[Sigia-l] IA and medium

[Steven.L.MacCall]

commentary on Eric's note attached below:

Two points concerning how the professional librarian community overcomes
the limitations of physical item categorization (i.e., that one physical
item can only be placed (or displayed) in one place in the
categorization/classification scheme):

1) Professional librarians have a *choice* of classification schemes ...
if I am starting a public library, I use DDC for a book ... if I am
starting a research library, I use LCC *for the same book*. In fact, a
cataloging record for a given book that orginates from the LoC comes with
both classification numbers already assigned. Same book presented in two
different organization contexts (in two different types of libraries).

AND

2) The MaRC system (http://www.loc.gov/marc/) for encoding the
classification (and other) metadata for libraries includes the ability for
individual libraries to classify uniquely, if their user population
requires a deviation from the "offical" classifcation scheme class number
assignments.

So, there you have it ... when you stop thinking of what a librarian would
do, and start thinking of what *librarians* (plural) do as a network of
information (IA is still too fadish a term) professionals, you'll find the
the professional librarian community already offers the ability to
overcome "one physical item can only be in one category" limitation:
Different libraries display physical items in (potentially) different ways
to their users, because each professional librarian is able to apply the
appropriate universal classification (e.g., DDC or LCC) schemes OR if
their professional judgement requires deviation, then those schemes can be
systematically circumvented, whereby a local library might have a
different call number than another library because of the categorization
requirements of their local users.

Remember, this explantion is not for an individual library, but for the
system of professional-run libraries that encircle the earth...the
broadest of broad [research] question (from a categorization perspective)
is can this model be extended to organizing networked information
resources??  Here's where the IA field can contribute to LS, as LS deals
with developing ways to organize the latest evoluationary format (stone
table ==> papyrus ==> paper ==> digital documents): Can We (royal "we" --
as information researchers and frontline for-profit information
architects) be as successful in developing ways to facilitate the display
of appropriately/effectively organized resource options to users in a
networked information space as librarians have been in displaying physical
items on different libraries' shelves to users ambulating through the
physical information spaces of our libraries?

back to lurking now...

slm
--
Steven L. MacCall, Ph.D.
Coordinator, UA DLAWS Navigation Lab
http://dlaws.slis.ua.edu/
Assistant Professor
School of Library and Information Studies
The University of Alabama

On Mon, 13 May 2002, Eric Reiss wrote:

> I think Christina’s raised an interesting point in that a good web IA
> may make a lousy librarian and vice versa. There are a lot of
> problems related to browser-based information categorization and
> display that are fairly unique in nature. I think the main difference
> between our business and that of anyone else who must categorize
> information (or sort things) is that we can easily replicate
> individual units ad infinitum. This, in turn, allows us to create
> several different categorization systems simultaneously.
>
> For example, as a child, I collected baseball cards. I entertained
> myself by creating different sorting systems: by team, by position,
> by ERA/batting average, by age, etc. But...I could only have one
> system in operation at any given time since I only had a single set
> of cards with which to work.
>
> As I see it, the most creative aspect of our job deals with
> discovering new (and hopefully more convenient) ways to categorize
> information that has traditionally been arranged in only one way. And
> by offering visitors a choice of categorization schemes, one would
> assume that we can better meet their immediate informational needs.
>
> Best regards,
> Eric
>
> -----------------------
> eric reiss
> principal
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> http://www.e-reiss.com
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