RDA - Dead or Alive?

Resource Description and Access - RDA has been in development since 2004 with the intent to replace AACRII as the new cornerstone of cataloguing practice.

This undertaking has been met with a great deal of caution from practicing librarians and technicians. Despite the Joint Steering Committee for RDA claims that RDA builds on AACR to better incorporate all forms of content and media, it has evolved into a very large and, arguably, unwieldy resource. It has yet to be trialed and many cataloguers have left initial training sessions, shaking their heads in confusion. Considering that RDA is meant to be more inclusive, enabling other fields to use it as a means of organizing data, it is profoundly disappointing that it is shaping into a tool few understand and even fewer want to adopt.


There was no intention to create a printed version of RDA, even though sections of it can, in theory, be printed. Used primarily as an electronic resource, it is very difficult to understand how it can be used in the classroom to teach new cataloguers.

Although information on RDA has been trickling out for over 5 years, it is difficult to formulate a true sense of how this new tool is going to be incorporated into practice. Thus, I shall go out on a limb and state my reservations without seeing the "whole" package. It seems that its greatest liability is in trying to be a standard that extends beyond traditional "libary" work. Unfortunately, by trying to become more inclusive, the rules become more flexible. Yet, the purpose of defining rules is to provide structure, convention and uniformity. In its attempt at inclusiveness, RDA runs the risk of becoming unmanagable as cataloguers struggle to identify elements to be used in description. If the process of cataloguing is too complex, no one will want to use it!

Having used AACR extensively over my years as a teacher, I would like to have seen time and money invested in expanding AACR guidelines for non-print media. In addition, an overhaul of its examples would be warmly welcomed. Instead, we see a monumental effort made to craft a new tool (based, presumabley, on the prinicples of AACR). I could be mistaken but, from my armchair observations, RDA has morphed into an entity that does not serve the needs of cataloguers and their clientele. It has taken a very cerebral turn that has left many cataloguers baffled and concerned. Does it have real-life application and value? Perhaps the answer resides in trial testing that is supposed to be taking place in 2009.

At IFLA, even the Library of Congress expressed its dissatisfaction and concern over RDA. So WHO is it going to serve? WHO is going to teach us how to use it? And, finally, HOW are we actually going to apply it?

It truly amazes me to read through discussion blogs that centre around cataloguing and RDA and see the extreme intellectualization of the process. Granted, there SHOULD be core principles associated with organizing ideas and information but these must be principles that can easily be transferred to practice. AACR has done this. Will RDA enhance what we already have? The jury is out.


http://www.rdaonline.org/

Internet Archiving - Illegal?

In pre-Internet years, most people understood archiving to be a process of preserving original data for future research and analysis. Since much of today's society is migrating to a "life" on the Web, many worry that the preservation of web sites is essential to capturing the thoughts and ideas of the developed world. Sounds reasonable, right? Yet, we run into a huge problem. A printed document, whether it is a personal letter or a published book is considered something which can be "owned" and "preserved". A web site, however, is something that carries its own unique problems for preservationists.

Because anything on the Web must be hosted by a server and hosts fade in and out of existence, there is no assurance that once an item is published, it will be preserved. Although much can befall printed works, their requirements for longevity are far more promising. More than one may be produced and owned. "Hosting" a book or document can be a simple as a providing shelf space or filing cabinet space. Photocopiers allow archivists to preserve deteriorating materials and so on. Rights to information published on the Web, is very different. One can easily link to a document but it is entirely different to house that document - even in the interests of preservation. There is a fine line between archiving information and "copying" information. At least, that is what evolving copyright legislation would have us believe....

To cache or not to cache, that is the question. Linking versus caching. What is legally acceptable? Should we be concerned? At what point does ownership begin to interfere with the enhancement of knowledge or does it? How do we preserve what we are creating on the Web and is it feasible? These are difficult questions that need to be mulled over and discussed. As information professionals, we need to consider what ramifications law has on our need to gather and disseminate information.

A New Degree?

As the 21st century chugs along and we contend with issues about our economy, our health, and our planet, we also tend to grumble about how busy we are and how we all seem so overloaded with obligations and responsibilities. Part of this overload seems to stem from our "connectedness" through technology. With cell phones, email, products like twitter, rss feeds, television and even the old-fashioned land line phone system, our lives are filled with keeping up to what is going on around us. Most of us would agree that despite its usefulness, being informed is exhausting.

