The Nature of &#039;a Work&#039;: Implications for the Organization of Knowledge

Richard P. Smiraglia

doi:10.5771/9781461673309

Summary

Living legend Smiraglia has written the first book devoted exclusively to exploring the concept that is commonly referred to as a bibliographic "Work." In bringing together material from both inside and outside the discipline of information studies, he traces the continuing development of catalogs, search engines, and other kinds of information retrieval tools, the better to understand the maze of editions and revisions and translations that make up the evolution of a Work.

Two appendixes contain charts demonstrating the evolution of concepts and definitions of a Work; a third contains a summary of the sampling technique employed to generate the data in chapter 5 "Defining the Work in Quantatative Terms" and chapter 6 "The Constitution of Bibliographic Families."

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Bibliographic data

Edition: 1/2001
Copyright Year: 2001
ISBN-Print: 978-0-8108-4037-9
ISBN-Online: 978-1-4616-7330-9
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 183
Product Type: Monograph

1. Table of Contents No access
2. List of Tables No access
3. List of Figures No access
4. Preface No access
5. Acknowledgments No access
1. 1.1: The Bibliographic Universe No access
2. 1.2: Works and the Design of Bibliographic Retrieval Systems No access
3. 1.3: Works and Texts No access
4. 1.4: The Digital Imperative: What is an Electronic Work? No access
5. 1.5: How do we Answer the Question: What is the Nature of a Work? No access
1. 2.1: A Multiplicity of Editions No access
2. 2.2: The "Literary Unit" No access
3. 2.3: The International Conference on Cataloguing Principles (1961) No access
4. 2.4: Defining "The Work" No access
5. 2.5: From Multiplicity to Bibliographic Relationships No access
1. 3.1: The Humphrey Clinker Effect No access
2. 3.2: A Taxonomy of Bibliographic Relationships No access
3. 3.3: A Taxonomy of Derivation No access
4. 3.4: Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records No access
5. 3.5: Toward Consensus on the Concept of the Work No access
1. 4.1: Works as Vehicles for Communication No access
2. 4.2: Volatility of Works—Varieties of Perception in Reception of Works No access
3. 4.3: Volatility of Texts—Changes in Representation of Works No access
4. 4.4: Evolution in the Creatorship of Works No access
5. 4.5: A Work is a Cultural Phenomenon No access
1. 5.1: Early Research Indicating the Presence of Derivative Bibliographic Relationships No access
2. 5.2: Research Describing Derivative Bibliographic Relationships No access
3. 5.3: Works in Libraries No access
4. 5.4: The Incidence of Derivative Bibliographic Relationships No access
5. 5.5: Characteristics of Works with Bibliographic Families No access
6. 5.6: Summarizing the Data No access
1. 6.1: Qualitative Analysis of Bibliographic Families No access
2. 6.2: Evolution of Works No access
1. 7.1: The Paradigm of the Work No access
2. 7.2: The Social Role of Works No access
3. 7.3: The Quantitative Evidence No access
4. 7.4: Methodological Implications No access
5. 7.5: The Parameters of a Theory of the Work No access
6. 7.6: Implications for Knowledge Organization No access
7. 7.7: Conclusion No access
Works Cited No access Pages 135 - 144
Appendix 1: Definitions of a Work No access Pages 145 - 152
Appendix 2: Instantiations of a Work No access Pages 153 - 154
1. A3.1: Sampling Frames No access
2. A3.2: Sampling Works at Georgetown No access
3. A3.3: Sampling Works from OCLC WorldCat No access
4. A3.4: Sampling Theological Works No access
5. A3.5: General Remarks about the Sampling Technique No access
Glossary No access Pages 165 - 170
Index No access Pages 171 - 181
About the Author No access Pages 182 - 183