Re: LoC meeting at Google on Bibliographic Future

If we based standards (in part) on user studies, perhaps we could avoid
doing a lot of time-consuming, expensive work on something our users
don't care about and don't use.

What standard do I use to keep the echo in libraries from getting any
louder?

M. Andrews

-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB <at> listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Karen Coyle
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 9:15 AM
To: NGC4LIB <at> listserv.nd.edu
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] LoC meeting at Google on Bibliographic Future

That's a great quote -- where is it from? And the minutes of the
inaugural meeting are much more informative than the discussion paper
that is supposed to go along with it.

As for that quote, at the recent ALA I was at a discussion of RDA, and I
passed along a question that had been asked of me: Is RDA being based on
user studies? And Barbara Tillett responded (sounding a bit annoyed):
"You don't base standards on user studies!"

kc

Simon Spero wrote:
> The full name  of the working group is "Library of Congress Working
> Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control", which gives a bit more
> context. The best overview available at the moment are the minutes of
> the inaugural meeting
>
<http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/meetings/docs/LCWGMinutes110306
final.pdf>.
>
> From all I've heard this WG could actually get a lot done.  It's a
> good sign that the  meetings are open, and that the first meeting to
> be held is focused  on user needs.
>
>  To quote  a Line:
> "[XXXXX] is one of the most remarkable examples of trying to solve a
> problem by committee, with predictable results ... No data on users'
> needs were collected: instead cataloguers discussed how to change the
> rules, rather as if hens were to gather together to discuss the design
> of eggs."
>
> Simon
>
> On 3/5/07, *Simon Spero* <sesuncedu <at> gmail.com
> <mailto:sesuncedu <at> gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     There's  a bit more information available in the minutes of the
>     inaugural meeting
>
<http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/meetings/docs/LCWGMinutes110306
final.pdf>,
>     which are available online.
>
>     The full name  of the working group is "Library of Congress
>     Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control", which puts
>     things a little bit more context.
>
>     It's a good sign that the  meetings are open, and that the first
>     meeting to be held is focused  on user needs. To borrow a Line,
>     "AACR2 is one of the most remarkable examples of trying to solve a
>     problem by committee, with predictable results ... No data on
users'
>     needs were collected: instead cataloguers discussed how to change
>     the rules, rather as if hens were to gather together to discuss
>     the design of eggs."
>
>     Simon
>
>
>     On 3/5/07, *Karen Coyle* < kcoyle <at> kcoyle.net
>     <mailto:kcoyle <at> kcoyle.net>> wrote:
>
>         I'm going to attend the first public meeting of Library of
>         Congress'
>         task force on the "bibliographic future" -- it's being held on
>         Thursday
>         at Google. I have no idea what the task force is aiming at,
>         and the
>         background paper for this meeting strikes me as being rather
>         weak. This
>         particular meeting is on "Users and Uses of Bibliographic
Data"
>         ( http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/meetings/
>         <http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/meetings/>). I will
>         attempt to
>         blog the meeting in some detail, if it has substantial
content.
>

--
-----------------------------------
Karen Coyle / Digital Library Consultant
kcoyle <at> kcoyle.net http://www.kcoyle.net
ph.: 510-540-7596
fx.: 510-848-3913
mo.: 510-435-8234
------------------------------------