1,720,994 research outputs found
Special issue: Reshaping the library catalog: selected papers from the International Conference FSR2014 (Rome, Feb. 27-28, 2014). Guest editors: Agnese Galeffi and Paul Gabriele Weston
No full textA selection of papers based on presentations given at the International Conference "FSR2014 - Faster, Smarter, Richer. Reshaping the Library Catalogue", which was held in Rome on Feb. 27-28, 2014 and was jointly organized by the Vatican Library, the Vatican School of Library Science, and the Associazione Italiana Biblioteche (AIB). Various issues concerning developments in library catalogues and cataloguing standards and models are addressed from many international perspectives
Introduction
No full textIntroduction to the issue gathering together a selection of papers based on presentations given at the International Conference "FSR2014 . Faster, Smarter, Richer. Reshaping the library catalogue", which was held in Rome on February 27-28, 2014 and was jointly organized by the Vatican Library, the Vatican School of Library Science, and the Associazione Italiana Biblioteche (AIB). The history of the conference, its scopes, the organization of the sessions are outlined and some conclusions are drawn
La catalogazione degli stampati alla Biblioteca Vaticana dalla "Cataloging expedition" del 1928 all'introduzione del catalogo elettronico
No full textLo sviluppo delle Norme per il catalogo degli stampati, il codice catalografico utilizzato presso la Biblioteca Vaticana dagli anni Trenta alla fine del secolo scorso, viene analizzato, sia in relazione agli eventi che portarono alla loro elaborazione, sia in rapporto al contesto italiano ed internazionale in cui videro la luce. La struttura delle Norme viene esaminata analiticamente e confrontata con il Cataloging Code americano del 1908 e con le Regole italiane di catalogazione coeve. Viene illustrata la diffusione del codice sia attraverso le sue numerose traduzioni, sia attraverso l'insegnamento impartito dalla Scuola vaticana di biblioteconomia. Infine viene esaminato il modo in cui le norme catalografiche si sono evolute in seguito all'applicazione di procedure elettroniche di catalogazione
Cataloguing, a necessary evil: critical aspects of RDA
Get PDFThe Toolkit designed by the RDA Steering Committee makes Resource Description and Access available on the web, together with other useful documents (workflows, mappings, etc.).
Reading, learning and memorizing are interconnected, and a working tool should make these activities faster and easier to perform. Some issues arise while verifying the real easiness of use and learning of the tool.
The practical and formal requirements for a cataloguing code include plain language, ease of memorisation, clarity of instructions, familiarity for users, predictability and reproducibility of solutions, and general usability. From a formal point of view, the RDA text does not appear to be conceived for an uninterrupted reading, but just for reading of few paragraphs for temporary catalographic needs.
From a content point of view, having a syndetic view of the description of a resource is rather difficult: catalographic details are scattered and their re-organization is not easy.
The visualisation and logical organisation in the Toolkit could be improved: the table of contents occupies a sizable portion of the screen and resizing or hiding it is not easy; the indentation leaves little space to the words; inhomogeneous font styles (italic and bold) and poor contrast between background and text colours make reading not easy; simultaneous visualization of two or more parts of the text is not allowed; and Toolkit’s icons are less intuitive than expected.
In the conclusion, some suggestions on how to improve the Toolkit’s aspects and usability are provided
Varcare la soglia: il digitale nel catalogo, alcune riflessioni
Get PDFDigital cataloguing practices carried out by libraries, particularly public libraries, present a number of critical issues, that the Covid-19 contingency has greatly emphasised. Criteria adopted to identify and to describe digital reproductions of analogue publications, as well as native digital editions, appear to be inconsistent and misleading. So far cataloguers have acted on the assumption that digital reproductions have the same features of xeroxes, microfilms or microfiches. New software tools, combined with the greater flexibility of digital files, imply that differences existing between the two media should require a different treatment in terms of cataloguing. Characteristics specific to digital objects deserve to be described with the same care as those of analogue publications in the first place because they have an impact on the way readers can make use of them, and secondly because they could be used as search keys, especially as query facets. Another area of concern is the development of descriptive standards aimed at bringing into the catalogue resources of a different nature from bibliographic items. The reason for doing so is the idea of turning the catalogue into part of the semantic infrastructure of the web. Having given insufficient consideration to cataloguing principles and to catalogue functions, in favour of a more pragmatic approach, is threatening to strip the catalogue of its substance, encouraging at the same time the replacement of library services with those offered by subjects not sharing the same cultural and social