Re: [CODE4LIB] Why does the MARC to DC crosswalk refuse to use Creator?
Thank you very much Rebecca, Karen and Esme for your replies. It is
really a privilege to be able to ask a question here and get answers
like these.
Regarding the DC Creator issue, I probably nave a different
perspective on DC than many here, because my first contact with DC was
not as a librarian but as a content management specialist. In the
content management community DC is widely adopted, but a lot (most) of
the metadata one finds in a CMS is new, born digital and often created
by users directly inside the system itself (think of a blog post).
Also, in a CMS most metadata is generated by users without any
knowledge of cataloging best practices, so the simplicity of
unqualified DC is adequate. These factors make it very desirable to
have a simple Creator attribute, which is often a very important
search criteria for users. That is why I found it strange that LC
chose not to map any tag to Creator.
Now with my librarian hat on, and your explanations, the reasoning is
very clear.
Thanks a lot!
Cheers,
Luciano
On Mon, Apr 25, 2011 at 11:58 AM, Guenther, Rebecca wrote:
> The reason we used DC Contributor instead of Creator is because the semantics
> do not map well to MARC creators/contributors. Creators in MARC can be in 1XX
> and 7XX; since 1XX is not repeatable, additional creators go in 7XX.
> Contributors in Dublin Core play a secondary role in the resource ("An entity
> responsible for making contributions to the resource.") vs. Creator ("An
> entity primarily responsible for making the resource.").If we simply mapped
> the name in 1XX to Creator and the name in 7XX to Contributor, these may or
> may not be correct in terms of semantics. In MARC primary vs. secondary
> contributions are not what distinguish recording in 1XX vs 7XX, but the
> particular contribution that was made may be included in the role subfield
> ($e in textual form or $4 in coded form). Unfortunately we find that many
> MARC records do not record the role, but that is because of previous
> cataloging policy, not anything in MARC. Another point is that whether the
> contribution is prim!
ar!
> y or secondary may vary depending on the type of material, so giving the
> specific contribution may be more useful in the long run (for instance, an
> illustrator may be considered a secondary contribution in the book world, but
> if the resource is in a museum it may be considered the primary contribution).
>
> It might be noted that some time ago (the year that the DC conference was in
> Florence, I can't remember exactly when that was) the Dublin Core Usage Board
> (of which I was then a member) attempted to combine creator and contributor
> (and publisher) to become one DC element (Agent), but implementers objected
> to it, so the proposal was withdrawn. But that was recognition that the
> distinction being made might not have been the best way to go. That was also
> a factor in mapping MARC to DC this way.
>
> Rebecca
>
> Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:35:35 -0700
> From: "Cowles, Esme"
> Subject: Re: Why does the MARC to DC crosswalk refuse to use Creator?
>
> It looks like it's using Contributor instead. So I'm guessing the sticking
> point is that it's hard to figure out what Contributors are primary, so it's
> safer to just punt and put them all in Contributor instead.
>
> -Esme
> --
> Esme Cowles
>
> "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in
> creating the Internet." -- Al Gore
>
> On Apr 18, 2011, at 5:13 PM, Luciano Ramalho wrote:
>
>> I am mystified by the discovery that the MARC to DC Crosswalk does not
>> map *any* MARC tag to the DC Creator element!
>>
>> http://www.loc.gov/marc/marc2dc.html
>>
>> Does anyone know the reasoning behind this strange decision?
>>
>> --
>> Luciano Ramalho
>> programador repentista || stand-up programmer
>> Twitter: @luciano
>
> Rebecca S. Guenther
> Senior Networking and Standards Specialist
> Network Development and MARC Standards Office
> Library of Congress
> 101 Independence Ave SE
> Washington, DC 20540
> +1 202 707 5092 (voice)
> +1 202 707 0115 (fax)
> r...@loc.gov
>
--
Luciano Ramalho
programador repentista || stand-up programmer
Twitter: @luciano
Re: [CODE4LIB] Why does the MARC to DC crosswalk refuse to use Creator?
The reason we used DC Contributor instead of Creator is because the semantics
do not map well to MARC creators/contributors. Creators in MARC can be in 1XX
and 7XX; since 1XX is not repeatable, additional creators go in 7XX.
