Library Cataloging
This blog has been going on for more than a month now, so I guess it is time to introduce myself and my reasons for the blog.
I'm David Bigwood, the Assistant Manager for Library Services at the Lunar and Planetary Institute. That means I do all the cataloging here as well as other things. There is a very small staff here, my supervisor is a librarian but is mostly an administrator. There is no one else here who speaks librarian. The blog is one way I get to think and write about what concerns my professional life with others who may understand even better than I do.
I think we live in an exciting time for catalogers. With the Web, some folks are finding out that organization of information is important. There are also some fundamental changes in our thinking happening. In serials the idea of continuing resource, the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Description (FRBD), and content vs. carrier are some issues which will have a major impact on our work. I am trying to keep up with these and figure them out. This blog helps me work through the issues. I hope it does the same for others.
I do believe MARC/AACR as the only description method is in the past. There are other methods of description available and we should know of them and know when one of those are more suitable. The MARC Community Information format has a good bit of overlap with the Government Information Locator Service (GILS) for instance. We should be aware of what is happening in those communities and be able to advise them. We can save them a lot of work and make those tools better and more compatible with our needs as well. ONIX, the publishers' metadata standard for instance can save us much work if it can be easily moved into a MARC record. We can save them much confusion if they use the LC Name Authority file. This blog tries to help me keep up with other metadata standards.
The blog also is a place I can keep a record of what I found valuable and find it again quickly. Too often, I've tried to find something again and had a hard time. Now my thoughts will all be in one place.
It is fun learning the computer stuff and getting it up and running.
And my last reason for starting the blog is that there was not one for catalogers.
If you know of an item which should be mentioned please pass it on. Thanks.
- 025.431: The Dewey Blog
025.431: The Dewey blog is a weblog covering topics related to the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) and knowledge organization (KO). You' ll find news of, and views on, current issues; links to interesting, amusing, and/or unusual DDC/KO-related...
- Privacy
Because of the article on WebJunction there are several new subscribers. I've posted this before, but I'll repost it from time to time as a reminder. Those who have subscribed to receive items from this 'blog by e-mail should be aware:Blog...
- Privacy
Several people have recently subscribed to receive this 'blog on e-mail. Those who have subscribed to receive items from this 'blog by e-mail should be aware:Blog owners will be able to view the list of their subscribers. On the flip side, if...
- Privacy
I've posted this before, but I'll repost it from time to time to remind new subscribers. Those who have subscribed to receive items from this 'blog by e-mail should be aware:Blog owners will be able to view the list of their subscribers. On...
- Privacy
I've posted this before, but I'll repost it from time to time to remind new subscribers. Those who have subscribed to receive items from this 'blog by e-mail should be aware:Blog owners will be able to view the list of their subscribers. On...
Library Cataloging
Introduction
This blog has been going on for more than a month now, so I guess it is time to introduce myself and my reasons for the blog.
I'm David Bigwood, the Assistant Manager for Library Services at the Lunar and Planetary Institute. That means I do all the cataloging here as well as other things. There is a very small staff here, my supervisor is a librarian but is mostly an administrator. There is no one else here who speaks librarian. The blog is one way I get to think and write about what concerns my professional life with others who may understand even better than I do.
I think we live in an exciting time for catalogers. With the Web, some folks are finding out that organization of information is important. There are also some fundamental changes in our thinking happening. In serials the idea of continuing resource, the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Description (FRBD), and content vs. carrier are some issues which will have a major impact on our work. I am trying to keep up with these and figure them out. This blog helps me work through the issues. I hope it does the same for others.
I do believe MARC/AACR as the only description method is in the past. There are other methods of description available and we should know of them and know when one of those are more suitable. The MARC Community Information format has a good bit of overlap with the Government Information Locator Service (GILS) for instance. We should be aware of what is happening in those communities and be able to advise them. We can save them a lot of work and make those tools better and more compatible with our needs as well. ONIX, the publishers' metadata standard for instance can save us much work if it can be easily moved into a MARC record. We can save them much confusion if they use the LC Name Authority file. This blog tries to help me keep up with other metadata standards.
The blog also is a place I can keep a record of what I found valuable and find it again quickly. Too often, I've tried to find something again and had a hard time. Now my thoughts will all be in one place.
It is fun learning the computer stuff and getting it up and running.
And my last reason for starting the blog is that there was not one for catalogers.
If you know of an item which should be mentioned please pass it on. Thanks.
- 025.431: The Dewey Blog
025.431: The Dewey blog is a weblog covering topics related to the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) and knowledge organization (KO). You' ll find news of, and views on, current issues; links to interesting, amusing, and/or unusual DDC/KO-related...
- Privacy
Because of the article on WebJunction there are several new subscribers. I've posted this before, but I'll repost it from time to time as a reminder. Those who have subscribed to receive items from this 'blog by e-mail should be aware:Blog...
- Privacy
Several people have recently subscribed to receive this 'blog on e-mail. Those who have subscribed to receive items from this 'blog by e-mail should be aware:Blog owners will be able to view the list of their subscribers. On the flip side, if...
- Privacy
I've posted this before, but I'll repost it from time to time to remind new subscribers. Those who have subscribed to receive items from this 'blog by e-mail should be aware:Blog owners will be able to view the list of their subscribers. On...
- Privacy
I've posted this before, but I'll repost it from time to time to remind new subscribers. Those who have subscribed to receive items from this 'blog by e-mail should be aware:Blog owners will be able to view the list of their subscribers. On...