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library:cataloguing_notes [2014-01-08 14:41] alkanlibrary:cataloguing_notes [2020-06-05 22:30] (current) – old revision restored (2014-09-12 02:11) nik
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 ==== Cataloguing Notes ==== ==== Cataloguing Notes ====
  
-<blockquote> 
  
-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 timewith 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.+=== To-dos from Monday27 January 2014 ===
  
- --- //Armoracio "Bud" MinuezArchivist//+  * **bookends** 
 +  * <del>sort the new pile of ephemera</del> 
 +  * <del>dividers: A-Zmagazines and journals, etc.</del> 
 +  * N & M shelf of randomness, boxes, etc.
  
-</blockquote>+ 
 +  * <del>cd/dvd/floppydisk sorting, discarding, organisation</delneeds further review 
 + 
 +== digital == 
 + 
 +  * check existing catalogue entries for errors and improvements 
 +  * tags and collections 
 +  * catalogue and library hints/guides 
 +  * infographics for library guides
  
 {{http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3736/11099862944_5bca2325a2_c.jpg}} {{http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3736/11099862944_5bca2325a2_c.jpg}}
  
-=== Digital cataloguing: first steps, April 2013 ===+=== Diary of an archivist === 
 + 
 +== Digital cataloguing: first steps, April 2013 ==
  
 We agreed to use the [[http://www.zotero.org/|Zotero]] desktop and [[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.ale.scanner.zotero#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDIxMiwib3JnLmFsZS5zY2FubmVyLnpvdGVybyJd|mobile]] apps to make a first pass of cataloguing FoAM's small but esoteric library. Aside from a few annoying glitches, we were able to go through the library quite rapidly, scanning the barcodes with the [[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.ale.scanner.zotero&hl=en|mobile app]] while setting aside those items that could not be scanned, or needed special attention (such as all the periodicals, magazines, etc.). A second pass involved manually looking up the ISBN numbers from within the [[http://www.zotero.org/download/|desktop application]], or searching online for the bibliographic data via [[http://www.worldcat.org/|WorldCat]] or similar and importing these citations into Zotero via the [[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/zotero-connector/ekhagklcjbdpajgpjgmbionohlpdbjgc?hl=en-US|browser plugin]], for the items that had no barcodes or could not otherwise be scanned. We agreed to use the [[http://www.zotero.org/|Zotero]] desktop and [[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.ale.scanner.zotero#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDIxMiwib3JnLmFsZS5zY2FubmVyLnpvdGVybyJd|mobile]] apps to make a first pass of cataloguing FoAM's small but esoteric library. Aside from a few annoying glitches, we were able to go through the library quite rapidly, scanning the barcodes with the [[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.ale.scanner.zotero&hl=en|mobile app]] while setting aside those items that could not be scanned, or needed special attention (such as all the periodicals, magazines, etc.). A second pass involved manually looking up the ISBN numbers from within the [[http://www.zotero.org/download/|desktop application]], or searching online for the bibliographic data via [[http://www.worldcat.org/|WorldCat]] or similar and importing these citations into Zotero via the [[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/zotero-connector/ekhagklcjbdpajgpjgmbionohlpdbjgc?hl=en-US|browser plugin]], for the items that had no barcodes or could not otherwise be scanned.
  
-Zotero online group libraries would seem to offer flexible option for the idea of extending our cataloguing initiative into a collective, inter-organisational library database for some fairly unusual and rare books.+[[http://www.zotero.org/support/groups|Zotero online group libraries]] would seem to offer some flexible possibilities for extending our cataloguing initiative into a collective, inter-organisational library database. Moreover, since Zotero catalogues can be exported in several formats (BibTex export works very well, for instance), if we decide to use another system in future it should be quite easy to transfer the database over.
  
-=== Sorting and consolidating: June 2013 ===+== Sorting and consolidating: June 2013 ==
  
 +After the heavy lifting of the initial pass, there remained what seemed to be an infinite regress of small items – journals, magazines, random books and journals that slipped through the dragnet, a vast pile of grey literature. And it was all a mess. I ripped everything off the shelves and out of the boxes 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 still somehow useable. I don't think this has been quite successful – but I think it's on the way.
  
