As a retired librarian I have thought back over the years at the profession I loved. I went from card catalogs to automated systems and I have been amazed at what is possible for libraries.
The part of librarianship that currently fascinates me is information architecture -- how many of you out there have explored information architecture as a speciality? As I mentioned this line of librarianship fascinates me and I have begun to think of it as the central hub of modern libraries.
As a catalog librarian I was always involved in the organization of information but what we could do with MARC records didn't always translate well into the databases that were around at the time. Database developers start with their concept of what is needed and after square pegging it into a round hole they usually sell their product to libraries who then spend years trying to get the product to perform the tasks.
The Obamacare database debacle is a strong example of square-pegging a database to try to fit a specific use. It seems many companies can build a database but to build one that handles specific information requirements and heavy volumes of traffic is difficult. Whether you like Obamacare or not it is deeply mired in a dysfunctioning database and web site that seems to have been developed without the end user in mind.
It seems to me that the once "professional" tasks of reference, acquisitions, and cataloging are increasingly being handled by paraprofessionals. Private information companies in many instances are taking over much of the "professional" work and even the now "paraprofessional" work. The tasks of ordering books, media, and electronic resources and creating MARC records, authority control, subject analysis, etc. are currently being done in many instances by private companies.
If what I knew as professional librarian tasks are now delegated to paraprofessional librarians or outsourced to private companies - what constitutes professional librarianship today?
I would like to hear from you all! What area of librarianship are you involved in today and what are your tasks? Are they teaching Information Architecture in the Library Science and Information Science Degrees? If you don't think information architecture is the hub of library science today - or are you still involved in the "old school" of acquisitions, reference and cataloging?
Showing posts with label cataloging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cataloging. Show all posts
Friday, November 8, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2008
LibraryThing
Am I a cataloger at heart -- you betcha!!
I truly believe LibraryThing is an excellent tool for people who have small personal libraries they want to organize, corporations and companies who have corporate collections they want to organize and for sure church libraries who want to organize a library. Author, title, subject, DDC call number, tags, ISBN, publication information can all be added as well as sorted by. You can even add a book manually if you want! I would definitely recommend this tool for anyone who wants to organize their library collection.
A drawback: there is no circulation module! This would be a definite concern for church libraries, or small corporate libraries who had to keep track of circulating copies. Of course they could put the person who has the title in the comments or private comments column [and remember to delete their name when they brought it back!]
A positive: you don't need to know how to catalog and you only need to add or display the information you will need or want to use. The detailed MARC record that satisfies the needs of the public library does not have to be used in a personal collection, and LibraryThing's catalog record provides vital fields for bibliographic description. If more detailed information is desired, the title can be entered manually.
I cataloged 13 titles from my personal home collection. It was easy and fun to do, I may end up cataloging my whole personal collection with my own account!! I put my LibraryThing, LibraryThing search widget and the LibraryThing chicklets on the blog for all to see!
I wonder if LibraryThing could be used for the periodicals catalog until the serials module is fully functioning?
I definitely give this product a thumbs up!
cataloging
LibraryThing
catalogs
I truly believe LibraryThing is an excellent tool for people who have small personal libraries they want to organize, corporations and companies who have corporate collections they want to organize and for sure church libraries who want to organize a library. Author, title, subject, DDC call number, tags, ISBN, publication information can all be added as well as sorted by. You can even add a book manually if you want! I would definitely recommend this tool for anyone who wants to organize their library collection.
A drawback: there is no circulation module! This would be a definite concern for church libraries, or small corporate libraries who had to keep track of circulating copies. Of course they could put the person who has the title in the comments or private comments column [and remember to delete their name when they brought it back!]
A positive: you don't need to know how to catalog and you only need to add or display the information you will need or want to use. The detailed MARC record that satisfies the needs of the public library does not have to be used in a personal collection, and LibraryThing's catalog record provides vital fields for bibliographic description. If more detailed information is desired, the title can be entered manually.
I cataloged 13 titles from my personal home collection. It was easy and fun to do, I may end up cataloging my whole personal collection with my own account!! I put my LibraryThing, LibraryThing search widget and the LibraryThing chicklets on the blog for all to see!
I wonder if LibraryThing could be used for the periodicals catalog until the serials module is fully functioning?
