I just had to share this from the Laughing Librarian:

The OPAC Sucks

Recorded by: the anAACRonisms

the OPAC sucks, that’s all i gotta say
you’re outta luck if you can’t spell “Hemingway”
i’m getting bad results
don’t act like it’s my fault

the OPAC sucks, a sad calamity
like it’s stuck in 8 million b.c.
the title that i seek
is buried very deep

the OPAC sucks so bad that it’s a crime
the law is broken: “save the reader’s time”
what does it want from me?
i’m stumbling blindly

the OPAC sucks, people are confused
it runs amok, committing its abuse
years and years and years ago, computers replaced cards
how come finding what i want is still so goddamn hard?

the OPAC sucks, that’s all i gotta say …

(Lyrics and music: Smith)

‡biblios.net is a free browser-based cataloging service with a data store containing over thirty-million records.  It grants the user a “nonexclusive right to use Data under the terms of the Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence.”

I searched for Cluetrain Manifesto and came up with ten MARC records, including this one:

000	01375cam a2200289Ia 4500
001	23521373
003	BIBLIOS
005	20070216105303.0
008	010516r20012000mau 000 0 eng
020	##|a0738204315 (pbk.)
020	##|a9780738204314 (pbk.)
035	##|a(OCoLC)46955549
040	##|aRDC|cRDC|dOCLCQ|dBAKER|dBTCTA|dYDXCP|dNTE|dBIBLIOS
050	00|aHF5548.32|b.C56 2001
082	04|a303.4833
245	04|aThe cluetrain manifesto : |bthe end of business as usual /|cRick Levine … [et al.].
260	##|aCambridge, Mass. : |bPerseus Pub.,|cc2001.
300	##|axxii, 190 p. ;|c25 cm.
505	00|gThe|tcluetrain manifesto –|tIntroduction –|tInternet apocalypso /|rChristopher Locke –|gThe|tlonging /|rDavid Weinberger –|tTalk is cheap /|rRick Levine –|tMarkets are conversations /|rDoc Searls and David Weinberger –|gThe|thyperlinked organization /|rDavid Weinberger –|tEZ answers /|rChristopher Locke and David Weinberger –|tPost-apocalypso /|rChristopher Locke.
650	#0|aElectronic commerce|xSocial aspects.
650	#0|aCustomer relations|xTechnological innovations.
650	#0|aInternet marketing.
650	#0|aIntranets (Computer networks)
650	#0|aCorporate culture.
650	#0|aInformation superhighway|xEconomic aspects.
700	1#|aLevine, Rick.
998	##|d23521373|b9780738204315|b9780738204314|cThecluetrainmanifestothee

 

Typically when a library obtains a book, they go to OCLC to obtain the record.  Then the cataloger might add data specific to their library – for example an 099 local call number if it doesn’t use Dewey or LC.  OCLC is not free, however.  Also, the library cannot edit OCLC records.  It is not a collaborative effort, but a hierarchal procedure.

‡biblios.net, however, makes it possible to have collaborative records.  In the case of Cluetrain Manifesto, for example, there were 10 records from which to choose.  The library could choose whichever record suited its needs, and in fact submit a different record if it so chooses.  This is harnessing the collective intelligence – the “wisdom of crowds.”

Even a source seen as “authoritative” is not necessarily always correct.  Back in the 1960s when my husband was a teenager he was clamming in the bay near Westhampton with his father.  A small airplane caught its pontoons on some electric lines and crashed in the bay.  There was no one else around, so he and his father rowed over to the airplane and rescued the occupants, leaving them on the shore.   In the next issue of the local paper in the fire department blotter was a story about how the fire department had rescued the occupants of that plane!  This is just one example of why one cannot rely on any resource by itself as “the truth.”

Collective cataloging (like what is beginning to happen on ‡biblios.net) and moving away from a system where one source is seen as canonical, is perhaps a path to greater overall accuracy than the current dependence on traditional cataloging procedures and systems.

