Find out what makes metadata an exciting addition to resource description Metadata: A Cataloger's Primer provides catalog librarians and students with a comprehensive instructional resource on the ongoing convergence of cataloging and metadata. Equally valuable in the classroom and as a professional reference tool, this unique book serves as an introduction to the concepts of metadata within bibliographic contexts, demonstrating the potential for resource description. The book introduces various metadata schemes, including the Dublin Core, Encoded Archival Description (EAD), and Extensive Markup Language (XML), and discusses how to plan and implement a metadata-driven digital library. Metadata: A Cataloger's Primer is more than a mere introduction to metadata applications and management. The book's contributors present basic operational definitions, an outline of the evolution of metadata in the cataloging community, and a discussion of basic metadata techniques, calling on hard-earned knowledge gained from their experiences as educators working in cataloging and metadata applications. They provide work forms, work plans, and practical examples that demonstrate the application of metadata for resource description and depository development. Metadata: A Cataloger's Primer examines: data structures MODAL (metadata objectives and principles, domains, and architectural layout) framework literary displacement knowledge domains discourse communities information ecologies personal metadata electronic resources authorship attributes cultural information resources instantiation data modeling DTD (document type definition) digital libraries and much more! Metadata: A Cataloger's Primer is an invaluable learning resource filled with introductory and theoretical material, original research, and instructive material for cataloging librarians and students.