Have either of you looked at the RDF model at my web site
(http://myee.bol.ucla.edu) yet? Unless I am misunderstanding you, I believe
these rules and this RDF model are trying to do what you are asking us to
do... The question for me is whether our current deprofessionalized
staffing is capable of implementing such a complex set of rules and such a
complex model...
Martha
-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu]On Behalf Of Riley, Jenn
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 9:14 AM
To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Martha Yee's cataloging rules for a more
FRBR-ized catalog, with an RDF model
> Martha Yee wrote:
> > I have written elsewhere about the fact that our rules and our
> cataloging
> > data are already considerably FRBR-ized and that what is lacking for
> the
> > creation of true FRBR-ized catalogs is adequate software support.
>
> Martha, you and I have discussed this at length, so you know that I
> disagree that the problem lies with systems. It is true that
> bibliographic records are very rich and contain a lot of important
> data.
> However, as long as bib data continues to be expressed as text strings
> that require human interpretation, systems will NOT be able to make use
> of the underlying concepts. This is one of the great errors in the RDA
> drafts that we have seen: the bibliographic description continues to be
> textual in nature, with relationships left as implicit in that text. We
> need rules that can make explicit what today is implicit. And we need a
> bibliographic record carrier that can carry those explicit expressions.
Surely, now, the problem is to some degree both with the data and the
systems. There is a great deal more systems could do with our existing data,
but our current data structures also in some cases make it significantly
more difficult than it should be (and sometimes impossible) for systems to
do more advanced things imagined by this group.
I see much of the current debate about why our catalogs don't function
better as finger-pointing -- "if only *they* (some group other than mine)
would do it better..." I think to move forward we need to accept that all of
us have something to contribute, and take responsibility for making that
contribution. I have every hope that the work that has been done to improve
systems will demonstrate some of the possibilities, and in turn both inspire
more innovative system development and expose areas in which our data could
be better-structured in order to enable more robust discovery and use
services.
Jenn
========================
Jenn Riley
Metadata Librarian
Digital Library Program
Indiana University - Bloomington
Wells Library W501
(812) 856-5759
www.dlib.indiana.edu
Inquiring Librarian blog: www.inquiringlibrarian.blogspot.com
Received on Fri Nov 30 2007 - 12:39:50 EST