I’d love to hear from anyone in library-land who has used/heard of/rejected/embraced/toyed with MODS (metadata object description schema) as the next evolutionary step from MARC.
I asked this question more locally about a year ago when I first started seriously to inform myself about metadata and got either blank or ‘don’t touch that’ looks back then. Since then the MODS question has hit me again and I am wondering what I don’t know about it for it not to be more broadly known and used. From my reading it appears to be a brilliant alternative to MARC in the new world of things like interoperability, repositories, electronic databases…. It looks damn easy to understand (no marc tags for the uninitiated to navigate) and maps well to anything from the simplest Dublin Core to the most complex ONIX.
One negative comment I did hear was that it cannot catch all MARC data but when I wrote up a table comparing all the fields one could want in a repository I could not see any problem that way at all: the only thing it loses is the excess MARC bits and pieces that are simply not relevant to repositories and the sharing and searching of collections in the new info world. Things like the 246 indicator that codes a varying title as being a “spine” title — what’s a spine in an electronic resource anyway?
Thoughts? Would love feedback since am planning on soon applying all I’ve read about it to the real test world and seeing what happens.
October 9th, 2006
Posted by
Neil Godfrey | All sectors, Useful resources, New technologies, Special projects |
4 comments
I’ve been thinking lately about what makes a systems librarian. I’ve been thinking for a while about continuing my education and I am determined to start postgraduate study next year. The big question is, what course should I choose? As I am currently employed in a library as a systems librarian (and I want a future in libraries), should I undertake an ALIA recognised course, or should I undertake something with more of an Information Architecture focus.
It is a particularly vexing problem for as Jennifer Macaulay asks “What does it mean to feel like a librarian?“. Jennifer says:
MLS graduate schools focus on several core tenets or principles of librarianship of which reference and research are a large part. I am not arguing that these aren’t important nor that everyone in an MLS program shouldn’t have some exposure to these principles. However, I don’t necessarily think that current MLS programs of study provide the best curriculum for systems librarians.
I must admit to feeling the same way. My main responsibility is to ensure that users of the Library can use the systems that the Library provides. The main system that people use in the Library is the catalogue, however increasingly people are using OpenURL resolvers, institutional repositories, gain access to resources via proxy servers, and interacting with other services. Not to mention the ever expanding world of Library 2.0.
I’m unsure if taking a course that focuses on reference, research, and collection development, is going to assist me in undertaking these sorts of tasks. On the other hand I don’t want to preclude myself from advancing in the Library sector simply because I don’t hold a librarian qualification. For as Dorothea Salo writes in a recent TechEssence.Info post:
The hard fact is that die-hard systems librarians are still a rare breed, hard to find and hard to hire. Moreover, a systems librarian may not be what you think a systems librarian should be.
The big question in my mind then is obviously what course would help me in becoming the systems librarian I ought to be.
Any, and all, thoughts from librariesinteract.info readers would be very welcome. You can either post a comment, or contact me directly via email. My email address is listed on my profile page.
October 9th, 2006
Posted by
techxplorer | South Australia, All sectors, Jobs, ALIA |
10 comments
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