Re: Cataloging

Peter van Londen wrote:
> We at the dutch Wikibooks have developed an own system:
> *http://nl.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikibooks:Wiki_Standaard_Boeknummer
> (Wiki Standard Book Number)
>
> It is not yet fully developed, but it is not copyrighted and could be a
> starting point for an international system.
>
> In my opinion we can set a new standard for internet-books. I think we have
> the power to set us apart from paper textbooks and the systems used for
> that.
>
> This is not answering your questions, but to let you know that there have
> been some Wikians thinking about this as well.
>
> Kind regards
> nl:b:Londenp
>
> 2007/6/15, Cary Bass <[email protected]>:
>   
>> I remember a discussion recently regarding the difficulty in cataloging
>> Wikibooks.  That the Dewey Decimal System is copyrighted and we cannot
>> therefore use it.
>>
>> I'd like to make an attempt at bringing in volunteers with a skill in
>> organizing and cataloging to contribute to the discussions and help put
>> some organization into Wikibooks, more people with a focus on the
>> community rather than individual projects.
>>
>> I've been looking for a way to get people encouraged to help out
>> Wikibooks and this seems like a pretty good in.   What I'd need from you
>> is a page to orient people into this process, as well as Wikibooks as a
>> whole.
>>
>> Ideas?
>>
>> -Cary
>>
>>     
The page I started to help push for this effort, and to perhaps come up 
with different methods of cataloging books, was on this page of Wikibooks:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikibooks:Card_Catalog_Office

Due to the overwhelming support for this page (nearly none at all), this 
page went from something very prominent and listed on the sidebar to 
something shoved into the Wikibooks background, almost lost completely.  
Another sign of how much effort has been put into this idea can be found 
here:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikibooks:Classification_Guidelines

Actually, this is just a blank page and nothing else.  This is certainly 
something that could use quite a bit of improvement and try to come up 
with some system or concept of organizing Wikibooks content.  There 
really is nothing else like this on Wikibooks either, although there are 
side references on other Wikibooks help pages that encourage new users 
to "advertise" their books by placing them on bookshelves.

I started this effort, realizing that Wikibooks really needed this sort 
of effort to develop and grow, but political infighting within the 
Wikibooks community kept me heavily distracted from continuing this 
effort.  There is some dated discussion on the Card Catalog Office talk 
page, and some acknowledgement that this is something which should be 
done.  Any effort to push start this concept would be encouraged, and it 
should be noted that you don't need any special "administrator" tools in 
order to help out with this effort.

If you or anybody else is interested, please help out on these pages and 
make some reasonable suggestions.

Other suggestions including using European coding systems have been 
brought up, as well as other classification systems.  The reason the 
Dewey system keeps coming back (seemingly from the dead) is that so many 
libraries, particularly in North America but also elsewhere, use this 
system and many educators are familiar with this coding system.  Nearly 
every time the Dewey coding format is presumed dead, somebody comes 
along and picks it up again and pushes it just a little bit further on 
Wikibooks.

I hope this helps.

--  Robert Horning