I would encourage you to listen to the podcast produced by the Library 2.0 Gang entitled The Cataloging Services Landscape, where they discuss this issue and the ramifications of a more competitive cataloging landscape to libraries.

I am reading The Cluetrain Manifesto which was written in 1999-2000.  Some of the points include  ”Markets are conversations,” “Markets want to talk to companies,” and “Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors.”  This is the crux of Web 2.0, prophetically described 10 years ago.  Doc Searls, one of the authors of Cluetrain, addressed this in his blog earlier this month.

In 1999 sites like AOL were dominant on the web.  For the most part the “masses” were using those services, and businesses had to use those services to reach those masses.  Then I remember people began to abandon AOL (and CompuServe and other services available at that time) for the world wild web.   Some of us mocked those who remained with these more structured service providers – preferring to create our own unique web experience.  There were then fewer and fewer ways for a business to reach the masses as the they left the structures of the original ISPs and explored the web for themselves, using a wide variety of software with differing protocols.

In many ways we have come full circle since 1999.  Social Media has become the new “AOL.”  Just as in the past if a business wanted to reach customers they had to set up a presence with AOL, now in order to reach the masses a business needs to have a Facebook page and a Twitter account.  To not have one or the other might spell economic suicide.  A company can create a unique well-designed web presence using all the latest and greatest web development tools; but can no longer believe that just because one builds it, “they will come.”  Unless, of course, they Tweet about it.  They need to be communicating to the markets in the way that the market wants to be spoken to.

The library, as it strives for customer-driven service policies, needs to serve the patrons in the manner that they wish to be served. It should also remember to keep its finger on the pulse of the patrons as the desires of the patrons change. And they will, we can count on it. We want to remain dynamically relevant.  We want to boldly try new technologies to see if they provide valuable services to the patrons.  On the other hand, we don’t want to be afraid to stop doing something that is no longer useful.  As Cluetrain says, “The community of discourse is the market.”

I had posted previously on trying Google Social Search. However, Mashable is reporting that it has disappeared.

I was interested in reading the comments on Mashable’s blog – ishmeme made the comment that the social search didn’t appear to work for them. That was the same observation I made.

Stay tuned to see if this is a glitch or if Google has discontinued the experiment….

 

I recently downloaded Audacity 1.3 Beta.  Audacity is an open source software that is used for creating and editing audio files.  It will run on Mac, Windows, or Linux machines.  Since it is open source, the source code is available to download and compile.

It has an incredible number of features, including editing sound quality, importing and exporting a wide variety of file types, and sound effects.

I found the software easy to use.  The software is intuitive and has helpful messages when needed.  I didn’t need to refer to the documentation, but there is extensive documentation available. There is an extensive Audacity Wiki, where users share tutorials and tips for using the software. There is an Audacity Forum where users can ask questions about all aspects of using the software, including hardware questions. There is a Developers Mailing List for those who are working on the actual code.

I used it for the audio track on a video I created, but Audacity is particularly suited to creating podcasts.  The tutorial above explains how to do so very clearly using Audacity.

I encourage everyone to try it!

I recently procured the book Everything is Miscellaneous from my local public library. This is a book, I believe that every librarian and MLS student needs to read.

What Weinberger is promoting is “messiness” being a virtue in a digital environment. He believes that as tagging increases, a data set is created that is more and more useful every day – particularly with images.

However, he doesn’t believe in the end of MARC, as some have accused him of believing (those who haven’t actually read his book from cover to cover). He also stated in the Many2Many blog specifically that he would like to see tagging integrated with the MARC records, creating a richer OPAC experience.

Roy Tennant, on the other hand, wrote in the Library Journal blog back in 2002 that “MARC must die.” He believes that MARC has outlived its usefulness. An example he gives is the inconsistency in encoding an editor in the 700 field. He states that “clinging” to MARC cataloging makes it difficult to serve patrons in a way they expect in the 21st Century. He has backpeddaled from this stand, but still feels that MARC and our cataloging system needs reworking.

