Owen nails what I consider to be "the" practical question.
"When you say open-source OPACs do you mean ILS or stand alone OPAC packages? I suppose the underlying question here is, to step towards an NGC would I be better to start with replacing the ILS I use, or just layering a nice NGC-type layer on top. To take a specific example (and this is only as an example) would I be better off putting effort into changing cataloguing practice to more FRBR like representations, or investing in systems that are reasonably good at presenting a FRBRised view of non-FRBR data?"
For the short term (and due to budgetary constraints and probable fiscal conservatism in institutional practices) I would encourage small, incremental, yet purposeful steps toward the final result (a NGC). Add a layer between the user and the OPAC which is more easily understood, VUfind is but one example, and pull over live status info from the OPAC and the rest of the legacy inventory control system, a.k.a. the ILS.
I'll leave changing cataloging practice for the catalogers to hash out and hope they don't take too long, their window of opportunity is already closing.
-Aaron
:-)'
War is a cowardly escape from the problems of peace
--Thomas Mann
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Received on Fri Sep 14 2007 - 07:35:00 EDT