M.I.B. at OCLC

[Robin Aurelius]

Great thought. We need an exciting link between LC  and Dewey/Sears. 
Perhaps we could also include a handle to PRECIS indexing at the same 
time. And what about a few icon links from an ISO approved bank of 
symbols. Like international road signs. This would lead younger and 
younger customers into the web of knowlege, and also warn them, rather 
than filter them around the nasty spots in the road. I view pron and smut 
as "roadkill". We, as families just drive around the guts and don't spend 
too much time gawking. That's the American way. They only slow for grisly 
accidents, just to be glad it isn't them or someone they know. 

Concerning 
nudity, the same people go to the clothes optional beach and turn their 
heads, after looking briefly to see if anyone already there is someone 
they know. That
is also the American way. And, if someone is misbehaving they either 
intervene or call the cops.

So, I feel we need to ask our artists and cartoonist for appropriate 
"Smut" or "pornography" warning labels. View at your own risk.
Or maybe we can put a virtual brown wrapper around offending items in our 
collections. Or keep them in a virtual locked cage like in the old days.
Sincerely,
Robin Aurelius
High School Library person.


On Thu, 10 Jul 1997, KAREN SCHNEIDER wrote:

> On the way in today I was browsing OCLC's Annual Review of
> OCLC Research (also on the web, at
> http://www.purl.org/oclc/review1996), and found myself reading
> an article, "Classification Research at OCLC," which includes a
> discussion of the topic  "M.I.B. (Men In Black)" in re ExTended
> Concept Trees, "largely directed toward exploiting technology to
> link subject-access systems... with the DDC." 
> 
> In addition to the amusing coincidence of the subject heading, this
> article was a well-written overview of the type of tool  that could
> become one of mother's little helpers (if Mom is attempting to
> catalog, regardless of format).  I don't know if we will soon, or
> ever, get to the point where a machine will assign subject
> headings, but like  a good spell-checker I think I'd learn to trust
> an intelligent agent that made some reasonable suggestions.  
> 
> Karen G. Schneider/schneider.karen at epamail.epa.gov
> Contractor, GCI/Director, US EPA Region 2 Library
> http://www.epa.gov/Region2/library/
> 
>