Alphabet soup
TEI, METS, MARC, MODS, XML, SGML, etc, etc.
IST 616 is officially called Information Resources: Organization & Access. So far, it is more like learning a new language than actually learning about organizing information. Just learning the acronyms is a challenge, as the listing above is only a very partial list of the acronyms encountered in the first five weeks of class. Each separate standard or set of rules is a whole other language unto itself.
Although I’m still waiting for that lightbulb moment where it all comes together for me, it’s actually pretty amazing to see all that goes into what many library (and information users in general) take for granted – that when they search for something, they will be able to find what they want and where it should be.
