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Hi Maurine, Thanks for your post. The evidence I have to support that assertion is my own experience (27+ years at a large academic research library) and anecdotal evidence from colleagues (mostly here and at peer institutions--large university libraries). When I began here in 1989 the Cataloging department had ~50 faculty and staff. Today we're down to ~30. What's more, many of those 30 (myself included) no longer actively catalog--as academic libraries have been spread ever thinner by new initiatives, many folks in all departments have been called upon to do other things (Web work, or managing e-resources, to cite but two examples). Declining collections budgets have convinced some administrators that fewer catalogers are needed. We've lost positions to assessment and other newer areas as libraries struggle to redefine themselves when the go-to source for information remains Google and Wikipedia. We'll be losing two positions this year--one a senior cataloger with an international reputation--and we'll only be able to rehire one. The unfillable position is an original cataloger who catalogs materials for our Engineering and Mathematical and Physical Sciences Libraries--both of which support huge colleges at our university. In the next 18 months, as a result of a voluntary retirement incentive program, my library will be hiring almost 3 dozen positions (student engagement, open education, etc.); only one will be coming to Cataloging. Ironically, in the Internet age, libraries have more, not fewer, collections to manage. The need for quality metadata has never been greater. Which brings me back to my original point: one reason RDA and BIBFRAME will not enjoy the success or widespread adoption that AACR2 and MARC did is simply because they are unwieldy. Jeff P.S. I have a close friend who has two children currently attending Hillsdale. >This has been a highly informative thread for those of us not terribly well-versed in the BIBFRAME specifics as they currently stand. Thanks for getting it started, Jeff! I was hoping to see one point of clarification to your initial post, though, that I haven’t seen yet. Could you cite some of the evidence that supports your statement that “The most likely allies of LC in moving BIBFRAME forward--large academic or public libraries with experienced cataloging staff--are shifting resources AWAY from cataloging and into other areas (digital humanities, assessment, student engagement, open access, etc.).”? I would not be surprised if that is the case, but I’m not sure I’ve seen anything proving it. Thanks. Maurine McCourry, Ph.D. Technical Services Librarian Hillsdale College, Mossey Library [log in to unmask]