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in a series of workshops attended by participants fromvarious information-related professions (librarians, in-formation scientists, publishers, museum specialists, ar-chivists, etc.). These Dublin Core metadata elements arespecifically designated to apply to information objects onthe Web. They receive the ongoing attention of a direc-torate and board of trustees (known collectively as theDublin Core Metadata Initiative, or DCMI) who developdetailed standards and specifications for applying them.Many other more focused metadata schemes are mod-eled on the Dublin Core metadata elements (e.g., themetadata schemes for art and architecture, education,and environment/natural history described by Caplan inPart II of the book).

From the beginning, the goals of the Dublin CoreMetadata Initiative have included a very strong emphasison standardizing these elements and on clarifying theirexact meaning and use by diverse constituencies. Greaterstandardization inevitably leads to greater search inter-operability among digital resources and systems. Caplandefines “search interoperability” as “the ability to performa search over diverse sets of metadata records and obtainmeaningful results” (p. 33). To her credit Caplan pointsout whenever possible how interoperability is central tothe developments within the many individual metadataschemes discussed in Part II. The ever-rising importance ofstandardization and search interoperability to metadataapplications is a great reason for optimism in informationscience and technology. In these issues and related ones,the information community worldwide is heavily influ-enced by the Dublin Core and the activities of the DCMI.

Priscilla Caplan’s book is a worthy effort. The book’sstrengths lie in the deep knowledge base of the authorand the apparent currency of her information. The weak-ness, already discussed, is not fatal nor is it insignificant.Because of the strong library emphases, most medium tolarge libraries should probably acquire it, particularlywhere digital applications are important to library oper-ations. A more focused audience might consist of libraryIT (information technology) staff, catalogers of digitalinformation resources, and IT generalists.

Notes

1. http://www.dlib.org/cgi-bin/search.cgi (20 July 2003).

2. Selected examples include Mutha Baca, ed.,

Introduction to Meta-data: Pathways to Digital Information

(Los Angeles, CA: Getty Infor-mation Institute, 1998); Arlene G. Taylor,

The Organization of Infor-mation

(Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1999), 57–102; andSusan S. Lazinger,

Digital Preservation and Metadata

(Englewood,CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2001), 139–82.

The Accidental Systems Librarian

by Rachel Singer Gordon, foreword by Kathy Dempsey. Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc., 2003. 262 p. $29.50.

ISBN 1-57387-161-3

Marguerite E. Horn

Finally, a book for those of us who aren’t geeks but havehad geekdom thrust upon us. Rachel Singer Gordon,

former head of Computer Services at the Franklin Park(Illinois) Public Library and founder and Webmaster ofLisjobs.com,

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presents us with a guide to systems librarian-ship that stresses the basic skills that librarians alreadyhave. In a highly readable and humorous style, she exam-ines the various aspects of systems librarianship and pointsthe reader to resources for further career development.

The first two chapters focus on the basics, “SystemsLibrarianship 101 and 102.” Here Gordon attempts todefine systems librarianship and indicates the specifictechnical areas that one needs to be successful. She notesthat finding a standard description of a systems librarian“bears an unfortunate resemblance to attempting to de-fine what constitutes obscenity. Most people just ‘knowit when they see it’” (p. 7). She then lists tasks that thesystems librarian might be expected to oversee, taskssuch as hardware selection, Internet support, softwaresupport, staff training, and programming. Depending onthe situation, a systems librarian may be covering a mul-titude of duties with assistance (a common situation in asmall library) or may be narrowly focused on managinga library’s integrated library system (more likely in alarge library situation). She notes that “you can learnanything if you are willing—that’s why crash coursesexist!” (p. 29).

The next chapters are organized by areas of librarian-ship: “Organization of Knowledge,” “Research Tech-niques,” “Networking,” “Instruction Techniques,” “Inde-pendent Study,” and “Administration and Management.”These chapters are the meat of the book. Gordon ex-plains how basic librarianship skills apply to systemswork. For instance, in “Organization of Knowledge,”Gordon discusses the necessity of maintaining documen-tation on both hardware and software. In fact, she sug-gests creating a database with registration informationon all equipment and software. Moreover, maintaininguse statistics on the software programs can help in eval-uating them for upgrades and/or replacements. In thechapter on research techniques, she notes that “systemslibrarians have an inherent advantage over IT (Instruc-tional Technology) personnel in nearly every type of in-stitution for one simple reason:

we know how to find an-swers

” (p. 79, emphasis in original). In each chapter thereader is directed to both print and Internet resources formore general information or specific programs, courses,and software. In “Life Lessons,” the final chapter, Gor-don offers tips on how to find a job, how to survivetechno-stress, and how to negotiate salaries. She alsoprovides a sound introduction to ethics in the library en-vironment. Unfortunately, the book predates the passageof the USA Patriot Act, which presents librarians withmany new challenges.

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The volume presents good, basic, and useful informa-tion, but I quibble with Gordon on one point. In discuss-ing library management systems migration, she notesthat “once you have selected and contracted with a ven-dor, you will need to begin the migration process. Thefirst step is to undertake a massive cleanup of your exist-ing databases” (p. 182). Since I have left the world of se-rials librarianship and entered the world of data migra-tion and library implementation projects, I would argue

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strongly that you need to undertake clean-up jobs longbefore you select and contract with a vendor. In fact, partof the selection/contract process should focus on whatkind of clean-up projects the vendor can do during orprior to migration and what global change functionalityis available in the new system. If you do not alreadyknow your database when you enter the RFP (request forproposal) process, you may encounter complications andproblems once migration begins. After concluding nego-tiations and signing a contract, you probably will nothave time to start a database cleanup project.

In addition to the text, there are three appendixes. Ap-pendix A contains the systems librarian survey Gordonposted to various listservs; Appendix B offers eight pagesof recommended readings, organized by chapter, butwithout annotations; Appendix C contains all the Web-sites mentioned in the book, also organized by chapter. Itis a wonderful list of about a hundred sites, but, alas, itis not annotated and lacks page references. For instance,“kbAlertz, http://www.kbalertz.com” (p. 235) is listed inthe appendix under Chapter 2. To find more information

about kbAlertz, you must go to the volume’s index, whichis adequate, or scan the chapter.

I wish this book had been available when I was start-ing my career as a systems librarian; nevertheless, I stillfound it enjoyable and valuable, years after I have be-come an “Accidental Systems Librarian.” There is an ad-vertisement in the back of the book for a new title,

TheAccidental Webmaster.

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After seeing the ad, one has towonder why no one has written

The Accidental SerialsLibrarian

, since many serialists are just as accidental.

Notes

1. The Lisjobs.com Website, http://www.lisjobs.com (17 August2003) offers U.S. and international job postings for librarians andinformation professionals.

2. USA PATRIOT (Uniting and Strengthening America by ProvidingAppropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) Act of2001. For a summary of the implications for libraries see the AmericanLibrary Association’s Website http://www.ala.org/ (17 August 2003).

3. Julie Still,

The Accidental Webmaster

(Medford, NJ: InformationToday, Inc., 2003).