The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of metadata on libraries, librarians, and librarianship. To this end, the paper first presents a brief overview of the general concept and nature of metadata. This is followed by an examination of the literature on how libraries, librarians, and librarianship generally is and is expected to change as a result of the general impact of metadata.
Simply put, Metadata is information about information, or data about data in that it describes (at the very least) the attributes and the contents of a document, book, or other form of work (Milstead and Feldman, 1). Specifically, metadata allows for the allocation of very precise descriptors to a given information object (e.g., a book, a magazine, etc.) and therefore helps to identify, organize and assist in the location and retrieval of this information object (Dykstra, 42).
Among other things, metadata is critical to preserving the usefulness of data over time. For instance, metadata captures important information on how the data were collected and/or processed so that future users of that data understand these details. What should be understood here is that "metadata," while a new term is really a very familiar organizational component of libraries. For example, library catalogs represent a well established variety of metadata that has served for decades as collection management and resource discovery tools. Thus, the concept is not new. However, the electronic technology associated with 21st century metadata, and its ability to allow access to huge volumes of information and information objects (Ios) is very new.
With respect to the nature of the descriptors, Metadata generally provides information regarding who collected and distributes the information, the subject, when the information was collected and where, the purpose of the information, how it was collected and its use, and its cost (Kapetanios, Schneider and Trieschma...