On The Record is a really cool report that came out over the course of this semester. Well, really cool or really scary, depending on how you look at it. Apparently, the Library of Congress, which has been providing cataloging services to libraries across the nation for chump change for years, is thinking about stopping the practice.
Basically, the LoC has been making their library cards (or files, now, in the digital age) available to other libraries for a nominal fee. Of course, if you provide any invaluable service for next to no cost, people are going to take advantage of you. So, due to all the demand, the Library's resources have been stretched to the limit. Employees are churning out library cards for the public library in Nowheresville, Nebraska (sorry, Nebraska fans! Um, go Huskers!) instead of cataloging and making available the Library's unique, historic documents. Obviously, this is a Bad Thing.
The solution outlined by the Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control could be even worse, though. They want to pull out of the library card business entirely, seeking to be just another library in a community of libraries. Apparently, libraries need to do their own cataloging and share the fruits of their labor over the Internet. This is a little naive, and will probably never happen, but what if it does? Rigorous standards could go out the window as hundreds of variant cards are made available for any given book.
The whole issue seems to me to boil down to, "We're not getting paid for this." So why not pay them? Up the cost of these cards, use the proceeds to hire librarians for that exclusive purpose, and let your regular staff do their regular jobs. Sure, the added cost will sting smaller libraries, but wouldn't it be even worse if they had to hire an accredited librarian to build a catalog from the ground up? And this way, things will remain centralized and standards will be upheld.
Anyway, this could represent a real sea change in how cataloging works. Then again, it could be just another bureaucratic missive that means nothing. Read it for yourself!
http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/news/lcwg-ontherecord-jan08-final.pdf
Monday, April 14, 2008
Other Library Blogs of Note
This simple blog may or may not illuminate some of the background and concerns of library cataloging. I did my best to approach the topic with candor and humor, but I understand that cataloging is something of a dry subject, and therefore not all that are interested in libraries are, can, or should be interested in it. For those of you more interested in other aspects of libraries, I point you towards the following blogs:
http://librarytrendz.blogspot.com/ - An incredibly well-executed blog on current events and new developments as they relate to libraries.
http://librariesandthelaw.blogspot.com/ - A look into library court cases, the PATRIOT Act, and free speech issues.
http://www.persuasionandrhetoric.blogspot.com/ - Those of you with interest in school media centers and the theoretical framework of making them work would be well-served to check here.
http://amyschopfer.blogspot.com/ - A blog on the types of people who go into and should be served by libraries.
http://librarytrendz.blogspot.com/ - An incredibly well-executed blog on current events and new developments as they relate to libraries.
http://librariesandthelaw.blogspot.com/ - A look into library court cases, the PATRIOT Act, and free speech issues.
http://www.persuasionandrhetoric.blogspot.com/ - Those of you with interest in school media centers and the theoretical framework of making them work would be well-served to check here.
http://amyschopfer.blogspot.com/ - A blog on the types of people who go into and should be served by libraries.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Dewey Decimal
The Dewey Decimal system is the granddaddy of them all. Developed in 1873, and now in its 22nd edition, its ease of use has made it a favorite of public libraries and media centers everywhere. In fact, many classification systems used outside of the United States, such as Universal Decimal Classification and Nippon Decimal Classification, have their roots in Dewey.
The Dewey Decimal system, or DDC, is set up, at its core, as a branching hierarchy, sort of like a family tree. "The library is first divided into nine special libraries which are called Classes" (Dewey 1876, Preface, para. 1). Each of these represents a massive category of human knowledge which is represented by a digit from 1 to 9. For instance, "5" represents the Natural Sciences, while a "9" means History. The tenth (or first, depending on how you look at things) set, the "0's," originally contained general reference works such as dictionaries and encyclopedias, and books about libraries proper. Since its advent, computer science, too, is contained in this null category.
The aforementioned class makes up the first digit of a DDC filing number. Each class is then further stratified into Divisions, which are, in turn, divided into Sections, each of which is assigned a digit from 0-9. "Thus 513 is the 3d Section (Geometry) of the 1st Division (Mathematics) of the 5th Class (Natural Science). This number, giving Class, Division, and Section, is called the Classification or Class Number, and is applied to every book or pamphlet belonging to the library" (Dewey 1876, Preface, para. 1).
This classification can go even deeper by introducing a decimal point and continuing to introduce new sets of 10 subdivisions. This can get almost painfully long (for instance, horses are 599.6655), but this allows for a remarkable amount of fine-tuning. One can even use the system to build new numbers using Tables. For example, "0901" can be tacked on the end of any Dewey number to indicate a time period of "to 499 A.D." So card games, which are classified under 795.4, can become 795.40901 to indicate ancient card games. Again, cumbersome, but really, really cool.
