: Imagining A Design Approach To Metadata Management Training, Rebecca B. French

Libraries

Professional development offerings for cataloging and metadata practitioners primarily focus on "rules and tools" - the standards, guidelines, and software applications commonly used in the field. These areas of knowledge are important and foundational, but professionals also need competence in synthesizing this information to solve metadata problems. In this presentation, I will explore design epistemology as a way of understanding metadata management. I will apply design concepts and methods to reimagine metadata training and provide suggestions for on-the-job training approaches that support the development of these harder-to-teach skills.

Best Practices For Cataloging Digital Media Storage Devices Using Rda And Marc21, Online Audiovisual Catalogers Inc. Cataloging Policy Committee And The Music Library Association Cataloging And Metadata Committee Joint Mla/Olac Media Devices Best Practices Task Force, Kristi Bergland, Bruce Evans, Mary Huismann, Barbara R. Tysinger

OLAC Publications and Training Materials

No abstract provided.

The Invisible Default: Examining Representation In Digital Collections, Kaylee P. Alexander, Dorothy Terry, Jasmine Kirby, Rachel Jane Wittmann, Anna Neatrour

Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

This mixed-method study investigates the representation of race and ethnicity within the J. Willard Marriott Digital Library at the University of Utah. The digital collections analyzed in this study come from the Marriott Library’s Special Collections, which represent only a fraction of the library’s physical material (less than 1 percent), albeit those most public facing. Using a team-based approach with librarians from various disciplines and areas of expertise, this project yielded dynamic analysis and conversation combined with heavy contemplation. These investigations are informed by contemporary efforts in librarianship focused on inclusive cataloging, reparative metadata, and addressing archival silences. By employing …

Unveiling Legacies: Exploring And Analyzing Cultural Artifacts In The Higbee Collection, Samantha Staller

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Anthropology and the Cummings Center to find ways to properly analyze an archaeological collection's artifacts to understand the overall significance of everything better. Before starting my research, I came up with the following questions: Can any artifacts be considered culturally affiliated? Is everything in the collection authentic? What is the overall background of the collection? Does this collection have any connection to Ohio history? Can anything in the collection be dated? Throughout the research, I will create an Excel inventory list to include qualitative and quantitative data from the artifacts to give insight into what is included in the Higbee …

The Bib Record In The Age Of Digital Reproduction, Michael Kirby

Publications and Research

Taking both structural and thematic inspiration from Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” this article posits that the movement from physical card catalogs to ALSs [Automated library systems] and ILSs [Integrated library systems] was not solely the result of technological progress. Rather, this transition had its genesis in a process Marx called primitive accumulation—in this case a form specific to the library profession. In other words, this article seeks to recast the history of digitized catalogs within libraries, seeing them, first and foremost, as harbingers of disenfranchisement and dispossession, specifically of catalogers. The article …

Time And The Catalogue, Alec Mullender

Proceedings from the Document Academy

This paper explores the multiple ways in which concepts of time are incorporated in cataloguing and classification to see how these temporal concepts influence how material is organised in library space. It discusses multiple concepts, including the structural influences of the capitalist ‘exchange-view’ of time in how the discipline is organised and its incorporation into the so-called ‘universal’ cataloguing systems. The continued issues of obsolescence within cataloguing systems as language and concepts constantly evolve, and how these are integrated into the systems themselves. The paper also discusses the semantic difficulties with how time itself is expressed within cataloguing systems, as …

Making De-Prioritized Gifts/Donations/Inventory Discoverable For Researchers, Alie Visser, Christina Zoricic

Western Libraries Presentations

This poster discusses a project to oversee the quality control and brief description of over 21,000 rare and unique items donated to the library in an unprocessed “backlog” spanning decades. The goals of this project include making the material discoverable and requestable by researchers, establishing labour benchmarks for material processing, and assigning an appropriate receiving library to items for inventory control in preparation for the cataloguing unit’s move to a new physical location.

Following a system migration from Sierra to Alma, the library was left with over 21,000 unprocessed items that were not represented in the library’s discovery system. Lacking …

Worldshare Record Manager: Cataloging With Wms, Ashley L. Smith

Library Presentations

WorldShare Record Manager is a cataloging tool provided through WorldShare Management Services (WMS). This presentation will primarily focus on creating original records, copy cataloging, and editing bibliographic records with WorldShare Record Manager. The aim of this presentation is to familiarize anyone involved with their institution’s cataloging with the cataloging components of WMS.