I definitely give this product a thumbs up!
cataloging
LibraryThing
catalogs
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Discover YouTube
I decided to search "library cats" to see what would come up. I liked the Baker & Taylor cats and wondered if any others were out there. Up popped "Browser the Library Cat" a spitting image of my cat Missy - so site chosen!
more on Browser I think a VBPL mascot would be a fun way to connect with children and even adults in the community. Create a YouTube video series featuring the mascot and put it up on our website.
It could be a fun way to introduce a new library program or a summer reading club.
I also envision YouTube being used for training topics , library locations, and merchandising/marketing our collection -- there are lots of ways we could provide useful and fun YouTube videos!
I thought the cataloging video is an example of how we could use YouTube for training projects -- however the quality of the screen shots was poor. We would have to do better!! A video of this type could be created for Library Orientation to introduce new hires to the work of Support Services.
The "Browser" video was just plain fun! The "Cataloging" video is 1.0 revised to 2.0!! -- a "look at what used to be" parody that also shows what cataloging is today.
Additionally, I had provided a link to the "Librarian's Manifesto" to one of my earlier posts [that was all I knew how to do!] and now I updated that post with the embeddable player code which allows readers of my blog to actually play the "Librarian's Manifesto" -- I really am learning!!
YouTube
libraries
cataloging
MARC
library catalog
Flickr tags
Why is tagging important?
As a cataloger I have been responsible for "tagging" everything I have cataloged over the past 23 years. I have done this via the access points that are placed in the MARC records. These access points have included: names of: authors, illustrators, actors, co-authors; titles, series titles, subjects: topical, geographical, personal name subjects, chronology; genre terms as well as numeric access (ISBNs, ISSNs, music numbers, publisher numbers). They are all "terms", "access points" or "tags" that make an item findable.
It is easy to describe something you have in front of you - you are looking right at it and can readily identify any feature it has.
But months from now, when it is no longer in front of you and you want to go back and look at it again - how do you relocate it? What was the title? What was it about? Who was the author? What was the ISBN? Who were the actors in the film? Where was the picture taken & when? Was the photo b&w or color? Who was the narrator of the audio book?
If you provided meaningful "tags" or "access points" to the item when you had it in front of you -- you can easily find it again. If you did not -- good luck.
One of the basic functions of cataloging is to provide access points that will make the item retreivable at a future date. Whether it is customers looking for a book in a series or an audio book read by a favorite narrator, or Internet searchers who want to find a blog article or a photo on Flickr they all need a reference point -- a way of easily locating a specific item in a SEA of items. Tags do the trick.
Tags make stuff, lots of stuff, lots of unorganized stuff, lots of stuff in various places and on various sites -- findable. Tags also allow people to share their information with others by making it accessible. People can post something on the Internet but no one else knows it is there -- tags SHOUT -- Hey, look here!
Tags are MARC access points on steroids! MARC access points: authors, titles, subjects, genres, keywords, etc. are used in specific bibliographic records which are downloaded to specific library catalogs. They make the information searchable, and findable to anyone who can access the Library catalog and obtain the item. Tags do all that and more! They are sharable and searchable. They find the actual articles, photos, blog posts, maps, etc. in the sea of information on the Internet.
Community develops on Flickr via shared interests. Groups, private and public definitely promote a sense of community as they share photos with one another. But, beyond that, daring to put up photos, etc. for ALL to view, add comments, enjoy, and use is opening a world of experiences, ideas, and values to everyone.
Flickr
Tags
MARC access points
cataloging
As a cataloger I have been responsible for "tagging" everything I have cataloged over the past 23 years. I have done this via the access points that are placed in the MARC records. These access points have included: names of: authors, illustrators, actors, co-authors; titles, series titles, subjects: topical, geographical, personal name subjects, chronology; genre terms as well as numeric access (ISBNs, ISSNs, music numbers, publisher numbers). They are all "terms", "access points" or "tags" that make an item findable.
It is easy to describe something you have in front of you - you are looking right at it and can readily identify any feature it has.
But months from now, when it is no longer in front of you and you want to go back and look at it again - how do you relocate it? What was the title? What was it about? Who was the author? What was the ISBN? Who were the actors in the film? Where was the picture taken & when? Was the photo b&w or color? Who was the narrator of the audio book?
