If OCLC can create a client that integrates with my local catalog and
authorities, then I'm all for it. One of the problems I have with all
cataloging modules is that they're tacked on, but not very well
integrated. Can OCLC provide me with auto-completion for locally
created subject headings? Can it automatically check my shelflist to
verify, or better still, assign, cutters?
Since we're speaking about a theoretical new piece of software, then
we can assume that yes, they can do that. They don't currently--at
least not with the level of seamlessness that software is perfectly
capable of providing using current technology and coding practices. I
don't care who creates the software, just that it's integrated
properly, and without regard to what webpac, circ, database, etc,
you're using.
Karen used the term "no brainer" and that's really what all of this
is. Here, I'm being greedy, wanting instant gratification. I don't
want to click three times to get a subject heading, I want it there as
soon as I start typing. Same thing for cutters. As soon as I put in
an LC number, I want the cutter created automatically. Pull the main
entry, check the shelflist, and insert the cutter at the end without
me having to do anything.
The frustrating part here is that this kind of stuff is already taken
for granted in other types of software. In terms of software design,
I'm not asking for anything new or innovative... I just want our
incredibly expensive software to catch up to free webapps that
hobbyists bang out for fun. The hard part--creating a rich database
of values for the software to pick through, along with detailed rules
for how stuff like cutter numbers are created, or punctuation is
assigned--was done decades ago.
--
Mark Sandford
Special Formats Cataloger
William Paterson University
(973)270-2437
sandfordm1_at_wpunj.edu
On 10/23/07, Frances Dean McNamara <fdmcnama_at_uchicago.edu> wrote:
> I think an alternate suggestion is not to have a cataloging module at
> all and to only use OCLC. Why create a standalone cataloging module
> when that is what OCLC specializes in?
>
> So, can you have a "disintegrated library system" (DLS instead of ILS?)
> where there is no cataloging module, all cataloging is done on OCLC?
>
> Frances McNamara
> University of Chicago
>
Received on Tue Oct 23 2007 - 11:57:06 EDT