Roy TennantCalifornia Digital Library
Roy Tennant
Life Beyond MARC:
The Case for Revolutionary
Change in Library Systems & Services
Life Beyond MARC:
The Case for Revolutionary
Change in Library Systems & Services
Where I’m Coming From
Challenges are merely opportunities viewed from below
There are three requirements for survival:– Having the right gear– Making the right decisions– Luck
We have far to go but we have a good start, and many models to emulate and improve upon
Key Messages
The game has changed
We can no longer simply do what we’ve always been doing
We must revisit our strategies & priorities…
…and reallocate resources to fulfill those new strategies & priorities
It may be painful, but it is certainly needed and overdue
A Mini History of Library Automation
Automation began in the back room:– Circulation – Cataloging (where we now rest comfortably on our laurels)– Acquisitions
And moved into public areas almost as an afterthought (why do you think we call them OPACS?)Systems were optimized for librarians, not usersPaper journal indexes were simply replaced with electronic versionsFew accommodations for remote users were made
Key Problems
Conflated management and discovery purposesCreated (or allowed to be created) stovepipe information systemsRested on our laurels after card catalog retrospective conversionSlow to exploit new opportunitiesReluctant to collaborate deeply on profession-wide level
Brief record
(e.g., ONIX)
Full record
(e.g., MARC)
Enhanced record
(e.g., METS)
Full-text
The Continuum
We must build systems that do the best they can with what is available
Relevance ranking and FRBR-inspired displays become essential
Library Discovery Systems
Must encompass everything that may be appropriate for a particular audience or needNeed to accommodate a continuum from a brief metadata record to the entire item [impact: acquisitions, cataloging, reference, systems]Must use weighting and ranking mechanisms to create more effective search results [impact: circulation, systems, cataloging, public services]
Implications of All This
You will not be doing tomorrow what you are doing today (resistance is futile)Better to participate in the change than to have it inflicted upon youDoing new things may mean not having to do other things you’ve grown to hateAn exciting time that requires vision, imagination, and flexibility