Good points and a good plumber analogy but I think you are conflating a
couple of points.
You're right you don't need to see the plumber's wrenches, but you also
don't want to know that the wrench he/she is using is not the best one
for the job either.
Hiding the fact that, for some historical reason [card catalogues have
anything to do with this?], Marc is one of the few data storage
techniques that handles a name as a single string from the user is *as*
important as hiding Marc from them.
If you also take on the assumption that increasingly users will
want/need to be accessing library information via systems built by
non-library aware developers, you also will come to the conclusion that
those developers will not want to see the wrenches either.
Little test on this front: Suggest to your organisation's web site
development team it would be a good idea to have the library catalogue
directly searchable from with the web site, with results being displayed
in their pages. Then show them the Marc and Z39.50 manuals.
If libraries are going to have other sites and services consume their
services, we are going to have to provide access and results in a way
that they understand and are used to. The underlying complexities of
the data standards, and the issues around those standards must be hidden
from them. Just like Amazon, you send them a search string, and they
give you data back. How that data is held and indexed is their problem
not ours. The same should be true for consumers of our services.
As suggested previously in this thread, SRU/OpenSearch may be a step on
this road, but its not the whole journey.
Coming from Talis you would expect me to say, but I make no excuses for
it, that the bibliographic world needs to provide its services via a
Platform within which is hidden all the complexities that should be of
no interest to the consumers of our services. In that way 'Library'
will get built in to the rest of the information environment; if not,
libraries will remain the domain of the 'specialist' internet user.
Richard.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
> [mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Jacobs, Jane W
> Sent: 17 January 2007 12:55
> To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
> Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] coyle/hillman article from dlib
>
> I am struck by the thought that "MARC-speak" is hardly the
> problem. I am reminded of something my professor said in
> library school about customer access. It went something like this:
>
> When I call a plumber, I want my sink fixed. I don't need
> him to show me his wrenches!
>
> The problem(s) (and I don't deny that there are many) with
> MARC is not that "Joe at the OPAC" doesn't know about 1XX $a.
> He doesn't care if Google works off XML or MARC or SQL
> either. The question is not whether our "back end" looks
> nice but whether it works and where it doesn't. A good
> example is the problem with the 100 $a containing both
> forename and surname when we often need to parse them
> separately. It has nothing to do with whether we call it 100
> $a or <author personal name>
>
> Just an aside, I think that people are a little too hung up
> on the history of MARC as a card production system. Yes it
> does have that history, but the root of the forename/surname
> problem may be less a function of card production than the
> still prevalent "westno-centricity"
> of much of our thinking.
>
> JJ
>
>
>
> The information contained in this message may be privileged
> and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader
> of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee
> or agent responsible for delivering this message to the
> intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any
> dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication
> is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
> communication in error, please notify us immediately by
> replying to the message and deleting it from your
> computer.-----Original Message-----
> From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
> [mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Eric Lease Morgan
> Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 2:13 PM
> To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
> Subject: Re: coyle/hillman article from dlib
>
> On Jan 16, 2007, at 12:52 PM, Bernhard Eversberg wrote:
>
> >> Get rid of Marc-Speak! Sure that's going to be really hard, but as
> >> long as we use 100$a in our day-to-day language to mean an
> author's
> >> name there will be a barrier between the catalogue and the rest of
> >> the world.
> >
> > But how to speak instead?
>
>
> Speak the language of the users and other computer systems.
> If we want to share our data/information with other people
> and their computers, then we need to speak their language(s).
>
> --
> Eric Lease Morgan
> University Libraries of Notre Dame
>
The very latest from Talis
read the latest news at www.talis.com/news
listen to our podcasts www.talis.com/podcasts
see us at these events www.talis.com/events
join the discussion here www.talis.com/forums
join our developer community www.talis.com/tdn
and read our blogs www.talis.com/blogs
Any views or personal opinions expressed within this email may not be those of Talis Information Ltd. The content of this email message and any files that may be attached are confidential, and for the usage of the intended recipient only. If you are not the intended recipient, then please return this message to the sender and delete it. Any use of this e-mail by an unauthorised recipient is prohibited.
Talis Information Ltd is a member of the Talis Group of companies and is registered in England No 3638278 with its registered office at Knights Court, Solihull Parkway, Birmingham Business Park, B37 7YB.
Received on Wed Jan 17 2007 - 08:29:16 EST