goals.L'esperienza vissuta dalle biblioteche, specie di pubblica lettura, nel periodo del Covid-19 e la lettura di tre libri sul catalogo e la catalogazione hanno messo in luce alcuni limiti nel modo in cui il digitale viene trattato all'interno dei cataloghi. In particolare, appaiono particolarmente contraddittori e causa di disorientamento da parte dei lettori i criteri adottati per segnalare e descrivere le riproduzioni digitali di edizioni cartacee e le edizioni digitali nel pubblico dominio. Fino a oggi ha prevalso il presupposto che una riproduzione digitale abbia le medesime caratteristiche di una fotocopia, di un microfilm o di una microfiche. Nuovi dispositivi software, unitamente alla manipolabilità del digitale, fanno sì che tra la riproduzione analogica e quella elettronica esistano differenze tali da richiedere che quest'ultima venga trattata a fini catalografici in modo assai diverso. Le caratteristiche dell'oggetto digitale meritano di essere descritte allo stesso modo di quelle dell'originale cartaceo, in primo luogo perché hanno conseguenze non banali sul modo in cui il lettore ne può fruire e in secondo luogo perché possono essere esse stesse oggetto di ricerca, eventualmente come elemento filtro nell'impostazione dell'interrogazione. Ulteriore elemento di riflessione sono le conseguenze derivanti dall'evoluzione di dispositivi di rappresentazione volti a favorire la convergenza nel catalogo di risorse di nature anche molto differenti da quella bibliografica con l’obiettivo di fare del catalogo stesso uno degli strumenti per l'organizzazione semantica de web. Non essere partiti da una preventiva riflessione sui principi della catalogazione e sulla funzione del catalogo, ma aver seguito un approccio sostanzialmente pragmatico rischia di svuotare il catalogo delle sue prerogative e di favorire la sostituzione del servizio offerto dalle biblioteche con quello di soggetti che non hanno le medesime finalità culturali e sociali.
Il modello di riferimento per un Sistema informativo aperto per l’archiviazione = Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model [second edition].
No full textOriginariamente prodotto come parte di uno sforzo più ampio per sviluppare un set di standard formali per la conservazione a lungo termine di dati digitali generati nel corso delle missioni spaziali, Open Archival Information System (OAIS) ha costituito la base di un gran numero di standard e di protocolli, ha influenzato la progettazione di sistemi, la definizione dei requisiti dei metadati, la certificazione e altre questioni fondamentali ai fini della conservazione digitale. Questo Technology Watch Report ripercorre la storia, le caratteristiche principali e l’impatto del modello di riferimento OAIS. Il documento funge da introduzione a OAIS per coloro che non ne hanno ancora conoscenza, ma anche come una risorsa per coloro che già ne fanno uso, ma desiderano aggiornarsi sulle evoluzioni del modello. Esso si conclude con qualche riflessione sui principali benefici e le criticità di OAIS riscontrate nell’applicazione del modello in oltre un decennio di uso da parte della comunità che si occupa della conservazione digitale
"Tangible" problems encountered when working with REICAT and MARC 21. Recording General and Specific Material Designations
Get PDFI problemi che sorgono nella registrazione delle designazioni generiche e specifiche del materiale di REICAT in alcuni campi di MARC 21 sono analizzate attraverso mappature che evidenziano difficoltà derivanti dalle diverse concezioni sottese ai due strumenti. La prima mappatura confronta la DGM con il Leader/06, il Tipo di registrazione. Essa mostra il modo in cui alcuni tipi di record previsti in MARC 21 restino senza una corrispondenza. Dalla mappatura tra il Leader/06 e la DGM deriva anche la mappatura con i tipi di materiale del campo 008. Le maggiori difformità si riscontrano in questo caso per la DGM "Documenti elettronici", dato che una risorsa elettronica di natura principalmente testuale riceve come Tipo di registrazione (Leader/06) il codice a, vale a dire Materiale testuale. La terza mappatura si occupa sempre di DGM, in rapporto con il campo 007 di MARC21. In questo caso, tre elementi MARC 21 mancano di corrispondenza: f - Materiale tattile, o - Kit e r - Immagine di telerilevamento. Di recente, il MARC 21 è stato aggiornato per venire incontro alle novità introdotte da Resource Description and Access (RDA). Tuttavia, anche in questo caso la corrispondenza tra i rispettivi elementi non è del tutto univoca, e si riscontrano degli slittamenti tra MARC21, RDA e REICAT. Infine, è analizzato il rapporto tra MARC21 e DSM. Quest'ultima può essere mappata con la "Specific material designation" del "Physical Description Fixed Field - General Information", ma presenta problemi legati al diverso concetto di "testo" presente in REAICAT e MARC21.Problems in recording generic and specific designations of REICAT in some of the fields of MARC21 are analyzed through mappings highlighting some difficulties of the two tools. The first mapping compares GMD (General Material Designation) with Leader/06 (Type of record); it shows that some records in MARC21 have no correspondence in REICAT. From the mapping GMD/ Leader/06 it derives the mapping with materials of the field 8. The main differences in this case appear for GMD "Electronic resources", since a textual electronic resource receives as recording (Leader/06) the a code, "Textual document". The third mapping is related to GMD as well with relation to MARC21 Leader/07: Tactile material, Kit, and Remote-sensing image lack of correspondence. MARC21 has been recently updated to meet the needs of RDA (Resource Description and Access), however the elements correspondence is not univocal, with shifts between MARC21, RDA and REICAT. At the end, the author analyzes the relationship between MARC21 and SMD (Specific Material Designation), that can be mapped as "Specific material designation" of the "Physical Description Fixed Field - General Information", even though presenting some problems related to the different idea of "text" in REICAT and MARC21
