Hi James,
As usual, you raise some good points. I would agree that the subject headings contain potentially valuable connections. But the "potentially" carries with it a big if. I can't provide cites off the top of my head (Karen Markey?), but the literature on user understanding of subject headings is, to my recollection, not encouraging. Even trained librarians have trouble correctly interpreting subdivided strings. So the connections may be there IF a user can and will follow the syndetic structure.
To go back to my search, information about the variant names for the dulcimer, and the fact that mountain dulcimers are zithers, are visible in the first several links. Within moments I can look at zithers and listen to a sample of one being played. That brings me back to the question I keep asking, and which makes me very pessimistic about cataloging: What can I get from a library catalog that I can't get elsewhere, and probably faster?
It's not that I can't answer the question. But the answer always seems to come down to fairly esoteric, probably academic, searches: items relevant to the zither family of instruments, sorted by each instrument, a canonical, 19th century work on zithers, etc. I always think of engineers in this context. Engineers treat trade-offs as part and parcel of what they do: strength vs. weight, durability vs. cost, etc. If we continue to provide subject access in the way we do, what are we NOT doing, and who are we NOT serving?
Steve
On 08/01/13, James Weinheimer wrote:
>
> How could it work in another way? There could potentially be a lot of
> help in the catalogs. For example, when you search "Mountain dulcimer"
> in the LC Authority file, we find:
> See: Appalachian dulcimer.
>
> So, we discover that for people who want the Mountain dulcimer, they
> must look under Appalachian dulcimer (controlled vocabulary)
>
> We discover that in the hierarchical arrangement of Appalachian
> dulcimer, it is a subtopic of (or has the Broader terms of):
> Musical instruments --United States
> Zither
>
> We search under Zither and find many subtopics:
> Narrower Term: Appalachian dulcimer.
> Narrower Term: Autoharp
> Narrower Term: Bulbultarang
> Narrower Term: Citaharp
> Narrower Term: ?a?n ba?u?
> Narrower Term: ?a?n tranh
> ...
>
> We return to Appalachian dulcimer and find:
> Appalachian dulcimer.
> Appalachian dulcimer and autoharp music
> Appalachian dulcimer and guitar music.
> Appalachian dulcimer and guitar music--Scores.
> Appalachian dulcimer and mandolin music
> Appalachian dulcimer--Chord diagrams.
> Appalachian dulcimer--Construction.
> Appalachian dulcimer duets
> Appalachian dulcimer--History.
> Appalachian dulcimer--Instruction and study.
> Appalachian dulcimer--Instruction and study--Juvenile.
> Appalachian dulcimer--Methods.
> Appalachian dulcimer--Methods--Juvenile.
> Appalachian dulcimer--Methods--Self instruction
> Appalachian dulcimer--Michigan.
> Appalachian dulcimer music.
> Appalachian dulcimer music (Appalachian dulcimers (2))
> Appalachian dulcimer music--Appalachian Region.
> Appalachian dulcimer music, Arranged.
> Appalachian dulcimer music--Indexes.
> Appalachian dulcimer music--Juvenile.
> Appalachian dulcimer music--Kentucky.
> Appalachian dulcimer music--Scores.
> Appalachian dulcimer music--Teaching pieces.
> Appalachian dulcimer--North Carolina--Photographs.
> Appalachian dulcimer--Studies and exercises.
> Appalachian dulcimer--Teaching pieces.
> Appalachian dulcimer--Tuning.
> Appalachian dulcimer with string orchestra--Scores.
>
> (Believe it or not, this arrangement is bizarre for someone who knows
> how the subject headings are supposed to work, but it is a fact/loss
> that occurred when OPACs arrived. I don't know if the general public
> sees this as bizarre or just normal, but such an arrangement can lead to
> serious problems within more complex subjects)
>
> I have long thought that these sorts of displays not only show what is
> available, but also provoke the searcher into directions he or she may
> never have thought of, and we see how someone who is interested in
> "Mountain dulcimer" can be led to "Appalachian dulcimer with string
> orchestra" which someone may find very interesting and a subject of
> further research. When correctly applied and used, the subject headings
> should open the searcher's mind to new possibilities. And the experience
> is different from using search engines.
>
> I have also used this controlled vocabulary in uncontrolled
> environments, so, I search for "Appalachian dulcimer and guitar music"
> in Google Video
> https://encrypted.google.com/search?tbm=vid&q=Appalachian+dulcimer+and+guitar+music
> and get some items that I may find interesting. I can also do that
> search in Google Scholar or all kinds of other sites. Of course, if you
> are searching for "Appalachian dulcimer" you will probably not get
> results with "Mountain dulcimer" (or any of the other "see" terms under
> Appalachian dulcimer, ie.
> American dulcimer
> Appalachian mountain dulcimer
> Dulcimer, American
> Dulcimer, Appalachian
> Dulcimer, Kentucky
> Dulcimer, Lap
> Dulcimer, Mountain
> Dulcimer, Plucked
> Kentucky dulcimer
> Mountain dulcimer
> Lap dulcimer
> Plucked dulcimer
>
> I have always thought that people today would like such capabilities.
> People used to like them before but everything was forgotten when OPACs
> and keyword came up. I have written about this extensively.
>
> So, could this system be used to improve the "A" in RDA? I think people
> would love it--that is, so long as catalogers were assigning the
> controlled vocabulary consistently and correctly. That is not so easy.
> But it is something that the Googles and Yahoos and Microsofts will not do.
>
> --
> *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 Aug 02 2013 - 11:51:23 EDT