This is because the process of becoming "informed" is complex and constant. This is due to the fact that our world, whether we like it or not, is continually changing. Change is not new but our need, our compulsion to keep up with it, is. Of course, this is intrinsically tied to the availability of information. Since the creation of the printing press, the human desire to learn more about the world has increased. Now we have created a world where libraries are not repositories of information that can not be found elsewhere. Rather, they have become the "vetters" of the multitudes of information that is out there.

Recent studies are showing changes in the way children and young adults process information and look for information. Indeed, the general attitudes towards information, how it is collected and used, is changing. Although libraries have never been the stale, static relics that the media often portrays, they have had to change substantially in the last 15 to 20 years as technology has evolved. Not only has the technology changed library client expectations but it has also presented incredible opportunities for streamlining functions, sharing resources and developing new ways of managing knowledge.

Library technician diplomas were developed in an era where technological change was in its infancy. In North America, the old Bachelor of Library Science was eliminated to make way for an American Library Association accredited masters degree. This served the industry well, for a time. However, the need to share our perspectives on knowledge management, the changing uses and implications of technology on our behaviours, and the diversity of information formats and resources necessitates a deeper examination of the field. Here lies an opportunity to introduce a bachelors degree that focuses on information studies. Students can investigate the issues around information use and management to an extent that reaches beyond the diploma (which has little room for more in-depth enquiry).

Such a degree, or even a minor, could be a wonderful complement to other fields of study, particularly those with an applied focus. For example, a business major may see value in looking at the issues around business intelligence, human search behaviours and managing information. How people search, examine and process information may relate nicely to marketing, for instance.

And so, the LIBIT program is beginning its investigation of the viability of a degree.

Search Engine Optimization

In the mid to late 1990's, I spent a surprising amount of time "optimizing" my organization's ranking on search engines. In essence, I would make sure that when someone typed in our name, or something very close to that name, our website would pop up in the first five "hits". Since then, SEO (search engine optimization) has become an INDUSTRY designed to cut in at the front of the result-line when some unknown stranger blithely types in a keyword search.

An Industry?

There are actually companies who are paid to audit other organizations' sites, recommend strategies for improving result list results and/or manage the optimization on a longer term contract. There are thousands of these consulting companies but most focus on American, Canadian and United Kingdom clientele.

As in the old days, there are strategies that fall in accordance with the policies and guidelines set out by major search engines (like Google) and then there are techniques that ignore these conventions and look for sneakier ways to improve results. Since money is the driving force for the these activities, linking searchers with the BEST information is not really a priority.

So how does this kind of activity affect the information we find on the Web? I wonder what kind of influence it has (and will continue to have) on the quality and accessibility of information. Perhaps, such activities will only further enhance the role of libraries....?

In the Beginning....

As I venture into the blog scene, I wonder where it will take me. My hope was to create a place where LIBIT alumni and students could share their ideas. There is so much going on in the world of information - so much that most of us are unable to really keep up. However, we wouldn't be library folk if we didn't try!

So, as I sit in the semi-darkness, thinking about my career, my education, and my fantasy of winning the 649, I also wonder about the future of libraries. A colleague that worked for OCLC recently informed me that 69% of people surveyed from around the world picture books when they hear the word "library". Yet, are we not trying to brand ourselves as technologists, computer savvy and web friendly. Hmmmm....

I think we need to look at technology from a new angle. We have let it overtake most aspects of our lives yet we don't really kick back and think about the implications its influence has over our culture, our habits, our work, our environment, and even our education. Most people I talk with (and I don't just mean students) complain that they are "swamped", "run off their feet", "overwhelmed", and just plain "exhausted".

If we are so busy, where do we find time to enjoy a good read? Enjoy a good play? Conversations with friends over a glass of wine? I suspect many of us don't get enough of that richness that makes life something to savour. I know I feel constantly frustrated that I can't keep up, while wishing I could sink my soul into a delicious novel. It is a constant battle. A good friend of mine says that IT people refer to it as "change fatigue". I really like this term. If only I could put it to good use.

Where does this leave libraries, museums and, even, archives? We leave so little time for reflection and exploration. Are these institutions immune to our growing distractions? I fear that I have more questions than answers!

Welcome to the LIBIT Scene

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The intention of this blog is to inspire discussion and debate on issues related to the field of information studies. There is a lot to talk about! Everything from education to copyright law.