Duncan is right to point out that retrospective conversion is a different
thing to providing data for cataloguing...it needs specialised skills and
tools. Though even here of course OCLC are not alone. A few libraries (and
publishers) I've talked to use Backstage  http://www.bslw.com/

Ken

CEO, Ken Chad Consulting Ltd
Tel +44 (0)7788 727 845. Email: [log in to unmask] 
www.kenchadconsulting.com


-----Original Message-----
From: A general Library and Information Science list for news and
discussion. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kelleher, Martin
Sent: 05 March 2010 11:59
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Retrospective cataloguing

The Trabant, of course, also had a monopoly...


Martin Kelleher

________________________________
From: Duncan Irvine [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 05 March 2010 11:49
To: Kelleher, Martin
Subject: Re: Retrospective cataloguing

There is no doubt that a retrospective conversion project has to be one of
the more challenging events in Library life, bringing out all the
misconceptions and fears lurking in the undergrowth of our book-stacks.

When I had to face this task, some years ago, there were three supervening
principles to observe:

1) Affordability,
2) Reliability of the database provider.
3) Comprehensiveness of the potential database.
,
At that time, there were fewer potential suppliers--this discussion has
identified a positive superfluity of database suppliers, mostly offering the
same records and glib promises, but I see no supplier to compete with OCLC
in terms of database coverage or sheer, basic competence.My former library
has used them for for retrospective conversion and current cataloguing since
1985. OCLC has never once failed to deliver, and has been in the very
vanguard of international development.

In short, libraries are perfectly free to decide their own fates in this
matter. Some will travel by Trabant, but the future will judge their choice.

Duncan T.D. Irvine

On 5 March 2010 10:18, Kelleher, Martin
<[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Which is nice.

I can't see much to complain about this new development for RLUK - I just
thought I'd put in my tuppence worth in against the (rather vehement)
naysayers....
w
Of course you get the issue of quality - granted some suppliers are better
than others, and OCLC are inevitably pretty good, but no database is
entirely complete, is it? And certainly the RLUK standard is quite high as
well. With regard the other databases, better a naff record you can build up
than starting from scratch from nothing, in most cases - for every library,
a database!

I quite like the Internet Archive - I don't know how high the quality will
be, but the more sources for MARC records the better.


Martin Kelleher
Electronic Resources/Bibliographic Services Librarian
University of Liverpool


-----Original Message-----
From: A general Library and Information Science list for news and
discussion. [mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>]
On Behalf Of Ken Chad
Sent: 05 March 2010 09:43
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Retrospective cataloguing

So in response to Martin's point: 'The more diversity there is in what, even
in the information sector, is still a market, the healthier that market will
be' it seems to me the market *is* opening up.

Ken

CEO, Ken Chad Consulting Ltd
Tel +44 (0)7788 727 845. Email:
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
www.kenchadconsulting.com<http://www.kenchadconsulting.com/>
Skype: kenchadconsulting
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