This new edition offers a fully updated and expanded overview of the field of information organization, examining the description of information resources as both a product and process of the contemporary digital environment.

Information Resource Description, 2nd edition explains how the various elements and values of descriptive metadata support a set of common information retrieval functions across a wide range of environments. Through this unifying framework, the book provides an integrated commentary on the various fields and practices of information organization carried out by today’s information professionals and end-users.

Updates to the first edition include coverage of:

• recent scholarship published in the field
  
• linked open linked data initiatives such as BIBFRAME
  
• the new IFLA Library Reference Model and its five user tasks
  
• current versions of the key metadata standards
  
• contemporary discovery tools and approaches.
  

The book is intended for LIS students taking information organization courses at either undergraduate and postgraduate levels, information professionals wishing to specialize in the field, and existing metadata specialists who wish to update their knowledge.

'Hider's writing is clear, fluent and at times humourous. This book provides an excellent survey of the subject for beginners and provides both a refresher and deep insights for tose already aquainted with the basics.'

— Joshua Hutchinson, Cataloging & Metadata Librarian, UCI Libraries, University of California Irvine

'Hider has presented a balanced view of the issues and challenges inherent in creating and managing metadata. As such, the second edition of his book serves as a useful introduction to the field of information organization and management as it exists today This work is recommended for students new to the field and for academic libraries desiring to have the most up-to-date information.'— Jan Mayo, Head of General Collections Cataloguing, East Carolina University Greenville

'The book is skillfully concise...yet comprehensive...The work inspires and provides the means to delve deep into the subject, making it a reliable and excellent learning and teaching resource.'— M.P.Satija, Journal of Education for Library and Information Science

Philip Hider is Head of the School of Information Studies and Professor of Library and Information Management at Charles Sturt University, Australia. He has worked, taught and researched in the field of information organization in the UK, Singapore and Australia. He holds a PhD from City University, London and was made a Fellow of CILIP in 2004.