Metadata and Cataloging Education

Notes About MACE Web Clearinghouse

Introduction to Content in the Prototype Clearinghouse

This is a prototype of the Metadata and Cataloging Education (MACE) web clearinghouse. The MACE clearinghouse tries to bring together networked electronic (online) resources that will be useful for teaching and learning in the area of metadata, cataloging, classification, indexing, information architecture, knowledge organization and management. More than 200 unique resources are currently available in the clearinghouse.

As a prototype, the MACE web clearinghouse has a few flaws. For example, the links in URL fields may not always work as they should; in which case, please copy and paste them in your browser's location bar and they will work. The resources are not always arranged in perfect alphabetical order within the various sections of the clearinghouse. There is no automatic timestamp which shows when the section was last updated except on the single file of all resouces in the prototype. Please also note that the single file is an older file and hence does not contain all the resources in the different sections of the prototype. However, these are minor flaws that will be corrected in the final version of the Clearinghouse. The Library of Congress will be hosting the MACE web clearinghouse.

The following descriptive elements are used to describe each teaching/learning resource:

Type of Resource: form/genre of the resource.
Author: creator, editor, compiler or maintainer of the resource; there is no authority control used for the names.
Title: title of the resource.
Location/Identifier: Universal Resource Locator (URL).
Subject: when possible, Library of Congress Subject Headings are used; when possible, selective depth analysis level of indexing is used
Keyword: natural language is used to complement subject indexing; duplication of words fields such as Title and Description is avoided.
Description: this is often taken directly from the resource or created at time of resource description
Rights:
Copyright: who, if any, owns the copyright of the resource; when known is given; two categories are used: public domain and copyrighted; if a copyright/use page is available the URL to that is also provided.
Access: whether the resource is freely available or must be subscribed or purchased is noted.
Date of creation and last modification: when the the reosurce was created/last updated, when available or known, are given, either in combination or singly.
Format of Resource: most of the time the format is text/html (ordinary web browsers can access it); Adobe PDF, MS-Powerpoint, and other formats are noted.
Educational Level: three levels are used and these correspond to Hsieh-Yee's report (submitted 2002, web version April 2003). Level 1: All LIS Graduates; Level 2: Metadata Catalogers; Level 3: Metadata Architects.

Structure of the Prototype Clearinghouse

Limitations and Evaluation of the Prototype

Some limitations of the prototype are: 1) there is no search or sitemap; 2) there are no suggestion boxes or forms whereby users can suggest new resources for addition to the clearinghouse, create metadata for suggested resources, or provide annotations, reviews, and teaching tips for resources they have created or used from the clearinghouse. Two other limitations are related to subject scope of the clearinghouse: 1) Metadata Quality is a topic of increasing importance and both articles as well as tools for assuring metadata quality and cataloing productivity should be included; 2) Information Systems and Technologies such as HTML, XML, CSS, and Javascript are also increasingly relevant as background knowledge and skills for all LIS graduates, catalogers, and metadata creators or architects. Arlene Taylor's “The Organization of Information” (2nd edition) could be used as cross-check to include tutorials and resources in the systems areas.

The prototype has not been formally evaluated. Once the prototype has been copied/moved into its final format a formal evaluation is recommended. Questions for evaluation include: 1) Do the browse categories benefit LIS educator teaching in these areas? 2) Should the 'forms' (types) of resources be further defined? How? 3) Are the elements of description used sufficient? If not, what else is needed? 4) What is the scope of the clearinghouse? Comprehensiveness or selectiveness and quality? 5) There are few 'Activity' and 'Test' types of resources. How can these types be increased? 6) How appropriate and useful are the three educational levels used? 7) What is the level of granularity at which resources should be described? For example, the clearinghouse currently tries to avoid lists of links, such as subject directories or those in the Bibliography section, as I find these are not very useful for teaching/learning tasks and prefer the self-contained units or resources with descriptions. Is this true of other instructors?

Additionally, some things have been done in a way to help the future evaluation and growth of the clearinghouse. For example, not all the 'type' categories are defined fully. In evaluating the prototype, embedding survey questions in each of the Browse Category pages about definition, usefulness of the resources listed for that 'form' or 'type,' and actual or intended use(s), may increase our understanding of the needs of cataloging and metadata educators and students.

Created by Anita Coleman