[Web4lib] MARC strictness

[David Dorman]

At 12:05 PM 11/28/2005, K.G. Schneider wrote:
> > Is this kind of inconsistency a problem, and how do libraries
> > handle it?  Do you insist that such errors be corrected (and how
> > do you motivate this requirement?), or have you long since given
> > up that fight?
>
>It's interesting that Lars' question hasn't been answered so far. It's an
>interesting question, one that is important in a big way. I read it as a
>much larger question about the value of MARC, which is also a question, at
>least in part, about the value of highly structured human-generated
>metadata, and about the value and purpose of this metadata in a
>search-oriented world.
>
>It intrigues me that the answers so far have provided solutions to the
>technical question but have not addressed the question of whether
>inconsistency in metadata is worth addressing (and "worth" is a very loaded
>word in this context, since metadata is expensive).
>
>Then again, I could be reading far too much into Lars' question...

Whether metadata structured to MARC/AACR2 specifications is necessary or 
not is an interesting question, and one that Mike Taylor addressed in his 
post.  However, Lars's question does not deal with metadata consistency or 
structure--it deals with punctuation.

There are two aspects to the punctuation inconsistency that Lars raises:

         1.  search and retrieval
         2.  record display

With regard to search and retrieval, punctuation generally has no real 
world affect, since most search and retrieval software replace commas, 
periods, etc with a space with respect to searching and indexing.

As regards record display, the problem should not be that big a deal.  In 
practice, I would guess that periods are rarely added (or dropped, for that 
matter) from characters occurring at the end of subfields.  I would also 
guess that most of the punctuation errors are omissions of punctuation 
required by AACR2/ISBD punctuation rules.  I have not made a study of the 
matter, but I would further guess that at least some ILS and other systems 
that display bibliographic metadata have solved most such inconsistencies 
by simple parsing and punctuation insertion rules.  And I suspect also that 
in the real world, most MARC display elements are labeled, which would in 
and of itself obviate the need for ISBD puctuation.

It is a truism, but one worth remembering, that most problems never get 
solved, they just become less relevant.  I think Lars has identified one of 
them.

David


>Karen G. Schneider
>kgs at bluehighways.com
>
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David Dorman
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