Historical Overview of Information Organization

Resources of various formats through history:

• Tablet
• Scroll
• Codex
• Script and print books
• Periodicals - birth of science helped to develop periodicals. Getting books published was hard, but collections of essays and research findings could then be easily accessible with little effort. It also is fitted to science, because research moves fast, and being able to publish fast and build off of those published studies creates a need for periodicals.
• Webpages and other online resources

Where did the need of information organization come from?

The above-mentioned resources piled up over time. In order for better access, someone was appointed to organize these artifacts/information. Resources also morph over time (i.e. Plato's Republic becomes translations, editions, non-textual formats [audio books, movies, etc.], commentaries on works).

What is the cost?

Facilitating effective and efficient access to all of these resources and resource versions can be very expensive for society. We have to balance the needs of library users who know the exact item they want, users who don't know what they want, and all the variations between. Expense can be minimized through codified professional practices and sharing of resources (i.e. rules and tools).

The 91 rules...

Panizizzi in the early 19th century made the case for detailed cataloging and subject analysis, and produced the first cataloging code (a.k.a. the 91 rules).

The stacks...

Until the later part of the 19th century (~1876), libraries largely maintained closed stacks. Open stacks became part of the legacy of American libraries (people's university and literacy issues). Because of this, modern stacks are organized for public browsing in 2 ways:

• By way of cooperative cataloging
• By way of classification schemes, such as the DDC that provide criterion for organizing open stack collections

Why catalogs use surrogate records?

Wouldn't it be cheaper just to open up the stacks? Why do we need to put money into organizing information? 

• It overcomes the limitations of physical resources
• The resource can be found only in one place at a time, and it would be expensive to buy multiple copies just to file one under author and one under subject. 
• It enhances access to resources.
• Cataloging cards can be replicated to create multiple access points (e.g. author, subject, title)
• Surrogates in computerized catalogs can provide many more opportunities for access points. 

Types of Catalogs:

• Dictionary (alphabetic) catalogs:
• Primarily used in U.S. Where most libraries have open stacks
• Surrogates displayed alphabetically for direct access
• Classification used as basis for shelf arrangement of books
• Classified catalogs:
• Primarily used in Europe where most libraries have closed stacks
• Surrogates display with classified arrangement for indirect access
• Each resource has multiple surrogate records reflecting multiply assigned classified positions. 

Cutter's basis for cooperative cataloging:

1. To find a book when one of the following s known (a known item search):
• Author name
• Title
• Subject
2. To show what the library has (a collocating search):
• By an author
• On a subject
• In a genre of literature
3. To assist in the choice of a book:
• Bibliographically (i.e. edition, format, etc.)
• Character (i.e. literary or topical)

Finding Known Items     

SITUATION: Users know the exact item they want.
PROBLEM: How to locate OR relocate items that users know are in your pile of resources.
PARAMETERS: Depend on category of user (experience, vs. inexperienced)

This is a relatively inexpensive service (i.e. minimal cataloging required to meet objective).

Collocating:

SITUATION: Users want to find out what is available in a pile.

PROBLEM: How to determinen what is held.

PARAMETERS: Depend on question (author search vs. subject search)

This is a relatively expensive service. It requires detailed cataloging and codification of cataloging rules. The approach serves ALL users, not just those who know what they want. 

"Ages" of Descriptive Cataloging

First Age - Up to 1908: Codes written by single authors

Second Age - 1908 -1967: Era of the committee code, the "increasingly loose, baggy monsters".

Third Age - 1967 - Present: International and computerized forcing more precision.

Fourth Age - Current: FRBR

Purpose of Classification

Classification is effective for both physical resource arrangement on library shelves and usrogate organizing in library catalogs. It offers a holistic (i.e. universal) view of knowledge, which provides the basis for systematic organization. It also offer the chance of serendipity when perusing the stacks - haven't you ever found the PERFECT book right next to the one you were looking for, I know I have!

FRBR

The Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records model is a conceptual model that specifies thos entities and their relationships that exist in the bibliogrpahic universe. 

The four types of entities are:

• Works
• Are abstract
• the conceptual content of a resource
• the story being told
• the ideas in people's heads
• Are realized through expressions
• e.g. Dickens' A Christmas Carol (work) may have multiple expressions in various languages
• i.e. e1- original English text, e2 - a spanish translation by Thomas Smith
• Expressions
• Possible modes:
• Alpha numeric (i.e. textually)
• Music notation
• Other notation (e.g. choreogpraphy)
• Sound
• Images
• 3-D Objects
• Also abstract. They are still conceptual, therefore, expressions must manifest in some physical medium
• Are embodied in manifestations
• e.g. Bach's Goldberg Variations (work) as performed by Glen Gould in 1981 (expression) may have multiple manifestations
• i.e. m1 - Recording released on 33 1/3 rpm sound disc in 1982 by CBS records, m2 - Recording released on compact disc in 1993 by Sony
• Manifestations
• An item is a single exemplar of a manifestation
• Are exemplified by items.
• i.e. m2 - Recording released on compact disc in 1993 by Sony
• i1 - First Copy held by library
• i2- Second copy held by library
• Items

A great example of FRBR.
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