Core News

Find Community. Share Expertise. Enhance Library Careers.

Category: Metadata and Collections

Get Started in Your Core Sections

Did you know that Core has six specialty sections? Our sections are member-only networks that focus on specific areas of interests supporting core library work. You can join as many sections as you like for free as part of your membership. Just go to a new section and use the “Join” button. Access and Equity Assessment Buildings and Operations Leadership and Management Metadata and Collections Technology You’ve already been placed in those sections that align with your previous division affiliation. For example, former members of ALCTS are already members of the Core Metadata and Collections Section, former LITA members are already in the Technology Section, and former LLAMA members are already in the Leadership and Management Section. You can find all your sections in Core Connect, under the tab, “My Sections” in the “Communities” navigation menu. To send a message to the [Name of Section] Section, send it to [section…Continue Reading

Metadata Quality

This article comes from the desk of our guest blog contributor, Graeme Williams, Online Catalog Analyst. Suppose you lived halfway between two libraries, both of which had friendly, helpful reference desks — but one gave incorrect or incomplete answers twice as often.  Which one would you ask for help?  Now what if one of your patrons wanted some bibliographic information, say, the title of the latest James Paterson novel.  They could go to Amazon, or Goodreads, or LibraryThing — or your online catalog.  Don’t you think they’re going to end up using the most complete, most accurate source of information? You’ve probably come across examples of errors on Amazon.com:  a listing for a jar of peanuts illustrated by a picture of a pair of scissors.  Hilarious, but not very common.  But do you know how many of your catalog records have incorrect or incomplete information? Suppose patrons visit your online catalog…Continue Reading

Patron-focused Cataloging

This article is from our guest blog contributor, Graeme Williams, Online Catalog Analyst. Is your cataloging focused on your patrons? As a patron, I look at the process of cataloging backwards, starting with the OPAC (a search results or item page).  From the item page, I can display the MARC record and see what the cataloger did.  If I want, I can then look up the cataloging rules that the cataloger followed. That means that my model of cataloging is inextricably tied to the OPAC configuration.  Cataloging rules don’t say anything about what should be displayed on a search results page; that’s determined by the interaction of the OPAC with the data in the catalog.  What do you want patrons to see? Let’s consider a vexing example, the multi-author anthology.  You’re a conscientious cataloger, so you type the whole table of contents into an enhanced 505 field.  So what?  If your…Continue Reading