mailing list moderation

This is a bit of NGC4Lib mailing list moderation.


Purpose

NGC4Lib is a forum for discussing qualities, characteristics, and
implementations of library catalogs. There is a widespread
understanding that users' expectations regarding the discovery and
use of information have changed significantly with the advent of
ubiquitous and globally networked computers. The purpose of this
mailing list is to facilitate discussion regarding these issues in
the hopes of learning how librarianship might evolve to meet the
changing environment. Questions to ask ourselves include but are not
limited to:

   * What is a library "catalog"?
   * Who is its primary audience?
   * Who are its other audiences?
   * What are the needs of these audiences?
   * What kind of content does a catalog include?
   * What sorts of services does a catalog suppport?
   * What sorts of questions can a catalog answer?
   * How is a library catalog different from other indexes?
   * What types of skills are necessary to create and maintain a
     catalog?
   * Considering time as well as money, what are reasonable costs
     for a catalog?


There is more than one way to get there

There are no universal rights or wrongs in this discussion. Instead,
there are only best practices that come and go as time moves on. From
a computer perspective, a catalog can be built on top of a database.
Alternatively, it could be built around an index. From a cataloging
perspective, a title can be encoded as a MARC 245 field, or just as
easily, encoded as a 100 field. There are no laws regarding these
issues, just conventions for implementation. Consequently, there are
many paths to get to where we want to go, and all of those paths will
change over time. Let's try to see the forest from the trees.


Everybody has something to offer

I believe it needs to be emphasized that all of use here have more
things in common than differences. Broadly speaking, our goals are
similar, namely, to collect, organize, preserve, and disseminate data
and information to help meet the needs of our clientele. Let's focus
on these goals with an understanding that everybody has something to
bring to the party. Many of us need to learn the strengths (and
weaknesses) of well-defined and maintained controlled vocabularies.
Many of us need to understand to a greater degree what computers can
and can not do. This is not an us versus them discussion. This is a
we discussion. Let's focus on our commonalities.


--
Eric Lease Morgan
Head, Digital Access and Information Architecture Department
University Libraries of Notre Dame

(574) 631-8604