Retaining Lightroom Metadata when transferring between computers

It is hard to remember all the features that Photoshop and Lightroom have.  Adobe Products are not exactly known for being intuitive.  There is nobody at the head of Adobe that is driving simplicity and ease of operation.  No Steve Jobs.  No one with his passion for ease of use.  No one with a name to stamp on a concept.  Indeed an entire corporation, Kelby Training, has formed a cottage industry in trying to explain what the Adobe Enginneers cannot.

Back to Metadata.  A simple IMPORT on the Desktop from Lightroom WILL LEAVE ALL METADATA AND ADJUSTMENTS BEHIND on the source computer (laptop).  I sometimes forget that to retain the Metadata, like Keywords and adjustments that you input on the road (using a laptop)  you need to combine or merge catalogs.  The following is from Adobe's webpage: 

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Lightroom/3.0/Using/WSBED0E080-63AF-4ba4-ACCF-EC48C4F92D6D.html

Combine or merge catalogs in Lightroom

You can create a catalog from existing photos in Lightroom by selecting the photos and exporting them as a new catalog. Then, if desired, you can merge the new catalog with another catalog. This is useful when, for example, you initially import photos into a catalog on a laptop computer and then you want to add the photos to a master catalog on a desktop computer.

1. Select the photos you want to add to the new catalog.
2. Choose File > Export As Catalog.
3. Specify the name and location of the catalog.
4. Indicate whether you want to export the negative files and previews, and then click Save (Windows) or Export Catalog (Mac OS). “Negative files” refers to the original files that were imported into Lightroom.
   
   The new catalog contains the selected photos and their information. You must open the new catalog to view it.
   
5. (Optional) To combine catalogs, import the new catalog into another. See Import photos from a different Lightroom catalog.

The keywords for this one are: ascending, attacking cage, cage, Great White Shark, GUADELUPE ISLAND, Mexico, Nautilus Explorer, Pilot fish