Friday, April 17, 2009
College of Holy Cross, Worcester, MA

8:30 – Registration & Refreshments
9:15 – Program Begins
3:30 – Adjourn

Morning Keynote Address:

Metadata is a Plural Noun by Karen Coyle is a librarian and Consultant in the area of digital libraries. Karen worked for over 20 years at the University of California in the California Digital Library, has served on library and information standards committees, and has written frequently on technical topics ranging from metadata development, technology management, system design, and on policy areas such as copyright and privacy.

Libraries have operated for over 150 years with a very singular view of bibliographic metadata: the catalog record. In a new world of interactive, networked information, the catalog record can no longer stand apart if it is to serve information users. The focus must move from the record to the data itself, and to the many contexts where bibliographic data elements must be designed to interact with the online information universe.

Afternoon Speaker:

What Users & Librarians Want from Metadata by Ted Fons, Director, OCLC WorldCat Global Metadata Network.

Ted Fons will report on recent research that tells us more about what users want from discovery systems and how well our metadata meets their needs. This research helps catalogers understand what kind of metadata is useful for discovery and delivery. He will also explore questions around where and how we manage our metadata.

Next Generation Catalogs Panel:

Mining the OPAC by Kevin Kidd, Boston College on Primo, Daniel Lovins, Yale University Library on VuFind, and Remlee Green, MIT on Implementing WorldCat Local at MIT.

This talk will cover major points about why the MIT Libraries implemented WorldCat Local, several challenges that were encountered in implementation, and pros and cons of adopting the system.

Breakout Sessions:

RDA: Boondoggle or Boon? And What About MARC? by Rick Block, Columbia University Libraries

The development of RDA has been fraught with contention and challenges. Will RDA be cataloger’s judgment or cataloger’s judgment day? Does RDA go too far or not far enough? Is RDA an “imminent debacle” or “the cataloguing standard for the 21st century”? Will it ever be implemented? And where does MARC fit in? Join us for what promises to be a lively discussion of RDA and the future of MARC.

Beyond Federated Search: The Next Generation of Discovery by Tracy L. Thompson-Przylucki, New England Law Library Consortium

In 2004 the NELLCO Reference Interest Group began exploring federated search. One member, Franklin Pierce Law Center, recognizing the shortcomings of the federated search model, introduced an alternative approach based on enterprise search technology. In 2007 NELLCO received an IMLS grant to develop an open source discovery tool based on that technology. This presentation will explain and demonstrate NELLCO’s Universal Search Solution project.

Fishing Upstream: Publisher-supplied Cataloging and Libraries by Andreas Biedenbach, Springer Pub. and Leslie Horner Button, University of Massachusetts Amherst

“On the Record”, LC’s Working Group Report on the Future of Bibliographic Control, calls for making use of more bibliographic data earlier in the supply chain. Two specific recommendations call on libraries to “work with publishers and other resource providers to coordinate data sharing in a way that works well for all partners” and to “demonstrate to publishers the business advantages of supplying complete and accurate metadata”. Andreas Biedenbach of Springer Publishers will speak generally about what publishers can do for libraries and specifically about his company’s efforts to work with libraries to provide appropriate data in acceptable formats. Leslie Horner Button, from University of Massachusetts, Amherst, will speak on what libraries need from publishers. Together they will attempt to define the common ground (and data) between libraries and publishers and suggest ways to move forward.

Collecting Free Web Resources: Selecting, Harvesting, Cataloging by Alex Thurman, Columbia University Libraries

We know how to collect print material and license commercial electronic resources, but what about free Web resources? Alex Thurman will discuss Columbia University’s ongoing effort to design a workflow for incorporating free Web resources produced by human rights NGOs into its collections, from selecting through archiving, cataloging and providing access.

Schedule of the Day
Links within the Schedule of the Day may be broken. If available, links to additional materials are provided above.

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