Rocking the Metaverse:

A/V Cataloging in a Web X.0

Environment OLAC/MOUG 2008

Lynne C. Howarth

Faculty of Information

University of Toronto

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

A walk down memory lane - 1

OLAC 1998Audio/Visual materials

Increasing prevalence of the WebWebsitesPortals

CDs / DVDs (read only)Interactive multimedia

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

A walk down memory lane - 2

OLAC 1998Audio/Visual materials

Digital and analog mediaE-commerce – Amazon.com“social commerce” – eBayDigital libraries – e.g., Colorado Digitization

Project (CDP), 1999-

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

A walk down memory lane - 3But not yet…

I-pods; MP3 playersCamera phonesHandheld devices with GPS, e-mail, etc., etc.USB memory sticksSocial networking sites – FaceBook(124M);

MySpace (245M); LinkedIn (25M)

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

A walk down memory lane - 4

But not yet…Social tagging sites – Flikr; deli.cio.us;

LibraryThing; CiteULike (and entertaining derivatives, such as Wordle)

And LC’s pilot with Flikr http://www.loc.gov/blog/?p=233 (2008)

Google KnolTM; WikipediaBlogs, wikis, aggregated content, Mashups, rss

feeds, Twitter.com (2008), etc., etc.Second Life; GoogleTM Lively (July 2008)

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

A walk down memory lane - 5

OLAC 1998The State of Cataloguing

1997 Toronto Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR

Content versus Carrier CC:DA Task Force on Rule 0.24

Dublin Core 1995-ISBD(ER) 1997CC:DA Task Force on MetadataIFLA Working Group on Metadata Schemas

1998-

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

A walk down memory lane - 6But not yet…

RDA: Resource Description and Access, 2009ISBD Preliminary Consolidated Edition, 2007IME ICC Statement of International Cataloguing

Principles, 2008RDF – Resource Description Framework

Singapore Framework for DC Application Profiles, Sept. 2007 (maximizing interoperability and usability of metadata)

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

A walk down memory lane - 7But not yet…

OCLC WorldCatSteve.museumEndeca; Primo (ExLibris); Encore (Innovative

Interfaces); WorldCat Local Biblio Commons – “ the first truly social online

catalog” –Free Range Librarian blog, Nov 2007

Time flies …when you’re having fun

Or immersed in a digital revolution

A/V materials … from “non-book” channel …

To digital mainstream

And A/V cataloguers … from Cinderella …

To Metaverse avatar

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Cinderella …???

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Some operational definitions

Metaverse:The Metaverse is a virtual world, described

in Neal Stephenson's 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, where humans, as avatars, interact with each other and software agents, in a three-dimensional space that uses the metaphor of the real world. The word metaverse is a compound of the words "meta" and "universe".

-- Wikipedia

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Libraries in the Metaverse of Second Life

Over 400 tech-savvy librarians representing over 30 academic libraries are currently active in Second Life.. On Information Island, users can ask questions at a virtual reference desk, search Google, Wikipedia and other resources, and participate in lectures.

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

So here we are …

Virtual reference librarians …avatars in metaverse …

But where are the cataloguers …??

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Whoaaaa … a step back

Developments in cataloguing from 1998-2008 as they relate to the dynamic evolution of born digital resources

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Where it began for AACR – The Toronto Conference, 1997

International Conference on the Principles & Future Development of AACR - Toronto Conference 1997

Three areas of particular interest:Considering AACR within context of FRBR and user

tasks – Find, Identify, Select, Obtain (FISO) – and entities – Work, Expression, Manifestation, Item

Logical structure of Parts 1 and 2 of AACR – entity-relationship modelling

Primacy of carrier over content (AACR 0.24)

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Towards AACR3 …JSC continues to issue amendments to AACR2

– 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005JSC continues work on revisions to 0.24;

Chapter 3, 9, 12 (seriality); logical structure; principles

September 2004 – Delsey appointed editor of AACR3

October 2004 – JSC sees Part I of AACR3; December 2004 Draft issued for constituency review

Extensive comment in response to review review of Draft for discussion at JSC meeting, April 2005

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Towards RDA …April 2005 – name change to RDA – Parts I

(Resource Description), II (Relationship), III (Access Point Control) proposed

December 2005 – Draft of RDA Part I (Chapters 1-2, 4-6) issued for constituency review

April 2006 – RDA restructured to Parts A (incorporating former Parts I and II) and B (Part III) – or, loosely, bibliographic elements based on FRBR model (Part A), and authority control elements based on FRAD model (Part B)

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Towards RDA …

August 2006 – Part A – Categorization of content and carrier

October 2006 – IME ICC draft Statement of International Cataloguing Principles affirmed as basis of cataloguing principles throughout RDA

October 2006 – meeting with Dublin Core and IEEE-LOM representative – engagement with metadata communities

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

RDA 2009 …

October 2007 – new organization for RDA announced – 10 sections; 37 chapters – to fine-tune RDA to better align with FRBR/FRAD models

December 2007 – Drafts of Sections 2-4, and 9 issued for review

Complete full draft of RDA to be issued in online product for review, mid-October 2008

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

RDA 2009 …

RDA released in third quarter of 2009! LC, NAL, and NLM – “… a decision to

implement the rules will be based upon the positive evaluation of RDA's utility within the library and information environment …. - D. Marcum (May 1, 2008)

2009/early 2010 CoP national libraries evaluate prior to implementation – JSC Sept. 19, 2008

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Resolving the “content/carrier problem” from AACR - 1

RDA 6.10 Content typeContent type reflects the fundamental form

of communication in which the content is expressed and the human sense through which it is intended to be perceived. For content expressed in the form of an image or images, content type also reflects the number of spatial dimensions in which the content is intended to be perceived and the perceived presence or absence of movement.

