[Sigia-l] integrated catalogues?

[A.F. Cossham]

yes, all very interesting. Kind of misses the point in my example that

* not all the resources are created by librarians
* not all the resources are created FOR librarians
* federated searching still doesn't work particularly well when you are
dealing with a range of resources created by different providers.

Skot Nelson wrote:
> Is this a failing of technology, or of the sub-30 second attention
> span young kids (and I can't believe I just used that phrase, btw)
> have today?
> 
> I think that a world in which if what you want isn't ready
> immediately is not realistic. Academic research lives in a
> drastically different timeframe than google based trivia.

Well, realistic or not, that's the way it is. Telling me that you don't get
annoyed when your searches aren't returned in a matter of seconds? I don't
believe it! You know the technology can do better; you expect it to. And,
the good stuff does work fast.

Regardless of how academics have searched for resources (and please note,
I'm talking searching for resources across integrated catalogues, NOT
academic research which is a much more complex process), everyone wants
quick results.

Alexander Johannesen wrote:
> Libraries have a long tradition of designing things that are hard to
> use, cryptic to understand and generally produce sub-par results. But
> the good news is that they're coming around. Death to Z39.50 and
> functional specifications!!

I'm skeptical. Sub-par? What par? Compared with what? MARC, for example, may
be - IS - a dinosaur, but it enabled libraries to do what was not possible
in other ways. It is undoubtedly time for a change, but please think
realistically - we're talking about an 'industry' (for want of a better
word). Standards and specifications have enabled libraries to do what they
do, sharing information internationally. Sharing is a significant component.
Silos of information does not work.

Libraries still want to be able to share - so it's going to be a slow
process to convert everyone to whatever new is replacing existing stuff, no
matter how frustrating the existing stuff is. Sure, librarians need a better
attitude too (some colleagues are going to shoot me).


BTW, librarians have a long tradition of explaining to IT what they want
done, and having IT ignore them, so the librarians have to put up with a
less than ideal result. I don't know that librarians actually design the
systems they use ...

Regards
Amanda Cossham