01 Oct White paper: Valuing federal libraries
Too often, libraries fail to communicate their value and importance to the stakeholders and decision makers tasked with tough funding choices. Valuing federal libraries offers guidance on how to substantiate the value of agency research and other information resources and assets by giving users and stakeholders…
03 Jun Report: Controlled vocabularies
In the third installment of our series, “Metadata for mere mortals,” librarian Erin Antognoli explains how controlled vocabularies help to standardize information and make metadata less ambiguous. Topics covered include: How to maximize metadata efficiency. How to maximize organization and findability. Examples of controlled vocabularies from…
21 Dec Report: Choosing metadata standards
In the first report of our series, “Metadata for mere mortals,” librarian Erin Antognoli provided an overview of basic metadata principles, such as the types of metadata and the information they convey. In this segment, Erin delves further into metadata standards and how to choose the right standard…
12 Dec How librarians use bibliometrics to support leadership
As federal libraries continually search for ways to demonstrate their value, bibliometrics has emerged as a way to quantitatively assess the impact of federally funded and produced research. Bibliometrics is essentially the statistical analysis of written publications, such as books, reports and journal articles.
28 Nov Special library design trends
What we think of as “the library” is undergoing a revolution. Now that more information is available digitally, many libraries have been downsized and the need for floor space is greatly reduced. Most libraries that remain have greatly diminished their footprint. Like academic libraries, special…
14 Nov Report: Introduction to metadata for mere mortals
The proliferation of digital content in business settings has turned many people into unlikely data managers, looking for the best way to organize assets such as images, graphics, videos and documents. Without the assistance of a librarian or professional digital asset manager, the less technical…
28 Mar Report: Making sense of metadata
From Dublin Core, to METS to MARC, this resource describes quite a few of the most widely known metadata standards, how they came about, and how they are commonly used. For anyone involved with data management, this is a good starting point or refresher on…
26 Jul Librarian at the National Agricultural Library
I’m Erin Antognoli, and I work as the Metadata Librarian on-site at the National Agricultural Library, Knowledge Services Division (NAL/KSD). While I work with metadata a considerable amount, the small size of our division allows me a variety of day-to-day activities, so my title reflects…
20 Aug Case study: Cataloging historical collections
The National Library of Education holds an extensive historical collection that includes over 20,000 textbooks and other volumes primarily from the 19th to early 20th century, many of which are irreplaceable.