Actually, archivists compile biographies and contextual information
about creators as part of processing collections that could be
utilized in an authority system. Encoded Archival Context (EAC) allows
for the inclusion of detailed and structured descriptive information
and can be linked to descriptions of archival collections,
bibliographic entities, and museum objects. Currently creator
descriptions tend to be included as part of the top level description
of an archival finding aid, which means that biographical info is
replicated across collections sharing the same provenance in different
repositories.
One of the obstacles in implementing EAC is that archivists who are
associated with academic libraries are already invested in LCNAF so
that their records co-exist with catalog records in the library's
OPAC. If EAC were implemented, it would mean that creator descriptions
would have to be done in addition to contributing to the LCNAF.
Another obstacle is that for EAC to succeed on a national level, it
will need support from both the museum and library communities.
Catalog librarians have tended not to pay much attention to EAC since
it does not represent an improvement over the current investment in
LCNAF, which is essentially a system of controlling headings. Besides,
librarians tend to think that users will find what they need based on
a link to the TOC or digital representation of the book cover. Coming
from an archival perspective, I have appreciated rich creator
descriptions for certain categories of materials, such as home movies,
where a bio created once alleviates the necessity of abstracting
hundreds of manifestations that do not come into the repository with
the equivalent of a title page.
Andrea
-----------------------
Andrea Leigh
UCLA Film & Television Archive
aleigh_at_ucla.edu
Quoting Stephen McLaughlin <sMcLaughlin_at_SFPL.ORG>:
> Karen Coyle wrote:
>
> "3) The name authority record contains virtually nothing that could
> interest a user -- no bio about the author, nothing to help the user
> know who it is we are talking about."
>
> I guess this idea bothers me because a lot of discussion centers around
> how we don't have time to do this or that current cataloging function,
> and now we're supposed to spend time compiling author biographies? Is
> that really our job?
>
> If the response is, "No, we won't write it, we'll link to something on
> the web," that really opens up a can of worms. Which web sites?
> Wikipedia? What happens when the website vanishes? Or will we buy an
> author database from a vendor, in which case everybody who wants
> authority records will have to buy access to the same database.
>
> I can see a lot of ways in which authority headings could be improved,
> but this just doesn't seem like a useful direction to me.
>
> Steve McLaughlin
> San Francisco Public Library
> smclaughlin_at_sfpl.org
>
> The views expressed in this message do not necessarily represent the
> views of the San Francisco Public Library.
>
Received on Wed Aug 22 2007 - 13:09:49 EDT