Re: Dynamic vs. Fixed World Views was Re: MARCXML to Topic Maps? MODS to Topic Maps?

Lars,

On 7/18/2010 6:33 AM, Lars Marius Garshol wrote:
> * Alexander Johannesen
>    
>> I'm increasingly frustrated in this conversation by the lack of
>> real-world applicability, and I don't say this lightly nor do I mean
>> any disrespect, but the MARC dataset is crap. There, I said it. It's
>> rubbish for any other purpose than to be worked with and searched by
>> trained librarians.
>>      
> Now this made me curious. People keep using this stuff, so surely there must be *some* use for it? So I thought I'd have a look at some real data. Here's a sample MARCXML collection from Library of Congress, apparently written by hand to serve as a demonstrator:
>    http://www.loc.gov/standards/marcxml/xml/collection.xml
>
> At first glance it does seem that Alex has a point...
>
>    

I don't disagree with Alex on the *technical* merits of MARCXML.

The problem is that adoption of topic maps is as much a *marketing* 
issue as it is a *technical* one.

Alex's approach is like the drunk searching under the street lamp for 
his keys. When asked where he had lost his keys, he pointed some 
distance away in the dark. Then asked why he was searching under the 
street lamp, he replied the light was better here.

The light is better using topic maps but we had better go stand next to 
potential users in the dark and understand where they are rather than 
shouting at them to come towards the light.

At least that is my take on the current situation. Your mileage may vary.

Hope you are at the start of a great week!

Patrick

-- 
Patrick Durusau
patrick-Q/[email protected]
Chair, V1 - US TAG to JTC 1/SC 34
Convener, JTC 1/SC 34/WG 3 (Topic Maps)
Editor, OpenDocument Format TC (OASIS), Project Editor ISO/IEC 26300
Co-Editor, ISO/IEC 13250-1, 13250-5 (Topic Maps)

Another Word For It (blog): http://tm.durusau.net
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