Since the end of the last century, catalogs have been changing more and more quickly. In the bibliographic universe, the nature, cycle of production, distribution, and fruition of publications is undergoing profound change in order to allow books to find their readers. Catalogs and bibliographies were both means to realize Universal Bibliographic Control (UBC), which is based on the objective of promotion of a world-wide system for control, exchange and reuse of bibliographic information. Electronic resources eliminated one of the basic concepts of a book: its physical aspect, its concreteness. At the same time, electronic resources opened the way for a text to be created and/or distributed in different formats and carriers to contain equivalent content, but be useable by a large number of devices. A dematerialization of the text is in operation to meet users’ needs. A text can be available immediately for publication virtually; this influences the meaning of concepts relating to its bibliographic nature, such as “book” and “chapter” whose distinction was based on length, often measured by a specific carrier. This change is following a recognizable course, beginning with the publication of the conceptual model FRBR, Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records; the process is passing through the reorganization of ICP, International cataloging principles, the revision of international standards of the IFLA, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, as ISBD, International Standard Bibliographic Description; and the publication of RDA, Resource Description and Access, the new cataloging standard for metadata and resource discovery in the digital age. While principles, models, and rules are well established, bibliographic formats seem to be a bottleneck, and users seem far from libraries. This article aims to present a critical overview of current changes, potential convergences, developments, and weak points from Ranganathan’s point of view.

A turning point for catalogs: Ranganathan's possible point of view / Guerrini, Mauro; Bianchini, Carlo. - In: CATALOGING & CLASSIFICATION QUARTERLY. - ISSN 0163-9374. - STAMPA. - 53:(2015), pp. 341-351. [10.1080/01639374.2014.968273]

A turning point for catalogs: Ranganathan's possible point of view

GUERRINI, MAURO;
2015

Abstract

Since the end of the last century, catalogs have been changing more and more quickly. In the bibliographic universe, the nature, cycle of production, distribution, and fruition of publications is undergoing profound change in order to allow books to find their readers. Catalogs and bibliographies were both means to realize Universal Bibliographic Control (UBC), which is based on the objective of promotion of a world-wide system for control, exchange and reuse of bibliographic information. Electronic resources eliminated one of the basic concepts of a book: its physical aspect, its concreteness. At the same time, electronic resources opened the way for a text to be created and/or distributed in different formats and carriers to contain equivalent content, but be useable by a large number of devices. A dematerialization of the text is in operation to meet users’ needs. A text can be available immediately for publication virtually; this influences the meaning of concepts relating to its bibliographic nature, such as “book” and “chapter” whose distinction was based on length, often measured by a specific carrier. This change is following a recognizable course, beginning with the publication of the conceptual model FRBR, Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records; the process is passing through the reorganization of ICP, International cataloging principles, the revision of international standards of the IFLA, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, as ISBD, International Standard Bibliographic Description; and the publication of RDA, Resource Description and Access, the new cataloging standard for metadata and resource discovery in the digital age. While principles, models, and rules are well established, bibliographic formats seem to be a bottleneck, and users seem far from libraries. This article aims to present a critical overview of current changes, potential convergences, developments, and weak points from Ranganathan’s point of view.
2015
53
341
351
Guerrini, Mauro; Bianchini, Carlo
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Utilizza questo identificatore per citare o creare un link a questa risorsa: https://hdl.handle.net/2158/1043939
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