[Libs-Or] OLA Quarterly Author Showcase | Lori Van Deman, Cedar Mill & Bethany Community Libraries | The Future of Cataloging (for the Rest of Us): Forecasting for Production-Level Cataloging

[Charles Wood]

Lori Van Deman is Head of Technical Services for Cedar Mill & Bethany
Community Libraries in Portland, Oregon, part of Washington County
Cooperative Library Services.
Please download and read her new article, "The Future of Cataloging (for
the Rest of Us): Forecasting for Production-Level Cataloging," here:
https://commons.pacificu.edu/olaq/vol25/iss1/4/

Abstract: For decades, catalogers have lived in a place of change. We’ve
been in a nearly continual shift ever since library catalogs moved to
digital environments, and before that as concepts and new formats emerged.
In the past, many of these changes have taken years or decades to implement
locally, let alone implement on a national or global scale. Our era in
cataloging is no different. The implementation of RDA, the shift away from
the MARC record, and increasing interest in linked data (among myriad other
factors) are beginning to coalesce into a discernible future. This is an
exceptional time when we can begin to imagine a practical future for the
catalogers, copy catalogers, and staff-who-occasionally-catalog who might
not always be privy to the inner workings of committee meetings, task
forces, or academic conferences.

In this article, I will look specifically at how copy cataloging will
likely look in the near future. The pace of evolution in cataloging is
generally glacial, so by “near future,” I’m thinking of the next 20 years.
I’ll also summarize current developments with RDA, linked data, BIBFRAME,
and other factors, and discuss their impact. I will use the terms
“catalogers” and “copy catalogers” interchangeably, since most of us are
both or either, depending on the day or hour.

Whether you are interested in cataloging or just want to expand your
knowledge of what is going on at your library, reading Lori's article is a
vital step towards this goal.


Thank you,

Charles Wood
OLA Communications
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