16.08.2011 19:57, john g marr:
> ... the general discussion seems to
> have been on librarianship and patron philosophies, which are
> integral to discussion of catalog philosophy. The catalog is only an
> expression of the priorities of the librarians and the patrons, so
> naturally we have to figure out what those are going to be in the
> future. RDA could have benefitted from such a discussion... IMHO.
>
RDA's philosophy seems to be nothing much beyond FRBR. Which, however,
does little more than improve upon what catalogs have been doing
the last century or longer, and what had been the explicit
philosophy ever since Paris 1961.
We need to think in broader and more general terms, obviously, but
not too general and too grandiloquent either. Down to earth but
off the beaten track into all the accessible territory. But I
can't think of an easy catchphrase to sum it all up.
Therefore, to get real now, how about these headlines, for a beginning:
What should catalogs do?
-- Produce reliable results
-- Discriminate what is different
-- Bring together what belongs together
-- Present meaningful choices
-- Locate what users choose
-- Extensible services
These do, I think, cover all that RDA is about and general enough
to include realistic priorities.
Nothing like a "killer app" (J. Weinheimer), but then no one has
come up yet with an idea what that would be and do. (Anyone who is
able to define and deliver a pie in the sky is welcome, of course.)
And here's a list of what may belong under those headlines:
Produce reliable results
------------------------
Entity problem (What and who to represent in the catalog?)
"Known-item search"
-- Card catalog: Had just 1 main entry (in many cases)
-- OPAC: Can support many reliable access points
Requires well-defined and machine-actionable attributes
Uniform records (Consistency)
Reliable "negative ascertaining"
(Does the known item exist? Is it available?)
Discriminate what is different
------------------------------
Succinct yet precise and standardized description
Well defined "primary sources" of information
Differentiate versions of works
International Standard for description: ISBD
-- Order and punctuation
-- Largely language-independent
Assist automated de-duplication
Bring together what belongs together
------------------------------------
"Collocation search"
Works by the same author
Editions of a work
Parts of a whole (hierarchies)
Navigation (find related resources)
Works on subjects, among which
-- Works related to a person
-- Works covering geographic areas or time periods
-- Works about other works
Requires standardized forms for names, titles, ...
(Authority files plus standardized vocabularies)
Present meaningful choices
--------------------------
"Filing rules" for meaningful arrangements of results
Standardized citation listings (brief result set displays)
Index arrangement (treatment of words, names, titles, ...)
Assistance in "Collocation search"
Added value from suggestions, ratings, reviews, ToCs etc.
Locate what users choose
------------------------
From locating to use
[goes beyond classical catalog, just showing call numbers]
Union catalog with interlibrary ordering function
Access is more important than ownership
Find the best-suited version for the user
Access rights management
Extensible services
-------------------
Open standards
Make all of the above, or as much as possible, available
for standardized, machine-actionable services.
Make systems interoperable so as to use each other's services
B.Eversberg
Received on Wed Aug 17 2011 - 05:35:49 EDT