The Organization of Information: (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Taylor intends this book to be preparatory to traditional texts on cataloging and classification. She reviews why and how recorded information is organized in libraries, archives, museums, and art galleries. She then turns to the methods of retrieving information, such as through bibliographies and catalogs, and methods of encoding information (e.g., MARC and SGML), the metadata related to description and access, subject analysis by means of words, and classification as a further means of subject access. A chapter on systems for information storage and retrieval concludes a book that well fills the need for a single-volume introduction on its subject. Edward Swanson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"This book belongs in all libraries and many personal bookshelves as well."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Libraries Unlimited (March 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563084988
• ISBN-13: 978-1563084980
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #986,164 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In Plain English (not jargon), July 27, 2000

By A Customer

Want to know what your computer people are babbling on about when they use phrases like "GILS" or "Dublin Core?" Tired of hearing explanations of TEI and metadata that only leave you more confused than when you started? This is the book for you. Yes, there's more to the book than this, but Chapters 4 and 5 (that's all the further I've gotten today--but I just had to write now) are worth the price of admission. Thank you, Ms. Taylor, for finally putting these concepts I've been hearing for the last 2 years into a framework that I can actually understand! My boss is now running across the hall to my office every time she hears me say "Oh, I get it!" so I can explain whatever my newest understanding is to her, too.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid introductory textbook , August 22, 2006

By	Tribippy "tribippy" (South Euclid, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Organization of Information (Library and Information Science Text Series) (Paperback)

I used this textbook for a core cataloging course for my LIS degree. It provides a good foundation for different information systems. The author includes important discussion of Web technologies, like XML, and how they are used in conjunction with traditional library encoding systems like MARC. It includes sections on systems design that are not deep, but appropriate given the introductory nature of this book. Unlike some other reviewers, I had no trouble with acronyms, and other definitions: the book has a thorough index, in addition to a glossary.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent textbook!, September 21, 2005

By	Sarah A. Buck "Sarah Buck Kachaluba" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Organization of Information (Library and Information Science Text Series) (Paperback)

This is an excellent textbook. It is well organized and clearly written, explaining difficult concepts in understandable language for students. It covers the history of information organization in libraries, archives, and museums, as well as tools such as inventories, bibliographies, catalogs and indexes, and methods and standards of codification; reviews the history and development of the internet; describes different kinds of databases; and discusses metadata as a theoretical and practical concept, reviewing different kinds of metadata schemes. I highly recommend it.