In preparation for a talk I gave last year, I calculated that 559,440
Grisham novels would fit on a 60G iPod. The iPhone has a screen that
supports casual reading nicely- in bed, on the can, etc.
Why bother with a library catalog on your iPod when you could have a
whole library? For now, the pdf browser on the iPhone isn't ready for
Grisham but I can't imagine it will stay that way for very long.
Eric
On Sep 18, 2007, at 5:34 AM, Stephens, Owen wrote:
> A posting from Jerri Swinehart (Jerri - I think you raise some
> interesting questions, so don't go back to lurking!) in another thread
> triggered some thoughts about the catalogue on portable devices.
>
> Over two years ago Lorcan Dempsey mentioned in a blog posting that
> Thom
> Hickey had loaded the entirity of Worldcat on an iPod
> (http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/000544.html), but that you couldn't
> do much with it once it was on there.
>
> When we talk about accessing the catalogue on portable devices, is the
> future in a web interface that plays nicely on a small screen/limited
> connectivity device, or is it in loading local copies into cheap
> portable storage? I have to admit that the idea of being able to
> browse
> through the catalogue (or a personalized view of the catalogue) on my
> iPod sounds quite cool to me - but as a librarian/geek this may not
> mean
> much :)
>
> If we are talking about a portable device web interface, how would
> this
> differ from a NGC on a desk/laptop device?
> If we are talking about loading a local copy of the catalogue onto a
> device, how would this work? I did play around with making a Journal
> Browsing mechanism in iTunes a while ago, but never tried synching
> it to
> my iPod - the coverflow feature with journal covers was quite nice
> though.
>
> If the latter type approach was taken, would we need to deliver client
> software to 'synch' to a device - if so, what would this look like?
>
> Anyone done any work in this area?
>
> Owen
>
> Owen Stephens
> Assistant Director: e-Strategy and Information Resources
> Imperial College London Library
> Imperial College London
> South Kensington
> London SW7 2AZ
>
>
> Tel: 020 7594 8829
> Email: o.stephens_at_imperial.ac.uk
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
>> [mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Jerri Swinehart
>> Sent: 17 September 2007 19:13
>> To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
>> Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] As a Library 'decision maker'
>>
>> At 01:20 PM 9/17/2007, Deb Bergeron wrote:
>>> While I realize that creating a well-designed catalog for all users
>>> (including catalogers) is a controversial subject, what I don't
>>> quite
>>> understand is why this is an issue when we now have the ability via
>>> open-source to develop dual-catalog interfaces that 'play
>> well' with ILS
>>> modules, thus giving us the ability to design for both the patron
>>> and
>>> the staff (librarians/catalogers). What am I missing?
>>
>>
>> I think the future of cataloging as a profession first came
>> up because the Library of Congress (LoC)decided not to create series
>> authorities. There was gossip on the cataloging listservs had LoC
>> doing away with subject headings. I think it woke a lot of catalogers
>> up that the traditional catalog, which is now online might very well
>> go away. So cataloging jobs would change or disappear. Change can be
>> a very frightening thing for folks especially when they've spent
>> their lives doing their work the same way.
>>
>> My own opinion is that I want a catalog that is available
>> 24/7 on all those nifty and expensive electronic devices that
>> everyone (but me) has today. I also want a more robust keyword
>> searching mechanism than is currently available (at least on
>> Voyager). I also want to be able to add more keyword searchable
>> information to bibliographic records. If that means not using MARC so
>> be it. A well-designed metadata schema, a few standards for entry, an
>> ILS that supports it et voila! We can begin to give library users (at
>> all levels)what they want in the way they want it.
>>
>> I also think that before sitting down to the nuts and bolts
>> of how to do this that the library users need to be surveyed. What do
>> all library users at all kinds of libraries want? Or feel they need?
>> The answers would, I suspect, change the way in which ILSs are
>> designed, the way in which information literacy classes are taught,
>> and also change the way in which catalogers do their jobs.
>>
>> Sorry...I'll go back to lurking now.
>>
>> Jerri Swinehart
>> MLIS
>> Library Assistant III
>> Oakland University
>> Kresge Library
>> Technical Services
>> Rochester, MI 48309-4484
>> swinehar_at_oakland.edu
>>
Received on Thu Sep 20 2007 - 11:39:41 EDT