Susan touched upon comparison with a library's card catalog. This is a 
comparison that I often make when explaining metadata and retrieval, and 
how good description benefits everyone. Everyone understands the library's 
card catalog system to find books, whether the old paper index cards or 
the online systems. I even call the records department a "records library" 
in discussions with the uninitiated as a way to show the value of the 
records and its metadata. I prefer to use the term "description" since it 
too, like a library, is familiar and comfortable with everyone's 
vocabulary.

Stephen Cohen
Records Manager
MetLife \ Legal Affairs
27-01 Queens Plaza North
Long Island City NY 11101
212-578-2373



...The first thing I usually say to someone who asks about metadata is the
metadata helps you find stuff on the web and in records and document
management systems.  Secondly, a card catalog in a library is a kind of
metadata for libraries, so is a file folder label for file systems....

Susan Fitch Brown, MLS
E-Records and Information Management
BNF Technologies at FRA
202 493-6142




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