 +== Shuffling and 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 sifted, sorted, and boxed by year for neat filing away on shelves.
  
-=== Organisation: the sections ===+However, we must rally our efforts. The deluge of ephemera is unstoppable and will require ever-renewed vigilance to ensure that the forces of greyness do not completely overwhelm us. But do not despair – together we shall conquer! Per aspera ad astra!
  
-  - separate the more from the less "substantial" -- in practice, **books** constitute the major substantial category +{{:library:shelf_of_randomness.jpg}}
-  - **periodicals** cover any more-or-less substantial publication issued periodically; but I would avoid mixing these with the ephemera +
-  - a **conference proceedings** section that incorporates all types of items such as exhibition openings, reports, yearbooks, etc. that are semiperiodicalI'll probably catalogue these with the canned Zotero item type as "Conference proceedings" +
-  - an **audiovisual** section at some point +
-  - an A–Z **fiction** section (of mostly trade paperbacks, thanks to the N&library bequest) +
-  - an **ephemera** section, due to the vast quantity of brochures, leaflets, postcards, flyers, etcthat has accumulated; these are more transient and ephemeral than any of the preceding, but may be of value to retain in many cases +
-  - 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 <del>Nik and Maja's oscillatory home/FoAM section of mainly fictional items which, one day, they will need to decide whether to amalgamate into the FoAM library proper, or reattach and merge with their own quasi-independent, temporarily autonomous library (hitherto uncatalogued)</del>)+
  
-=== Zotero catalogue notes === +== Shelves of randomness ==
-  * need to decide on convention for the "Language" field....  +
-    * either use ISO 639-3 three letter codes. multiple languages separated by commas (e.g ''nld,fra,eng'' > ISO 639-3 > http://www-01.sil.org/iso639-3/codes.asp +
-    * or use the more expansive/descriptive (but not always consistent) english name for the language as supplied by Open Worldcat (e.g. "The book is primarily in English; prefaces in English, German, French.")+
  
-//(I've tended to favour the 3-letter codes.)// +An entire shelf of randomness has accumulated. It's not that this randomness can't be accommodated somewhere in the library, but rather, whether it should. It all comes back to sifting and sorting stuff out. **There could be critical documents in this shelf.** Yet there also appears to be much that doesn't need to be kept.
-  +
-=== Ongoing notes ===+
  
-  * in the case of books, I have chosen to file them alphabetically by name of the first author/editor/etc., failing that by title +== Walking libraries ==
-  * <del>sifting through the ephemera is going to be long and arduous</del> much easier thanks to some remarkable assistants +
-  * linking to/from the [[:reading_notes]] and [[https://www.zotero.org/groups/foam_library/items|catalogued items]] may prove interesting and useful, particularly as files can be attached to Zotero items: see [[:anthropological_research_on_hazards_and_disasters|this example]] +
-  * manually entering and amending data in Zotero is necessary for a number of items and a good way to ensure accurate and useful information, but it is very time-consuming +
-  * there are so many yearbooks, publications accompanying exhibitions, conference papers, extended brochures, etc. etc. which are not quite periodicals and not quite books: I'm struggling to separate these from the deluge of ephemera and can only conclude that this part of the cycle could do with a //**__substantial <del>bonfire of the vanities</del> selective redistribution__**// +
-  * Zotero is more geared to cataloging individual references (e.g. articles in journals) rather than whole issues; one solution is to catalogue them as "books," with a note indicating what volume/issues are in the library: important articles within these periodicals can then be added as separate items +
-  * I'm using the following format to note the individual issues of periodicals: **''year [volume:issue] additional info''** (additional info can be season/month(s), thematic name of the issue, etc.); using the notes field like this is a bit kludgy, but at least in this format they will sort by date and issue +
-  * tags might be a good way to physically locate items on the shelf if there is a [[http://www.controlledvocabulary.com/|controlled vocabulary]] for this purpose, e.g.: +
-    * ''fl-books'' +
-    * ''fl-periodicals'' +
-    * ''fl-periodicals-singleissue'' +
-    * ''fl-unperiodicals'' +
-    * ''fl-fiction'' +
-    * ''fl-oversize'' +
-    * ''fl-ephemera'' +
-    * ''fl-ephemera-postcards'' +
-    * ''fl-ephemera-brochures'' +
-    * ''fl-ephemera-menus''+
  
