[235] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Re: Cataloging Internet Resources
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (BURNET%ZODIAC.BITNET@RICEVM1.RICE.)
Tue May 12 12:10:39 1992
Date: Tue, 12 May 1992 10:37:23 CDT
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU>
From: BURNET%ZODIAC.BITNET@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L@UHUPVM1.BITNET>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
I've been watching this discussion with a great deal of interest and
have resisted jumping in up to now only because I was swamped with papers
to grade for my Advanced Cataloging class.
I would have to agree with Roy Tennant that as it is **currently
understood**, cataloging is not collecting, and, in an online environment,
doesn't even do a very good job of providing direct access. I do, however, think
it has the potential to provide precisely that kind of access. Cataloging as a
practice was developed in order to provide access to materials in a collection.
but since there was no way to provide a direct link from a printed (paper, card)
catalog to the print (books, serials) collection of the library, fairly complex
systems of indirect access were developed (classification). At this point in
time, these indirect systems still fulfill useful functions--they provide (for
those able to interpret them) subject information, they are often used by
patrons as surrogate shelf browsing utilities, and most importantly, they
provide the patron with a location for the document they wish to find.
When I discuss the development of MARC and online catalogs with my cataloging
students, I invariably find myself bemoaning the lack of vision which
characterized the development of the MARC format. I recognize that anyone who
had suggested in the late 60s that someday there would be computer networks
containing vast stores of information out there that would require cataloging
and the provision for direct access, would have been the laughing stock of the
proceedings. Even today, I see resistance in the profession to the kind of
restructuring that will be necessary as we move from being custodians of print
collections to the brave new world of the virtual library. However, cataloging
Internet resources is, I think, just the first stage in what is going to be a
long and, if we do it right, exciting journey.
To begin that journey, we need to clarify old concepts and practices and
speculate about new ones. It has been suggested in this discussion that WAIS is
already a catalog of Internet resources. I am fascinated by WAIS and think it
provides an invaluable service, but it is not cataloging. A catalog consists of
surrogate records for items in a collection. If we think of the Internet as the
collection, then a catalog of the Internet would provide surrogate records for
all "items" available out there. It would be unlike St. Georges' Guide (which
is itself an extremely useful list) in that it would be searchable. It would be
unlike WAIS in that it would be comprehensive, searchable, and a user would be
given a short description of the item before being connected to that item.
Finally, it would be like WAIS in that it would provide direct access to the
item. Just because print-to-print catalogs used indirect access mechanisms and
electronic-to-print catalogs have maintained such mechanism, doesn't mean that
this is a necessary limitation of any catalog! There is a tremendous
opportunity here for the cataloging community and the WAIS community to work
together to create the foundations of the virtual library. I hope we don't pass
it up!
Kathleen Burnett
Dept. of Library & Information Studies
School of Communication, Information and Library Studies
Rutgers University
burnet@zodiac.rutgers.edu
