Meditations/Metadata in an Emergency

DAVID BANUSHANN CALDWELL

NELINETMAY 27, 2009

Meditations/Metadata in an Emergency

I am needed by things as the sky must be above the earth.

--Frank O’Hara, “Meditations in an Emergency”

•Economic•Competition•Demographic

Emergencies

•What are the questions we need to ask? •What evidence do we have to guide us? •How can we make use of “more product, less process”

and still meet the needs of users?

Questions

•Does metadata really matter?• Low cost/high utility?• E-texts, computational analysis, “ambient

findability”• What is the return on investment?

Questions

•Where are we as a community?

Questions

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•Where are we as a community?• This slide intentionally left blank• Resistance to core• LC series decision

Questions

•Where are we as a community?• CONSER standard record (and

BIBCO)• Archives (Green/Meisner

report)

• RDA core elements

Questions

It's like a final chapter no one reads because the plot is over.

--Frank O’Hara, “Meditations in an Emergency”

What I’ve learned in the last 30 years

What from MARC cataloging is applicable to digital metadata?

We’re well-prepared to create metadataWe may be too well-prepared

What can we learn from metadata for digital projects?

Group approach

Anyone can create metadata

Standards

Apply?Don’t apply?Which ones?What difference will it make?

Define a minimal level record

Authority control?

Who?What?When?Where?Why?

Subject analysis

Might be usefulMight not beWill definitely be a lot of work

If you say “keyword”

once more I’ll smack you!

Would you like a genre

with that?

Abstracts

We LOVE abstracts!Just one short abstract

What you see

is what you get

Tools

Be lazyMacrosFriendly tools

Advice

Don’t sweat the small stuffWhat’s important, what’s not?Where can you compromise?

RELAX AND ENJOY YOURSELF!