Cataloging Futures

Cataloger to computer geek: Is HTML the gateway drug?

2010-07-29T06:56:40-04:00

Over the past several months, the library blogosphere has been joined by a few catalogers who are blogging anonymously. They've been writing some good stuff, so I'd like to feature them here and recommend that you add them to your RSS reader.

First up is Cataloging Lovely. I love yesterday's post: Is HTML the gateway drug?

I am not a computer geek. I studied music, cooked in kitchens, and went to library school. I did not spend my youth in darkened rooms fiddling with DOS screens. I do not play World of Warcraft. I do not know what a registry code is. I have never taken a computer class, save for my 8th-grade typing class (which, incidentally, has served me well). And yet, somehow I am strangely drawn to HTML.

As a metadata librarian, formerly known as cataloger, I can definitely relate to this post. I'm addicted to the little queries I write in XQuery that do powerful things to find and manipulate metadata.

RDA cataloging: OCLC policy statement

2010-07-15T06:43:32-04:00

Want to contribute original cataloging to WorldCat using RDA now? You can. Here's the OCLC policy statement on RDA Cataloging in WorldCat for the U.S. testing period.

h/t TSLL TechScans

LYRASIS future of cataloging summit paper

2010-07-10T08:51:09-04:00

Recently released future of cataloging paper from LYRASIS:

LYRASIS convened a Summit Meeting in Atlanta with some of our leading academic library directors to discuss issues of strategic importance regarding the future of the library catalog and of the cataloging process. This paper summarizes the comments of the group and some potential actions LYRASIS might take to move these ideas forward.

Library Director Summit on the Future of Cataloging [pdf]

A few random observations:

There was a lot of talk about cooperation, but no mention of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC).
One comment sets up a false dichotomy between accepting "good enough" records and investing in "record perfection." There are other options. How about finding creative ways, both programmatic and human, to create good, accurate metadata?
These directors want more accurate data to measure cataloging costs. Okay, but how about changing the focus to how cataloging and metadata creation is done. Are they encouraging their catalogers to try new things and experiment? If you focus too much on costs, then there's no time to innovate, because catalogers are always going to feel pressure to stay-on-task.
OCLC is the "elephant in the room": The directors seem to be referring to OCLC in several places without actually mentioning it (WorldCat, however, is listed once as one of many discovery paths).
Not enough focus on moving library metadata discovery to the web. No mention of linked data at all.
One smart library: "recently ... hired two new catalogers because it believes it is still valuable to have cataloging-articulate perspective and voice within the library."

h/t ADR Direct

Tagging: the web imitates the card catalog?

2010-07-07T13:03:58-04:00

Recent post at the.effing.librarian blog, The card catalog: "I'm back, baby!" takes an ascerbic look at tagging and the semantic web and how this trend is reminiscent of, you guessed it, the card catalog.

I half-assed read something the other day that had me wondering. It was just a simple tweet by some twittererer about teaching kids intelligent tagging, and that's all it was, just a mention of some teacher attempting to get kids to think. But the twittererer included some additional observation, although with only 140 characters to play with, I now can't remember what it was.

But (yes, I'm still looking as I type this for the tweet) it was something about teaching kids to write for the internet and how tagging will become more and more important.

And it made me think that the future of the internet was moving away from keyword and full text toward an index of useful (and standardized) terms. And that these kids would need to learn these terms if they wanted to succeed in the online world, to have their data found through their mastery of metadata.

And my first thought was, Holy Shit, this is some librarian plot to bring back the card(less) catalog.

And that's exactly what it is.

