[Original posting on this topic appeared in COLLDV-L no. 1450 and is
reproduced below; the response follows it.]
From: "Gerry McKiernan" <JL.GJM_at_ISUMVS.IASTATE.EDU>
_Value of Publisher in Determining Relevance in an OPAC_
In my recent postings relating to Data Mining and Knowledge
Discovery in Databases (KDD), I note the potential value of
using the Publisher of an item from an OPAC search as one
additional potential factor in identifying significant works
on a specific subject that might be used in an envisioned
enhanced OPAC. As a practicing librarian, I find that I will
intuitively [?], select works published by certain publishers
that have an established reputation for authoritative
publication in specific, broad or general fields.For example,
one _expects_ that Oxford University Press publishes quality
work in any and all fields, or one expects that the ACM publishes
authoritative work in the various fields of Computer Science.
This professional belief and judgment is based upon my knowledge
of the particular press as well as overall knowledge of a
subject.
For my review paper on Data Mining and KDD, I am interested
in learning about any research and any associated literature that
has studied the user's knowledge or perception of the significance
of the publisher in selecting items from an OPAC search, or any type
of bibliographic search for that matter, e.g. an index or abstract
service.
As always, any citations, leads, comments, criticisms, opinions,
or reactions, will be much appreciated.
Regards,
Gerry McKiernan
Curator, CyberStacks(sm)
Iowa State University
Ames IA 50011
gerrymck_at_iastate.edu
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/
===================================================================
From: John Rutledge <jbr_at_email.unc.edu>
> [snip]..... As a practicing librarian, I find that I will
> intuitively [?], select works published by certain publishers
> that have an established reputation for authoritative
> publication in specific, broad or general fields.For example,
> one _expects_ that Oxford University Press publishes quality
> work in any and all fields,
I like the way you questioned "intuitively" above.
I am interested in the issue of how publishers' reputations
come to be formed. How do individual selectors/bibliographers
come to "know" that OUP publishes quality work in any
and all fields? Is it from personal experience, reading
book reviews, talking to faculty, doing research, or what?
Is it information passed along through library channels?
From one selector to another?
Do OUP titles _never_ get bad reviews in the journals?
Then there aren't that many OUPs in the world. Most
presses have a more mixed record (perhaps), so that a title
by title decision becomes more appropriate. And "quality"
doesn't always equate with usefulness.
> This professional belief and judgment is based upon my knowledge
> of the particular press as well as overall knowledge of a
> subject.
"Belief" is the right word. I suspect that a lot of
decisions are made on beliefs about product quality. And
that may be right: if no one has complained about a de Gruyter
title in 20 years, then I should probably continue purchasing
de Gruyter as long as the money holds.
> For my review paper on Data Mining and KDD, I am interested
> in learning about any research and any associated literature that
> has studied the user's knowledge or perception of the significance
> of the publisher in selecting items from an OPAC search, or any type
This is a very interesting concept. My hunch is that users
have a very much vaguer concept of the reputation of the
publisher than do bibliographers/selectors. Reputation of
the author and a well-phrased title will be much more important
to them. For most people there are just too many publishers
to get familiar with all the names.
> As always, any citations, leads, comments, criticisms, opinions,
> or reactions, will be much appreciated.
Well, there's an _opinion_. But I'm starting a little
project to look at the role of the publisher's reputation
as a selection criterion.
John Rutledge
Bibliographer, West European Resources
UNC-CH
Received on Tue Aug 26 1997 - 17:05:13 EDT