But the data normally accessed via the catalog could simply be another
data silo or source for a search interface of some kind. It does not
have to be accessed via a library "catalog" in a traditional sense.
Wilfred (Bill) Drew
E-mail: mailto:drewwe_at_morrisville.edu
AOL Instant Messenger:BillDrew4 <aim:goim?screenname=BillDrew4>
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." (Benjamin Franklin)
________________________________
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Macaulay, Jennifer
Sent: Thursday, June 08, 2006 9:22 AM
To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] who is the primary user?
Robert L. Kusmer, Ph.D., M.L.S. wrote:
"Why don't we first realistically admit up front that an
undeniable need exists for the catalog because there will always be
users looking for physical objects in physical libraries?
After we admit that the catalog fulfills a critical need that's
not going to go away, then we can get down to the business of examining
and improving the catalog. But let's not pretend that there are no
users of the catalog. There are millions of daily users in venues
ranging from school libraries, to public libraries, to academic and
research libraries."
I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. Our library catalog
is used daily by our patrons - and without it people wouldn't be able to
find anything. They use it to find books, to access our electronic
resources, to check their records, etc. Statistics even show that
students are searching for items more than ever. Yet, they also show
that they are using subject searches most often - and having difficulty
finding information that way. My comment about library staff being the
primary audience was worded badly. I meant that in its current iteration
it is most intelligible to library staff - and in that way I think they
are the audience that understands it and uses it to its fullest
capacity. I guess I see the catalog as having been designed for use by
library staff - and that seems to be one it biggest problems because we
are not the primary audience.
-Jennifer Macaulay
Head of Library Systems
MacPhaidin Library
Stonehill College
Easton, MA 02357
________________________________
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Robert Kusmer
Sent: Thursday, June 08, 2006 9:09 AM
To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
Subject: Re: who is the primary user?
At 09:38 AM 6/7/2006, you wrote:
"... I tend to equate our library catalog with the concept of a
shelflist. It is a great tool for finding print resources within our
library (which is not the primary activity of users). Library staff
could not get along without it. Library staff are really the primary
audience for the catalog as it exists today..."
-Jennifer Macaulay
Head of Library Systems
MacPhaidin Library
Stonehill College
Easton, MA 02357
One of the first steps that needs to be done here is to describe
accurately what the catalog is. I disagree that the library staff is
the primary audience for the catalog. Certainly, it is a critical
mechanism for acquisitions, organizational, inventory and circulation
control. But that is only the management function of the catalog. The
other raison d'etre of the catalog, and by no means an incidental one,
is as a finding aid for the public user of the library. Yes indeed,
many many information searches today bypass the catalog in favor of the
internet as a means of finding information. That by no means detracts
from the critical need for location of print resources in physical
libraries. The user cannot locate print materials without the catalog
and the organizational function that cataloging provides. Browsing in
the stacks is only possible because of the organizational principle
(classification) which the catalog provides. And even if the mistake
were to be made of turning the library into a warehouse of books
arranged by sequential acquisitions numbers, it would still take the
catalog to allow the user to determine if a given library owns a given
title.
Why don't we first realistically admit up front that an
undeniable need exists for the catalog because there will always be
users looking for physical objects in physical libraries? The world
will not be a better place if computer screen becomes the sole vehicle
for information. It will be a much sorrier place.
After we admit that the catalog fulfills a critical need that's
not going to go away, then we can get down to the business of examining
and improving the catalog. But let's not pretend that there are no
users of the catalog. There are millions of daily users in venues
ranging from school libraries, to public libraries, to academic and
research libraries.
Robert L. Kusmer, Ph.D., M.L.S.
Associate Librarian
Liaison for German language & literature
Cataloger, German/Humanities/Theology
Fellow, Nanovic Institute for European Studies
123B Theodore M. Hesburgh Library
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556-5629
U.S.A.
Phone: 574 631 8649
Fax: 574 631 6772
Email: rkusmer_at_nd.edu
Received on Thu Jun 08 2006 - 09:55:30 EDT