Comments on: LC Subject Headings are Dead

By: dave

dave — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:40:42 +0000

I see no reason we cannot have our cake and eat it to â€” by permitting user tagging to be included in full text search AND offering the subject search for those who need more precise results.

That’s the most reasonable thing I’ve read in a long time! No need to throw out one method to add another. There might be a user out there somewhere who loves LCSH. Unlikely but possible!

By: Kelly G

Kelly G — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 20:14:12 +0000

Jane–
I see no reason we cannot have our cake and eat it to — by permitting user tagging to be included in full text search AND offering the subject search for those who need more precise results.

By: Kelly G

Kelly G — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 16:27:12 +0000

I’ve participated in this conversation many times within the taxonomy community! I don’t know that “afraid” is the operative term

I’m assuming you are talking about using tagging on a specific resource (perhaps a library OPAC or intranet).
I find that internal and focused collections really need the structured terminology more than the enormous collection we call the World Wide Web.

The short answer is that loose tagging is a great way to provide *additional* access points and gather potential updates to an internal controlled vocabulary. However tagging alone can muddy the results.
(I will continue to answer on my blog)

By: ranger

ranger — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 15:48:44 +0000

While I love the complexity and ensuing hilarity of LC subject headings (Moon Pies, Juvenile Fiction anyone?), they are not useful for patrons. Tag away, I say, now that we have that technology just waiting to be used.

By: joshua m. neff

joshua m. neff — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 22:05:19 +0000

Honestly? I think we’re afraid of having gone to grad school for nothing. The reasoning goes like this:

1) If patrons and paraprofessionals are just as qualified as I am to make decisions about the library and its collections,

2) Then my grad degree is worthless and I am nobody special.

Or maybe I’m wrong. Maybe we’re just afraid that space monkeys will invade the planet if we abandon LC subject headings.