If you provided meaningful "tags" or "access points" to the item when you had it in front of you -- you can easily find it again. If you did not -- good luck.
One of the basic functions of cataloging is to provide access points that will make the item retreivable at a future date. Whether it is customers looking for a book in a series or an audio book read by a favorite narrator, or Internet searchers who want to find a blog article or a photo on Flickr they all need a reference point -- a way of easily locating a specific item in a SEA of items. Tags do the trick.
Tags make stuff, lots of stuff, lots of unorganized stuff, lots of stuff in various places and on various sites -- findable. Tags also allow people to share their information with others by making it accessible. People can post something on the Internet but no one else knows it is there -- tags SHOUT -- Hey, look here!
Tags are MARC access points on steroids! MARC access points: authors, titles, subjects, genres, keywords, etc. are used in specific bibliographic records which are downloaded to specific library catalogs. They make the information searchable, and findable to anyone who can access the Library catalog and obtain the item. Tags do all that and more! They are sharable and searchable. They find the actual articles, photos, blog posts, maps, etc. in the sea of information on the Internet.
Community develops on Flickr via shared interests. Groups, private and public definitely promote a sense of community as they share photos with one another. But, beyond that, daring to put up photos, etc. for ALL to view, add comments, enjoy, and use is opening a world of experiences, ideas, and values to everyone.
Flickr
Tags
MARC access points
cataloging
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts
This was an interesting exercise! As a cataloger I am interested in the organization of information so that it is retrievable. Technorati is certainly a search tool that offers searchability and more importantly findability to the millions of blogs that they track.
Tagging plays a key role in making the information retrievable. Like traditional subject access that catalogers have used for centuries, tags offer the concept of likeness, or collocation. Tags bring related information to the forefront by providing relevant access points.
The search tool itself offers the possibility of ranking the information it retrieves by offering the choice of authority for the articles "any ; little ; some ; a lot" and even sorts it by language preference.
While the format is different than traditional cataloging and the subject access is not in controlled vocabulary terms the basic concepts of cataloging are still behind the function of Technorati -- make the information relevant by providing searchable terms (tags), rank the information (via the authority rating) and make it retrievable.
Technorati and other search tools like it may be taking the place of traditional catalogers in libraries, but the basic functions of cataloging are at the heart of what makes Technorati so useful. Both cataloging and Technorati answer the questions: What is it? What is it about? How can I find it? Are there anymore like it? Long live Cataloging!!
I liked the several search options available. You can view the most popular, view those with a theme or even search at the specific tag level. The one thing I didn't like was new blogs with little chance to develop a following because of their newness weren't including in the basic search unless you changed the authority level from "some" to "any" authority. That is also a good thing though, because people who write frequently and well on a topic will get the expert level ranking and more people will add them to their favorites.
I did go back and tag all my posts! So I should be searchable for anyone looking for "any" authority on cataloging, Library 2.0 and the topics we have addressed in our Learning 2.0 experience!
Technorati
Library 2.0
tagging
cataloging
Libraries
Tagging plays a key role in making the information retrievable. Like traditional subject access that catalogers have used for centuries, tags offer the concept of likeness, or collocation. Tags bring related information to the forefront by providing relevant access points.
The search tool itself offers the possibility of ranking the information it retrieves by offering the choice of authority for the articles "any ; little ; some ; a lot" and even sorts it by language preference.
While the format is different than traditional cataloging and the subject access is not in controlled vocabulary terms the basic concepts of cataloging are still behind the function of Technorati -- make the information relevant by providing searchable terms (tags), rank the information (via the authority rating) and make it retrievable.
Technorati and other search tools like it may be taking the place of traditional catalogers in libraries, but the basic functions of cataloging are at the heart of what makes Technorati so useful. Both cataloging and Technorati answer the questions: What is it? What is it about? How can I find it? Are there anymore like it? Long live Cataloging!!
I liked the several search options available. You can view the most popular, view those with a theme or even search at the specific tag level. The one thing I didn't like was new blogs with little chance to develop a following because of their newness weren't including in the basic search unless you changed the authority level from "some" to "any" authority. That is also a good thing though, because people who write frequently and well on a topic will get the expert level ranking and more people will add them to their favorites.
