Hiya,
I've deliberately stayed out of this one as the MARC debates usually
gets my blood boiling beyond a useful level. Anyway, a slight comment
;
Karen Coyle <lists_at_kcoyle.net> wrote:
> MARC was a game-changer, and it is unfortunate that it was only used in
> libraries.
I think this true of any library technology ever invented, no matter
how clever it was. (I'll give DC a free pass here, although it's not
really a technology)
> Variable length fields, upper and lower case plus accents, and
> what seemed like an endless expandability. That it has lasted more than 40
> years is a tribute to its design.
Absolutely, but also because of its remarkable design it is also the
very thing that has driven the library world to focus all their might
on MARC technology. It's a bit like clinging to oil when you need to
go electric because it's harmful to your environment, you're going to
run out, and the infra-structure to support it is aging.
> Few data formats are used and usable for
> that length of time. It was absolutely genius in its day; but the world has
> changed in ways that could not have been anticipated at that time.
Yes, it started well, but it was a bit stupid not to have the whole
enchilada move with the flow and change over time. The tower of
rigidness it turned into is now the tower of Babel for the library
community, including the vendors who incorporated the MARC paradigms
at the heart of their systems, making it the model on which all other
sub-models are shaped on. Ugh, and I don't know if this is
salvageable.
Regards,
Alex
--
Project Wrangler, SOA, Information Alchemist, UX, RESTafarian, Topic Maps
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Received on Tue Jun 08 2010 - 02:47:04 EDT