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Re: [ARSCLIST] Cataloguing again--more OCLC, AACR2 bashing



From: Patent Tactics, George Brock-Nannestad

On 10 August 2006 Karl wrote towards the end:

> 
> Stay tuned for the next installment...getting your punctuation
> right...outrageous isn't it, needing punctuation within a field...a
> preview...where else in the English language, other than the MARC format
> do you precede a colon with a space...answer...I don't know...

----- could this be a left-over from the so-called "colon classification"? 
That was using a colon as a field delimiter when it was realized that the old 
decimal classification system (pigeon-holing) was not helpful for documents 
that did not fall clearly within one subject area. That indeed took a long 
time to realize! You would then - marvel, marvel - use several decimal 
classifications for the same physical object - a book in most cases. To 
distinguish between a colon as part of a title and a colon as a delimiter you 
would have a space before it. Our thoughts are frequently hierarchical in 
structure, indeed it is an advantage to be able to place phenomena correctly 
in hierarchies, only we must realize that several hierarchies relate to a 
particular phenomenon at all times.

Kind regards to all sufferers,


George


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