Philip Hider’s
second edition of Information
Resource
Description provides a broad yet detailed sweep of
metadata best practices
and applications. It is clearly organized and steeped with
references and links
to an incredibly robust amount of resources. I am confident
in proclaiming it a
bible for any information professional who is new to
metadata application or
who wants to improve their understanding of the landscape
and trends in the
complex world of seemingly infinite metadata elements. While
many library
associations have seminal works that are discipline-
specific, such as the
Music Library Association’s guide for sound and audiovisual
archives (Jenn
Riley’s Glossary of
Metadata Standards,
for example), Hider’s sweeping text provides a foundational
resource for those
new to this aspect of librarianship and one that can be
applied to many subject
areas. It expands on the discipline-specific texts by
incorporating an element
of quality improvement and systems management for which
librarian expertise is
required and able to be widely applied. Philip Hider is Head of the
School of Information
Studies at Charles Sturt University, Australia. He “has
worked, taught and
researched in the field of information organization in the
UK, Singapore and
Australia. He holds a PhD from City University, London and
was made a fellow of
CILIP in 2004” [ALA, n.d.]. His impressive educational and
work history is
clearly evident in the breadth of knowledge and writing
ability exemplified in
the book. A key highlight of Hider’s second edition is the
chapter on
information resource attributes. Many librarians and
research data management
experts are fundamentally aware of the value of good
metadata practices but
Hider’s overview and categorization of complex concepts
expounds the body of
knowledge more conceptually. Practices that Hider describes
include relevance
criteria, service convergence, algorithmic contributions,
and aboutness,
providing a comprehensive underpinning for metadata
attributes. One of many
strengths of this work includes an aboutness concept map
that aptly probes with
the following metadata standardized descriptors: ‘may be
distinguished between;
determination may involve; is sometimes considered; is
constructed of the;
towards subjective perspective related to; the post-modern
perspective, etc.’
all as a means for creating information resource description
through an
interpretive process.
Hider further
identifies the need for human description versus the
contribution of
algorithmic applications for description and makes this
relevant to the reader.
The overview this chapter provides lays the groundwork for
identifying the
attributes most users or engagers of metadata want to know
about. While the text
employs exemplary use of tables and diagrams, the only
critique of this work is
that more visual aids such as charts, tables, diagrams and
concept maps used as
examples of the technical and theoretical elements of
information resource
description could further inform and develop a novice’s
understanding. This book serves as
both a practical tool and philosophical conjuring of the
meaning of information
organization, description and retrieval. As Hider notes:
“things have been
arranged by people for many thousands of years, and
information resources have
been arranged for as long as there have been collections of
them.” The
‘Tools and Systems’ chapter looks into
the new manifestations required for accurate metadata
arrangement. Hider
attests that arrangement must adhere to conventions and
standards and must also
specify order in ways to make accessibility streamlined. Of
particular use to
medical librarians are the delineations of vocabularies
within databases and
online information retrieval systems that Hider outlines.
The searches medical
librarians create and execute are logical puzzles that
distill conceptual research
questions into systematized means of data retrieval. Hider
provides a clear
explanation of the modes of description with a helpful user
interface and
applications diagram on page 128. This
diagram illustrates schema design as foundational to
ontology, roles and query,
logic, proof, and trust with signature and encryption as
adjacent elements. The
concise yet effective description of standards and the way
they inform or stack
within the semantic web allow for an additionally historical
perspective on resource
description management and how Dublin Core, XML schema
definition and document
type definition evolved. Hider also sweeps through the
historical record as it
relates to guidelines for library catalogues, the first
having been issued by
France’s revolutionary government in 1791. At once a handbook,
tool book, bibliography and resource guide, the second
edition of Information
Resource Description
illustrates standards and complicated aspects of metadata
concepts such as
entities and relationships in an accessible way. The chapter
that discusses the
future of metadata and information resource description
provides yet another
foundational overview and discussion of the prospects for
different metadata
approaches. Of particular note, and one that may interest
metadata instructors,
is the way Hider delineates the three general ways to
approach access to
information: one which bypasses metadata altogether; one
that employs the Web
2.0 approach, where end-users and contributors provide the
metadata; and finally,
the traditional approach, in which resources are organized
and described by
information professionals which they deem most effective.
Hider leaves the
reader to ponder whether quality metadata will be valued in
the systems of the
future, another theoretical underpinning relevant to the
future of our
profession and those enrolled in information science
graduate studies. The purpose of the
second edition remains the same as the first: to provide a
foundation and broad
overview of information description while also contributing
a robust list of
resources and elementary understanding that prepare for more
in-depth study.
The structure remains the same as the first edition, with
updates that include
the addition of BIBFRAME and the rewriting of certain
sections for clarity of
concept. While each chapter has an enviable list of
resources, the author also
provides the reader with a broader and more general
bibliography at the end. Recent positions in
health sciences librarianship have encompassed an element of
metadata expertise
and include roles such as Metadata Transformation Librarian
and Metadata and
Digital Initiatives Librarian. Information description
informs the traversal of
the medical literature which results in effective and sound
systematic review
methodological rigour. Hider’s text provides a fulsome
understanding of
metadata standards, how they differ, how they are employed,
and how
vocabularies shape our access to the full spectrum of
information about a
topic. It is an accessible, well-written and almost
conversational overview of
information resources description that leaves the reader
with an understanding
of the elemental nature of metadata, its origins and
ponderings on its future.
American Library Association. ALA
Store: Philip
Hider [Internet]. n.d. [cited 2020 Sept 16] Available from:
https://www.alastore.ala.org/content/philip-hider
Vanessa
Kitchin
MI
Librarian & Instructor: Medicine &
Dentistry
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Email: vanessa.kitchin@ubc.ca
Kitchin