This is my first post to this excellent list: as an old cataloguing
librarian who has recently been wrestling with titles in LOM (where only
one title is provided for!) I wanted to comment on the complexity of the
humble title.
<This comment may well work for the Library community> - Misha
I'm not even sure it's that simple for the library community! :-) The
cataloguing rules and interpretations surrounding titles run for many
pages: we have titles proper, parallel titles, varying forms of title,
uniform titles, etc. A typical problem is: I'm describing an object --
how do we make sure I don't waste time creating a new record when
someone has already described it but using a different title to the one
I would give it?
The basic principle of library cataloguing has always been: take the
title proper as it appears on the item (specifically on the title page),
e.g. "The tragical history of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark". I'm a bit
unclear as to what "formally" means in the DC context. I think the title
of a work as formally known would be closest to what a librarian would
call a "uniform" title, e.g. "Hamlet", which may not even appear on the
item but which librarians have agreed is the title of the work in all
its expressions. However, the concept of a work is not one supported by
DC anyway as I see it (not that I'm saying it should!)
I agree that sharing meaning is a huge challenge -- and I think it
applies to many metadata elements, not just title -- and I think, as
suggested by Stu, communities need to agree on refined DC definitions in
application profiles if they want to convey precise semantics.
Irvin
Irvin Flack
Metadata Librarian
NSW Dept. of Education and Training
Centre for Learning Innovation
Learning Technology Standards
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