Along these same lines, this just came to my attention: http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/tburke1/perma12004.html. While I've run into the same attitude that Eric has (librarians hardly trust each other to make comments, much less patrons), it seems as though a rich (dare I say Web?) of comments and links about and between records might be very helpful to many. --Th > -----Original Message----- > From: Eric Lease Morgan [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Monday, January 26, 2004 2:26 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] ILS component for book reviews? > > > On 1/26/04 2:08 PM, Kenneth R. Irwin <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > That's a good idea Ben; why don't you do that? I know of no > such thing, and I > > don't think I've even heard speculation about it, but I dig > the idea. > > > > Quoth Ben Ostrowsky <[log in to unmask]>: > > > >> Is anyone aware of software that has been developed for > allowing people to > >> make comments about a book? I imagine it would have user > accounts and > >> anonymous participation, moderation/administration against > trolls, etc. And > >> if it's designed anywhere near properly, it would be > pretty easy to add as > >> part of a web-based catalog. (I use Dynix's HIP, but my > dream software would > >> be vendor-neutral.) > > I've given the implementation of such service some thought. > Here's how I > might do it: > > 1. Determine key for particular book, say field 001 of MARC. > > 2. Add this sort of text display of a book in a catalog such as > > <a href='/?id=DCN0003'>Read/write reviews of this item</a> > > 3. The script reads the ID number and uses it as a foreign key > to a separate relational database from the catalog. > > 4. The resulting HTML output displays reviews and gives the > user the opportunity to create their own reviews. > > 5. Features may include logging in or the ability of librarians > to edit reviews, as Ben mentions above. > > When I mentioned this to peers a few months ago I was told > that our users > aren't qualified to write reviews. > > I plan to implement reviewing features in our redesigned website using > MyLibrary. We hope to go a bit further and implement a sort > of "people like > you also used" service. > > -- > Eric Lease Morgan > Head, Digital Access and Information Architecture Department > University Libraries of Notre Dame > > (574) 631-8604 >