Distributing non-MARC metadata: the CUGIR metadata sharing project

Technical Service departments throughout libraries today are increasingly in the position to create and maintain non-MARC metadata that may be shared among institutions. The Cornell University Geospatial Information Repository (CUGIR) Metadata Sharing Project is an example of a system that manages heterogeneous metadata such as MARC, Dublin Core, and Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM). The mechanics and policies required to exchange MARC records are mature and well understood. In contrast, non-MARC metadata resource sharing is largely uncharted territory. The authors present and discuss the mechanisms they implemented to enable heterogeneous metadata sharing. Now that CUGIR geospatial metadata records are widely distributed, searchers who might not otherwise have access to geospatial information can more easily discover what they need.