I did go back and tag all my posts! So I should be searchable for anyone looking for "any" authority on cataloging, Library 2.0 and the topics we have addressed in our Learning 2.0 experience!
Technorati
Library 2.0
tagging
cataloging
Libraries
Monday, December 17, 2007
Tagging Folksonomy Del.icio.us
I enjoyed the YouTube videos! The first:Tagging & Folksonomy -- little catalogers in the making, organizing and establishing relationships in their world! The second: Bookmarking in Plain English -- short, sweet & to the point, very helpful!
The longer OPAL presentation, "Make Your Library del.icio.us Social Bookmarking in the Stacks" by Jason Griffey offered food for thought. As a cataloger I see the need to establish relationships and collocation so that all related items are found. The idea of a hierarchy and faceted classification brings structure that is important. The Town Center building is made possible through intricate structural elements that allow the building to exist. In much the same way as a building needs the inner structure to exist I see cataloging as the intricate structural element that allows information to be found.
From Cindy's podcast: "as more and more people add content to the web they want to organize it ... and share it". A piece of information by itself, floating in a sea of information is useless unless it can be ranked, made relevant and revealed to the person seeking it. That is what cataloging does!
So what about Tagging and Folksonomies?? Are they useless? NO!! Bring them on! They are yet other tools in the toolbox useful in finding the information people are searching for.
Fiction subject access is a perfect example of how readers could benefit from using both structured access such as:
- Library of Congress (LC)Subject headings
- Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, Drama, Etc. (GSAFD)genre terms
- Reader's Advisory appeal characteristics
and the unstructured access of: tags and folksonomies created by other readers.
Structured access can create the "what-who-where-when" very easily by creating access to:
- Genre type: Mystery - Romance - Christian Fiction - Science Fiction - Horror etc.
- Who: Professions - Continuing characters - Gender - Age
- Where: Geographic locations - Cities, rural areas, etc.
- When: Historical fiction - 21st century - 1960's, etc.
- Other books by the author
- Other books in the series
- Other books with similar genre types ; themes ; characters
- I would also like to see terms created in the catalog that associate appeal characteristics to the books in our collection. This could be a collaborative effort between Reader's Advisory Staff and Catalogers to add access to a discreet number of appeal characteristics: gentle read, mild language, Southern Fiction, etc.
The unstructured access offered by the tagging of actual readers would add an immense value: by offering the reading experience itself - what was the book like? Of course the following would depend on whether or not individual URLs are available for titles so that a reader could add tagging
- too preachy
- too wordy
- too much cussing
- it made me cry
- Sad
- characters seemed plastic, not real
- great adventure story
- Reminds me of....
World Cat is following through with a project to make this feasible!! Stay tuned!
World Cat Link:
The value of individual tagging is in the emergant order" it creates. As large numbers of people add the same or similar tagging it will automatically create lists of "What do I read next" as others find value in the reading experience of those who took the time to create the tags.
I believe tagging and folksonomies can be very useful reader tools that unlock the reading experience for other readers. We can't read every title purchased by the library, but we can give it multiple access points to help customers choose what they want to read. The meat of the story and the heart of it can be revealed by those who actually have read and tagged the title and either came away with a MUST READ or STAY AWAY FROM IT reading experience.
Question #2: Is it an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere -- absolutely!! This is also a valuable way for staff to have at their fingertips the very sites that will allow them to connect readers to books they will enjoy and information they need to find.
I plan on creating a Del.icio.us account and experiment with tagging and bookmarks -- hopefully I can use it to create an informal "read-alike" list. If not, we have plenty of other tools we have learned about including Blogs, Wikis, and MySpace to make it happen!
Folksonomies
Library 2.0
Tagging
Reader's Advisory
GSAFD
Folksonomy
Del.icio.us
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
What is Library 2.0 to Me?
While learning about Library 2.0 at Virginia Beach Public Library we were asked to contemplate the following question: Library 2.0 is many things to many people -- what does it mean to you?
My thoughts on that question...
Library 2.0 for me is the opening up of information to customers whenever, however, and wherever they need it. Library collections should be collaboratively linked to one another with their entire contents accessible 24/7. Librarians should work seamlessly in the background to provide the special touch of information enrichment that librarianship offers: selection, metadata, connections, references, and linkages. The information should be available in such a way that a specific page of a book, a specific scene in a movie or a specific song on a CD is instantaneously at the fingertips of our customers. In an age where this is all possible, and in many cases already available why would we want to cling to past practices? “Sorry the library is closed, we will re-open at 10am tomorrow – please hold your information needs until that time”… No way!!
