Library catalog and Metric time: Difference between pages
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Several proposals for '''metric time''' systems not based on the [[second]] but instead on decimal fractions of an Earth [[day]] have been advanced. Many of these include a unit of 10<sup>-3</sup> day, which is 1.44 minutes. |
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A '''catalog,''' in general, is an organized register of some set of objects (for example, books, works of art, coins, car parts). |
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The most popular unit system was instituted in [[France]] during the Revolution as part of the [[French Revolutionary Calendar]]: |
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== Library catalogs == |
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*10 metric hours in a day (2 h 24 min each) |
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A '''library catalog''' is a register of all ''bibliographic items'' found in a library. A bibliographic item is a [[library material]] (for example, a book), a part of a library material (for example, a single novel in an anthology), or a group of library materials (for example, a trilogy), as far as it is relevant to the catalog. |
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*100 metric minutes in a metric hour (1 min 26.4 sec each) |
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*100 metric seconds in a metric minute (0.864 sec each) |
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*10 days in a metric week (called a dekade) |
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One example is Swatch's [[Internet time]]. |
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=== Goal of a library catalog === |
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Another system has: |
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A library catalog typically serves to answer part of the following questions: |
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*40,000 [[hesit]]s in a day (2.16 sec. each) |
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# Does the library have a specific library material (of which I can provide all information needed to identify the material)? |
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*1 kilohesit in a [[demur]], for 40 demurs per day (36 min. each) |
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# Which works by some author does the library have? |
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# Which works about some subject does the library have? |
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# Which works have been written by some author? |
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# Which works about some subject have been published? |
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Questions 4 and 5 are actually questions answered by [[bibliography|bibliographies]], but some large libraries possess almost all publications of some period, or some country, and their catalog also serves as bibliography for these categories. |
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However no State has adopted ''metric time''. Given the complexity involved in a changeover from the two universal systems currently used in education and higher technologies, and the practical incompatibility between any two systems, a new adoption would require yet a third universal use: There is no evidence that its adoption is ever likely to occur, beyond dual mode clock novelties. When space aliens are ever met, they'll likely not use any of these in any case, except through a universal translator---which will require altogether a [[metastandard]]. |
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In addition, a catalog may serve internal purposes of the library, for example as an inventory of everything that should be present. |
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see [[American Metric Standard]]. |
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=== Catalog types === |
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== Additional Resources == |
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There are the following types of catalog: |
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*[http://www.timeanddate.com/time/internettime.html Internet time, 1000 .beats to the day] |
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* ''Author'' catalog: a formal catalog, sorted alphabetically according to the authors' or editors' names of the entries. |
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*[http://www.decimaltime.fsnet.co.uk/ Decimal Time Society, 1000 tims to the day] |
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* ''Title'' catalog: a formal catalog, sorted alphabetically according to the title of the entries. |
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*[http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/microfortnight.html Jargon File, 1,000,000 microfortnights to 14 days] |
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* ''Keyword'' catalog: a subject catalog, sorted alphabetically according to some system of keywords. |
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* Mixed alphabetic catalog forms: sometimes, one finds a mixed author / title, or an author / title / keyword catalog. |
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* ''Systematic'' catalog: a subject catalog, sorted according to some systematic subdivision of subjects. |
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* ''Shelf order'' catalog: a formal catalog with entries sorted in the same order as bibliographic items are shelved. |
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Producing formal catalogs is relatively easy, as the cataloguer can follow a strict set of catalog rules. However, a formal catalog cannot answer question 3 (which works about some subject does the library have?). A subject catalog just serves that goal, but it is much more difficult to produce, as the cataloguer has to get an accurate impression of the contents of the bibliographic item. |
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=== Catalog rules === |
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Catalog rules have been defined to allow for consistent cataloguing of various library materials across several persons of a cataloguing team and across time. Users can use them to get a more clear idea about how to find an entry and how to interpret the data in an entry. Catalog rules prescribe |
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* which information from a bibliographic item is included in the entry; |
