Metadata: A Cataloger's Primer (review)

This title aims to provide both students and seasoned catalogers with a foundation in the increasingly diverse domain of resource description and non-MARC metadata. Targeting audiences with such diverse knowledge and objectives is a difficult task; but, on the whole, this volume succeeds in striking a balance. Students can learn much about basic concepts as well as newer forms of resource description, whereas experienced librarians will benefit from the practical guidance and exploration of XML-based metadata.

Smiraglia writes a solid introduction that raises a number of salient points such as the varying definitions of the term "metadata." Is metadata "data about data" or is it the structure around such data? Without coming to a clear answer, Smiraglia instead sets the stage for a compendium that incorporates both definitions. The introduction goes on to discuss markup languages, including MARC among other schema used to describe resources, to illustrate how MARC relates to the other standards discussed later in the text. The presentation of the major metadata standards and their constituent communities gives a broad overview of the larger landscape.

Although they may be of interest to all, the first two articles by Jane Greenberg and Lynne C. Howarth are geared to students or librarians with less extensive knowledge of resource description principles. They contain general information on metadata and its relationship to the resources it describes. When discussing the various metadata schema utilized in resource description, the text unfortunately becomes somewhat of an alphabet soup, naming the many standards and schemas and their acronyms. However, the novice may find that these articles provide a solid introduction to the philosophies underpinning resource description.

Beyond these initial articles, the remainder of first part, titled "Intellectual Foundations," is applicable for both target audiences. Thematically, these articles address bibliographic description and metadata from perspectives outside of the typical library environment. D. Grant Campbell's piece examining the topic using structural literary theory is a fresh approach that is clear even for readers not familiar with the genre. Campbell analyzes bibliographic description and newer metadata standards using the structure of literary theory without getting lost in the jargon of either.

Other chapters approach the topic from the perspective of content holders who understand what information they have or are seeking, highlighting the valuable experience and approach that catalogers can bring to the world of non-MARC metadata. For instance, the healthcare and museum communities are not necessarily well suited to traditional MARC/AACR2 cataloging, but the principles of cataloging can be applied to fit their needs using a different metadata set as highlighted in articles by Leatrice Ferraioli and Smiraglia. Finally, Jennifer Cwiok's article on the changing nature of authorship in the digital world describes how different metadata communities are redefining digital resource authorship, thereby transforming the concept of what it means to create a digital object.

The papers contained in part two, "How to Create, Apply, and Use Metadata," provide the kind of clear, instructional information that this title promises. Patrick Yott's "Introduction to XML" is a must-read for anyone wanting to decipher the information found inside those angled brackets. By comparing and contrasting to the perhaps more familiar HTML, Yott clearly defines the purpose of XML while providing a primer for understanding XML-based mark-up. This article might have been better placed at the beginning of this section, as the works providing examples of XML-based mark-up schemas become more meaningful with a basic understanding. The introductions to standards such as Dublin Core, Encoded Archival Description and Encoded Archival Context, and the Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard are solid presentations of how each standard is constructed and works. Each article is easy to understand and clearly states the advantages to using the particular standard described.

The final article by Michael Chopey on planning and implementing a digital repository is well situated. With the previous articles having discussed both big...