>"We need some kind of subject headings" and "we need LCSH" are not one
and the same.
>That's what I'm trying to get at. Going from LCSH to Google Book Search
is a false dichotomy.
Perhaps, but if we do need subject headings (and I say we *do* -- honest
to goodness subject headings; not free tags or text-extracted keywords),
why not utilize the ones we already have? Not only because we have a
lot of sunk costs here in terms of existing records, but also for the
sake of interoperability. *I'm* not going to be the one to go back and
re-catalog all those hundreds of thousands of legacy records (you want
to talk about building an automated crosswalk of some kind, then maybe I
could get on board).
I don't think LCSH is God (though Cutter *was* one of His prophets), but
let's make sure we put a blanket on the baby before we toss out its
bathwater. Or something like that.
Ed Sperr
Digital Services Consultant
NELINET, Inc.
153 Cordaville Rd. Suite 200 Southborough, MA
(508) 597-1931 | (800) 635-4638 x1931
Received on Tue Jun 20 2006 - 16:49:04 EDT