LIS 415: Information Organization

Instructor: Daniel N. Joudrey
E-mail: joudrey@simmons.edu
Office: P-205B
Phone: (617) 521-2863

Ways in which surrogate records can be encoded for computer-readability are explored.

Topics: MARC, SGML and XML Schemas and DTDs, RDF, EAD, and TEI

• Why and how do we code records for machine manipulation?
• Why is encoding standardized?
• Will XML or other encoding system replace MARC in library catalogs?

Required Readings

Taylor, The Organization of Information, Chapter 4

Taylor, Intro to Cat & Class, Chapter 3 (bring to class)

Caplan, Metadata Fundamentals for All Librarians, Chapter 2

Furrie, "Understanding MARC" http://www.loc.gov/marc/umb/

OCLC, Bibliographic Formats and Standards (consult as needed) http://www.oclc.org/bibformats/

Recommended Readings

Articles

Needleman, "RDF: Resource Description Framework"

Coyle, "MODS"

Banerjee, "How Does XML Help Libraries?"

Gaynor, "From MARC to Markup..." (old, but still useful for basic concepts)

Yott, "Introduction to XML."

Wusteman, "About XML: Whither HTML?"

Thurman, "Metadata Standards for Archival Control"

Recommended Readings

Web Sites

Berners-Lee, "The Semantic Web." http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-semantic-web

Bryan, "An Introduction to XML." http://burks.brighton.ac.uk/burks/internet/web/xmlintro.htm

Encoded Archival Description Official site. http://www.loc.gov/ead/

<Text Encoding Initiative>. http://www.tei-c.org/

W3C, RDF FAQ. http://www.w3.org/RDF/FAQ

W3C, "Metadata Actvity Statement" explanation of RDF http://www.w3.org/Metadata/Activity.html

Library of Congress. "MARC in XML." http://www.loc.gov/marc/marcxml.html

Bray, "What is RDF?" http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2001/01/24/rdf.html

Kelly, "What Is... XML?" http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue15/what-is/

Recommended Readings

Books

Yee & Layne, Improving Online Public..., Chapter 3

Lazinger, Digital Preservation and Metadata, Chapter 7

Harvey & Hider, Organising Knowledge in a Global Society, Chapter 10

Vocabulary

• DTD
• Dublin Core
• EAD
• Element
• Encoding
• Field
• Fixed field
• Indicators
• MARC
• MARC 21
• Markup language
• METS
• MODS
• RDF
• Schema
• SGML
• Standard
• Structure
• Subfield
• Syntax
• Tag
• TEI
• UNIMARC
• USMARC
• Variable field
• XML

Course Outline

• Unit 1: Introduction and Environments
• Unit 2: Retrieval Tools & Current Systems
• Unit 3: Introduction to Metadata
• Unit 4: Encoding Standards
• Unit 5: Description
• Unit 6: Access & Authority Control
• Unit 7 : Aboutness & Subject Analysis
• Unit 8 : Vocabulary Control
• Unit 9 : Categorization, Classification, & Arrangement
• Unit 10: The Past
• Unit 11: The Future