I'm subscribed to this list serv and the one devoted to RDA. Certainly
there must be some dovetailing between the two to come up with a framework,
description and new products. Maybe there is something I am missing in what
I've been reading, but any frameworks and description standards seem to show
little regard each other, with NISO pretending bibframe and RDA don't exist
at all and charging for a web conference which for many of us is a hefty
sum. We are all interested and curious about the larger picture all these
factions will form inside the library environment as well as outside and how
each will interact.
We can also pretend we are operating outside any concern for the role of the
information professional and his/her utility in all this. Catalogers, or
anyone who creates and manages metadata, have adapted to changes in
standards. I am interested in seeing how this all works together in a new
environment, but I am also concerned that with all my adapting and support,
I will be considered obsolete before I truly am by higher-level
decision-makers. I think one unspoken hurdle to the "buy in" is the current
economic and business culture that jumps to earth-scorching conclusions
about how to migrate from "old school" to "new school". The interest and
support is there to adapt, but professional judgment that is transferrable
should still matter in the new environment.
There is also some hesitation working with the powerful publishing industry
and huge bibliographic utilities as part of this process when description
and access mean one thing to commercial interests and another to research
interests.
I could be mistaken. If there is something that RDA, BIBFRAME, and NISO are
already doing together, let me know. If collaboration is indeed in the form
of what's presented in the NISO webinar, which looks really interesting,
then it should be more affordable for more people to see.
Cindy Wolff
-----Original Message-----
From: Bibliographic Framework Transition Initiative Forum
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tom Morris
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 11:36 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [BIBFRAME] Inviting community engagement on building a
bibliographic roadmap
On Tue, Jan 15, 2013 at 7:36 AM, Todd Carpenter <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Good afternoon, Bibliographic Exchange community,
>
> Last fall, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation generously awarded the
> National Information Standards Organization (NISO) with a grant to
> support an initiative that will develop a community roadmap toward a
> new bibliographic exchange environment. This roadmap will help
> support movement toward a future of bibliographic information exchange
ecosystem.
So NISO is taking over coordination of bibliographic information standards
from the Library of Congress? Has the LC agreed to cede the field?
For all of its lack of transparency and other problems, at least the LC
isn't a "pay to play" organization like NISO. The Mellon Foundation could
have subsidized the recent outrageously expensive BIBFRAME webinar instead.
That probably would have done more to advance the cause in the immediate
term than an 18 month study resulting in a report and no software,
standards, or any other work product.
Adding an additional group to the fray as a way to improve coordination
reminds me of this strip: http://xkcd.com/927/
Tom
p.s. How much was the grant for? I'm curious what the going rate for a
meeting, 4 teleconferences, and a final report is these days.
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