"Cataloging the Internet"

[David P. Miller]

We definitely confuse the relevant issues here when we talk about
"cataloging the Internet". First, nobody but nobody is actually talking
about providing full AACR/MARC cataloging for every home page, every
chat room, every newsgroup. That's simply a nonissue. As has been
pointed out here and elsewhere, no library in the past 500 years ever
tried to collect and catalog everything ever published, and our present
situation need not be different in that regard.

On the other hand, one could catalog the Internet quite easily. The
result would look something like (very rough, now):

TITLE: Internet.
SUBJECT: Online resources -- Databases.
MEANS OF ACCESS: [big long field here providing all the options].

You get the idea. Obviously, nobody's talking about that either.

What -is- happening, despite all the statements that nobody's doing
this and it can't be done, is that detailed access is being provided
to specific resources in an increasing number of cases. Apart from
the technical issues of URL maintenance, this effort is moving along
quite well, and no big daddy is in charge. There are also a growing
number of coherent, thoughtful and well-maintained "webliographies."
That's very good too (our library web site points to the Hardin Meta
Directory, for example). And the search engines have their place,
no doubt -- I'm turning more often to Northern Light nowadays.

So, why are we still talking about "cataloging the Internet?" I know,
it's shorthand -- but not really useful shorthand anymore.

David Miller
Levin Library, Curry College
dmiller at curry.edu