Mitchell, Michael wrote:
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I guess I see adding Web sites to our OPAC as an option or starting point for our students. Rather than the 2.1 million hits I just got in Google for "Biology - Computer network resources" (with Intute nowhere in sight), I get 1 hit in our OPAC under that subject heading and that is for the Intute Biology site. No, I don't expect anyone to search under Biology - Computer network resources but I do expect our Public Services librarians to teach our students enough about subject browsing to make this a fairly easy find. And it is easier to find than trying to hit on a student social tag of "Sick bio page w/lizard picture."
I think the utility of the catalog decreases exponentially as the quality and quantity of cataloging courses diminishes. When we have non-catalogers teaching fewer and fewer cataloging courses it is no wonder fewer people are skilled in the tools of librarianship. It all flows downhill.
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I agree completely with you about the importance of cataloging and cataloging courses, although no amount of classroom work can prepare you for what you will see your first week on the job. Still, so far as I see it, we have one point, and only one point, in our favor as opposed to automated means: we can offer "high-quality" but of course, high-quality rings very hollow when people can point to serious problems.
We can see some of these problems in the example you give: Biology--Computer network resources which links to the relevant Intute page. Again, I am not "bashing" but we must look at all of this from the user's point of view.
First, we cannot force people to browse subject strings today. That is like insisting that people continue to haul water to their homes after they have installed plumbing. And we cannot insist on them doing it, and decide that if they don't, they get what they deserve. We must build tools that are relevant to the needs of our users today. Browsing subject strings was far from simple for people even during the time of the card catalogs, but there was a power that has been lost with the OPAC. Somehow (I don't know how) we need to regain that power using different means. The tools such as Aquabrowser have been unsuccessful in my opinion, but perhaps I am wrong. In any case, I have no doubt there is a solution, but we must first admit the problem lies with the catalog as a whole, (not necessarily with our individual records), and the fault is not with the rest of the world and certainly not with the Public Services librarians who are stuck teaching an obsolete tool.
Second, the Intute site is fabulous, but we must ask ourselves honestly: does making a record with "Biology -- Computer network resources" serve the needs of our users in this case? Its strange vocabulary aside, does it really describe what is in the site, or provide genuine access or let people know about some wonderful things in there, e.g. Anatomical atlas of flies, Ant : a morphological tour of the super organism, Afrotropical kite swallowtails, and these are just in the A's. Someone who is interested in flies, or ants or butterflies would want to know about these sites, but the subject is "Biology".
We can't recatalog everything over and over again. That's crazy, but there must be some solutions to let people know that if you are interested in butterflies, there is a site on Afrotropical kite swallowtails that has been selected by an expert as being extremely useful. Relying on our current tools will not allow this, but what will?
James L. Weinheimer j.weinheimer_at_aur.edu
Director of Library and Information Services
The American University of Rome
Rome, Italy
Received on Wed Jun 30 2010 - 10:40:50 EDT