After watching a You Tube video: A Librarian's 2.0 Manifesto by Laura CohenI thought about cataloging in relation to 2.0, again here are my thoughts.... The Librarian 2.0 Manifesto was thought provoking. The idea I wish to add comes from the Manifesto item: I will lobby for an open catalog that provides personalized, interactive features that users expect in online information environments. Remember when….Manual typewriters were available for term papers? Then came the electric typewriter, followed by the word processor – wow what a difference! I don’t know of anyone who clung to a manual typewriter [remember footnotes?!] once they experienced a word processor. The same is true for library technology – first came the handwritten card catalog cards (I’m not old enough to remember those days!), which gave way to typed cards, first on manual typewriters [oh the pain of typing the tracings at the bottom!], then electric typewriters (with bars to hold the cards in place!), which gave way to OCLC with MARC records collaboratively input by thousands of librarians. This was a technological innovation that allowed richer subject access, searching that could connect series titles and keyword searches that were IMPOSSIBLE in the card catalog, early COM CATs (microfiche catalogs), and OPACs. Now we have a new library revolution that is using WEB 2.0 and adapting it to libraries, Library 2.0 – I say go for it!! Why would librarians cling to the old way of creating and searching static information when the possibilities are endless in what we will be able to provide both now and in the future… the 3x5 library catalog card severely limited what we could represent about a title ; the MARC record provided ways for more information to be recorded about a title, but Library 2.0 OPENS resources in their entirety anytime, anyplace, anywhere to be viewed, evaluated, notated, criticized, shared, given tags and hyperlinked to more info … why would anyone cling to Library 1.0 once they experience the world of Library 2.0 – why?
libraries
Library 2.0
cataloging
card catalog
My thoughts on that question...
Library 2.0 for me is the opening up of information to customers whenever, however, and wherever they need it. Library collections should be collaboratively linked to one another with their entire contents accessible 24/7. Librarians should work seamlessly in the background to provide the special touch of information enrichment that librarianship offers: selection, metadata, connections, references, and linkages. The information should be available in such a way that a specific page of a book, a specific scene in a movie or a specific song on a CD is instantaneously at the fingertips of our customers. In an age where this is all possible, and in many cases already available why would we want to cling to past practices? “Sorry the library is closed, we will re-open at 10am tomorrow – please hold your information needs until that time”… No way!!
After watching a You Tube video: A Librarian's 2.0 Manifesto by Laura CohenI thought about cataloging in relation to 2.0, again here are my thoughts.... The Librarian 2.0 Manifesto was thought provoking. The idea I wish to add comes from the Manifesto item: I will lobby for an open catalog that provides personalized, interactive features that users expect in online information environments. Remember when….Manual typewriters were available for term papers? Then came the electric typewriter, followed by the word processor – wow what a difference! I don’t know of anyone who clung to a manual typewriter [remember footnotes?!] once they experienced a word processor. The same is true for library technology – first came the handwritten card catalog cards (I’m not old enough to remember those days!), which gave way to typed cards, first on manual typewriters [oh the pain of typing the tracings at the bottom!], then electric typewriters (with bars to hold the cards in place!), which gave way to OCLC with MARC records collaboratively input by thousands of librarians. This was a technological innovation that allowed richer subject access, searching that could connect series titles and keyword searches that were IMPOSSIBLE in the card catalog, early COM CATs (microfiche catalogs), and OPACs. Now we have a new library revolution that is using WEB 2.0 and adapting it to libraries, Library 2.0 – I say go for it!! Why would librarians cling to the old way of creating and searching static information when the possibilities are endless in what we will be able to provide both now and in the future… the 3x5 library catalog card severely limited what we could represent about a title ; the MARC record provided ways for more information to be recorded about a title, but Library 2.0 OPENS resources in their entirety anytime, anyplace, anywhere to be viewed, evaluated, notated, criticized, shared, given tags and hyperlinked to more info … why would anyone cling to Library 1.0 once they experience the world of Library 2.0 – why?
libraries
Library 2.0
cataloging
card catalog
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