On Fri, 29 Aug 2008, Patricia Williams wrote:
> I believe that the core standard serves users well. Used in the right
> way, it can increase cataloging productivity, which is a matter of
> interest to supervisors and administrators alike, and it makes best use
> of cataloger's judgment, which is the only way to get catalogers to
> think realistically about what they are doing and why.
I must disagree with the expressed concepts. What few differences are
there between "core" and "full" [level "I" to full PCC] cataloging that
truly benefit either the library patron or the cataloging community? Is
the trade-off between "full" cataloger's judgment [and competence] and
careful attention being paid primarily to what must be left out worth the
regressive supervisorial and cataloging effort? Is it responsible and/or
collaborative to contribute records to the cataloging community designed
to [ostensibly] save local resources yet requiring expenditure of
additional effort by others after-the-fact? Is *simplified* cataloging
really "the only way to get catalogers to think realistically about what
they are doing and why", or would it be more appropriate to work at
getting the bottom-line-oriented administrators to appreciate more fully
what their organizations are [or ought to be] doing and why, regardless of
the monetary cost of providing consistently thorough and unfettered access
to unlimited information?
Local budgetary constraints on cataloging costs are entirely the result
of an increasing lack of collaboration between separate competing
institutions [OK, some blame has to be laid on those who would restrict
public access to information in a Corporate State]. Thorough initial work
that benefits the entire cataloging community [once the purview of our
Federal government and its library] reduces costs for all members of that
community, and that is why more attention should be paid to expanding a
basic quality "cooperative cataloging" ethic than to dumbing down the end
result.
John G. Marr
Cataloger
RMBA, UNMGL
Univ. of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
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**"I really like to know the reasons for what I do!"**
Martha Watson
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sharing is permitted.
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