Are we talking past each other here? AACR2 and any other genuinely useful cataloging rules are all
far too complex for the average user. We should never expect that Joe Q. Public is going to follow
any useful rules at all, when--and if--he decides to catalog his personal web page.
But when institutions and corporations, scholars and publishers work with their pages, this is
another matter. I think we can expect something more from them--after all, they've probably gone to
greater trouble and expense for their pages, vs. some young boy's "Pam Anderson" page. I'm sure they
really want people to find their work.
I want users to be able to find the (yes!) more important pages without having to wade through a lot
of garbage. And I think, if we demonstrate it clearly, it's in the interests of the institutions,
corporations, etc. to follow certain rules and forms. I think they're anxious for someone to take a
leading role, and this is where we can step in.
At the same time, I believe that it's unfair to let people think that merely marking some text as
"title" or "description" or "creator" is going to solve the problem of finding things on the web.
Jim Weinheimer
Princeton University
[log in to unmask]
PJ Browning wrote:
> Markus Klink wrote:
>
> > Unfortunately there are more cataloging needs in the internet than in a library - that's why we
> > only have a CORE set of tags to describe resources. What I wanted to express is that CORE tags
> > without CORE rules are almost useless.
>
> I agree, but we must be careful that we create rules that fit the entire
> community. This community includes librarians, archivists, computer
> programmers and ordinary people. While many of the homepages out there
> are junk in terms of what I might need as a librarian, they still
> deserve the same treatment in terms of metadata.
>
> AACR2 is great, if you are a library cataloguer. But Joe Q Public has
> no idea what it is and probably does want to know. The core list of
> rules should be another dozen volumes but a one to two page list. Such
> as list personal names in the form LastName, FirstName (as defined by
> the native language) or dates should be listed as YYYY/MM/DD etc.
>
> I would prefer that some kind of name authority/subject authority
> control should be used, but it's not going to happen anytime soon. It's
> simply too complex for the general public. Schemes allow those in the
> know to use LCSH or DDC or whatever tickles our fancy while the general
> public can stick with the uncontrolled keywords they are used to using.
>
> Paula Browning
> University of Oklahoma
> GA--Bizzell Library
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|