[DCRM-L] Consulting the RBMS Pubs Committee

[Deborah J. Leslie]

Larry,

I too had an unpleasant tour of duty on the RBMS Publications Committee in the old days. Those were the old days. You wouldn't recognize the committee now.

Publications Committee has no authority over BSC publications; that remains, as it ever has, with Exec. On the other hand, given the increasing desire and opportunity for electronic publication, the expertise and enthusiasm available from Publications has become utterly indispensable to the BSC. 

-----Original Message-----
From: dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu] On Behalf Of Laurence S. Creider
Sent: Wednesday, 27 February, 2013 23:08
To: DCRM Revision Group List
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] Consulting the RBMS Pubs Committee

Jackie,
I apologize for my confusion on section hierarchy.  As a cataloger, I am always amazed at my carelessness about corporate body names and organization outside of bibliographic and authority records.  On the other hand, if the Publications Committee has to approve any publication of the DCRB manuals, then the two committees are not functioning on the same level on a particular issue.  The Publications Committee obviously can contribute expertise to publishing in web or print form, and that would be welcome.

I suppose I should have kept my mouth closed, but I spent two terms on the RBMS Publications Committee.  I did not find the experience pleasant.  I witnessed unanticipated changes of the chair.  I did not see that there was a steady direction to the committee's efforts, although part of the difficulty came from the evolving position of websites in general combined with ALA/ACRL's demands for control over websites and the use of a CMS that was less than responsive.  The most uncomfortable time for me was the revision of Your Old Books.  Other members of the committee at that time probably have different perspectives.  Of course, I would not make any of these statements about the current Publications Committee, but my experience makes me a bit cautious.  The reason that the Directory of Web Resources for the Rare Materials Cataloger remains at NMSU is a testimony to my enduring nervousness about "remote control."


Larry
--
Laurence S. Creider
Interim Head
Archives and Special Collections Dept.
University Library
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM  88003
Work: 575-646-4756
Fax: 575-646-7477
lcreider at lib.nmsu.edu

On Wed, February 27, 2013 7:22 pm, Jackie Dooley wrote:
> Larry said: ³P.S. I just saw Richard's note, which makes many good
points.
> I would
> prefer doing something on the BSC level rather than the RBMS 
> publication
committee because there seems to be some sort of organizational law that the higher up in the structure you go, the less understanding there is of
> what life on the ground is like.  The rare materials cataloging
community
> has done a remarkably good job of keeping its focus on improving and
making standards public.  With the constantly changing membership of the section Publications Committee, we are likely to get a Pharoah who did not
> know Joseph and end up making bricks without straw.²
>
> With all respect, Larry, BSC and the Pubs Committee are on the same
level
> in
> the RBMS hierarchy, but the latter is responsible for publications,
including web publications. Why would they do anything unreasonable? But forgive me for commenting if you were only hyperbolizing.* :)
>
> --Jackie
>
> * Apologies if my made-up word is inappropriate!
>
> --
> Jackie Dooley
> Program Officer, OCLC Research
> & President,
> Society of American Archivists
>
> dooleyj at oclc.org
> 949.492.5060 (work/home) -- Pacific Time (GMT ­8)
> 949.295.1529 (mobile)
>
>
>
>