At 12:04 PM 5/9/2008, Karen Coyle wrote:
For example, there is no reason for anyone to have to key a publisher name for a modern book with an ISBN -- the identity of the publisher is inherent in the ISBN and that information could be system supplied (using a barcode scanner). But this would mean giving up the idea that the publisher name must be transcribed from the piece. It is that rule that is forcing us to continue to key the publisher name rather than get that information from a readily available source.
Oh, my goodness. This is absolutely the wrong direction to be headed. This would result in exactly the kind of thing that WorldCat Local has done with the statement of responsibility, where they use authority-controlled data to supply a made-up (and often erroneous) "by" statement. In order to properly identify a given manifestation, the publisher name MUST be taken from the item in hand, otherwise the description might end up automatically changing over time as the publisher record changes (name change, acquired by another publisher, etc.). Kevin M. Randall Principal Serials Cataloger Bibliographic Services Dept. Northwestern University Library 1970 Campus Drive Evanston, IL 60208-2300 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] phone: (847) 491-2939 fax: (847) 491-4345
