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The Bibliographic RiverAugust 31, 2008
[Eric] talked about metadata in terms of rivers and lakes. In the library cataloging model we have had lakes - accumulating stores of data that do not change frequently over time and are fed by a few principal sources. In the ERM/Knowledge Base model we have rivers - stores of data that change frequently as products and services change and which are fed by many streams. This data is in flux: as Heraclitus is reported to have said: you cannot step into the same river twice.I don't think you need to be a river guide to have that comment resonate. Lorcan goes on to postulate how our book data will need to be treated more like the data that describes our licensed journals and databases (ERM/Knowledge Base data). We will be getting our data farther upstream, from book publishers, such as the Next Generation Cataloging pilot is exploring. We will need to enable catalogers to easily correct it, enrich it, and expand upon it over time and from just about anywhere. And we should be allowing library users to add reviews, ratings, and book cover images (if we don't already have them from the publishers) as well. As someone who has spent thirty years on rivers throughout the western United States, I know that the most powerful rivers have the most tributaries. The Colorado River through the Grand Canyon (see photo) is made much more powerful by rivers such as the Green and Yampa -- significant rivers in their own right -- that contribute to its flow. Similarly, the more data we have to work with about books the better job we can do for our users. Therefore descriptive information about books should not be limited to values that are cut into stone by a privileged few. We have an opportunity to build a much richer bibliographic data store collectively. As the author of some few books I have information to contribute about them that might actually be useful, including where someone might go to download my most recent title for free. OK, that was a gratuitous plug for which I apologize. But you have to admit it could be useful information for someone, and it may not end up in a catalog record if a library buys the hardcopy via Lulu or Amazon. The point is this -- the sooner we understand that book cataloging needs to be more like a river and less like a lake the better off we'll all be -- authors, librarians, and most importantly, readers. Posted by Roy Tennant on August 31, 2008 | Comments (2) Industries: News & Features
September 1, 2008
In response to: The Bibliographic River Gary Frost commented: We experience rivers by moving along them. That said, it takes effort to go up stream, to pause in the current, to explore tributaries or to land. Float trips can be deceptive as a tableau or diorama. If the river is to act as an adventure through conceptual works we need to manage the trip itself.
September 4, 2008
In response to: The Bibliographic River Kevin Hawkins commented: I also like water metaphors for bibliographic metadata. I haven't taken time to explore this any further than my initial work in 2005. For more information, see www.ultraslavonic.info/projects/20050208/ . (The comment form won't allow HTML even though it says it will.)
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