Quoting Karen Coyle <li...@kcoyle.net>:
Quoting Jonathan Rochkind <rochk...@jhu.edu>:
Please _don't_ add your own made up appropriate term in a
336/337/338. What makes them so useful is that they are a
controlled vocabulary, software can recognize the strings in there
_exactly_, from a known list, and take appropriate action.
Yes, that is the value of a controlled list. However, if it takes
1-2 years to add new values to a controlled list, in particular a
list like "Carrier" which is highly volatile, then you make it
impossible for people to create the data they need. The requirement
that all changes follow a long, prescribed path [1] that begins with
having individual discussions with members of CC:DA, followed by a
formal document that is presented to that body at the next ALA, and
then possibly leading to a recommendation for a change...
... that ain't gonna cut it. It has to be possible to add to these
lists in a timely fashion, and for these lists to be in a
machine-actionable format that can be easily incorporated into
library systems as changes are made.
Indeed. May I point out that other JSC constituencies (Canada, UK,
Australia) have their own paths for bringing forward revisions,
approximately equally ponderous.
Surely lists of controlled values for specific data elements within
RDA don't require the same process for maintenance and revision as the
clauses of the code itself? Coded terms in MARC 21 are maintained by
the Library of Congress; some lists seem to be rapidly updated. (Not
that I think LC is necessarily the appropriate agency for maintenance
of RDA vocabularies.)
Hal Cain
Melbourne, Australia
hec...@dml.vic.edu.au
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