Cataloguing principles, data, and catalogue features. Some reflections from IFLA ICP revision
Get PDFThe International Cataloguing Principles are currently being revised by IFLA’s Cataloguing Section. The group dedicated to carrying out this task is composed of Dorothy McGarry, Elena Escolano Rodriguez, Maria Violeta Bertolini, Bobby Bothman, and Agnese Galeffi. Rather than a radical revamping of the text, the revision is a relatively minor one.
Even if it seems a little paradoxical, the principles of cataloguing have to be updated in concomitance with the changes that occur in the functionality of catalogues. The aim of this presentation is to remind that principles, data, and the functionality of catalogues constantly exert a reciprocal influence on each other.
The title “Cataloguing principles, data, and catalogue features” juxtaposes three different elements: Principles (of cataloguing), Data, and the Functionality (of catalogues), but in reality this juxtaposition isn’t so bold. The section headed “Scope” in the 2009 ICP tells us that “The principles stated here are intended to guide the development of cataloguing codes. They apply to bibliographic and authority data and current library catalogues.”
Can it be possible that the principles are a “guide to the development of cataloguing codes” at the same time as being applicable to both data and catalogues? In order to effectively fulfil the role of a guide, principles should tend towards generality and universality. How, then, can it also possible to utilize them to assess two products of cataloguing work – data and library catalogues – which in turn are (also) composed of such data?
Cataloguing can be considered a phenomenology, which is to say a description of phenomena: the way in which a reality manifests itself. In fact, we can regard both resources and entities (to adopt FRBR terminology) as phenomena.
To gain a better insight into the revision of 2009′s ICP, it might be useful to ask ourselves exactly what, in a general sense, principles are. Well, it’s interesting to discover that they can actually be two different things, depending on whether you chose to interpret the term from a philosophical or scientific viewpoint.
The concept of a “principle” first emerged in the ancient Greek between the 7th and 6th centuries BC. The philosophers Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes spoke of an αρχή (archí), meaning “principle, beginning”, in their effort to identify the primordial substance from which all things originated. This chronological precedent also served a benchmark of value. Thus the term αρχή took on the more general meaning of “foundation” or “raison d’etre” in an essentially ideal, intrinsic sense. The Oxford dictionary defines “principle” as “a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behaviour or for a chain of reasoning.”
In the realm of the natural sciences, however, the term “principle” refers to the (more or less) universal methodological laws that the said sciences have to obey within the structure of their respective doctrines. These principles are based on experience; they are, in fact, generalizations of more specific laws.
So, to which of these two categories do cataloguing principles in fact belong? Are they philosophical or scientific principles?
In order to be philosophical principles, they would have to be representative of a basic principle underlying everything; they would have to be intrinsic and universal in nature; they would have to belong to cataloguing per se, be at its core, be its very essence. But can this really be possible?
In order to be scientific principles, they would have to be derived from generalizations drawn from practical, real life experience. In the FRBR – one ICP’s basis –, when addressing the “recommendations for a basic level bibliographic record”, we are informed that “the assessment was based in large part on the knowledge and experience of the study group members and consultants, supplemented by evidence in the library science literature gathered from empirical research, as well as assessments made by several experts outside the study group”. I would like to underscore the terms evidence, empirical and assessments, all of which refer to the perceptible, phenomenological world.
If a principle is derived from a vast amount of experimental experience, it follows that if that experimental experience changes in some way, then the principle (or principles) will also change. The principles we’re concerned here with are closely bound to the cataloguing experience, which is aimed at creating research tools. Changing the descriptive experience – what is described and for whom – should necessarily result in changes in the underlying principle or principles
- …
