Cataloguing Section
Invitation to Participate:
World-Wide Review of "Guidance on the Structure, Content, and Application of Metadata Records for Digital Resources and Collections"
Cataloguing Section
In response to a growing international interest in, and application of, metadata schemas, the IFLA Cataloguing Section Working Group on the Use of Metadata Schemas was established at the IFLA 1998 Conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The Working Group drafted its terms of reference agreeing to focus on outcomes deriving from the following three objectives:
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Objective 1: to create an inventory of the development and implementation/application of metadata schemas in different countries
- Objective 2: to provide guidance (and ultimately, as appropriate, guidelines) to libraries as to when and/or how best to use metadata records and bibliographic records (catalogue records)
- Objective 3: to determine a metadata "core record" - i.e., a set of most commonly occurring elements in selected metadata schemas - that could be used by authors and/or publishers of electronic records to enhance resource discovery, and to provide, where appropriate, elements for incorporation into bibliographic records (catalogue records)
In fulfilling its terms of reference, the Working Group held five sets of formal meetings, beginning in Bangkok, Thailand at the IFLA 1999 Conference, and continuing to the IFLA 2003 Conference in Berlin, Germany. The Working Group invited input - and, in some cases, representation - from the IFLA Information Technology, Classification and Indexing, Bibliography, and Libraries for the Blind, Sections, respectively, as well as from the Permanent UNIMARC Committee (PUC) and the DCMI Libraries Working Group.
Having completed a draft of its final report, the Working Group is posting the document to the IFLA website for World-Wide Review. In addition to seeking comment from colleagues in libraries and other constituents within the bibliographic community, generally, we particularly welcome input from those associated with the archival and museums communities, the publishing community, National Libraries - specifically regarding possible application in concert with legal deposit - other groups with an interest in metadata interoperability - e.g., those overseeing specific metadata schemas - and those organizations or associations currently building and/or maintaining metadata-enabled subject gateways.
Download the document
Please send comments to me, as indicated below, on or before February 16, 2004, upon which date the review period will be completed. The Working Group will consider your comments and suggestions in further revisions to this document. A final version will be presented to the IFLA Cataloguing Section for a vote. The Working Group anticipates completing its charge entirely by the IFLA 2004 conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Thank-you for participating in the world-wide review process, and for sending responses to the following:
Prof. Lynne C. Howarth
Faculty of Information Studies
University of Toronto
140 St. George Street
Toronto, ON
M5S 3G6, CANADA
Tel. +(1)(416)9784666 (secure voicemail)
Fax. +(1)(416)9711399
E-mail: howarth@fis.utoronto.ca
