Yes, I agree with you Jonathan. *Both* the rules and the machines are
tools to try to provide services for patrons. Just the means to an end.
I think a lot of the confusion arises because of the very varied
environments where our data are living. It's not always clear where the
problem is--the rules, MARC, the software interface? Maybe it's not always
convincing to say "a machine could do X if it had Y data" and a cataloger
may think, well, my machine can't do that!
We have many situations with our non-MARC data where we are trying to
stick to future-oriented data, in cases where the machines cannot yet
make use of it. It's a *very hard sell*.
************
Diana Brooking (206) 685-0389
Cataloging Librarian (206) 685-8782 fax
Suzzallo Library dbroo...@u.washington.edu
University of Washington
Box 352900
Seattle WA 98195-2900
On Thu, 9 Dec 2010, Jonathan Rochkind wrote:
On 12/9/2010 11:22 AM, J. McRee Elrod wrote:
Rules should be made for patrons, not for machines.
The machines exist to serve the patrons too. No patron in a a 2010 library
(Or at least 99% of libraries) looks at the records you are creating _except_
through machine interfaces.
If you ignore that, you significantly limit the value of these machine
interfaces, what they can do for patrons.
I can't believe we've been having this argument for like 5 years now.
If catalogers are unwilling to create records that can be used by software,
then we are doomed to irrelevancy to our users.
