Is cataloging dying out? Is it an area of the profession that is becoming unnecessary, obsolete and antiquated? That's the word I seem to be hearing and I don't know why. Not everything can be copy cataloged and if you look at OCLC you know that there are large quantity of poorly constructed cataloging records. So you can't just accept any record you find in OCLC.
Will metadatars replace catalogers? One of the trends occurring in academia is to bring in new MLS graduates to do the metadata in a unit separate from the library. At least that is what I heard at a workshop I attended last week. Shouldn't some catalogers be transitioned into metadata positions? It's basically the same set of skills that are being used in both activities. MARC is a metadata schema so it should be an easy transition.
Maybe I should just assume I will be a member of the last generation of catalogers. In the future we may just have Google to serve the needs of all users. They will have digitized everything and make it easily searchable for everyone. Hey, Google do you have any jobs for old geezers like me? I can type. That's still a transferable skill, isn't it?
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