B.G. Sloan wrote:
>
>
> "If the words 'cataloguer' and 'cataloguing' are on the way out, then the word 'metadata' has certainly caught on, and it should be remembered that MARC records are themselves a form of metadata. There really is no suitable verb for the noun 'metadata' yet, but in a recent paper, Dick Miller from Stanford has used the word 'metaloging' (or 'metaloguing') which is appealing, and a good candidate for the next label. It would be a very acceptable term to represent the work of describing resources in any of a variety of schemas, so that a 'metaloguer' could be working in MARC, XML, Dublin Core and so on, or with any taxonomy."
For me, those old terms are not in need of being replaced. It is nothing
unusual that old words gradually change their meaning, and I think this
has happened over the last decades. The debate about this recurs at
least once a year in one of the pertinent forums, and there has never
been a result.
The best new word for "catalog room" that I came across was "Discovery
Lounge", used by the State Library of Western Australia.
Here's a picture:
http://www.allegro-c.de/bilder/p1050508s.jpg
But of course, it is more like a modern-day reference room with many
PCs and nary a book, where patrons can also consult the catalogs.
And so, for the device itself, they have retained the term "Catalogue"
on their website:
http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/
B.Eversberg
Received on Mon Dec 07 2009 - 05:43:09 EST
