[uf-discuss] Re: [Structuredblogging-discuss] microformat for books in a library catalog

[Phillip Pearson]

If it's not important to look like MARC data, take a look at the MODS 
and Dublin Core transformations, which are more human-friendly 
representations of this sort of data:

   http://www.loc.gov/standards/marcxml/Sandburg/sandburgmods.xml
   http://www.loc.gov/standards/marcxml/Sandburg/sandburgdc.xml

Perhaps the example could look something like this in XHTML:

<div class="book" lang="en">
  <h3 class="fn">Arithmetic /</h3>
  <p>By <span class="creator"><span class="fn">Sandburg, Carl</span>, 
<span class="date">1878-1967</span></span>, and <span 
class="illustrator">Rand, Ted</span></p>
  <p>Publisher: <span class="publisher"><span class="fn">Harcourt Brace 
Jovanovich</span>, <span class="locality">San Diego</span></span></p>
  <p>Published: <span class="issued">1993</span></p>
  <p class="description">A poem about numbers and their characteristics. 
Features anamorphic, or distorted, drawings which can be restored to 
normal by viewing from a particular angle or by viewing the image's 
reflection in the provided Mylar cone.</p>
  <p class="note">One Mylar sheet included in pocket.</p>
  <p>Subjects:</p>
  <ul>
    <li class="subject">Arithmetic</li>
    <li class="subject">Children's poetry, American.</li>
    <li class="subject">Arithmetic</li>
    <li class="subject">American poetry</li>
    <li class="subject">Visual perception</li>
  </ul>
</div>

Cheers,
Phil

Edward Vielmetti wrote:

>Thanks Benjamin.  I'm actually not after an XML-coded
>raw MARC format, let me explain the use case a little
>better.
>
>Our library has RSS feeds for all sorts of patron searches
>through the catalog (note "patron", not "cataloger").  I'm
>aiming for a microformat to mark up that RSS so that
>a minimally smart reader or application can pull out
>fields and do something useful with them.
>
>The intended use can be envisaged by looking at this
>posting:
>
>http://vielmetti.typepad.com/vacuum/2005/12/duckytool_searc.html
>
>showing a command-line library search tool, and
>
>http://vielmetti.typepad.com/vacuum/2005/12/a_design_for_a_.html
>
>with a design for an IM library bot that would read a microformatted
>RSS feed and transform queries into appropriate responses.
>
>thanks
>
>Ed
>
>On 12/19/05, Benjamin Carlyle <benjamincarlyle at optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>  
>
>>On Tue, 2005-12-20 at 16:32 +1300, Phillip Pearson wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>This would probably make more sense over on the microformats-discuss
>>>list.  Edward - visit
>>>http://microformats.org/mailman/listinfo/microformats-discuss/ to join.
>>>Edward Vielmetti wrote:
>>>      
>>>
>>>>I'm looking for suggestions for a microformat
>>>>suitable to recommend to my library which
>>>>produces an RSS feed as a result set for
>>>>a search through its library catalog.
>>>>hReview isn't quite right, and there's a lot
>>>>of potentially useful book metadata that
>>>>comes from a standard format (US-MARC)
>>>>and should be straightforward to map in.
>>>>        
>>>>
>>MARC is also the name of what we use in Australia, especially in
>>academic libraries. My spouse works in this field, but isn't sure if the
>>encoding is the same as US MARC or not. According to wikipedia[1], it is
>>US MARC.
>>
>>In the primary school library where she currently works, she makes
>>extensive use of the scis[2] database. This is a subscriber-only system
>>that allows users to search for already-catalogued works so that they
>>can avoid doing the original cataloguing over again. The user enters
>>ISBNs for those works that have them, and SCIS numbers that need to be
>>searched for when items do not have an ISBN. The list of ISBN and SCIS
>>numbers is entered into a dialogue, and a usmarc.dat file is produced
>>for download. This file is imported into the local library system, and
>>bob's your uncle.
>>
>>Interestingly, this isn't an XML MARC. It is still the original system,
>>which looks something like this:
>>00741nam  2200265 a
>>4500001000800000005001700008007000300025008004100028020001500069040000900084082002000093100001600113245004100129260003900170300002300209440002500232440003800257500004100295500001400336650002200350650002200372650002700394650002700421650002700448
1050689
20010622154425.0
ta
010622s2000    at           |000 0 eng d
  a1862830517
  aW.A.
14a796.5bGRA2a13
1 aGrant, Jim.
10aEveryone likes ....
>>
>>It seems likely that any microformatted MARC would have to be able to be
>>translated back to this version for import to local tools in order to be
>>useful.
>>
>>--
>>Benjamin Carlyle <benjamincarlyle at optusnet.com.au>
>>[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MARC_21
>>[2] http://www.curriculum.edu.au/scis/
>>
>>
>>    
>>
>
>
>--
>Edward Vielmetti in Ann Arbor, MI 48104
>+1 734 276 5910
>
>edward.vielmetti at gmail.com
>http://www.vacuumgroup.com
>_______________________________________________
>microformats-discuss mailing list
>microformats-discuss at microformats.org
>http://microformats.org/mailman/listinfo/microformats-discuss
>  
>