This paper aims to forecast the changing roles of librarians ­ especially catalogers and metadata specialists ­ in today's technology-driven research, teaching, and learning environments, in which information seekers behave more and more self-sufficiently and move well beyond library collections in their pursuit of information. Metadata and metadata specialists are strategic assets for libraries, but the service model for cataloging faces critical challenges.This essay will sketch an alternative frame of reference for technical services experts and highlight the reasons that metadata--and metadata librarians--are critically important to the library's future.