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Resolving the “content/carrier problem” from AACR - 2

RDA 3.2 Media typeMedia type reflects the general type of

intermediation device required to view, play, run, etc., the content of a resource.

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Resolving the “content/carrier problem” from AACR - 3

RDA 3.3 Carrier TypeCarrier type reflects the format of the

storage medium and housing of a carrier in combination with the type of intermediation device required to view, play, run, etc., the content of a resource.

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

So what about the content/carrier types?

Based on and derived from the RDA-ONIX Framework for Resource Categorization (August 2006)Clearly delineates content from carrier

Recognizes increasing prominence/ predominance of non-textual resourcesSpecific; detailed; inclusive (and exclusive)

Brings together two metadata “communities” – cataloguing and publishingPossibilities for harvesting, exchanging data

following common standard

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

ISBD ConsolidatedBringing the “family of ISBDs” together

in one consolidated text – with “preliminary” signalling other changes to come

Pending worldwide review of changes to material designations – recognizing importance of signalling content and carrier in a separate [new] area of description

RDA views ISBD as display format

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

IME ICC - 1Statement of International Cataloguing

Principles, April 10, 2008 versionIntroduction: “These new principles

replace and broaden the Paris Principles from just textual works to all types of materials ….” (p.1)

General Objectives (p. 2)0.9 Integration. The descriptions for all

types of materials …should be based on a common set of rules, as far as possible.

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

IME ICC - 2Statement of International Cataloguing

Principles, April 10, 2008 version.Content type – A designation that reflects the

fundamental form of communication in which the content is expressed and the human sense through which it is intended to be perceived. Content type reflects attributes of both work and expression. [Source: modified from Jan. 2008 Glossary for RDA]may serve as optional access points or as filtering or

limiting devices for a search (7.1.3)

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

IME ICC - 3Statement of International Cataloguing

Principles, April 10, 2008 version.Carrier type – a designation that reflects the

format of the storage medium and housing of a carrier in combination with the type of intermediation device required to view, play, run, etc., the content of a resource. [Source: modified from Jan. 2008 Glossary for RDA] – may serve as optional access points or as filtering or

limiting devices for a search (7.1.3)

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Bringing it all together … In 1998 the world was simpler … Or so we think, now!

BUT in 2008 … We have tools (RDA, FRBR; FRAD; etc.) We have better technologies We have more friends (museums, archives, publishers, etc.) We have more sources of information (metadata) We have places at multiple tables, and even more credibility We have an untapped source of even more information – in

Web 2.0 terms

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Bringing it all together - 2And it’s also true we have more “stuff”

More born digitalMore “A/V” to catalogue

Much more

And we have David Weinberger: “The Library of Congress’s carefully engineered,

highly evolved processes for ordering information simply won’t work in the new world of digital information.” (Everything is Miscellaneous, c2007)

And LIS education that is less “amenable” to “cataloguing courses”

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

This is Where Mainstream Helps!Pretend you are a metaverse avatar – perhaps

a CATavarCapable of drawing analogies for dealing with new

formatsSufficiently skilled and experienced to put RDA in

context – content, media, carrier typesServing metaphorically as the metadata gatherer –

combining the best of controlled vocabularies with social tagging

Harvesting user-created metadata to complement standards-derived metadata (LibraryThing =>Library) [see also steve.museum]

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Still pretending to be a CATavarUsing Web 2.0 in the metaverse to create

Library X.0 communicats – OPACs for the people (and a little bit by the people)

Determining where structure is important, and where there is room for public engagementall those digital images, and MP3s, and

tagged collections of infinite variety (and, of course, of some inherent value to our repositories)

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Bearing in mind that …

“… open doesn’t always work. Sometimes we do need closed, controlled. We need a world with both open and closed.”

Chair, Creative Commons James Boyle

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Finally …(almost) It is a keynote’s prerogative to

be provocative – even fun Melville’s world is changing,

but the foundations still pertain

You will spend 3 days revisiting fundamentals, while also engaging with what’s new

You can forget everything that seems frivolous in what I have said

Melville Dewey

Sept 26-08 Copyright Lynne C. Howarth, U of Toronto

Finally (this time)You have a real life, and a real job, in a real

world, with real digital and other resourcesBUT …In those moments between learning

Think of an Island, a metaverseWhere virtual CATavars gather metadata from

virtual avatars to create records for the collections of virtual resources in the Island Library

Think Library X.0

AND …

Get a Second Life!

Thank-you!

Questions? Comments?