Adventures of an Accidental Metadata Cataloger

LIS Section, MASAL 2014

Michael E. Unsworth

Michigan State University Libraries

Janet A. Ginsburg Chicago Tribune Collection

SUPERIOR IMAGE QUALITYProQuest Historical Newspapers Ginsburg

FORGOTTEN GEMS

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SUBJECT SEARCHES

SUBJECT SEARCHES

PROCESSING STAGES

EARLY CATALOGING CAREER

METADATA FIELDS• Title: • Creator:• Contributor:• Publication Date:• Description:• Genre: Advertisements, Drawings, Editorial advertisements, etc.• Geographical area:• Type: still image, text• Printing Technique: black & white, sepia, color, etc.• Subjects: LC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials • Temporal Date:• Size:• Source: Issue Date, Section, Page Number

Color codes: Undergraduates Grad Students Cataloger

UG & GS GS & Cat

DESCRIPTION:Not exact transcription of caption

Internet Assist

Internet Assist

LIMITATIONS OF CURRENT SYSTEM

• No cross references• No Boolean searching• No phrase searching• No Advanced searching, example:

Color ads showing 1920s airplanes Editorial cartoons from the 1930s that

have dogs in them

REFLECTIONS ON TRADITIONAL LIBRARY & METADATA CATALOGING

• The definition “data about data” is not helpful

• At basic level, no difference. Skills and mindset are the same. Consistency is the key

• Metadata schemes are varied and can be as simple or complex as the builders want. Traditional library cataloging has over a century of complexity

Future of Cataloging• Tradeoffs on level of granularity will

constantly be made• For the product to be valuable,

investments in technology and staff knowledge have to be made. If not:

Garbage In Garbage Out

END