Information professionals have many roles in the lifecycle of information (Slone, 2008, page 16). Describing information is a integral facet of the cycle, though all of the elements are necessary for the cycle to function optimally.
The plethora of knowledge available is so vast that we cannot possibly hope to be able to have a handle on all of it. Information professionals are an intermediary in helping to make all of this information accessible. "To manage information seamlessly, without regard to physical format, requires developing a generic means of describing information. This information about information serves as a tool for managers and users of data to get a handle on the raw materials with which they work" (Phillips, 1995).
Some of the issues that arise when taking on the task of describing information, is the role and means of standardization. Other issues are: Are there ways that we can better descriptors , through catalogs and abstracts, to make information retrieval easier for the user? What costs are associated with describing information? How does this task, and the output that it produces, vary based upon the format of the information? What does the finished product look like, is it always the same? Are we providing the end-user with the best product possible? Do the role and process of describing information differ, based upon the intended audience? How does technology affect the equation? These are just some of the areas that I intend to explore further in future blog discussions.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback, and hope that we can use this blog forum to learn from one another.
References:
Phillips, John T Jr. (1995) Metadata-Information about electronic record. ARMA Records Management Quarterly, 29 (4), 52-55
Slone, D. (2008). Course supplement weeks 1-3 [PowerPoint slides].
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6 comments:
Your Introductory thoughts are similar to my thoughts on creating information. I think because they are very similsr topics.
Great introduction. I think many of us are looking for a better way to organize information. With metadata and online catelogues there is a lot of information, but sometimes is it difficult to find exactly what you want. For example, if you search Google, you will get the most popular responses not necessarily in the order you would choose. I look forward to reading more.
Some folks in the library world think that we should do away with the traditional OPAC - in other words, that we don't need catalogers to describe information when there are new web-based software programs like Endeca that function like search engines, with user-friendly interfaces. North Carolina State University has installed the first “next generation” online catalog like this in a library. The new software, Endeca’s Information Access Platform, replaces the old keyword search engine based on Boolean searches with state of the art retrieval technologies (Antelman, Lynema, and Pace, 2006). This actually appeals to me personally. It's a lot more fun, and easier too, to search with Google than it is to search an online catalog. The average library patron usually prefers something like Google, too. However, traditional OPACs are more precise for academic research, and they are good for subject browsing. I think we'll always need catalogers, but librarians need to play a bigger role in educating the public on the advantages of online catalogs, and in how to use them.
Antelman K., Lynema E., & Pace A.K. (2006). Toward a twenty-first century library catalog. Information Technology and Libraries, 25(3), 128-139.
where do you stand on the Dewey "traditional spelling" or whatever you want to call it where he spelled things the way that he thought the common man would spell them. It's a big point in descriptive information. How do you bridge the gap between the language of your cataloger and the language of your patron?
To me, the issue isn't so much bridging the gap on spelling for cataloging and retrieving information as it is for how the average patron would create a search criteria. In other words, we need to understand the psychology of the end user in their attempts to search for information when we organize information.
I am reminded of how some libraries are now changing their organization of books (and other material formats) to be more like bookstores thinking that this will appeal to youth (& others) more than the Dewey Decimal System. I guess more research is needed on information psychology to find out if such a transformation is useful.
By the way, Dewey's organization for was called the Spelling Reform Association. He mainly wanted a simplified form of spelling (given that the English language has ore exceptions to the rule than most languages).
Your introduction was very clear and defined things well. You have many questions or thoughts in the introduction that I hope you expand on in the future. You have an interesting angle on Describing, I can't wait for more.
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