A Road Taken: A Cataloging Team Becomes a Metadata Team

This chapter describes the issues confronted along the “road taken” by a technical services team as it transitioned from traditional monographic cataloging to metadata for digital collections. To serve changing user needs, the team shifted focus to providing quality metadata. Along this road, the team confronted and welcomed a number of changes. These included a unit merger, off-site relocation, shedding the cataloging role, learning how to produce metadata, identifying areas for growth with a library-wide Metadata Summit, working with new stakeholders, and managing new staff and faculty. The chapter concludes with the lessons the team learned and its prospects

The Archival Image Revisited: An Analysis of Archival Encounters Portrayed By Genealogy Television Programming

This study explored how reality genealogy television programming portrayed archival encounters to public viewers during journeys of family discovery. It analyzed content from prime time shows Who Do You Think You Are? and Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr to understand how portrayals of archives, archivists, archival materials and research aligned with traditional archival stereotypes and the professional archival image. The author expanded upon previous research on the archival image and stereotypes in media by analyzing contemporary programs popular among genealogists, one of the largest constituents of archives. The study found some stereotypes were upheld while others were absent, and others were ambiguously portrayed. The findings suggested that reality genealogy television programs failed to deliver a nuanced depiction of the archival profession. The author suggested that increased public outreach and collaboration could help improve the archival image and spread understanding of the role of archives in society.Master of Science in Library Scienc

“All the world’s a stage” and each has a role to play: A collaborative cross-unit metadata project in five acts

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the metadata team at Clemson University Libraries facilitated a work-from-home project, during which 14 employees across two units described a collection of over 2,400 photographs. From the standpoint of both the metadata reviewers and metadata creators, this session provided an overview of the project, including how it was managed remotely. This presentation reflects a balanced cross-unit perspective on what worked well and what could be improved

Best Practices for the Collection of Feedback from Campus Constituents Utilizing Campus and Community Partners

The Clemson Libraries Campus Feedback Task Force was created to collect feedback from a broad sample of campus constituents. This article outlines the Task Force’s approach and how the group effectively succeeded at the given charge. Seven Libraries employees, each with diverse expertise and a collaborative and supportive mentality, worked together to break down tasks and assign responsibilities based on members’ strengths, identifying and relying on outside partners as needed. This article will discuss the importance of collaboration within a library Task Force on a project that required skills in online and face-to-face campus interactions by examining the composition of the group and the initiative’s strengths and weaknesses. It will conclude with suggestions for other teams seeking to gather feedback from their communities