Re: The Ultimate Debate: Do Libraries Innovate?

I disagree that it isn't in the best interest of the vendors
to change.  I think librarians have demanded continuing
support for MARC and tied the vendors hands.  In my
experience, it seems that the vendors often go out of their
way to keep MARC around, because we wouldn't buy their
systems if they didn't.  But I don't think we should let the
vendors off the hook either.  They could have been more
creative in meeting our demands while developing innovative
systems.

----- Original Message ----
From: Ross Singer <ross.singerlibrary.gatech.edu>
To: e roel <e.roelusa.net>
Cc: web4libwebjunction.org
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 9:56:55 AM
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] The Ultimate Debate: Do Libraries
Innovate?

On 6/27/07, e roel <e.roelusa.net> wrote:
> Like Bill, I respectfully disagree on the MARC record
being archaic.  The MARC
> record actually represents a minor triumph of design. 
It is very compact,
> migratable, defines the rules of its database
format/organization at its head,
> even at its most granular point. It is simply elegant
in ways that much of our
> technology today is not.

Honestly, this says to me you've never worked directly with
the MARC
record or tried to integrate it with anything else.

There is no doubt that the MARC format was a marvel 40 years
ago.
Blindly clinging it to it today makes no sense.  It is an
interconnected world now and MARC doesn't interconnect very
well.

Also, the logic is very flawed in saying "if it's hung
around this
long, it must be doing something right!".  Our systems
are built
around the preservation and transport of the MARC record;
this doesn't
mean that the format is superior, it only means that the
infrastructure in place supports it and nothing else.  The
fact that
libraries handed over stewardship of the infrastructure to
the vendors
has ensured that the status quo will remain.  It's not in
the
financial best interest of the vendors to change and it's
not feasible
for the libraries to take on an endeavor that would be
incompatible
with all of the services and systems they use daily.

-Ross.
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This is an interesting question, but even more interesting
(and
symptomatic?) is that it has turned into a discussion of the
MARC record. If
changing how we handle our metadata is our idea of major
innovation, then it
really makes no difference whether the answer to the debate
question is Yes
or No.  You have to innovate in a relevant way, and other
agencies in our
society have moved on to be concerned with providing direct
access to
information and breaking down the barriers our systems have
imposed between
types of information.
 
- Jim Campbell
 
Digital Access Librarian | Librarian for German
E-Mail: CampbellVirginia.Edu | Voice: 434-924-4985
 
Digital Access Services, University of Virginia Library
http://www.l
ib.virginia.edu/digital/das/


_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

This is an interesting question, but even more interesting
(and
symptomatic?) is that it has turned into a discussion of the
MARC record. If
changing how we handle our metadata is our idea of major
innovation, then it
really makes no difference whether the answer to the debate
question is Yes
or No.  You have to innovate in a relevant way, and other
agencies in our
society have moved on to be concerned with providing direct
access to
information and breaking down the barriers our systems have
imposed between
types of information.
 
- Jim Campbell
 
Digital Access Librarian | Librarian for German
E-Mail: CampbellVirginia.Edu | Voice: 434-924-4985
 
Digital Access Services, University of Virginia Library
http://www.l
ib.virginia.edu/digital/das/


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Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

 
The problem with this argument is that the *way* we need
things to
change will not be driven by companies in the form of new
products, but
rather by communities of scholars and librarians in the form
of fluid,
exchangeable collections metadata.  Neither Ex Libris nor
III nor any
one entity can create that by design.  MARC reinforces that
fundamental
restriction on how we think about our metadata - is metadata
just for
our institutional information silos or is it part of the
broader
continuum of learning and scholarship?  If it is the latter,
MARC only
hinders us.  


-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org] On Behalf Of Ron
Peterson
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 11:39 AM
Cc: web4libwebjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] The Ultimate Debate: Do Libraries
Innovate?

I disagree that it isn't in the best interest of the vendors
to change.
I think librarians have demanded continuing support for MARC
and tied
the vendors hands.  In my experience, it seems that the
vendors often go
out of their way to keep MARC around, because we wouldn't
buy their
systems if they didn't.  But I don't think we should let the
vendors off
the hook either.  They could have been more creative in
meeting our
demands while developing innovative systems.


_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/
_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

 
The problem with this argument is that the *way* we need
things to
change will not be driven by companies in the form of new
products, but
rather by communities of scholars and librarians in the form
of fluid,
exchangeable collections metadata.  Neither Ex Libris nor
III nor any
one entity can create that by design.  MARC reinforces that
fundamental
restriction on how we think about our metadata - is metadata
just for
our institutional information silos or is it part of the
broader
continuum of learning and scholarship?  If it is the latter,
MARC only
hinders us.  


-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org] On Behalf Of Ron
Peterson
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 11:39 AM
Cc: web4libwebjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] The Ultimate Debate: Do Libraries
Innovate?

I disagree that it isn't in the best interest of the vendors
to change.
I think librarians have demanded continuing support for MARC
and tied
the vendors hands.  In my experience, it seems that the
vendors often go
out of their way to keep MARC around, because we wouldn't
buy their
systems if they didn't.  But I don't think we should let the
vendors off
the hook either.  They could have been more creative in
meeting our
demands while developing innovative systems.


_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/
_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/