Access – it’s all about access. The purpose of resource description is to provide users with access to the information that a resource contains (Hider, 2013, p.3). This is the reason we classify resources in our school libraries now and will continue to do so in the future.
These days our students can access a flood of information on almost any subject through a keyword search on Google. This fast and easy keyword searching is often used in the library catalogue as well but it provides a lot of irrelevant information (Scribner Library, 2015). Classification and resource description provide subject headings. Using a subject search within a catalogue or a database, the student will find fewer resources but those resources will be relevant to the topic of their research (Scribner Library, 2015). The subject search approach is something our students need to learn and utilise in order to discover useful and relevant information.
Some school libraries have decided to adopt genre and subject headings as a way to organise their resources rather than using Dewey. An example of this can be found in St. Vrain Valley School District, Colorado (Buchter, 2013, p.49). While the library does not use Dewey the librarians have devised a subject heading list that they use to classify their resources so their students can find them. The subject classification utilises assigned, controlled headings (Buchter, 2013, p.51). As other schools discuss this method of resource organisation for their libraries it is important that Teacher Librarians (TLs) understand the implications of such a change in terms of access to resources and information for the students.
It is essential to be accurate in describing resources. Unfortunately in this digital age where catalogue records are easy to download, the skills of cataloguing are often undervalued. Yet a mistake in a record can mean the record and, therefore, the resource becomes irretrievable (Attar, 2006, p.174). It is clear that, at the very least, a basic understanding of cataloguing is needed by all librarians including TLs. Cataloguing is anything but intuitive, and no matter how intelligent the person cataloguing is, unless they have an understanding of subject headings, classification, the need for correct spelling, word order and punctuation, they will unwittingly deny access to that resource (Attar, 2006, p. 184). While it is easy to import existing records into school library catalogues, it is still the responsibility of TLs to know their students and to apply location classifications and additional subject headings or notes which will provide access to resources.
Digitisation allows library catalogues to develop and offer federated searches. The students can search physical library resources and the databases on offer in one search. To achieve this level of interoperability the systems will need to “talk to each other” which in turn requires a level of standardisation between them (Hider, 2013, p, 47). The ease of internet searching means that students now expect a “one-stop” approach in their library catalogue. If cataloguers can continue to devise ways to meet user expectations of seamless searches then the future for cataloguing appears to be bright indeed (Hider, 2006, p.164). A large part of the contribution cataloguers can bring to the evolving information age is the methodology of describing resources in such a manner that enables quality information to be accessed.
References
Attar, K. E. (2006). Why appoint professionals? A student cataloguing project. Journal of librarianship and information science, 38(3), 173-185. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0961000606066578
Buchter, H. (2013). Dewey vs genre throwdown. Knowledge Quest, 42(2), 48-55. Retrieved from EBSCOhost database. (Accession No. 91761325)
Hider, P. (2007). Information access. In S. Ferguson (Author), Libraries in the twenty-first century: Charting new directions in information services (pp. 145-164) [PDF]. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-1-876938-43-7.50019-3
Hider, P. (2013). Information resource description: Creating and managing metadata (U.S. ed.). Chicago, Ill.: ALA editions.
Scribner Library. (2015, August 24). Keywords and subject terms [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTQbacIha2Q