The importance of findability and the library catalog

2010-06-30T09:01:47-04:00

Whenever someone takes a minority position on future of cataloging issues, I sit up and take notice (especially when has to do with the MARC format). In this post, Findability and the Library OPAC, programmer and librarian, Susan Berdinka argues that MARC is not the problem:

Roy Tennant stated in 2002 (and has since retracted) that “MARC has always been an arcane standard.” There are still those who believe the problem is MARC. All that MARC is is a standardized format. Nothing more. Other than a need for normalization, the only changes I see that need to be made to MARC are the additions proposed accommodate RDA. The relational database model is still the best way to store and retrieve information. The issue is not the storage of the information. The issue is the software interface as it is designed to interpret the user’s needs and retrieve the data. The database queries themselves are trivial. We need a better way of creating queries to produce accurate results.

Cataloging and beyond: the year of cataloging research

2010-06-29T10:51:05-04:00

Really interesting summary of the ALA Annual Conference panel presentation, Cataloging and Beyond: The Year of Cataloging Research (found at the American Libraries' ALA membership blog).

Codex obsessed (an excursus on digital reading)

2010-06-28T09:31:47-04:00

In a presentation from 2008 on the future of bibliographic control, Brian Schottlaender describes LC Reference Librarian Thomas Mann as being "obsessed with the codex." Well I may be immersed in digital library development in my work life, but in my personal life, I, too, am obsessed with the codex.

I can describe it in Twitter-like form: I read online because I have to; I read offline because I want to. I read as far as I have to online to see if it's something I want to read closely, then I print it off. (My hunch is there will be a publishing market for reprints because I doubt I'm the only one out there with this reading style of online discovery/offline reading.)

I finally have some hard evidence that justifies my dislike of online reading. Recently, I had to take two long online training programs for work that were mandatory (and I knew were going to be tested at the end of the process). After two hours my eyes hurt even though I tried to break up the reading by stepping away from the computer during that two-hour period. I took a lunch break and then took the second test for another hour and 40 minutes. These tests requiring long periods of reading online confirmed what I knew instinctively, the computer is not a good device for careful, focused reading (the type of reading I prefer as time permits). It's not the task-oriented, find-the-answer reading that the Internet is so suited for. About six months ago I decided that, even thought I love my web life: blogging, tweeting, etc., my offline reading life is way more important to me. I have tried to build more offline reading time into my schedule.

So, if I was asked the stranded on a desert island question: If you could only take your computer or your books, which would it be? It would be my books, hands-down (and my reading glasses). Yes, I'm madly, happily codex obsessed!

Progressive Bibliography: Catalogers, Curators, and Crowdsourcing

2010-06-23T08:42:54-04:00

Interesting article: “Progressing Toward Bibliography, or, Organic Growth in the Bibliographic Record,” RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage, 10I, 2 (Fall, 2009): 95-110.

It will be the focus of today's discussion session at the 51st Annual RBMS Preconference. Here's a description from the EXLIBRIS-L list:

Hello Conference Bound, or not, Librarians:

Jennifer Schaffner and I are hosting a discussion session in Philadelphia on Wednesday, June 23rd at 4 pm, about issues in progressive description, cataloging, curating, and crowdsourcing. We want to talk about such broad questions as: Who is allowed to describe our cultural heritage? Should we let outside scholars add to the catalog? And How do we collaborate with users to create better descriptions to serve outreach and research needs?

As part of this exercise, we've created a parallel blog for comments. If you attend, or would like to follow along, point your browser at http://progressivebibliography.org/

I look forward to seeing you in person or having the conversation virtually.

Best,
-James P. Ascher

James Phillip Ascher
Assistant Professor and Rare Book Cataloger
Univ. of Colorado at Boulder Libraries

Thanks to one of my RB librarian friends for pointing this out!

RDA examples link round-up

2010-06-08T07:30:14-04:00

No squirrels here :) But over on The Bib Blog, F. Tim Knight has tracked down and pulled together several sources of RDA examples. Just what's needed to get ready for the RDA Toolkit free trial!

Cataloging with RDA: an overview

2010-06-07T06:47:55-04:00

NCompass Live: Cataloging with RDA

View more presentations from Nebraska Library Commission.

Nice, up-to-date overview of RDA by Emily Nimsakont. There are also audio and video versions of this presentation.

h/t The Antiquarian Librarian