The Library Technical Service team visits the Jotello F. Soga Library

On 13 April 2022, the Library Technical Service (LTS) team visited the Jotello F. Soga Library (Veterinary Library), Onderstepoort. The purpose of the visit was to facilitate learning and development as well as succession planning within the team, which is one of the LTS teams’ goals for the year: to learn from one another. The aim is to record as much knowledge as possible because most of the team members will be retiring soon.

Amelia Breytenbach, Cataloguer and Metadata Specialist at the Jotello F. Soga Library, gave a presentation titled “Unique in Your Domain: utilising resources to strengthen your position in the Library and Faculty”. In her presentation, she spoke about her different tasks as a cataloguer for the Faculty of Veterinary Science and her involvement with UPSpace and metadata, and how the job profile of being a subject-specific cataloguer was changing to one of an information organiser.

Amelia demonstrated her metadata expertise and how cataloguers can make valuable contributions in various disciplines within the library and other faculties. She encouraged her colleagues to be proactive rather than reactive while highlighting the most important opportunities that cataloguers (as metadata specialists) can take advantage of. The examples that were used included metadata for digital objects; images of the faculty activities; historical items and documents.

One of her projects involves creating metadata for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) relevant to the Faculty of Veterinary Science. A LibGuide for the Veterinary Science SDG was created, in which information was gathered from various sources. Some of the information comes from articles, theses, and dissertations, as well as tagging information from UPSpace.

To accomplish the work, she also stressed teamwork and collaboration with appropriate departments. She formed relationships with the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, and the South African Veterinary Association's Veterinary History Society to convey vital information to Africa and the rest of the world through metadata creation.

According to the LTS team, the presentation was very informative, impressive, and eye-opening to the world of metadata. The main takeaway was that metadata is useful for identifying, evaluating, and managing information. Simply put, it assists us in locating the information we require. The greater the number of metadata we have, the more we (and others) can accomplish.

Credit goes to Susan Marsh and her team for their hospitality and for making the team feel welcome.