-what is the motivation for the ''fl-'' prefix? "**F**oAM **L**ibrary-- a way to uniquely distinguish this set of keywords from any others.+We presently have the luxury of a dedicated library space (even if it often just ends up as a storeroom), but in coming years this will by no means be guaranteed. How might the collection become more "mobile"? First, the excess could be discarded. Multiple redundant copies, irrelevant material, //useless ephemera//… But second, the digital catalogue might become much more important: metadata, notes, comments, connections in the database, but also digitised copies.
  
-=== To-dos ===+== Disks ==
  
-  * sort and determine storage for ephemera +Zotero is not so good for cataloguing CDs, DVDs, and all the other miscellaneous kinds of disks out there. The "Disks" section in any case is close to redundant, as most of this material can be archived on the servers, and if necessary catalogued using more appropriate methods. So now there's another shelf of stuff that needs "further review"… 
-  * <del>catalogue and shelve readers/yearbooks/conference papers/etc.</del> + 
-  * go through remaining files and buckets, sorting into applicable areas +=== Organisation and rationale: the sections === 
-  * cleaning up and tagging of the digital catalogue + 
-  * add PDFs to the digital catalogue (where available/permissible) +  - separate the more from the less "substantial" -- in practice, **books** constitute the major substantial category 
-  * <del>cataloguing the journals/magazines</del> +  **periodicals** cover any more-or-less substantial publication issued periodically; but I would avoid mixing these with the ephemera 
-  * significant pieces of ephemera, articles, etc. could be scanned and added as attachments to the Zotero references+  - an **unperiodicals** section that incorporates all types of items such as exhibition openings, reports, yearbooks, etc. that are semi- or un-periodical: I'll probably catalogue these with the canned Zotero item type as "Conference proceedings" 
 +  - an **audiovisual** section at some point 
 +  - 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, postcardsflyers, etc. that has accumulated; these are more transient and ephemeral than any of the preceding, but may be of value to retain in many cases 
 +  - 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) 
 +  
 +=== General notes ===
  
-=== New books ==== +  * I have chosen to file books alphabetically by **name** of the first author/editor/etc., falling back on **title** in the absence of an explicit author 
-  - find an intersting book +  * linking to/from the [[:reading_notes]] and [[https://www.zotero.org/groups/foam_library/items|catalogued items]] may prove interesting and useful, particularly as files can be attached to Zotero items 
-  - add to the 'book orders' group [ref+  * Zotero is more geared to cataloging individual references (e.g. articles in journals) rather than whole issues; one solution is to catalogue them as "books," with a note indicating what volume/issues are in the library; important individual articles within these periodicals could then be added as separate items 
-  - buy it +  * I'm using the following format to note the individual issues of periodicals: **''year [volume:issueadditional info''** (additional info can be season/month(s), thematic name of the issue, etc.); this is a bit kludgy, but at least in this format the notes will sort by date and issue for easy reference 
-  - transfer to libray group once it arrives [ref+  * ISO 639-3 three letter codes for the ''Language'' field: multiple languages separated by commas (e.g ''nld,fra,eng'' > ISO 639-3 > http://www-01.sil.org/iso639-3/codes.asp
-  - read (or otherwise absorb)+
  
-==== Further Entangling ====+==== Further entangling ====
  
   * distributed collections (c.f. connected libraries)   * distributed collections (c.f. connected libraries)
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     * https://github.com/rwadholm/The-Little-Library     * https://github.com/rwadholm/The-Little-Library
     * http://www.thelittlelibrary.com/     * http://www.thelittlelibrary.com/
 +  * etext collections we could use to source adjuncts of the physical items 
 +    * http://grr.aaaaarg.org/txt/
 +    * http://gen.lib.rus.ec/
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