Ted P Gemberling wrote:
>So apparently, it wasn't released until 2003 on DVD, and you have to
find it in OCLC
>with that date, which I did not know. If you search for it
>with 2001, you don't find it. Or at least I couldn't.
If you depend on a fielded title search in an OPAC (or OCLC Connexion,
or WorldCat), it is a task to locate the record. Thank goodness for
keyword searching to compensate for this weakness. It was much easier
to locate in IMDb.
With the paucity of the catalog (even with purchases of auxiliary
cover/ToC, etc. products from vendors) compared to other Internet
information resources, part of what we are (I hope) considering is not
throwing out the bathwater, but adding more for both bibliographic or
authority information.
Jonathan Rochkind writes:
>I agree with Allen, but I want to be clear that nobody is suggesting
_abandoning_ authority control for IMDb approach. >You're not, right,
Allen?
No, I'm not any more than I'm advocating abandoning catalog records. I
am of a mind, however, that authority control as presently configured is
designed by and largely for librarians than other users. Birth dates
and initials as a primary means of differentiating names in a browse
listing is pretty sad customer service. [OK, do I want the Mullen,
Allen born in 1957 or the one with middle initial Z. born in 1923 or
perhaps the one with a middle initial P. and born in 1988? - yikes!]
The concept and the utility of authority control (name and subject) for
catalogers, reference library staff, and researchers is impeccable but
the implementation and usability is quite poor compared to what is
possible.
Allen
Received on Mon May 14 2007 - 17:48:43 EDT