Jonathan:

What strikes me about the code list you found is how difficult it is to 
use, as compared to what we're starting to do for RDA.  The methodology 
that ONIX uses to build and maintain their lists really pushes a lot of 
the onus over to the user to keep up with changes in their 
vocabularies.  Among other things, it presupposes a "system" into which 
the XML or CSV can be loaded. 

I have spoken briefly to some of their folks about using the Registry 
(or something like it) to maintain their vocabularies (or, at least, to 
assist others in using their vocabularies), but I'm not sure they quite 
get the notion of re-use outside their community (publishers) quite 
yet.  The work that has been done with the RDA/ONIX effort is a start, 
but obviously there's a way to go yet. 

Diane

Jonathan Rochkind wrote:
> Thanks, that's interesting too.
>
> One of the most useful lists I've found is actually in ONIX, Code List 7.
>
> http://www.editeur.org/codelists.html
>
> Although Code List 7 actually needs to be supplemented by Code List 78 
> if you want full detail. (Like whether a VHS tape is NTSC or PAL; or 
> the fact that a printed book is in Braille (US or UK? Can specify 
> either, hooray.)).
> The ONIX list is a pretty good and complete list of physical formats 
> for published items, and appears to be free, and is available in XML 
> as well.
> It does become an awfully LONG list.  And is still not entirely 
> intellectually consistent---the article Diane pointed to in D-Lib is 
> the result of trying to harmonize this with library practices in an 
> intellectually consistent way, but it becomes something so abstract 
> that it's kind of hard to deal with, and also leaves many vocabularies 
> unspecified.  I think a more or less flat list with specified 
> vocabulary, even if not entirely intellectually consistent, that 
> corresponds to the universe of actually existing published items, is 
> probably more useful.
>
> Jonathan
>
> Chris Beer wrote:
>> Hi Jonathan,
>>
>> As Esha said, PBCore might be worth looking at. It's probably one of 
>> the more complete lists. If you want something more formal than the 
>> PBCore list, the EBU also has a good  vocabulary in an XML format 
>> (http://www.ebu.ch/metadata/cs/ebu_StorageMediaTypeCodeCS.xml). The 
>> nice thing about the EBU list is that some of their term definitions 
>> might help identify more obscure materials.
>>
>>  
>>> Have you looked at PBCore? It's a metadata standard developed by 
>>> the  Corporation for Public Broadcasting and is used for tv and 
>>> other  multi media cataloging.     
>>
>>  
>>>> Jonathan Rochkind wrote:
>>>>      
>>>>> Anyone know of any good existing controlled vocabulary for  
>>>>> 'format' or 'carrier' for multimedia materials?  I'm thinking of  
>>>>> things like "CD", "DVD", "digital", etc.
>>>>>
>>>>> The closest I can get is from RDA at http://metadataregistry.org/ 
>>>>> concept/list/vocabulary_id/46.html (thanks Karen and Diane), but  
>>>>> it seems _really_ insufficient. As far as I can tell "audio disc"  
>>>>> is used for both a CD and a vinyl disc, and there's nothing  
>>>>> available there for "DVD" at all.   Or for "digital". Although  
>>>>> I'm not sure what I mean by "digital", I guess CD and DVD are  
>>>>> both digital, but I was thinking of something to identify a  
>>>>> digital file on a computer network free of particular carrier. I  
>>>>> guess that wouldn't be in a carrier vocabulary at all, after all,  
>>>>> that would be sort of a null carrier. Phew, this stuff does get  
>>>>> complicated quick. Which I guess is why nobody's worked out a  
>>>>> good one yet.
>>>>>
>>>>> Too bad RDA's is so _far_ from good though. Any others anyone  
>>>>> knows about?
>>>>>
>>>>> Jonathan
>>>>>         
>>
>> Chris
>>
>>   
>