Telling Your Stories With Data: Using Statistics To Create Statistical Narratives, Amy B. Parsons

Faculty Bibliography

I am a cataloger and back in 2015 I needed to figure out a way to share our numbers in a relevant way to my library director. I have learned to use data to create statistical narratives and use those narratives in many ways to tell stories with data, use data for assessment, visualize data in a meaningful way to make important data-driven decisions and ultimately showcase the value of library work to library stakeholders. I started with cataloging data and in my current position at Columbus State University, as Head of Technical Services, I oversee managing all library-wide statistics, …

Telling Your Stories With Data: Using Statistics To Create Statistical Narratives, Amy B. Parsons

Faculty Bibliography

I am a cataloger and back in 2015 I needed to figure out a way to share our numbers in a relevant way to my library director. I have learned to use data to create statistical narratives and use those narratives in many ways to tell stories with data, use data for assessment, visualize data in a meaningful way to make important data-driven decisions and ultimately showcase the value of library work to library stakeholders. I started with cataloging data and in my current position at Columbus State University, as Head of Technical Services, I oversee managing all library-wide statistics, …

Beyond Documentation: Using Dynamic Online Tools For Staff Training & Support, Diana Simpson, Kelsey Geller

University Libraries Workshops and Presentations

Onboarding and training new staff can be time consuming to plan, organize, and execute. When USM’s Technical Services department recently experienced a period of reorganization and staff turnover, it meant that there were fewer resources at hand to devote to training newly hired staff and bringing them up to speed on work processes. To help alleviate the workload of planning and executing training, we began implementing the use of various dynamic and interactive online tools, including a Kanban task manager, virtual meetings, instant messaging software, and shared documents. Incorporating this toolbox of web-based resources provided flexibility in delivering initial training …

Full Marc Examples To Accompany Olac Best Practices For Cataloging Dvd-Video And Blu- Ray Discs, Objects, Streaming Media, And Video Games Using The Original Rda Toolkit And Marc 21, Marcia Barrett, Josh Hutchinson, Yoko Kudo, Julie Renee Moore, Kyla Jemison, Amanda Scott, Teressa Keenan, Ann Kardos, Melissa Burel

OLAC Publications and Training Materials

Examples of MARC 21 catalog records to accompany the OLAC Best Practices for Cataloging DVD-Video and Blu-ray Discs, Objects, Streaming Media, and Video Games Using the Original RDA Toolkit and MARC 21.

Olac Best Practices For Cataloging Dvd-Video And Blu-Ray Discs, Objects, Streaming Media, And Video Games Using The Original Rda Toolkit And Marc 21, Marcia Barrett, Josh Hutchinson, Yoko Kudo, Julie Renee Moore, Kyla Jemison, Amanda Scott, Teressa Keenan, Ann Kardos, Melissa Burel

OLAC Publications and Training Materials

The OLAC Unified Best Practices Guide brings together the current published best practice guides into a single best practices guide that incorporates Best Practices for Cataloging DVD-Video and Blu-ray Discs Using RDA and MARC21, Best Practices for Cataloging Objects Using RDA and MARC 21, Best Practices for Cataloging Streaming Media Using RDA and MARC21, and Best Practices for Cataloging Video Games Using RDA and MARC21.

Semi-Automated Techniques And Tools For Efficiency: The Case Of Etd Cataloging, Nicole Lewis

Faculty Publications

Technological advances in the library industry have opened doors for new approaches and techniques for efficiently managing, manipulating, and remediating metadata. However, the thought of automation can often bring visions of garbage in the catalog or, worse, job consolidation or loss. With the right balance of automation and manual review, catalogers and metadata experts can optimize workflows for efficiency and quality. This frees up time for other essential projects. Developing efficiency skills may also help increase productivity and excellence in current job duties and provide job advancement opportunities regardless of background. Using an ETD cataloging workflow as a case study, …

Linked Data Via Vivaldi: A Musical Journey From Wikidata To The Library Catalog, Emma Clarkson, Steven Folsom, Huda Khan, Kevin Kishimoto, Astrid Usong, Rachel Evans

Presentations

In collaboration with the Music Library Association Linked Data Working Group (MLA LDWG), and as part of the Linked Data for Production: Closing the Loop (LD4P3) grant, Cornell University and Stanford University explored the integration of Wikidata properties describing musical works into a Cornell library catalog prototype. In this presentation, we will briefly describe the MLA LDWG’s project to add thematic catalog codes and other information to musical works represented in Wikidata. We will review the design, development, and usability testing of a Cornell library catalog prototype that integrated these Wikidata properties.

We will also discuss the specific choices we …

Unlocking The Mysteries Of Serials, Nicole Lewis, Sharolyn Swenson

Faculty Publications

Serials cataloging can be confusing with its unique properties. This session will discuss some of the challenges involved in cataloging serials including choosing a title, what to do if you do not have the first issue or an early issue of the serial, determining the dates of serials, frequency changes and cataloging serials in languages that are unfamiliar to the cataloger.

Great Expectations: Technical Services And The Library Director, David Banush

Faculty and Staff Publications

Discusses challenges and opportunities for technical services in a landscape of shifting scholarly communication, increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence, and evolving information acquisitions.

