At this point we seem to be mixing apples and oranges and tossing in
some pears!
If you stipulate that MARCXML is XML, then TECHNICALLY it's easy to
change MARC into XML, but doing so doesn't seem to achieve any great
benefits, although it will expand you data storage requirements
exponentially.
If you don't like MARCXML CONCEPTUALLY, (yeah, looks goofy even to a
cataloger) It has all the weirdnesses of MARC minus the conciseness. I
still maintain that the structure is there to change it into something
more useful, as soon as we can agree (at least on some points) as to
what that would be.
I'm not buying the argument that:
>MARCXML is impenetrable nonsense. Unless you use it everyday, you're
going to spend days figuring out what the heck is going on with it,
which means nobody outside of the library world will use it. And, as if
to prove I'm right, nobody outside of the library world *does*. Have you
ever tried to introduce a non-library programmer to this stuff. I have.
In my experience, reaction varies between shocked and amused.
If non-library programmers aren't up to spending a few days "figuring
out what the heck is going on with it" (or anything else unfamiliar)
then I can't figure why we ought to be seeking them, much less paying
them. (OK, so, as a cataloger, I eat MARC for breakfast, lunch and
dinner and sometimes raw.) I certainly wouldn't want to work with
MARCXML everyday; I just want to flip it into something better and this
doesn't alter my opinion that any of my smart programmer
friends/colleagues has enough knowledge, imagination and diligence to
come up style sheet or program that can munch all this data
satisfactorily (in batch).
And last but not least are the pears:
>Bad metadata can and does come out of any system where bad data is
entered. If the data is no good in the first place, then sharing it is
pretty much a non-issue. Although there's plenty of bad data out there,
I think that there even more good, and there's no point re-inventing the
data!
All of which leads back to the question:
What's a good XML schema into which our MARC should be flipped? What's
missing that needs to be filled in? I'm also not the appointed guardian
of MARC either, but before I sign onto something new:
SHOW ME THE SCHEMA!
JJ
**Views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent those of
the Queens Library.**
Jane Jacobs
Asst. Coord., Catalog Division
Queens Borough Public Library
89-11 Merrick Blvd.
Jamaica, NY 11432
tel.: (718) 990-0804
e-mail: Jane.W.Jacobs_at_queenslibrary.org
FAX. (718) 990-8566
The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer.-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Kevin M Kidd
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 12:13 PM
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: Library Technologies and Library School (was Commercial
Vendors and Open Source Software)
>He's talking about MARCXML, not MARC. They are two evils, but this
>time we're having a go at the XML version of MARC. I wrote my
>contribution just earlier today:
>
> http://shelter.nu/blog/2008/09/marcxml-beast-of-burden.html
Yes, I get it, MARCXML is MARC "with a bad hairdo". MARCXML is a
transport to carry and preserve MARC records. It's not exactly breaking
news, Alex. You are right about everything you say. MARCXML sucks mainly
because MARC sucks in the context of today's technology.
Clearly you know a lot about XML, but I'm still not sure you know
anything about MARC...
K
--------------------------------------
Kevin M. Kidd, MA, MLIS
Library Applications & Systems Manager
Boston College Libraries
Phone: 617-552-1359
Fax: 617-552-1089
e-Mail: kevin.kidd_at_bc.edu
Blog: http://datadrivenlibrary.blogspot.com/
-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Alexander Johannesen
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 11:43 AM
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Library Technologies and Library School (was
Commercial Vendors and Open Source Software)
On 25/09/2008, Kevin M Kidd <kiddk_at_bc.edu> wrote:
> Look, it's not my job to defend MARC ...
Alex
--
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---
Project Wrangler, SOA, Information Alchemist, UX, RESTafarian, Topic
Maps
------------------------------------------ http://shelter.nu/blog/
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Received on Thu Sep 25 2008 - 12:02:10 EDT