CCO

I just received this month's copy of American Libraries in the mail, and the printed preliminary program for ALA Annual was included with the mailing. I noticed at first glance that the first session listed under the "Collection Management and Technical Services" track is "Cataloging Cultural Objects: Toward a Metadata Content Standard for Libraries, Archives and Museums." I'm thrilled that CCO is getting some air time in the "mainstream" librarian community - this sort of widening of perspective is sorely needed.

There's a lot of confusion out there, even among experts, about what CCO is supposed to be for, and what its connection is to VRA Core and CDWA. As I read it, CCO is to VRA Core roughly as AACR is to MARC. But then again, many folks don't fully understand the relationship between AACR and MARC is, either, so I suppose the confusion here isn't all that surprising. I'm looking forward to more discussion of CCO to help get the word out.

There's a whole lot more in the program that looks very exciting. I can't wait for June!