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Slides of my talk "Metadata is a Plural Noun" given at NETSL, 2009. Blurb: "Libraries have operated for over 150 years with a very singular view of bibliographic metadata: the catalog record. In a new world of interactive, networked information, the catalog record can no longer stand apart if it is to serve information users. The focus must move from the record to the data itself, and to the many contexts where bibliographic data elements must be designed to interact with the online information universe."

The settlement between the Author's Guild/AAP and Google: Karen's blog postings

Selected Writings

Resource Description and Access (RDA); Cataloging Rules for the 20th Century. With Diane Hillmann. D-Lib Magazine, January/February, 2007. v. 13, n. 1/2

Although the subtitle of this piece was too subtle for many readers, this D-Lib opinion piece that Diane Hillmann and I wrote states our opinion that the work on this proposed next version of the library cataloging rules "can only keep us rooted firmly in the 20th, if not the 19th century." The library catalog must undergo radical change to throw off its card-based legacy, or libraries will be left in the dust by more nimble providers of information services. This paper generated considerable discussion at the Seattle 2007 ALA conference, but it's going to take more than some articles to make change happen. Some of us are working on next steps.

Proud to Swim Home: New Orleans After Katrina. June, 2006

In June, 2006, the American Library Association was the first large group to hold its convention in New Orleans. The Association had declared its intention to come to New Orleans as early as fall, 2005. Because of this, many of us got our first chance to visit post-Katrina New Orleans, and to bring home our stories. This is mine. (PDF for printing, although over 1MB)

Descriptive Metadata for Copyright Status, First Monday, October, 2005

The result of work I've been doing on the rights framework for the California Digital Library, this paper introduces the concept of adding copyright-related metadata to the descriptive metadata for digital objects. More information about the CDL project (and perhaps some context for this work) is at http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/rights/.

Review: Free Culture, by Lawrence Lessig, Information Technology and Libraries, December, 2004, pp. 198-199

My review of Larry Lessig's third book. The book is a very readable account of the interaction of copyright and culture, all told through stories of real people, from the Wright Brothers to college students using p2p technology (and getting caught). Yes, a book on copyright that you can take on vacation!