Bernie,
Well, I think possibly Endeca or Scriblio might. They seem to provide
both a way to access titles via keywords and make patrons aware of
controlled vocabulary. At least Endeca does, and what I've seen of
Scriblio recently, as Casey Bisson sent examples to the list, seems to
do so as well.
But I do also have to ask why people seem to assume that the Next
Generation Catalog has to be so radically unlike this generation's. Our
online catalogs are pretty terrific: they combine both the careful
classification, subject analysis, and description of traditional
cataloging and the ability to do keyword searching and many other
things. In some ways, it strikes me that we're living in an "information
paradise" right now.
So I wonder: if the move to create a Next Generation Catalog is so
strong, what's behind it? Is it really that we just don't want to spend
as much money on cataloging anymore, or just don't think we can? Maybe
that's a pretty obvious answer. We can't afford to have as rich an
information environment as we currently have, because the American
people don't want to invest money in libraries. But when I look at the
spending priorities of LC management, for example, I have to wonder if
they're undermining cataloging by poor judgment. They've cut back on
funding for it so they can spend more on digitization projects. I don't
think that's a correct choice.
We've developed this wonderful tool, the computer, which has a lot of
potential. But now the powers that be in libraries have decided that
this provides an excuse for eliminating some of the infrastructure of
libraries. They have tight budgets, and they've fooled themselves into
thinking the computer somehow solves that problem.
I would even suggest that, in reality, some technological stability
might do us and the whole economy some real good. If we could just quit
this quest for that next software release that's going to solve all our
problems and settle into using what we have, that might actually save
libraries and other businesses a lot of money and stress. Or at least
SOME money and A LOT OF stress. I'm not an economist, so I realize I
could be wrong about this. But I wish we would just step back and
appreciate what we have. And take the time to convince Americans of the
value of it. I think a major reason Americans don't have money to spend
on libraries (or educational institutions in general) is that we're
spending it on lining the pockets of corporations and other private
individuals. But I won't go further into politics here. That's getting
pretty far afield from our subject.
--Ted Gemberling
Not an official statement of the UAB Lister Hill Library
-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of B.G. Sloan
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 7:39 PM
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] send it to me
Ted,
OK...I'll bite. What WOULD be close to being a satisfactory next
generation catalog?
Disclaimer: I have recently retired, become a grandfather, and moved
to another state, almost simultaneously, so I haven't been following
NGC4LIB postings as closely as I would like to.
Bernie Sloan
Ted P Gemberling <tgemberl_at_UAB.EDU> wrote:
Maurice,
Actually, as I said to Eric in my second message, this could be a useful
tool, so useful it may even make him a millionaire. What you said makes
sense as far as it goes. If it's a way to make materials more available
to people, great. But I just don't think it comes anywhere close to
being a satisfactory "Next Generation Catalog."
--Ted G.
-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Maurice York
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 4:15 PM
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] send it to me
Hi Ted,
I'm not entirely sure that I want to step in and play devil's advocate
on this one, but it's Friday, so I'll suspend my better judgment for
the sake of some intellectual sparring.
Why would this be a sad future for libraries? In fact, this is where
OCLC is putting their stake in the ground on the future of resource
delivery: that users may actually appreciate an environment that shows
them all the options they have available for getting their hands on a
given item (Amazon, local bookstore, local library, etc) and shows
them how long each takes and how much it costs. If I know I can get
something for $20 in three days delivered to my door versus getting it
immediately and free through a trip to the library (or better yet,
have the library send it to me...hence, OCLC's resource *delivery*
scheme), that's a choice I will be thankful to my library to have made
available to me.
"A cheaper alternative to Amazon.com..." Or otherwise put, A public
good that provides democratic access to knowledge and makes
information broadly available at less cost to the public (or to
scholars, or what have you). Sounds strikingly similar to one of the
foundational principles of libraries...
-Maurice
On 5/11/07, Ted P Gemberling wrote:
> Eric,
> I hope this is not the Next Generation catalog. For one thing, it
would
> do you no good if you needed to read something that doesn't have an
> ISBN. Believe it or not, people do sometimes need to read things that
> predate the ISBN. Especially in certain fields of inquiry.
>
> I suppose you could say this exemplifies simplicity. There's only one
> thing someone needs to know: the ISBN for something. The system will
> take care of the rest. But ISBN's have no relation to the subject
> content or even, as far as I know, the author. So this proposal would
> make your local library no more than a cheaper alternative to
Amazon.com
> or Barnes and Nobles. After you find something you like in those
places,
> if you can't pay for it, you see if your library has it for free. It
> will be real sad if that's the future of libraries.
> --Ted Gemberling
> PS I did just try the "find similar items" feature. And that does
enable
> you to find things with similar subjects. But don't you think now and
> then someone might want to see what those subjects are? Because if you
> know what they are, you have a possibility of determining how they
> relate to others.
>
> Not an official statement of the UAB Lister Hill Library
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
> [mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Eric Lease Morgan
> Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 1:49 PM
> To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: [NGC4LIB] send it to me
>
> I think the "next generation" library catalog is not really a
> "catalog" at all, but more like a tool or a foundation for providing
> various types of services, and as an example I wrote a program I call
> Send It To Me:
>
> http://mylibrary.library.nd.edu/send/
>
> Given an ISBN number the program will try to find the item in our
> local catalog and prompt the user for their University ID if it is
> found. The system would then update a local database and get somebody
> to actually send the item to the user. "Send it to me!"
>
> If the item is not found, then it uses xisbn and thingisbn to
> generate similar ISBN numbers and search for those locally. Again, if
> found, it prompts the user for their ID and sets up a delivery
> mechanism.
>
> If all is lost, then the system locates the item in the Library of
> Congress, and offers the user four choices: 1) ILL, 2) library
> purchase, 3) user purchase, 4) find similar items and borrow them
> instead.
>
> The whole thing is just a prototype; it demonstrates how libraries
> could make things easier for students, instructors, and researchers
> when it comes to acquiring known items from library catalogs.
>
> --
> Eric Lease Morgan
> University Libraries of Notre Dame
>
--
************************************
Maurice York
Associate Head, Information Technology
NCSU Libraries
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695
maurice_york_at_ncsu.edu
Phone: 919-515-3518
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Received on Sat May 12 2007 - 13:25:55 EDT