Contributors in Dublin Core play a secondary role in the resource ("An entity
responsible for making contributions to the resource.") vs. Creator ("An entity
primarily responsible for making the resource.").If we simply mapped the name
in 1XX to Creator and the name in 7XX to Contributor, these may or may not be
correct in terms of semantics. In MARC primary vs. secondary contributions are
not what distinguish recording in 1XX vs 7XX, but the particular contribution
that was made may be included in the role subfield ($e in textual form or $4 in
coded form). Unfortunately we find that many MARC records do not record the
role, but that is because of previous cataloging policy, not anything in MARC.
Another point is that whether the contribution is primar!
y or secondary may vary depending on the type of material, so giving the
specific contribution may be more useful in the long run (for instance, an
illustrator may be considered a secondary contribution in the book world, but
if the resource is in a museum it may be considered the primary contribution).
It might be noted that some time ago (the year that the DC conference was in
Florence, I can't remember exactly when that was) the Dublin Core Usage Board
(of which I was then a member) attempted to combine creator and contributor
(and publisher) to become one DC element (Agent), but implementers objected to
it, so the proposal was withdrawn. But that was recognition that the
distinction being made might not have been the best way to go. That was also a
factor in mapping MARC to DC this way.
Rebecca
Date:Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:35:35 -0700
From:"Cowles, Esme"
Subject: Re: Why does the MARC to DC crosswalk refuse to use Creator?
It looks like it's using Contributor instead. So I'm guessing the sticking
point is that it's hard to figure out what Contributors are primary, so it's
safer to just punt and put them all in Contributor instead.
-Esme
--
Esme Cowles
"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in
creating the Internet." -- Al Gore
On Apr 18, 2011, at 5:13 PM, Luciano Ramalho wrote:
> I am mystified by the discovery that the MARC to DC Crosswalk does not
> map *any* MARC tag to the DC Creator element!
>
> http://www.loc.gov/marc/marc2dc.html
>
> Does anyone know the reasoning behind this strange decision?
>
> --
> Luciano Ramalho
> programador repentista || stand-up programmer
> Twitter: @luciano
Rebecca S. Guenther
Senior Networking and Standards Specialist
Network Development and MARC Standards Office
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave SE
Washington, DC 20540
+1 202 707 5092 (voice)
+1 202 707 0115 (fax)
r...@loc.gov
Re: [CODE4LIB] Why does the MARC to DC crosswalk refuse to use Creator?
I don't actually know why, but I can imagine a plausible answer: the MARC record does not distinguish between contributors and creators sufficiently well to separate out the x00 fields between them. Either everyone is a creator, or everyone is a contributor, or the main entry (100) is treated as a creator and everyone else a contributor. Whichever it is, some portion of the mapping will be wrong. What would be interesting would be a study that would show the relative ratios of right to wrong in the three (or more?) scenarios. kc Quoting Luciano Ramalho : I am mystified by the discovery that the MARC to DC Crosswalk does not map *any* MARC tag to the DC Creator element! http://www.loc.gov/marc/marc2dc.html Does anyone know the reasoning behind this strange decision? -- Luciano Ramalho programador repentista || stand-up programmer Twitter: @luciano -- Karen Coyle kco...@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net ph: 1-510-540-7596 m: 1-510-435-8234 skype: kcoylenet
Re: [CODE4LIB] Why does the MARC to DC crosswalk refuse to use Creator?
It looks like it's using Contributor instead. So I'm guessing the sticking point is that it's hard to figure out what Contributors are primary, so it's safer to just punt and put them all in Contributor instead. -Esme -- Esme Cowles "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." -- Al Gore On Apr 18, 2011, at 5:13 PM, Luciano Ramalho wrote: > I am mystified by the discovery that the MARC to DC Crosswalk does not > map *any* MARC tag to the DC Creator element! > > http://www.loc.gov/marc/marc2dc.html > > Does anyone know the reasoning behind this strange decision? > > -- > Luciano Ramalho > programador repentista || stand-up programmer > Twitter: @luciano
[CODE4LIB] Why does the MARC to DC crosswalk refuse to use Creator?
I am mystified by the discovery that the MARC to DC Crosswalk does not map *any* MARC tag to the DC Creator element! http://www.loc.gov/marc/marc2dc.html Does anyone know the reasoning behind this strange decision? -- Luciano Ramalho programador repentista || stand-up programmer Twitter: @luciano
