A search on the term “metadata” in the International Organization for Standardization's Online Browsing Platform (ISO OBP) reveals that there are 96 separate ISO standards that provide definitions of ...the term. Between them, these standards supply 46 different definitions—a lack of standardization that we might not have expected, given the context. In fact, if we make creative use of Simpson's index of concentration (originally devised as a measure of ecological diversity) to measure the degree of standardization of definition in this case, we arrive at a value of 0.05, on a scale of zero to one. It is suggested, however, that the situation is not as problematic as it might seem: that low cross‐domain levels of standardization of definition should not be cause for concern.
Lynne Howarth is one of the pre-eminent cataloging and classification theorists of her time. Sole- or coauthor of at least 95 publications (full details of which appear in the following ...bibliography); cited by more than 140 of her peers; PI or co-PI on numerous multi-year research projects funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada; and former Dean of the top-ranked iSchool in her country-very few in the knowledge organization field can lay equal claim to such accomplishments. The bibliography is arranged chronologically. Brief annotations are provided for many of the more significant publications.
In this paper and a first part (which appeared in
Library & Information History
37.1), an historical account is provided of the origins and development, since the 11th century, of Nordic systems for ...library classification — i.e., schemes for the classification of the subjects of books and other library resources, both so that those resources may themselves be arranged in orders that are helpful to readers, and so that the entries and records that describe those resources in catalogues and bibliographies may also be arranged in helpful ways. The focus of the account given in the two papers is on the structure and content of the top level of each system; it is assumed that such structure and content serve as direct evidence, both of the thinking of system constructors about the ways in which fields and disciplines are related to one another, and of the constraints under which library users reach an understanding of the nature and scope of the ‘universe of knowledge’ represented by their library's collections. The history of library classification may thus be treated not only as a central aspect of library and information history, but also as an important branch of both intellectual history and cultural history. In the first part, the history of library classification in Denmark, Norway, and Iceland was outlined; this second part covers Sweden and Finland, and presents a synthesis of findings that focuses on a dichotomy between the plurality of classification schemes existing prior to the ascendance in the 20th century of the American Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) and the uniformity that characterizes current conditions.
In this paper and a second part (to appear in the next issue of
Library & Information History
), an historical account is provided of the origins and development, since the 11th century, of Nordic ...systems for library classification — i.e., schemes for the classification of the subjects of books and other library resources, both so that those resources may themselves be arranged in orders that are helpful to readers, and so that the entries and records that describe those resources in catalogues and bibliographies may also be arranged in helpful ways. The focus of the account given in the two papers is on the structure and content of the top level of each system; it is assumed that such structure and content serve as direct evidence, both of the thinking of system constructors about the ways in which fields and disciplines are related to one another, and of the constraints under which library users reach an understanding of the nature and scope of the ‘universe of knowledge’ represented by their library's collections. The history of library classification may thus be treated not only as a central aspect of library and information history, but also as an important branch of both intellectual history and cultural history. In this first part, the history of library classification in Denmark, Norway, and Iceland is outlined; the second part covers Sweden and Finland, and presents a synthesis of findings that focuses on a dichotomy between the plurality of classification schemes existing prior to the ascendance in the 20th century of the American Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) and the uniformity that characterizes current conditions.
Three popular knowledge organization systems (KOSs)--the Encyclopaedia Britannica's "Outline of Knowledge," Roger's International Thesaurus's "Synopsis of Categories," and the Dewey Decimal ...Classification--are compared in the context of a taxonomy of evaluation methods for KOSs that takes into account similarities and differences in formats and purposes. The goals are to argue for the wider adoption of a framework for KOS evaluation of the kind presented here; to promote the treatment of encyclopedia outlines and thesaurus synopses as well as library classification schemes as KOSs assessable via such a framework; and to improve our understanding of KOSs in general.
Philosophy of Data: Why? Furner, Jonathan
Education for information,
01/2017, Letnik:
33, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Philosophy of data should not be dismissed as a cluster of scholastic puzzles whose solutions are of limited practical value. On the contrary, philosophy of data should be recognized as constituting ...the core of a field of data studies that is informed by, but far from equivalent to, statistics, computer science, and library and information studies.
Three contributions are made to understanding the nature of documents. A survey of definitions of "document" from the last century shows that those definitions which most accurately reflect the ways ...in which the term "document" is used in practice are typically compound definitions, consisting of two or three elements that each refer to a different function of documents: medium, message, and meaning. Locating documents in E. J. Lowe's four-category ontology results in consideration of documents as universals rather than as particulars. Analysis of B. Smith's theory of document acts suggest that all documents, not just the ones that are involved in declarations, are creative in the special sense that they are generative of quasi-abstract entities of the kind that collectively comprise social reality.
Three contributions are made to understanding the nature of documents. A survey of definitions of "document" from the last century shows that those definitions which most accurately reflect the ways ...in which the term "document" is used in practice are typically compound definitions, consisting of two or three elements that each refer to a different function of documents: medium, message, and meaning. Locating documents in E. J. Lowe's four-category ontology results in consideration of documents as universals rather than as particulars. Analysis of B. Smith's theory of document acts suggest that all documents, not just the ones that are involved in declarations, are creative in the special sense that they are generative of quasi-abstract entities of the kind that collectively comprise social reality.
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