Maurine McCourry

The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) Board of Directors approved the Core Competencies for Cataloging and Metadata Professional Librarians, hereafter referred to as the "Core Competencies," in January 2017. The Core Competencies lists the skills required of professionals performing cataloging and metadata work in libraries of all types. In the six years since the document's release, the cataloging and meta -data community has adopted new cataloging standards, experimented with new tools, and engaged in conversations and reparative efforts around inclusive metadata. In this paper, we, the authors of the Core Competencies, report the results of our survey research that assessed the current use of the document within the cataloging and metadata community and solicited comments on ways in which the document might be revised. We conclude with recommendations for immediate changes to the document, and for its future use and maintenance.

In 2015 the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services Cataloging and Metadata Management Section (ALCTS CaMMS) Competencies for a Career in Cataloging Interest Group (CECCIG) charged a task force to create a core competencies document for catalogers. The process leading to the final document, the Core Competencies for Cataloging and Metadata Professional Librarians, involved researching the use of competencies documents, envisioning an accessible final product, and engaging in collaborative writing. Additionally, the task force took certain measures to solicit and incorporate feedback from the cataloging community throughout the entire process. The Competencies document was approved by the ALCTS Board of Directors in January 2017. Task force members who were involved in the final stages of the document's creation detail their processes and purposes in this paper and provide recommendations for groups approaching similar tasks.

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to provide a conceptual exploration of cataloging and metadata education. Historically and currently, cataloging and metadata are an essential part of master’s-level library and information science (LIS) education. Design/Methodology/Approach – We review LIS literature and provide evidence from their own experiences to support their argument. Findings – Cataloging education, far from going the way of the dodo, is still a very important part of LIS education. Even though general information organization courses are still required by most LIS programs, cataloging and metadata courses that include a balance of theory and practice are often buried as electives within LIS school curricula. Information organization principles and techniques (both theory and practice) are highly relevant in today’s information environment. Originality/Value – This chapter was written by four cataloging educators, who have extensive cataloging knowledge and experience and who have seen firsthand the benefits of cataloging education for all LIS students. As library professionals adapt, and given the increasing focus on users and their needs, the relevance and necessity of a robust understanding of cataloging and metadata creation principles is key going forward.

Although cataloging in libraries has been done for decades with the oft-stated intention of serving user needs, there is little evidence that those needs have been empirically assessed. This paper proposes a domain analytic model for systematically making such assessments, and for altering existing cataloging practice to meet the assessed needs. The author's dissertation research into the catalog needs of a single, narrowly-defined domain is used as an example of the type of study that may be repeated with an infinite number of domains, thereby providing a type of data regarding catalog needs not previously available.