On 15/08/07, Eric Lease Morgan <emorgan_at_nd.edu> wrote:
> On Aug 14, 2007, at 11:12 PM, William Denton wrote:
>
> > Will the next generation catalogue be called a catalogue? What do you
> > call your conception of what should replace your OPAC?...
>
>
> This questions reared its head on the a couple of other lists a few
> days ago. It was also on my mind when I created the name of this
> mailing list. In many ways I regret using the word "catalog" because
> it has so many connotations. At the same time, I could not think of a
> better/different term. We had to start somewhere.
It seems inevitable we're going to be lumbered with the term; right
now, no other word really describes what we want to do, and the heart
of the device is still going to be "our" catalogue in the traditional
sense. (I confess to having a soft spot for 'interface', but the
connotations for *that* are even clunkier)
The trick is to simply change the connotations for 'better' ones. A
surprising amount of information-related terminology has shifted
drastically in recent years - look at what "search" implies to the
average user now compared to ten or fifteen years back.
--
- Andrew Gray
andrew.gray_at_dunelm.org.uk
Received on Thu Aug 16 2007 - 14:06:21 EDT