Jul,Erik wrote:
> ... bibliographic records should assist users to (1) find,
> (2) identify, (3) select, and (4) obtain resources.
>
...
>
> The Dublin Core has long said that its goal was to facilitate "simple
> resource discovery on the net." This would be the finding function,
> above. Looking at the DC elements, however, it is obvious that the DC
> community rightly felt that finding alone is insufficient, and the DC
> elements began to take on other functions. What is unknown is whether
> or how well the DC elements set can fulfill the other requirements of
> identifying, selecting, and obtaining.
>
> A useful exercise is ...
I fear, Erik, that you are expecting too much of DC.
My opinion is that communities will often have their
own search/selection/retrieval mechanisms that will
be properly tuned to particular applications areas.
DC provides a starting point for clients from outside
any community, for a first stop en-route to more
sophisticated systems. It is thus overwhelmingly
compromised! That is a *good thing*, but has its cost.
With luck, it will often allow a little bit more than
task 1, but cannot be expected to routinely provide a
comprehensive solution - certainly not in "DC Simple" form.
Don't throw away your MARC records. But do build a crosswalk.
--
__________________________________________________
Dr Simon Cox - Australian Geodynamics Cooperative Research Centre
CSIRO Exploration & Mining, PO Box 437, Nedlands, WA 6009 Australia
T: +61 8 9389 8421 F: +61 8 9389 1906 [log in to unmask]
http://www.ned.dem.csiro.au/SimonCox/
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