Presentation from CaMMS Forum at ALA Annual 2014 Las Vegas.

1. Toy Stories
The State of Semantics in a Semiotic World
Nannette Naught
for ALA Annual CaMMS Forum, June 29, 2014

2. But 1st . . . A Request For Leeway

3. 2 Important Disclaimers
#1 OVERSIMPLIFICATION
#2 Some SILLINESS

4. Back to the Story . . .
Long-Standing Leader
Woody or MARC?
Encounters New Fangled Toy with
Delusions of Grandeur
Buzz or MARC replacement?
Jealousy & Mayhem Ensure
Kick everything out the window?
Are the old toys still relevant?
Will new toys deliver on their promises?
Stranded & Alone
Is the Internet winning?
Will patrons still visit Libraries?
How will we survive?
They Learn to Work Together
To solve real world problems
► Avoid easy catch phrases & hype
►Communicate clearly
►Collaborate, encourage, & adapt

5. Scene 2 . . .
Fears Surface
Is our new leader just a computer game character?
Will we be thrown away like “broken toys”?
A Leader is Stolen
Why do marketers want MARC records?
What are we missing?
Rescue Missions Ensue
MARC replacement becomes BIBFRAME
Early implementers test the water
Real world “in the cracks” library applications appear
Reunions Occur
Bridges are built to legacy meta data
Pathways to content are envisioned
BIBFRAME exports are programmed
Connections are Restored
Users who need us, can now communicate with us
► Library Patrons
►Marketers
►Content Producers

6. Scene 3 . . .
The Boy Grows Up
The Web is firmly embedded in patrons daily lives
Knowledge seekers need authority amidst the chaos
Fears & Miscommunications Flourish
Card catalogs, strings, etc. tagged for long-term storage
Normal order disrupted
New Users Get Ugly
Pieces are torn off & reassembled in new ways
Systems are pushed & breakage occurs
The truly unruly & untrained are here to stay
Destruction Threatens
Inability to collaborate threatens to “take us down in
flames”
Focusing on too small a mission threatens disposal
Next Gen Acceptance is Achieved
Cooperation, good solutions, & modern approaches can
mean:
►Relevance to the “born digital” crowd
►Process changes that positively impact knowledge
on the web

7. Old Paradigms
How Library Meta Data Does
Role(s) Library Meta Data Fills for Library Systems
Strings
MARC
AACR2, etc.
LCSH/Dewey/MESH, etc.
Access
What Librarian Does
Role(s) Librarian Fills for Patrons
Acquisition
Organization
Description
Embedded
Punctuation
Complex, Rule-Based
Disambiguation
Physical Resources

8. Totally New Adventures
How Meta Data & Electronic Content Do
Role(s) Meta Data & Electronic Content Fill for Systems
Unique, Linked Identifiers
BIBFRAME, etc.
RDA, etc.
Subject Taxonomies
Ask
Browse
Interact
What a Patron Does
Role(s) Librarian Fills
for Patrons
Acquire
Clean Data
Objects
Electronic Resources & Representations

9. Galaxy Defense or
Darjeeling with Marie Antoinette?
How Library Meta Data & Electronic Content Do
Role(s) Library Meta Data & Electronic Content Fills for Library Systems
Clean Data Embedded Punctuation
Unique, Linked Identifiers
Complex, Rule-Based Disambiguation
BIBFRAME, etc. MARC
RDA, etc. AACR2
Subject Taxonomies
LCSH/Dewey/MESH, etc. expressed in new ways
Ask
Browse
Interact
What Librarian
Patron Does
Role(s) Librarian Fills
for Patrons
Acquire
Objects Strings
Electronic Resources & Representations Physical Resources

10. So . . . What’s Changed?
• Tech — It’s been modernized
• Scope — It’s been extended beyond Library
• Sequence of Inquiry — It’s been “disrupted” by
patron whim/need/context

11. Again . . .
#1 Admitted Oversimplification
#2 Slight Silliness

12. Suggest . . . 3 + 1
Things
Patrons
Systems
Context
(Ours)

13. #1 Patrons to Language to Answers
Or State of Semantics in a Semiotic World
Syntactics
Semantics
Pragmatics

14. #2 Things to Labels to IDs
Or State of Relationships in an Electronic World
Labels
(Human)
Things
(Real World)
Identifiers
<Machine>

15. #3 Systems to Things to Answers
Or State of Discovery in a Connected World
Constrained
Systems
Closed
Systems
Open
Systems
Patrons
Answers

16. +1 . . . Our Current Context?

17. +1 . . . Musings