Changing Nature of Cataloguing Librarians in Academic Libraries

Abstract

The shifting research and scholarly landscape, the transformation in higher education, and advances in technology have been reshaping the profession of cataloguing librarianship in academic settings. There has been a trend in the cataloguing community that cataloguers are transforming their roles from traditional cataloguing into metadata creation. The authors of this research study conducted a survey to cataloguers in Canadian and American academic libraries who experienced this change in roles. The survey addresses changes of position description, acquisition of new skills, challenges and opportunities during the transition, and their extent of confidence and satisfaction to perform the new roles. The Survey result shows transition in the job roles of cataloguers is a big challenge to cataloguers who lack metadata knowledge and computer technologies. However, they are able to acquire the needed skills to perform their new responsibility, as well as develop certain confidence and satisfaction in their new role.