Re: Holdings

Your library barcodes will be SKUs in Schema.org


On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 1:00 PM, Karen Coyle <kcoyle@kcoyle.net> wrote:

> Dan, your argument makes sense, however in actual libraries inventory is
> done with barcodes - that is, that is how libraries count what they have.
> And inventory # has to be 1:1 with things owned. So maybe the issue is that
> we don't want to use the term "inventory identifier" for call numbers
> because it will confuse those who use the barcode to do their inventory.
>
> This means that we are still lacking a term for the call number/shelf
> number. Part of the complication is that the shelf number has a locating
> function, but the location is relative, not fixed. Another part of the
> complication is that it's not just a location, it's an indication of the
> subject matter.
>
> I think getting the idea of location into the name or the definition would
> be helpful. Lacking that, bringing out the classification aspect might
> speak to potential users.
>
> kc
>
>
> On 10/15/13 10:34 AM, Dan Scott wrote:
>
>> On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Karen Coyle <kcoyle@kcoyle.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks, Richard. Personally, I would switch inventoryIdentifier and
>>> serialNumber -- the barcode on the book is the inventory identifier.
>>> Serial
>>> number works just as well for either, so it could be the call number.
>>>
>>
>> I still think that's the wrong way around. This is not "serial number
>> as in ISSN", but "serial number as in uniquely identifies a single
>> item". barcode is a much, much better fit for schema.org/serialNumber
>> in my opinion, as while we have established that some libraries use
>> the same call number for multiple copies of a given item, I don't
>> think there are any libraries that use the same barcode more than
>> once.
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/**Serial_number<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_number>says "A serial number (also
>> manufacturer's serial number or MSN) is a unique code assigned for
>> identification of a single unit. Although usually called a number, it
>> may include letters, though ending with digits. Typically serial
>> numbers of a production run are incremented by one, or another fixed
>> difference, from one unit to the next." That last bit also sounds an
>> awful lot like how barcodes are typically generated, and not at all
>> how call numbers are assigned (accession numbers, sure, but that's a
>> different beast).
>>
>> Richard, do you have a proposed definition for
>> schema.org/inventoryIdentifier**? I'm keen on finding out how it differs
>> substantially from schema.org/sku. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/**Sku<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sku>
>> uses the definition: "a unique identifier for each distinct product
>> and service that can be purchased in business"; that's pretty close to
>> what I would think of as an inventory identifier. If we're going to
>> argue for the addition of a new property, it's going to need to be
>> convincingly different!
>>
>>  Other than that, I think this is good to go, but we never got a
>>> definitive
>>> answer about de-commercializing the definitions, did we? However, we also
>>> got only positive responses, as I recall.
>>>
>>
>> Yes, there seems to be a limited attention span on public-vocabs and I
>> think most of that attention recently has been gobbled up by SKOS and
>> to a lesser extent the accessibility proposal... but like you I don't
>> recall any opposition to the notion. I wouldn't be surprised if
>> schema.org 1.0d was released and the changes were just there!
>>
>>
> --
> Karen Coyle
> kcoyle@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
> m: 1-510-435-8234
> skype: kcoylenet
>
>


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