Although I feel Martha's frustration, I also agree with Karen that (perceived) finger pointing is not a good direction and we somehow have to find a way for system designers and catalogers to work together rather than at odds.
It's easy enough to find examples of things that our catalog interfaces do poorly or bizarrely due to lack of understanding or misinterpretation of cataloging rules or the MARC format on the part of system designers. On the other hand, it's also very easy to find examples of things that it would be desirable to do in our catalogs which we can't do either because the data isn't there or it isn't there in a consistent manner that is suitable for computer manipulation. The only way out of this cycle is better communication and cooperation. Kelley McGrath A/V Cataloger, Ball State University [EMAIL PROTECTED] Martha Yee wrote: > > First, these replace a set of principles that were elegant in their > simplicity and conciseness and therefore easy for laymen to grasp, > even though the designers of current online catalogs never bothered to > read them so we never managed to implement them completely in existing > catalogs. > Karen Coyle wrote: Martha, I have to object to this statement which I will generously characterize as "unkind." Many of us who have designed library systems (or parts of them) have indeed read the literature of cataloging, have studied cataloging in library school, and even keep AACR2 beside our desks. We are not a bunch of ignorant dolts. As I have said to you many times before, computer systems may not be able to do everything you want in an affordable and efficient manner. But it's not for lack of trying on the part of your colleagues in the systems department of your institution. It would be ideal (nay, I should say necessary) for cataloging standards and systems standards to be developed together so that the requirements of both communities can be met. I can see many things in the current RDA drafts that simply WILL NOT DO what they are intended to do when taken off the written page and managed in a machine-readable record. Those of us in systems can only manipulate the data we are given, and we have very little say over its form. A better dialog between catalogers and the folks who will actually bring the catalog into being using computers would only benefit everyone, and the users most of all.
