[Sigia-l] OT: Library Thing

[Rennie, Christopher]

 <SNIP>

Listera wrote:

> Do people actually catalog their physical media possessions? Why would

> anyone spend so much time on this?

Then there's the practical consideration of simply making sure you don't
purchase an item (book, audio CD, etc.) that you already own.

</SNIP>

FWIW, I would second the above consideration, especially if you happen
to enjoy a particular area like music to the point where something like
a CD collection which can grow to a point beyond being able to keep it
all squarely in mind.  (e.g. Do I have this particular recording of this
particularly symphony orchestra doing this particular piece?  It is not
always an easy question to answer.)

Additionally, I would add to that consideration some practical
applications of a physical catalog for a valued personal collection:

1)  It provides an easy personal inventory for insurance purposes.

2)  It provides an easier way to identify if you have a thing for
comparison purposes.  (Performer X doing a cover of a song by performer
Y)

3)  It provides a measure of backup for those things I value for digital
use.  (My mp3s are used in my portable player but expendable if my
laptop/iPod is destroyed.  Not so for those items I only own digitally.)

4)  It can provide a point of information sharing and comparison for the
obscure and undervalued portion of media that live in the "long tail"
community.

I would agree that there is a size a threshold towards making it
worthwhile, and I certainly would not extend such effort towards every
material thing in my life.  It may seem silly for a couple of dozen
things, but for a couple of thousand, maybe there is some value born.
However most of the things we take for granted start out quite small and
grow due to them finding a community of interest.    

For myself with an interest in Celtic culture folk music, my little
database of my CD collection does far more than keep me from buying the
same item twice.  It keeps me insured that I know what I have should it
need replacement at some point (as my insurance company can only insure
down to specific items if they have an inventory); it keeps me confident
that I have not lost any music I love when my laptop gets dropped by the
airport TSA guard for the 30th time (Which has not been true for
purchased mp3s, etc.).  It keeps my participation in the community rich
by providing an information stream as to where particular tunes or songs
are recorded, etc.   (Finding recordings of particular tunes in
particular styles is largely a word of mouth exercise in Irish and
Scottish music.)  Finally I do it because no one else could inventory
and catalog my collection or would.    

I will not be surprised if I die and it disappears as ephemeral effort,
but it has been a useful effort to me and my circle of common interest.
I would like it better if it was subsumed into a larger effort or
possibly helped seed a larger effort, but only time will tell if it has
anything larger than parochial value.  

Amazon and Google and whoever else may be proposing that they will
eventually get it all (whatever they might mean or imply by that), but I
simply do not think they will ever get to the obscurities like some of
my collection of Celtic folk music that fascinate me.  Amazon frequently
has no listing for a CD I have in my hands, let alone the locally
recorded stuff.  Local recordings....house concerts....unpublished
tracks.  There is simply no money in it for them in such a narrow
market.  As a librarian first and a technologist second, I generally
wrinkle my nose at the thought that profit-centered business models such
as Google or Amazon have any intent to move beyond those items which
provide 90% value to 90% of the people.  As a stalwart member of the 10%
interested in the value found in the remaining 10%, I think there is a
reason for some folks with the willingness to put in the sweat towards
cataloging the obscure.  I would hate to think in the event of some
catastrophe only the stuff crawled or indexed by Google and Amazon gets
preserved.

Who knows, your collection eventually may be the only surviving record
of authority.  

Just my $.02 on the topic, though.

Cheers,

Christopher

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Christopher Rennie, MLIS
Library Technology Product Manager
ProQuest Information & Learning
Christopher.Rennie at il.proquest.com
Telephone Extension: 3033
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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