Digital Bookplates: Cataloging Processes And Workflows, Alie Visser

Western Libraries Publications

Historically, bookplates were found in the front of print monographs. Transitioning them to digital allows libraries to expand their visibility to researchers and to fundraising activities within institutions. Digital bookplates offer significant opportunities to honor or memorialize individuals with gifts to libraries at varying donation levels. This article discusses digital bookplates in an academic library and provides examples of the cataloging, metadata, and web processes involved in maintaining and collaborating on this active fundraising program. A previous article on this topic was published in 2012 and this article provides an update to its procedures and workflows a decade later.

Best Practices For Cataloging Streaming Media Using Rda And Marc21, Erminia Chao, Rebecca Culbertson, Jennifer M. Eustis, Cyrus Ford, Annie Glerum, Ngoc-My Guidarelli, Mary Huismann, Stacie Traill, Donna Viscuglia, Jeannette Ho, Jay Weitz

OLAC Publications and Training Materials

This document is intended to assist catalogers in creating records for streaming media according to instructions within Resource Description and Access (RDA), the successor to the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR2). Like the original Best Practices for Cataloging Streaming Media, made available in 2008, it covers both streaming video and audio, including those that are born digital, as well as those that are created from an existing resource in another format, such as a video issued on DVD or videocassette. Its main focus is on resources that are “streaming” over the Internet in real-time, rather than resources that are not …

Composers' Collected Works: A Case Study In Remote Work Compatible Catalog Maintenance, David Floyd

Library Scholarship

Approximately 15% of Binghamton University Libraries' 28,000 musical scores are collections of scores comprising a composer's complete works. Ideally, these large, multipart, non-circulating collections are cataloged consistently with either comprehensive records for each set, or individual records for each score within the set. Our catalog is inconsistent in this approach and requires remediation. The resulting workflow maximizes flexibility in who participates, where, and when, by siloing the portion of the work requiring data processing and advanced music cataloging skills. This poster will show both the workflow for standardizing composers' collected works sets, and how the project is designed for remote …

The Old And The Prudish: An Examination Of Sex, Sexuality, And Queerness In Library Of Congress Classification, Tiffany Henry, Rhonda Kauffman, Anastasia Chiu

Published Works

Despite the fact that scholarship and knowledge about sex and sexuality have grown enormously in the last century, these topics in the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) schedules have remained stagnant, particularly in the HQ schedule (a classification subclass), entitled “The Family. Marriage. Women.” In this schedule, multiple structural issues in organization and placement of topics demonstrate a deeply sex negative attitude that has seen relatively little change in over a century. This article takes a deep dive into the negative attitudes toward sex and sexuality in the LCC HQ schedule, analyzing the ways in which sex negativity manifests structurally …

Cataloging Conundrums: Challenging Items That Have Crossed Our Desks, Rebecca A. Wiederhold, Sharolyn Swenson, Kjerste Christensen, Jessie Louise Christensen

Faculty Publications

Some of the most interesting items that cross the cataloger’s desk present difficult cataloging challenges. When cataloging a collection of suspected forgeries, how do you determine the “publication” date for faked documents? Which cataloging workform do you use for a LEGO model of the Salt Lake Temple? Is it a kit? A game? A sculpture? In this session, we will share examples of unique items we’ve cataloged and demonstrate how to effectively solve the questions that come up when trying to help patrons discover exactly what they’re looking for.

Creating Knowledge Graphs For Collections And Lod Visualization: Some Cases, Sai Deng

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This presentation will share knowledge graphs and other Linked Open Data (LOD) visualization the author created or helped in creating for a few projects, including people in the Pemberton Correspondence Collection, WikiProject: Chinese Female Poets, and UCF Teachers & Researchers. It will also cover the current state of LOD in Ex Libris’ library services platform Alma. The purpose of this talk is to help our cataloging folks better understand LOD and be better prepared for the upcoming changes related to LOD in our library system.

Telling The Technical Services Story: Communicating Value (Presentation), Rebecca Mugridge

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

Technical Services isn’t the hidden discipline it once was. Despite some cross-departmental interaction, misconceptions about the work are all too common. It’s incumbent on technical services staff to take a proactive approach by communicating to others their value to the library and institutional mission. This session spotlights successful initiatives and gives you the guidance to bolster communication within departments, across the library, and campus-wide.

Moving Beyond World Music: An Exploration Of Non-Western Music Cataloging Practices In Higher Education And Where To Go From Here, Alastair L. Canavan

New Librarianship Symposia Series: Fall 2021

The term “world music” has been used for decades as a catchall genre to describe any form of music outside of Western classical. As a byproduct of the eurocentrism pervasive throughout academia, its use furthers a bubble that others or ignores Non-Western cultures and their music. By examining the public-facing catalogs of 13 university libraries across 10 different countries to determine to what extent Non-Western music is included in their collections, how it is cataloged, and if the term “world music” is used to do so, the specific cataloging practices and norms that perpetuate a bias toward Western classical music …