I believe that library organization is moving away from the hands of well qualified, professionally trained catalogers and into the hands of the “ordinary” librarians. This trend can have numerous negative implications. The first, being an inconsistent organization of library materials. Many every day librarians use their minimal cataloging skills very loosely. They interpret organization how it best suits their library rather than using the strict, unwavering cataloging rules that should apply. By doing so, libraries risk having materials that are especially difficult to locate. Secondly, by not allowing professionally trained catalogers to organize library materials, librarians run the risk of having an overwhelming amount of work for themselves. A professional cataloger is more well suited to accomplish the task of organizing materials in a timely manner. Several librarians that I have spoken with over the past few months have expressed concerns about being in charge of organizing their collections due to their inexperience. I imagine a more “seasoned” librarian would have fewer difficulties accomplishing the daunting task of organization. Lastly, I feel all libraries should use more qualified catalogers due to the fact that some librarians may be unable to decide which subject heading list to use along with which classification system is best suited to their needs. Hopefully, librarians with difficulties will seek assistance rather than participate in disorganization.
On another note, the tags listed on my Diigo site, are more useful than traditional subject headings because they focus on areas of interest. The tags are detailed toward modern computer language and websites versus traditional tags that are geared toward simple subjects. Diigo has a variety of tags that are useful in a multitude of searches that do not limit the user. Diigo provides a valuable service and has done an excellent job gearing its tags to the most common users.
