The Evolving Role of the Metadata Librarian
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5860/lrts.54n3.129Abstract
Metadata librarian positions have been increasing in academic and research libraries in the last decade, paralleling the expanded provision of, and thus description of and access to, digital resources. Library literature has only begun to explore the significance and implications of this new, still evolving role. In the context of a twenty-first-century academic library, what knowledge and experience should a metadata librarian have? How different is the job of a metadata librarian from the job of a cataloging librarian? One way to determine the kinds of qualifications and skills being sought is to consult job postings for metadata librarians. The authors examined job descriptions dating from 2000 through 2008 that were featured in advertisements for both metadata librarians and cataloging librarians, to determine where these two roles converge and diverge, and what these commonalities and differences convey about the role of metadata librarians today.
References
The earliest mention the authors found of “metadata librarian” is in Angi Herold Faiks and Janet A. McCue, “The Culture of Engaged Institutions,” in
Becoming a Digital Library
, ed. Susan J. Barnes (New York: Marcel Drekker, 2004): 1–24nJames Martin, Strategic Data Planning Methodologies (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall 1982): 127-nLois Buttlar, Rajinder Garcha, '“Catalogers in Academic Libraries: Their Evolving and Expanding Roles,”' College & Research Libraries 59 no. 4 (1998): 311-21nAbdus Sattar Chaudhry, N. C. Komathi, '“Requirements for Cataloguing Positions in the Electronic Environment,”' Technical Services Quarterly 19 no. 1 (2002): 1-23nIbid., 3nIbid., 15nHanna Kwasik, '“Qualifications for a Serials Librarian in an Electronic Environment,”' Serials Review 28 no. 1 (2002): 33-38nZahiruddin Khurshid, '“The Impact of Information Technology on Job Requirements and Qualifications for Catalogers,”' Information Technology & Libraries 22 no. 1 (2003): 18-21nIbidnSylvia D. Hall-Ellis, '“Cataloging Electronic Resources and Metadata: Employers’ Expectations as Reflected in American Libraries and AutoCAT, 2000–2005,”' Journal of Education for Library & Information Science 47 no. 1 (2006): 38-51nJung-Ran Park, Caimei Lu, '“Metadata Professionals: Roles and Competencies as Reflected in Job Announcements, 2003–2006,”' Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 47 no. 2 (2009): 145-60nIbid., 146nIbid., 159nFaiks and McCue, “The Culture of Engaged Institutions,” 18nKaren Calhoun, '“Being a Librarian: Metadata and Metadata Specialists in the Twenty-First Century,”' Library Hi Tech 25 no. 2 (Spring 2007): 185nMatthew Beacom, “What is a Metadata Librarian?” PowerPoint presentation, Feb. 15, 2005, www.library.yale.edu/scopa/forums/documents/metadatalib.pptnJohn W. Chapman, '“The Roles of the Metadata Librarian in a Research Library,”' Library Resources & Technical Services 51 no. 4 (2007): 279-85nJin Ma, Metadata,
SPEC Kit 298
(Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries 2007)nFaiks and McCue, “The Culture of Engaged Institutions.”nThat the authors did not consult online sources for cataloging librarian jobs is an inadvertent oversight, which will be resolved in the next stage of researchnMa,
MetadatanButtlar and Garcha, “Catalogers in Academic Libraries”; Chaudhry and Komathi, “Requirements for Cataloguing Positions in the Electronic Environment”; Calhoun, “Being a Librarian”; Park and Lu, “Metadata Professionals.”nHenry Voos, '“The Name’s The Thing,”' Journal of Education for Library & Information Science 25 no. 3 (1985): 232-34nIbid., 233nKhurshid, “The Impact of Information Technology,” 20nIbidn
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