I haven't got anything to contribute to the thread except that in French
the word "catalogue" is masculine, not feminine. I've corrected the
subject line and feel much better now.
Hunter
L. Hunter Kevil
Collection Development Librarian
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65201
573-884-8760
kevill_at_missouri.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Weinheimer Jim
Sent: Monday, August 20, 2007 3:36 AM
To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Ceci n'est pas une catalogue
This is a more important topic than it may appear. The way I look at it,
the term OPAC never meant anything to non-librarians anyway, and should
never have been used in the first place.
In the pre-search engine world, "catalog" used to mean something rather
specific, but even then there was less understanding among
non-librarians. You had the library catalog which was very
uninteresting, but there were also the catalogs from Victoria's Secret,
which were much more interesting. And then there was the general
"catalog of complaints" type of lists.
If the library catalog is to continue, we must differentiate it from the
search engines, and it should have a name that more accurately relays
its function and purpose. The main thing that a catalog allows over
search engines is that users can search concepts and not just text. So,
a user can search WWI and get (theoretically) everything in the
collection about the great war that engulfed the world between the years
1914 to 1918. Of course the authority files, the necessary
cross-references, and the entire subdivision structure need to be far
better incorporated and utilized than they are now. (That is another
issue) But this is what separates a library catalog from a search
engine. The description function of the catalog is much more important
to librarians than to users.
So, a name for the library catalog should probably include the term
"concept," such as "Conceptual search engine" or perhaps even more
accurately "English Concept Search" "German Concept Search" "French,
...". Maybe a fun acronym could be found or something. But I think it is
increasingly important to distinguish the catalog and its functions from
a search engine because people simply do not understand.
James Weinheimer j.weinheimer_at_aur.edu
Director of Library and Information Services The American University of
Rome Rome, Italy
Received on Mon Aug 20 2007 - 10:56:20 EDT