April 12, 2005

Top UCSD Librarian’s “Why Metadata?”
Paper Earns Bibliographic Award

By Paul Mueller

An article titled “Why Metadata? Why me? Why now?” by Brian E.C. Schottlaender, University Librarian at the University of California, San Diego, has been selected as best article and outstanding paper by the Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, an international journal for bibliographic organization.

Schottlaender, the top librarian at UCSD since 1999, was commended for his paper’s “high merit, original thinking and contribution to the profession.”

“He does a masterful job of defining the vocabulary of metadata and describing the important components of the metadata environment in a clear and articulate manner,” said the review panel. “He promotes a holistic approach to cataloging and metadata that is long overdue in the cataloging community.”

A member of the American Library Association (ALA) since 1979, Schottlaender has served on the board of directors of ALA’s Association for Library Collections and Technical Services since 1996, and served as the association’s president in 2003-04. The 2001 recipient of ALA’s Margaret Mann Citation for outstanding professional achievement in cataloging and classification, Schottlaender is president-elect of the Association of Research Libraries and a member of the board of directors of the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago.

At UCSD, Schottlaender is a member of the Chancellor’s Council and of the executive committee of the San Diego Supercomputer Center. He currently serves as principal or co-principal investigator on four extramurally funded projects totaling $2.5 million – one each underwritten by the National Archives and Records Administration and the National Science Foundation, and two underwritten by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Media Contact: Paul K. Mueller, (858) 534-8564