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* how this information is presented on a catalog card; |
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* how the entries have to be sorted in the catalog. |
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The larger a collection, the more elaborate catalog rules are needed. Users cannot and want not examine hundreds of catalog entries or even dozens of library materials to find the one item they need. |
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''Got more history on these proposals? [[Wikipedia utilities/find or fix a stub|Add it]]!'' |
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Currently, most catalog rules are similar to, or even based on, the International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD), a set of rules produced by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) to describe a wide range of library materials. These rules organize the bibliographic description of an item in the following areas: title and statement of responsibility (author or editor), edition, material-dependent information (for example, the scale of a [[map]]), publication and distribution, physical description (for example, number of pages), series, note, and standard number (ISBN). |
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Library items that are (mainly) written in a foreign script are, in most cases, [[transliteration|transliterated]] to the script of the catalog. |
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==== Sorting ==== |
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In a title catalog, one can distinguish two sort orders: |
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* In the ''grammatic'' sort order (used mainly in older catalogs), the most important word of the title is the first sort term. The importance of a word is measured by grammatic rules; for example, the first noun is defined to be the most important word. |
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* In the ''mechanic'' sort order, the first word of the title is the first sort term. Most new catalogs use this scheme, but still include a trace of the grammatic sort order: they neglect an article at the beginning of the title. |
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The grammatic sort order has the advantage that often, the most important word of the title is also a good keyword (question 3), and the user can also find a work when he only remembers an incomplete title. However, it has the disadvantage that many elaborate grammatic rules are needed, so that only expert users may be able to search the catalog without help from a librarian. Also, most online catalogs provide users with the possibility to search for an incomplete title. |
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In some catalogs, person's names are standardized, i. e., the name of the person is always (catalogued and) sorted in a standard form, even if it appears differently in the library material. An advantage of the standardization is that it is easier to answer question 2 (which works of some author does the library have?). On the other hand, it becomes more difficult to answer question 1 (does the library have some specific material?) if the material spells the author in a peculiar variant. For the cataloguer, it may incur (too) much work to check whether ''Smith, J.'' is ''Smith, John'' or ''Smith, Jack''.<br> |
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For some works, even the title can be standardized. For example, translations and reeditions are sometimes sorted under their original title. In many catalogs, parts of the [[Bible]] are sorted under the standard name of the book(s) they contain. |
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Many detail questions about alphabetic sorting of entries arise. Some examples: |
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* Some languages know sorting conventions that differ from the language of the catalog. For example, some [[Dutch language|Dutch]] catalogs sort ''IJ'' as ''Y''. Should an English catalog follow this suit? And should a Dutch catalog sort non-Dutch words the same way? |
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* Some titles contain numbers, for example Orwell's ''[[1984 (novel)|1984]]''. How to sort them? (Often, it is decided to sort it as ''<u>N</u>ineteenhundred eighty-four''.) |
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* ''[[Honore de Balzac|de Balzac, Honoré]]'' or ''Balzac, Honoré de''? ''[[Jesus Ortega y Gasset|Ortega y Gasset, Jesus]]'' or ''Gasset, Jesus Ortega y''? |
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In a subject catalog, |
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one has to decide on which [[library classification|classification]] to use. |
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See also: |
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* [[Collation]] |
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External links: |
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* A general overview of the ISBD: http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/pubs/isbdg.htm |
Revision as of 02:15, 15 March 2003
Several proposals for metric time systems not based on the second but instead on decimal fractions of an Earth day have been advanced. Many of these include a unit of 10-3 day, which is 1.44 minutes.
The most popular unit system was instituted in France during the Revolution as part of the French Revolutionary Calendar:
- 10 metric hours in a day (2 h 24 min each)
- 100 metric minutes in a metric hour (1 min 26.4 sec each)
- 100 metric seconds in a metric minute (0.864 sec each)
- 10 days in a metric week (called a dekade)
One example is Swatch's Internet time.
Another system has:
- 40,000 hesits in a day (2.16 sec. each)
- 1 kilohesit in a demur, for 40 demurs per day (36 min. each)
However no State has adopted metric time. Given the complexity involved in a changeover from the two universal systems currently used in education and higher technologies, and the practical incompatibility between any two systems, a new adoption would require yet a third universal use: There is no evidence that its adoption is ever likely to occur, beyond dual mode clock novelties. When space aliens are ever met, they'll likely not use any of these in any case, except through a universal translator---which will require altogether a metastandard.
Additional Resources
- Internet time, 1000 .beats to the day
- Decimal Time Society, 1000 tims to the day
- Jargon File, 1,000,000 microfortnights to 14 days
Got more history on these proposals? Add it!