Organization of Recorded Information
(Chapter 1)
Terri Perper
LBSC670
1
Why organize?
• Basic human desire
• “to form into a coherent unity or
functioning whole: integrate”
• “to arrange elements into a whole of
interdependent parts”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXtXU
gzYKkA
(Taylor & Joudry, 1)
2
What is information?
• “The communication or reception of
knowledge”
• “What we believe we organize when
organizing for the benefit of others”
(Taylor & Joudry, 3)
3
Bibliographic Control or
Information Organization…
“…is the process of describing information resources and
providing name, title, and subject access to the
descriptions, resulting in records that serve as surrogates
for the actual items of recorded information. These
surrogate records are then placed into information
retrieval tools, where the records act as pointers to the
actual information resources.” (Taylor & Joudrey, 4)
“The Bibliographic Record and Information
Technology” by Ronald Hagler
4
Function #1 of B.C.
• “Identifying the existence of all types of
information resources as they are made
available.”
(Taylor & Joudry, 5)
5
Function #2 of B.C.
• “Identifying the works contained within
those information resources or as parts of
them.”
(Taylor & Joudry, 5)
6
Function #3 of B.C.
• “Systematically pulling together these
information resources into collections in
libraries, archives, museums, Internet
communication files, and other such
depositories.”
(Taylor & Joudry, 5)
7
Function #4 of B.C.
• “Producing lists of these information
resources prepared according to standard
rules for citation.”
(Taylor & Joudry, 6)
8
Function #5 of B.C.
• “Providing name, title, subject, and other
useful access to these information
resources.”
(Taylor & Joudry, 6)
Authority-controlled name, title & subject access points
9
Function #6 of B.C.
• “Providing the means of locating each
information resource or a copy of it.”
(Taylor & Joudry, 7)
10
Organization of Info in Contexts…
•
•
•
•
•
Libraries
Archives
Museums
Internet
Digital Libraries
(Librarians Always Move In Delight.)
11
Libraries…
• Collection Development
-reviews
-gifts
-vendors
• Original cataloging
-Copy cataloging
-Cooperative cataloging
12
Libraries…
• The arrangement of collections
• The creation & maintenance of the
catalog
-online catalog: circulation info w/each
record
-portals: authorized users can access
many databases, local resources,
remote resources, reference help,
personal patron info
13
What is an archivist?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu6sR
NpnDSU
14
Archives…
• “Organization that preserves records of
enduring value that document activities of
organizations or persons & are
accumulated in the course of daily
activities”
(Taylor & Joudry, 11)
-unique items
-many different formats
-described in groups
-respect des fonds (provenance & original order)
-description: accession record & finding aid
-accessible to staff only
15
Museum Cataloging…
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ13prjl88
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEzA0
kn6wrE&feature=related
16
Museums…
• “visual material in 2 or 3 dimensional
form”
• Object at first registration imperfectly
known
• Extra fields in cataloging visual material
(materials, techniques, provenance, exhibition history, installation considerations, appraised value)
• Subject analysis very subjective
• Accessible to staff only
(Taylor & Joudry, 13)
17
The Internet…
• INFOMINE: portal administered by
librarians who create metadata (use of
Web crawlers)
• Dublin Core: metadata standard
• Connexion: available on OCLC’s Web
interface for cataloging
• Search engines
• Tagging & folksonomies
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasontravis/5453607562/in/set-72157603258446753
18
INFOMINE…
• http://infomine.ucr.edu/
19
Digital Libraries…
• “A collection of information resources in
digital form that are selected, brought
together, organized, preserved, and to
which access is provided over digital
networks for a particular community of
users”
• Initial goals: eliminate technical and
distance barriers from access
• Current goals: standardization,
organization, usability, software packages
(Taylor & Joudry, 453)
20
American Memory-LOC…
• http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u20lu6
NAtPU&feature=relmfu
21
Information Architecture (IA)…
• “A methodology for planning, designing,
building, organizing, and maintaining an
information system (usually associated
with systems on the Web).”
(Taylor and Joudrey, 459)
22
Morville & Rosenfeld’s Stages of IA…
• Research
• Strategy
• Design
• Implementation
• Administration
23
Indexing…
• “Old indexers never die, they just…
Rot, see also Decay.”
• “the process of creating surrogate
records, especially the access points, for
information resources”
-Back-of-the-book
-Database
-Web
(Taylor & Joudry, 459)
24
Abstracting…
• “A process that consists of analyzing the
content of an information resource and
then writing a succinct summary or
synopsis of that work.”
(Taylor & Joudry, 23)
25
Records Management…
• The need:
Business Cartoons by Morris
26
“You Know You Need a Records
Management Program when…”
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1. Finding a file in less than three days calls for the "Mother of All" celebrations.
2. After boxing and labeling 137 boxes as "Misc. 1934-1994", you are recommended for a
promotion.
3. The most severe disciplinary action against an employee is, "Transfer to File Room.“
4. When asked for a container id, the person requesting the information says "I'm not sure but it
was in a kraft colored box measuring 10"X12"X15".
5. Your 6 hour training class entitled "The ABC's of Records Management" has a 2 hour
segment for each of the following, ATTICS, BASEMENTS, & CLOSETS.
6. Your department head recommends lamination of post-it notes. You suggest microfilming as
an alternative.
7. The concrete blocks and 2x6 boards used as shelving sway more than 1 foot in either
direction.
8. The retention of records refers to how long it takes a box to drain after a heavy rain.
9. File areas are commonly referred to as Archives, Old Archives, and Old, Old Archives.
10. The night watchman is better at identifying historical records than the records specialist.
http://www.filing.co.nz/case6.htm <http://www.filing.co.nz/case6.htm
27
What is Records Management?
• “the process of maintaining records for an
organization” (ISO)
-routinely capturing records
-organizing
-protecting
-functioning as primary source
-providing ready access
(Taylor & Joudry, 468)
28
Records Management & Data Modeling…
-conceptual model
-logical model
-physical data model
29
For discussion…
• When we say we are organizing
information, what exactly are we doing?
• How has the increased interest in
research driven the need for
standardization?
30