On 10/8/13 8:19 AM, Joseph Montibello wrote:
> On 10/7/13 3:35 PM, "James Weinheimer" <weinheimer.jim.l_at_GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
>
> <snip>Simply going into linked data will not make the
> catalog (no matter what form it may take then) much more--if any
> more--coherent to the untrained person than it does now. It could very
> well make it even less coherent.</snip>
>
> I don't think the point of moving to linked data is to make the catalog
> more coherent, or relevant, or useful. In my own opinion:
>
> 1. The goal of getting library data into a linked data format is to
> contribute library data to the information environment.
I'd add a 1a that says "Another goal is to make use of linked data to
enhance library services by using data in the information environment."
>
>
> 2. The benefit of such contribution is not that libraries' tools get used
> more but that libraries themselves get used more, directly or indirectly.
>
> 3. Moving data from our catalogs into linked data format(s) may cause the
> catalog to disappear as a distinct search silo at the same time that it
> brings library data to more people.
I think that refers to the catalog as a public service. Libraries will
still need inventories of what they own, for various purposes. How we
connect the inventory to the broader service layer is still a mystery to
me, due to a general lack of identifiers or identification mechanisms
for the bazillions of things on our shelves. This, to me, is one of the
biggest challenges we face.
kc
>
> Just as "the child lives for our sakes not for his own"[1], the library's
> data does not live for its own sake, nor for the sake of the libraries
> themselves, but for the users - and they're increasingly out there in the
> information environment instead of inside our buildings.
>
> Anyway, just my 2 cents.
> Joe Montibello, MLIS
> Library Systems Manager
> Dartmouth College Library
> 603.646.9394
> joseph.montibello_at_dartmouth.edu
>
> [1] From the Eddie Murphy movie, "The Golden Child."
> http://bit.ly/goldenchildclip
>
--
Karen Coyle
kcoyle@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet
Received on Tue Oct 08 2013 - 11:44:34 EDT