On 26/07/2013 16:52, Karen Coyle wrote:
<sniip>
> What about subject access? That isn't even on the table, as far as I
> can tell. Are we only interested in serving users who show up with a
> name or a title?
>
> I'm appalled that we have spent so much time on cataloging, and so
> little time on providing access to the knowledge that the library
> should represent. No wonder people see it as a warehouse - we seem
> only concerned with inventory.
</snip>
I completely agree. Good, solid subject access would provide something
that nobody else provides. As an example of a new type of access, I have
suggested tools that would allow someone to do full-text text searches,
but limited only to specific subjects or classification areas. As an
example, I made a little prototype for "archaeological methodologies "
that shows what might be able to happen.
www.jweinheimer.net/oslo/osloExample2.html. If you enter a relevant
term, e.g. "pottery", in the top text box, then click on the box, you
will do a full-text search of the LC catalog, limited only to the
classification numbers CC73-CC81. The result is a very complex search
that the average person could never do, but it is easy to do.
The lower text box does something similar with Google Books. It searches
for full-text, but Google books that have the subject heading
"Archaeology--Methodologies". I demonstrated this at a paper I gave in
Oslo
http://blog.jweinheimer.net/2012/02/revolution-in-our-minds-seeing-world.html.
Something like this could be improved tremendously, but the final
product is that people can do highly complex searches, yet the real
complexity is hidden from the searcher. Also, getting full-text and
authority controlled headings to work together, such as the example with
Google Books would create something never really seen before.
But the main problem of working with subjects is to get all of the
cross-references to work in a keyword environment. I haven't seen that
work yet. Putting all of the subjects into a wiki could be very interesting.
--
*James Weinheimer* weinheimer.jim.l_at_gmail.com
*First Thus* http://catalogingmatters.blogspot.com/.
*First Thus Facebook Page* https://www.facebook.com/FirstThus
*Cooperative Cataloging Rules*
http://sites.google.com/site/opencatalogingrules/
*Cataloging Matters Podcasts*
http://blog.jweinheimer.net/p/cataloging-matters-podcasts.html
Received on Fri Jul 26 2013 - 17:14:57 EDT