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cataloguing_notes [2014-01-08 13:23] – [Further Entangling] alkan | library:cataloguing_notes [2014-01-10 11:01] – alkan | ||
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==== Cataloguing Notes ==== | ==== Cataloguing Notes ==== | ||
- | * FoAM Library: http:// | ||
- | * Zotero online catalogue: http:// | ||
- | < | + | === To-dos from Friday, 10 January 2014 === |
- | {{ http:// | + | * preliminary pass on all remaining ephemera: extract books, magazines, journals and leave the remainder to the " |
+ | * keywording + gardening | ||
- | A library -- including its physical and digital arrangement and cataloguing system -- should aspire to be simple, elegant, and beautiful. Visitors should be able both to browse and search in the greatest ease and comfort. A library thus becomes a pataphor for the art of living itself. I have striven to follow these principles in approaching the sometimes daunting task of coming to terms with, managing and (re)organising the FoAM archive. | + | * going through |
- | This particular collection, where each book can in principle lurk at the interstices of the connection of everything to everything else, demonstrates most acutely the issue with filing items according to a single -- or even predominant -- topic or subject area. At the same time, with items digitally catalogued | + | * sorting |
+ | * propaganda sorting, organisation, making space | ||
+ | * cd/ | ||
- | --- //Armoracio " | + | * archival boxes as needed |
- | </ | + | * übercleanup |
- | === Digital cataloguing: | + | {{http:// |
+ | |||
+ | === Diary of an archivist === | ||
+ | |||
+ | == Digital cataloguing: | ||
We agreed to use the [[http:// | We agreed to use the [[http:// | ||
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Zotero online group libraries would seem to offer a flexible option for the idea of extending our cataloguing initiative into a collective, inter-organisational library database for some fairly unusual and rare books. | Zotero online group libraries would seem to offer a flexible option for the idea of extending our cataloguing initiative into a collective, inter-organisational library database for some fairly unusual and rare books. | ||
- | === Sorting and consolidating: | + | == Sorting and consolidating: |
+ | After the heavy lifting of the initial pass, there remained what seemed to be an infinite regress of small items – journals, magazines, random that slipped through the dragnet, and a vast pile of grey literature. And it was all a mess. | ||
+ | I ripped everything off the shelves and dumped the lot on the floor. From there I attempted to reassemble the material into the most basic and easy-to-use categories that were workable. I don't think this has been quite successful, but it's better than before. | ||
+ | == Information plumbing: January 2014 == | ||
+ | |||
+ | In my absence over summer some amazing assistants tackled and substantially resolved the most serious nightmare of this library – the ephemera. Thanks to them, this mass of the greyest of grey literature has now been sorted. This will be an ongoing effort however, as the deluge of ephemera seems unstoppable and will require ever-renewed vigilance to ensure that the forces of greyness do not overwhelm us. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The next step is to attend to the information plumbing. | ||
=== Organisation: | === Organisation: | ||
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- an A–Z **fiction** section (of mostly trade paperbacks, thanks to the N&M library bequest) | - an A–Z **fiction** section (of mostly trade paperbacks, thanks to the N&M library bequest) | ||
- an **ephemera** section, due to the vast quantity of brochures, leaflets, postcards, flyers, etc. that has accumulated; | - an **ephemera** section, due to the vast quantity of brochures, leaflets, postcards, flyers, etc. that has accumulated; | ||
- | - at any time, the library can expand or contract with **temporary autonomous subsections** (such as Luea's specialised (and largely German-language) section of all manner of medical, medicinal and metaphysical books, and < | + | - at any time, the library can expand or contract with **temporary autonomous subsections** (such as Luea's specialised (and largely German-language) section of all manner of medical, medicinal and metaphysical books) |
=== Zotero catalogue notes === | === Zotero catalogue notes === | ||
+ | |||
* need to decide on convention for the " | * need to decide on convention for the " | ||
* either use ISO 639-3 three letter codes. multiple languages separated by commas (e.g '' | * either use ISO 639-3 three letter codes. multiple languages separated by commas (e.g '' | ||
* or use the more expansive/ | * or use the more expansive/ | ||
- | + | * // | |
- | // | + | |
- | === Ongoing | + | === General |
- | * in the case of books, I have chosen to file them alphabetically by name of the first author/ | + | * in the case of books, I have chosen to file them alphabetically by **name** of the first author/ |
- | | + | * linking to/from the [[: |
- | * linking to/from the [[reading notes]] and [[https:// | + | * often it's unavoidable that you'll have to manually |
- | * manually | + | * Zotero is more geared to cataloging individual references (e.g. articles in journals) rather than whole issues; one solution is to catalogue them as " |
- | * there are so many yearbooks, publications accompanying exhibitions, | + | |
- | * Zotero is more geared to cataloging individual references (e.g. articles in journals) rather than whole issues; one solution is to catalogue them as " | + | |
* I'm using the following format to note the individual issues of periodicals: | * I'm using the following format to note the individual issues of periodicals: | ||
* tags might be a good way to physically locate items on the shelf if there is a [[http:// | * tags might be a good way to physically locate items on the shelf if there is a [[http:// | ||
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what is the motivation for the '' | what is the motivation for the '' | ||
- | === To-dos | + | === New books ==== |
- | | + | - find an interesting |
- | * < | + | - add to the 'book orders' |
- | * go through remaining files and buckets, sorting into applicable areas | + | |
- | * cleaning up and tagging of the digital catalogue | + | |
- | * add PDFs to the digital catalogue (where available/ | + | |
- | * < | + | |
- | * significant pieces of ephemera, articles, etc. could be scanned and added as attachments to the Zotero references | + | |
- | + | ||
- | === New books ==== | + | |
- | | + | |
- | - add to the 'book orders' | + | |
- buy it | - buy it | ||
- | - transfer to libray group once it arrives | + | - transfer to libray group once it arrives |
- read (or otherwise absorb) | - read (or otherwise absorb) | ||
- | ==== Further | + | ==== Further |
* distributed collections (c.f. connected libraries) | * distributed collections (c.f. connected libraries) | ||
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* https:// | * https:// | ||
* http:// | * http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | |||
+ | A library -- including its physical and digital arrangement and cataloguing system -- should aspire to be simple, elegant, and beautiful. Visitors should be able both to browse and search in the greatest ease and comfort. A library thus becomes a pataphor for the art of living itself. I have striven to follow these principles in approaching the sometimes daunting task of coming to terms with, managing and (re)organising the FoAM archive. | ||
+ | |||
+ | This particular collection, where each book can in principle lurk at the interstices of the connection of everything to everything else, demonstrates most acutely the issue with filing items according to a single -- or even predominant -- topic or subject area. At the same time, with items digitally catalogued and instantly searchable by any field (including tags), the physical arrangement becomes less critical for indicating an item's subject, class, or other characteristic. The library is also small and seems unlikely to grow rapidly in the foreseeable future. Therefore, after some (uneven and random) thought, and a close perusal of [[library_notes|existing notes]] on this question, I decided to take the semi-organic organisational approach as indicated below. | ||
+ | |||
+ | --- //Armoracio " |