On Oct 19, 2007, at 10:24 AM, Stephens, Owen wrote:
> PS. On the homepage for NGC4LIB Eric writes:
>
> This mailing list will exist from now until at least eighteen months
> from now (Christmas 2007) when an evaluation whether or not the
> list is
> fulfilling its purpose. If it is deemed to be useful, the list will
> continue. Otherwise it will be discontinued.
>
> Is it time to review this?
Yep, the home page certainly does say that, and I have no problem
reviewing things. Here is the stated purpose of the list:
The mailing list is open to anybody in the world, and
its purpose is to discuss things including but not
limited to:
* Who are the primary intended audiences for a
library's "card catalog"?
* Considering the changing nature of information access
in an Internet environment, how is an electronic "card
catalog" of today different from the one designed ten
or fifteen years ago?
* What kind of content should these "card catalogs"
contain?
* To what degree are these things "catalogs" (as in
inventory lists), and to what degree are they finding
aids?
* To what degree should traditional cataloging
practices be used in such a thing, or to what degree
should new and upcoming practices such as FRBR be
exploited?
* How would such a thing get created and by whom?
* What are some of the functionalities of "next
generation" catalog?
* How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
http://dewey.library.nd.edu/mailing-lists/ngc4lib/
I sincerely believe the issues outlined above are being discussed,
but I wonder just as much whether or not there is any consensus
regarding the answers. In this regard, maybe the list is not
fulfilling its purpose. (I had really hope some sort of action plan
could have been created, but such a thing is very difficult
considering the number of players. Too many cooks.)
It is no skin off our back to keep the mailing list going, and I
suppose that if people didn't think it was worth their time, then
they would subscribe. There are between 1,700 and 1,800 subscribers.
I'll "vote" to keep the list going.
--
Eric Lease Morgan
Head, Digital Access and Information Architecture Department
University Libraries of Notre Dame
(574) 631-8604
Received on Fri Oct 19 2007 - 13:40:55 EDT