kc wrote :
> I find "discovery services" to be pretty jargon-ish -- does everyone
> have the same definition?
There necessarily exist no definitions for neologistic expressions
like like this, it seems to me. Nor should there ; we shouldn't
*want* any clear definitions to exist, I dare say. That's the whole idea :
a vague term, leaving room for enterprising types, and those they
are able to convince, to subsume under the expression any offering
they see as having a fair chance of viability. Far from being a problem,
this kind of free-floating jargon is very useful, inducive as it is of
creativity and innovation and progress along paths which we
collectively feel should be followed, without being able to say what
the results will ultimately be. It would sooner be a problem and a pity
if everyone *did* have the same definition. As time goes on, a decent
definition will probably crystal out all by itself, retrospectively. But by
that time, we'll have moved on to different challenges which will in
turn have generated their own vaguish jargon. But important to keep
in mind is, in any case, that it *is* just jargon. We shouldn't assume that
the ( collective ) term "discovery services" is a meaningful one for those
we're aiming to serve -- or should be. Those are of course all individuals
with varying specific, situational and contextual, contingent, often
ineffable documentary information needs, who of course never should
be expected to express themselves in anything resembling our kind of
jargon, nor be expected to understand, or to empathize with, us if we
communicate with them in anything like the way we do among
ourselves. You can be pretty sure e.g. that what the user understands
under "discovery" has little to do with what we ( in this current
context ) understand under "discovery". His or her understanding will
almost certainly be ( much ) more sophisticated, more subtle, more
profound, and more relevant.
Apologies for running on, as it turned out.
- Laval Hunsucker
Breukelen, Nederland
----- Original Message -----
> From: Karen Coyle <lists_at_kcoyle.net>
> To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Cc:
> Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2012 3:12 AM
> Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] NISO Open Discovery Initiative - survey
>
> I find "discovery services" to be pretty jargon-ish -- does everyone
> have the same definition? Does it mean any catalog or database? Or is it
> more precise than that? Does it include reference services? In-person,
> or only online?
>
> kc
>
Received on Wed Sep 12 2012 - 13:48:37 EDT