[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: arsclist Cataloging
At 02:20 PM 12/13/2002 -0500, you wrote:
Library vs private.
It is my understanding that some fields in the MARC cataloging system are
not searchable, which means the desired data is there but not independently
serarchable.
What is searchable in a database of MARC records is entirely dependent on
what designers of the software choose to make searchable. There is no
inherently unsearchable data, and keyword indexes often search fields that
have not been traditionally searchable in library catalogs such as notes
fields.
We might begin with what info libraries want and what collectors want. A
list of fields (non-MARC) from each group might be a useful start.
The argument about cataloging not being discoraphic holds no water with me-
the computer can accomodate it. Why leave important stuff out?
Library cataloging is based around the whole object and on the concept of
the "main entry", usually the person with primary responsibility or in some
cases the title. In a discography there isn't the same concept of main
entry and as we all know, discographies are often arranged by catalog
number, matrix or some other information. The data may be the same, but it
doesn't necessarily translate from one format to the other easily. I think
reconciling discographic data and MARC data will be the great difficulty in
getting a database like the AVRL off the ground.
The main reasons to leave things out are time and money. The more detailed
the cataloging, the more expensive it is and the larger the backlog
becomes. Anyway, time to get back to cataloging before our backlog becomes
any larger than it is...
David
David Seubert, Curator
Performing Arts Collection
Davidson Library Special Collections
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
(805) 893-5444 Fax (805) 893-5749
mailto:seubert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/pa/
-
For subscription instructions, see the ARSC home page
http://www.arsc-audio.org/arsclist.html
Copyright of individual posting is owned by the author of the posting and
permission to re-transmit or publish a post must be secured
from the author of the post.