eXtensible Catalog Paper

Supporting the eXtensible Catalog through Metadata Design and Services by Jennifer Bowen is now available.

The eXtensible Catalog (XC) is a unique set of software toolkits for libraries that is not directly comparable to either a traditional Integrated Library System (ILS) or a “next-generation” discovery interface. XC will go well beyond providing a discovery layer to also provide a metadata infrastructure for enriching and transforming metadata to make it usable in a variety of web environments. The XC Metadata Services Toolkit can also be used for experimentation and testing of new metadata standards and schemas and can be an invaluable tool for libraries as they become accustomed to these new standards, especially RDA. The library metadata environment is entering a period that will be characterized by significant change and uncertainty, and the eXtensible Catalog Project will provide a variety of useful tools to help the library community make informed decisions about the future.

IFLA Classification and Indexing Section Newsletter

The December 2008 issue of the IFLA Classification and Indexing Section Newsletter is now available.

NISO Newsline

The Jan. issue of the NISO Newsline is now available to all Z39.n heads. They have been busy.

Changes to MARC Code List for Languages

The following change has been approved for use in the international language code standard, ISO 639-2 (Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages--Part 2: alpha-3 code) and is consequently also changed in the MARC Code List for Languages.

Language name Moldavian
New name Moldovan
Previous code mol
Now coded rum

The language code "mol" will no longer be used for the variant of the Romanian language that is spoken in the Republic of Moldova known as Moldovan or Moldavian. In the MARC Code List for Languages, Moldovan will be listed as follows:

Moldovan
Assigned collective code [rum]
(Romanian)
UF Moldavian

Semantics in HTML 5

Semantics in HTML 5 by John Allsopp has been published on A List Apart (the other ALA).

There is a very real problem that needs to be solved here. We need mechanisms in HTML that clearly and unambiguously enable developers to add richer, more meaningful semantics—not pseudo semantics—to their markup. This is perhaps the single most pressing goal for the HTML 5 project.