Competency VII

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;

Introduction

For the purposes of this competency, I will be discussing my understanding of the 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.

With information being plentiful in libraries, it is necessary to find ways of organizing it.

In order to provide patrons access to information, the information has to be classified in a clear

and accessible way. To do this, information professionals use techniques that are dependent on

the needs of the collection and the targeted audience.

Classification is usually the first step in organizing information that is being added to a

collection. Common classification methods include the Library of Congress and the Dewey

Decimal System. When a public library acquires new physical books, they are assessed and

documented using a cataloging process.

Cataloging in a public library usually includes writing a description of the book,

researching the books subject matter, deciding on subject headings and determining where to

put the book in the library, based on the Dewey Decimal System call number. A record is created

for the librarys catalog so that the book can be searched and found by a patron. In public

libraries it is common to see a MAchine Readable Cataloging (MARC) format used to create
records. These records are how the information is retrieved, so the classification is important for

successful information retrieval. The data in this record is known as metadata.

Artifact I

For the first piece of evidence to prove this competency, I am submitting a paper that I

wrote for Professor Goettings Cataloging course. In the paper I analyze the non-book collection

cataloging processes at the Durham County Main Public Library Branch in Durham, North

Carolina. In addition, I share the observations of meeting with Mary Jacobs, a Senior Library

Associate at the Durham County Main Public Library Branch in Durham, North Carolina.

I spoke with Ms. Jacobs about the non-book cataloging that takes place at the library. In

addition, I analyzed the cataloging processes in the main library branch, taking note of their use

of level 2 MARC records for the non-book collection as well as practice of copy-cataloging from

OPAC and outsourcing to third party cataloging services.

This evidence shows that I have a basic knowledge of information organization processes

in a public library setting including classification methods, metadata and cataloging, meeting the

requirements of this competency.

If I were to do this assignment today, I could talk further about digital information

organization. In the paper I touch on the future possibilities of large digital non-book collections.

At the time of writing this paper, Durham Public Libraries did not have a large digital collection

and now they are plentiful.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_UlVmjeNkOvMD9T1Be4P5TSpYcUQKhWBESHU

wpJIdwk/edit?usp=sharing
 Artifact II

For the second piece of evidence to prove this competency, I am submitting an

assignment that I created for Professor Tuckers Information Retrieval course. I was tasked with

creating a small database for students. In this assignment I developed the rules, controlled

vocabulary and instructions for a future indexer, as well as provided examples of the records that

I created. In addition, I evaluated the findability of the records using DBTextworks, based on

keyword searches.

This assignment proves that I am competent at creating and evaluating controlled

vocabularies in order to classify information as an information professional.

If I were to do this assignment today, I would be curious to try using a different database

tool in order to strengthen my database skills. I feel that this assignment is strong in its purpose

and outcome.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_Ue9W_rDVaBKWJpBR7yh3vKBobN6TyTLlNb6sz

FgM0E/edit?usp=sharing

Conclusion

In conclusion, I have submitted two pieces of evidence to prove that I 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. I will be able to take this

knowledge into professional work in information organization.

 References

Hirsh, S. (2015). Information services today: an introduction. Lanham: Rowman &

Littlefield.