Reply-to: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx>
At 10:13 PM 10/19/2005, Steven Barr wrote:
Note that my database is intended for cataloguing, not
discography
Yes, exactly.
Cataloging isn't what I want to do and I believe that an accurate
comprehensive discography is of more value.
When such a thing is produced, the cataloger can refer to it and
*then* note any unique characteristics of the Item (using the FRBR
meaning). Too much effort has been put into cataloging that adds
superfluous discographical information instead of separating out what
FRBR defines as Work, Expression, and Manifestation (what the BRIAN
application calls Song, Performance, Issue).
Catalogs are great if you want to inventory a specific collection (or
to create an imaginary joint collection). If you aim for something
broader, problems ensue. Catalogs do a great job with material that
has been issued once. Reissues and repackagings introduce
difficulties. But a discography that starts with the session (not the
issue) has no trouble with them.