Interesting post from Library Land
I just read this interesting post by Karen Schneider on the ALA TechSource Blog which I scan for the TS-SIS TechScans blog. Check it out at: http://www.techsource.ala.org/blog/2007/09/sailing-on.html
I agree with a lot of what she says, but am really reluctant to give up Classification as a unique ID or atleast as a form of subject access. Just because people aren't using it doesn't mean that they shouldn't. It is an excellent way to browse across types of materials such as print and electronic at the same time. On the other hand I firmly believe that libraries need to share more bibliographic data without manually editing and downloading. As a Law Librarian/Cataloger I think it wouldn't it be great if there were a group of top notch Law Librarians doing all the cataloging for Law Libraries and doing it extemely thorougly and well adding lots of access which libraries could then tailor to their cataloging and needs with a profile like an approval plan. Or it could all do into one super catalog which all the libraries could access and choose to search just what they have access to or what everyone has access to. I think this really could work in a more limited environment like Law Libraries or just Academic Law Libraries that have very similar priorities and needs. Where it gets harder is when you throw all libraries into the pot as they are OCLC and then the level of cataloging is not suitable for the academics or it is overkill for the smaller libraries. Just my two cents.
I agree with a lot of what she says, but am really reluctant to give up Classification as a unique ID or atleast as a form of subject access. Just because people aren't using it doesn't mean that they shouldn't. It is an excellent way to browse across types of materials such as print and electronic at the same time. On the other hand I firmly believe that libraries need to share more bibliographic data without manually editing and downloading. As a Law Librarian/Cataloger I think it wouldn't it be great if there were a group of top notch Law Librarians doing all the cataloging for Law Libraries and doing it extemely thorougly and well adding lots of access which libraries could then tailor to their cataloging and needs with a profile like an approval plan. Or it could all do into one super catalog which all the libraries could access and choose to search just what they have access to or what everyone has access to. I think this really could work in a more limited environment like Law Libraries or just Academic Law Libraries that have very similar priorities and needs. Where it gets harder is when you throw all libraries into the pot as they are OCLC and then the level of cataloging is not suitable for the academics or it is overkill for the smaller libraries. Just my two cents.
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