Laura,
>3. Library of Congress subject headings are the only truly
comprehensive English language subject controlled vocabulary, but they
don't work well enough.
I have to disagree with this. Remember we have LCC and Dewey. Both are
rich in terms and have a hierarchical structure. We need not make the
user know and work the class numbers, those could be machine read to
deliver the results and other suggestions. A user enters Asteroids the
machine searches 523.44 and then offers broader terms based on 523.4.
The user never need see the numbers.
Even better the machine searches for 523.44 in the class number fields
and for asteroids in the 650 field after validating the term in the
subject authority file.
There is no need to only assign one class number to an item. We could
assign as many as needed, just like subject headings. One would be
needed to "mark and park" but the others could provide access points.
Sincerely,
David Bigwood
bigwood_at_lpi.usra.edu
Lunar & Planetary Institute
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/library/whats_new.shtml
Catalogablog
http://catalogablog.blogspot.com
Received on Wed Jun 21 2006 - 10:41:57 EDT