Competency G

Competency G

Demonstrate understanding of basic principles and standards involved in organizing information such as classification and controlled vocabulary systems, cataloging systems, metadata schemas, or other systems for making information accessible to a particular clientele.

There are several sets of standards and principles that guide the organization of information for the purpose of cataloging and retrieval. Standardized formatting allows the sharing of metadata across libraries and even across countries. Metadata also allows sharing of digital content including images and digital books. One common standard is MARC which sets standards for bibliographic records. A bibliographic record links a physical or digital item with the catalog record representing that item. The allows the item to be browsed in a catalog and ultimately retrieved (Rowley & Hartley, 2008). MARC stands for MAchine Readable Cataloging. Another set of standards is the Anglo American Cataloging Rules (AACR). There is now a revised set of standards AACR2 that dictates what information you include in the record and how you should format it for ease of sharing and retrieving data. A newer model of standardization is Resource Description and Access (RDA); this is a standardization for the digital environment which will enable FRBR, Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records that show the various examples of a particular instance. For example, if you look for Shakespeare, it will enable a searcher to see all of the plays, movies, books associated with him as well.

In addition to standardizing the records, in order for items to be retrievable their topics or subjects have to be represented. This is done using classification systems such as the Dewey Decimal Classification or the Library of Congress Classification. These systems have schedules that show the relationships between subjects and subtopics. The subjects or attributes are assigned to the individual items by an indexer using a controlled vocabulary.

Conclusion

In school libraries, we use the Dewey Decimal System to organize physical and digital resources. Educating students about this classification system and how it relates to the library catalog is a necessary skill for students to be able to access all the library has to offer. Library orientations for students (and teachers!) can help students retrieve what they are looking for.

Evidence 1: MARC Record Set

I completed this assignment in INFO 248 Beginning Cataloging. It supports this competency because it demonstrates my understanding of the rules of MARC standardization for bibliographic records as well as my understanding of DCC and LCC classification systems.

Evidence 2: Discussion Post- Organizing Things

I wrote this discussion post in INFO 202 in response to a prompt asking how we organize collections. This relates to the competency because it demonstrates my understanding of the underlying principles of information organization and that how items are organized is determined by our relationship to those items. In other words, we should be asking does the storage of information and subsequent retrieval mechanism match retrieval behavior?

References

Rowley, J, & Hartley, R. (2008). Organizing Information (4^th ed.). Routledge.