Ideas on functionality:
Three levels of authenticated users:
Level 1: can enter data into series authority records (requires simple
registration)
Level 2: can enter data into all fields of series authority records,
edit all fields, and delete records (requires registration as an editor
- some vetting)
Level 3: can make changes to the system interface and underlying
software/scripts, can block users, and anything I'm leaving out
(administrator)
Level 1 functionality:
- New series headings can be entered into simple form
- Series authority creation assistance from each field (simple rollover
instructions as well as links to detailed info)
- Series authority database can be searched by keyword
- Retrieved records can be marked for export
- Individual records can be exported as delimited text files or as MARC
Level 2 functionality:
(I'm leaving it here for now)
To make this viable, a primary concern is the ability to export
individual authority files as text delimited files (and, potentially,
with scripting, MARC format. If that capability isn't there, I'd guess
the service would be little more than an semi-interesting blip.
I did some initial research last night and it appears that since Wiki
data is stored and retrieved in relational databases, there seems to be
viability. I also came across instances of peer-to-peer distribution
models with Wikis. I'll also be following up with some suggestions that
were made over the weekend and try to compile some of what I find to
post next week.
It would be great to find a free, open source, hosted service that is
viable for collection of data and that can be enhanced as time goes on
to add the capabilities to make it fully functional and get started
collecting series headings in the near future. The control field data
is going to be the challenge. Some of it can be set up by default since
the series data addresses only one type of authority record. Some of it
might be automatically assigned (date stamps and maybe others). I'll
try to provide a detailed table of what might be required for each data
instance by next week either. Maybe I should blog some of this?
I appreciate all of the interest and comments. A couple of folks
suggested their institutions could potentially host such a service.
There is a *real* need to fill this void and a viable service would be a
model for the viability of new models of cooperation.
Allen
Received on Fri May 25 2007 - 09:02:22 EDT