There are certainly problems with tagging. Misspellings is one oft repeated example. I recall creating web pages for a grief recovery web site back in 2001, and having to put “greif” in the metatags to ensure that if a seeker misspells the word, he can still find the help he needs. Nowadays if you enter “greif” in a search engine, you will be asked “do you mean ‘grief’?” Perhaps that technology could be integrated into tagging mechanisms.

Nichole Engard quoted John Blyberg in a synopsis of a moderated discussion on Weinberger and Cataloging:

“Library 2.0 is not the dismissal of authority. It’s the retooling of authority and coming at it in different ways.”

I think that is it in a nutshell.

The Futurelib Wiki has several interesting scenarios for how to replace the current MARC records. Their first scenario – expanding MARC to include new data – seems to make the most sense to me. It makes little sense to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Let’s keep our current MARC records, and add the dimension of tagging in a searchable way. That is not a trivial problem, but a very solvable problem in this day of relational databases.

We need MARC, and the Library of Congress Subject Headings in particular, for the basis of the organization of information.  However, we need patron supplied tagging to increase information finding.

I have had this library copy of Weinberger’s book for so long that it is time that I purchased my own. I have placed an order through Amazon to purchase a used copy (the best recycling there is – used books!).

Malinky2Stoatir’s YouTube profile:

Name:Malinky

Channel Views:1,285,266

Age:47

Joined:November 14, 2008

Subscribers:7,170

Website:http://remindyouofanyone.blogspot.com/

Music & humor dedication for my own mental satisfaction

The door is unlocked for those who wish to join but do not judge me

I don’t need your understanding

I have my own intellect and sexual inspirations

Always craving the next wet smile with excitement

I have no drugs or drink

Only those beautiful endorphins and delightful films running through my head

Controlling that self-indulging animal

Music tames the savage beast

 

So I visited his blog where he shares his thoughts on Craig Ferguson.  There I found even more links to a couple other Web 2.0 tools where I could indulge my interest in Craig even further:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Malinky2Stoatir

MegaVideo: http://www.megavideo.com/?c=profile&user=Malinky%20Stoatir

Looking through the blog, I found a fascinating post about Malinky going to a Craig Ferguson book signing right in Union Square NYC!  He talked about how via Twitter he had found other Craig fans– meeting them at the book signing.  He shared the content of a Q&A session that the fans had with Craig.  Maybe if I Twittered more I could known to attend!

I am now “following” Malinsky on Twitter…

While researching for my earlier blog post, I discovered a Craig Ferguson Blog on WordPress, entitled Craig Ferguson News and Updates!

You can find his biography, a filmography, and a lot of interesting tidbits for Craig Ferguson fans, like me!  So in addition to the various library related blogs I have been adding to Google Reader, I can read more about Craig Ferguson!

I also recommend his book, American on Purpose.  You can get it from your local library – and is a fascinating read from start to finish.

I don’t watch a lot of television.  If I turn it on during the day it is to check the weather or perhaps the traffic.  Very little in prime time interests me either.  However, most of my adult life I have, for one reason or another, watched a lot of late night television.  I am old enough to have watched a lot of Johnny Carson.  Since then, while I have still watched Leno, Letterman, Conan, Tom Snyder, and Craig Kilborn, none of them ever came close to being as funny as Johnny.  Until Craig Ferguson…

However, Craig Ferguson doesn’t come on until 12:35 a.m.  I am rarely able to stay up that late to watch the program.  Thank God for YouTube.  I don’t know who user Malinky2Stoatir is, but I have been subscribed to his YouTube postings for quite a long time.  He keeps me up-to-date with my Craig Ferguson fix.

So when Letterman won’t shut up about Sarah Palin (enough already!), I turn the television off and visit Malinky2Stoatir’s page on YouTube (which he keeps up to date just about daily), and get an honest to goodness laugh.

Now that I am using the proper tool (Internet Explorer), I am able to make progress with the Wetpaint site.

 

 

This is pretty fun!