Core Competencies for Cataloging and Metadata Professional Librarians

Abstract

This document defines competencies in broad terms to acknowledge the wide variety of work performed by cataloging and metadata professionals in libraries of all types and sizes, regardless of developments in a particular standard or technology. While a baseline of knowledge, skills, and behaviors for cataloging and metadata professional librarians is defined in this document, competence in cataloging and metadata is obtained over the course of an individual’s career. This document is meant to supplement the American Library Association’s Core Competences of Librarianship, and as such, many general competencies of librarianship will not be listed here. In early 2023, the Core Metadata & Collections Leadership Team asked former member of the Cataloging Competencies Task Force, Karen Snow, to lead an effort to revise the Core Competencies for Cataloging and Metadata Professional Librarians. The revision team worked during 2023 to update the 2017 document. Their effort was informed by 2022 survey research data collected by the Cataloging Competencies Task Force that spoke to the current usage of the Core Competencies document and potential changes and additions to the document, as stated by the cataloging and metadata community. Taking into consideration these changes and the aforementioned survey results, the revision team updated the entire original document to clarify language and incorporate competencies relating to artificial intelligence and large language models, emphasize ethics, and move the examples to an appendix for easier updating over time.