Comments on: They tried to make me go to FRBR, I said no, no, no http://freerangelibrarian.com/2008/01/27/they-tried-to-make-me-go-to-frbr-i-said-no-no-no/ K.G. Schneider's blog on librarianship, writing, and everything else, since 2003. Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:47:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: K.G. Schneider http://freerangelibrarian.com/2008/01/27/they-tried-to-make-me-go-to-frbr-i-said-no-no-no/#comment-159284 K.G. Schneider Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:19:29 +0000 http://freerangelibrarian.com/2008/01/27/they-tried-to-make-me-go-to-frbr-i-said-no-no-no/#comment-159284 Of course, as Amy found, you can't make your own rules *forever.* Of course, as Amy found, you can’t make your own rules *forever.*

]]> By: Tim http://freerangelibrarian.com/2008/01/27/they-tried-to-make-me-go-to-frbr-i-said-no-no-no/#comment-159228 Tim Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:27:17 +0000 http://freerangelibrarian.com/2008/01/27/they-tried-to-make-me-go-to-frbr-i-said-no-no-no/#comment-159228 "Though of course all input was super-secret" Right. Wikipedia may, as you said, be a secret-decoder ring tree-house club, but at least you can join the club. “Though of course all input was super-secret”

Right. Wikipedia may, as you said, be a secret-decoder ring tree-house club, but at least you can join the club.

]]> By: K.G. Schneider http://freerangelibrarian.com/2008/01/27/they-tried-to-make-me-go-to-frbr-i-said-no-no-no/#comment-159202 K.G. Schneider Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:43:35 +0000 http://freerangelibrarian.com/2008/01/27/they-tried-to-make-me-go-to-frbr-i-said-no-no-no/#comment-159202 Thanks, Steve. I love how he starts shaking and spluttering... and I'm with him 100%! I wish I knew what to say about the recc re RDA work stoppage. They put it out to the community. What did the community say? I didn't hear anyone agree with them. Though of course all input was super-secret, so who knows. Thanks, Steve. I love how he starts shaking and spluttering… and I’m with him 100%!

I wish I knew what to say about the recc re RDA work stoppage. They put it out to the community. What did the community say? I didn’t hear anyone agree with them. Though of course all input was super-secret, so who knows.

]]> By: Steve Lawson http://freerangelibrarian.com/2008/01/27/they-tried-to-make-me-go-to-frbr-i-said-no-no-no/#comment-159197 Steve Lawson Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:33:51 +0000 http://freerangelibrarian.com/2008/01/27/they-tried-to-make-me-go-to-frbr-i-said-no-no-no/#comment-159197 This is an interesting brain/link-dump all around, but the winner for me is the David Lynch clip. I think I like his interviews better than his movies these days. This is an interesting brain/link-dump all around, but the winner for me is the David Lynch clip. I think I like his interviews better than his movies these days.

]]> By: arkham http://freerangelibrarian.com/2008/01/27/they-tried-to-make-me-go-to-frbr-i-said-no-no-no/#comment-159127 arkham Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:40:57 +0000 http://freerangelibrarian.com/2008/01/27/they-tried-to-make-me-go-to-frbr-i-said-no-no-no/#comment-159127 "We do NOT need to stop RDA" Amen! I was surprised when they kept that recommendation in the final report. Stopping work on RDA would be a mistake, IMO. “We do NOT need to stop RDA”

Amen! I was surprised when they kept that recommendation in the final report. Stopping work on RDA would be a mistake, IMO.

]]> By: esseffen http://freerangelibrarian.com/2008/01/27/they-tried-to-make-me-go-to-frbr-i-said-no-no-no/#comment-158933 esseffen Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:47:09 +0000 http://freerangelibrarian.com/2008/01/27/they-tried-to-make-me-go-to-frbr-i-said-no-no-no/#comment-158933 "and quite a few people have been doing that all along" - thanks for saying so! we are allowed our lapses, but some of us lapsed too long. “and quite a few people have been doing that all along” - thanks for saying so! we are allowed our lapses, but some of us lapsed too long.

]]> By: Tim Spalding http://freerangelibrarian.com/2008/01/27/they-tried-to-make-me-go-to-frbr-i-said-no-no-no/#comment-158709 Tim Spalding Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:04:11 +0000 http://freerangelibrarian.com/2008/01/27/they-tried-to-make-me-go-to-frbr-i-said-no-no-no/#comment-158709 Amen to the bit about "user testing." Down with it! Seriously. User testing of various sorts is important when you don't know what to do, or when you need to choose between a number of plausible options. But "user testing" can also be a substitute for action. Library catalogs aren't a problem, they're a disaster. They need more user testing like the Titanic needed focus groups about what color to paint the lifeboats. Fine, after they stop sucking, then go ahead and user-test it all you like. Now, fundamentally, I think FRBR is not the final answer. It enshrines binary relationships in the same way LCSH and other library standards do. It seems new, but it's has the same "physical" basis David Weinberger has so clearly explained. But by God it's a start! And if you design the systems decently, you can move beyond it in the future. Amen to the bit about “user testing.” Down with it! Seriously.

User testing of various sorts is important when you don’t know what to do, or when you need to choose between a number of plausible options. But “user testing” can also be a substitute for action.

Library catalogs aren’t a problem, they’re a disaster. They need more user testing like the Titanic needed focus groups about what color to paint the lifeboats.

Fine, after they stop sucking, then go ahead and user-test it all you like.

Now, fundamentally, I think FRBR is not the final answer. It enshrines binary relationships in the same way LCSH and other library standards do. It seems new, but it’s has the same “physical” basis David Weinberger has so clearly explained.

But by God it’s a start! And if you design the systems decently, you can move beyond it in the future.

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