The World discovers cataloging : A conceptual introduction to digital libraries, metadata and the implications for library administrations

Abstract As a powerful and radically new information medium, the World Wide Web has been embraced by libraries, as information centers par excellence, for its potential in effectively addressing patron needs. Because of the Web's rapid growth, librarians and other information professionals are developing a variety of solutions to bring the explosion of Web resources under control. While paradigmatic transformations like that taking place in the information industry today have become a tangible reality, information professionals are recognizing that only through the strategic redefining of the essential functions of libraries-selection, acquisition, organization, and access-will the transformative power of such change be harnessed most effectively. This paper attempts to characterize the conceptual 'playing field' of the current transformations taking place, and in so doing proposes a structural model of the relationship that libraries should develop to Internet-based resources. The tandem concepts of digi...