Metadata Professionals: Roles and Competencies as Reflected in Job Announcements, 2003–2006

This study presents the current state of the roles and competencies sought from metadata professionals. We conducted a comprehensive content analysis of 107 job descriptions posted on the AUTOCAT listserv from January 2003 through December 2006. Multivariate techniques of cluster and multidimensional scaling analysis were applied to the content analysis. Results show that the principal responsibility expected of metadata professionals concerns metadata creation (73.8%). In addition to metadata creation, electronic resource management, awareness of trends, and digital library development constitute the core areas of demand in the metadata profession. The findings of the study also show that knowledge and skills centering on traditional cataloging and classification standards (60.7%) remain highly relevant in the digital environment and accordingly to metadata professionals.

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