Anyway, the system isn't perfect. As said above, the numbers can get really unwieldy. In addition, while the revisions have introduced new categories to better classify modern stuff, the structure itself is immutable, and mired in the worldview of a 19th century New Englander. For instance, the 200's cover Religion. In there, 200-220 cover general philosophical theses on religion, 220-290 cover the Bible and Christianity, and every other religion on Earth is crammed into the 290's. This isn't as much of a problem as it might seem, since the numbers can be extended infinitely, but it is still inconvenient and embarassing.
Despite these warts, though, the DDC remains easy to use and convenient. If you know the Classes, you can even begin your search without the help of a catalog. Pretty neat, huh?
Sources:
Dewey, M. (1876). A classification and subject index for cataloging and arranging the books and pamphlets of a library [Electronic version]. Kingsport, Tenn.: Kingsport Press.
WebDewey. Accessed through connexion.oclc.org.
The Dewey Decimal system, or DDC, is set up, at its core, as a branching hierarchy, sort of like a family tree. "The library is first divided into nine special libraries which are called Classes" (Dewey 1876, Preface, para. 1). Each of these represents a massive category of human knowledge which is represented by a digit from 1 to 9. For instance, "5" represents the Natural Sciences, while a "9" means History. The tenth (or first, depending on how you look at things) set, the "0's," originally contained general reference works such as dictionaries and encyclopedias, and books about libraries proper. Since its advent, computer science, too, is contained in this null category.
The aforementioned class makes up the first digit of a DDC filing number. Each class is then further stratified into Divisions, which are, in turn, divided into Sections, each of which is assigned a digit from 0-9. "Thus 513 is the 3d Section (Geometry) of the 1st Division (Mathematics) of the 5th Class (Natural Science). This number, giving Class, Division, and Section, is called the Classification or Class Number, and is applied to every book or pamphlet belonging to the library" (Dewey 1876, Preface, para. 1).
This classification can go even deeper by introducing a decimal point and continuing to introduce new sets of 10 subdivisions. This can get almost painfully long (for instance, horses are 599.6655), but this allows for a remarkable amount of fine-tuning. One can even use the system to build new numbers using Tables. For example, "0901" can be tacked on the end of any Dewey number to indicate a time period of "to 499 A.D." So card games, which are classified under 795.4, can become 795.40901 to indicate ancient card games. Again, cumbersome, but really, really cool.
Anyway, the system isn't perfect. As said above, the numbers can get really unwieldy. In addition, while the revisions have introduced new categories to better classify modern stuff, the structure itself is immutable, and mired in the worldview of a 19th century New Englander. For instance, the 200's cover Religion. In there, 200-220 cover general philosophical theses on religion, 220-290 cover the Bible and Christianity, and every other religion on Earth is crammed into the 290's. This isn't as much of a problem as it might seem, since the numbers can be extended infinitely, but it is still inconvenient and embarassing.
Despite these warts, though, the DDC remains easy to use and convenient. If you know the Classes, you can even begin your search without the help of a catalog. Pretty neat, huh?
Sources:
Dewey, M. (1876). A classification and subject index for cataloging and arranging the books and pamphlets of a library [Electronic version]. Kingsport, Tenn.: Kingsport Press.
WebDewey. Accessed through connexion.oclc.org.
Authority Control
Authority Control is central to cataloging. Every system has what's called an authority file, a "master record" against which all records are compared. Why is this needed? Well, let's take the obvious case. Let's say you have a book of literary criticism by Samuel Clemens. Making a record for this book would seem to be fairly straightforward. Under author, you put "Clemens, Samuel."
But then what happens when a fan of Tom Sawyer wants to browse your entire library of Mark Twain's works? Without proper authority control, your book of criticism will be passed over entirely. In most authority files, all of Clemens' works are filed under Mark Twain, with a search for Samuel Clemens redirecting to Twain.
Issues of Authority Control also pop up in dealing with various subjects. The animal lover searching for dogs should get the same results as the zoologist searching for canis domesticus. A search for a biographical work on John Ronald Reuel Tolkein should redirect to J.R.R. Tolkein.
So that's Authority Control. Time is getting short, so my next post will launch into the systems with the Dewey Decimal System.
But then what happens when a fan of Tom Sawyer wants to browse your entire library of Mark Twain's works? Without proper authority control, your book of criticism will be passed over entirely. In most authority files, all of Clemens' works are filed under Mark Twain, with a search for Samuel Clemens redirecting to Twain.
Issues of Authority Control also pop up in dealing with various subjects. The animal lover searching for dogs should get the same results as the zoologist searching for canis domesticus. A search for a biographical work on John Ronald Reuel Tolkein should redirect to J.R.R. Tolkein.
So that's Authority Control. Time is getting short, so my next post will launch into the systems with the Dewey Decimal System.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)