1. Robert Pillow American Library Association Anaheim CA / June 23, 2012 The Elephant in the Room A Vendor’s Viewpoint LITA / ALCTS MARC Format Interest Group

2. Robert Pillow American Library Association Anaheim CA / June 23, 2012 The Elephant in the Room A Vendor’s Viewpoint (?) LITA / ALCTS MARC Format Interest Group

3. “There are two kinds of people in the world, those who believe there are two kinds of people in the world, and those who don’t.” -- Robert Benchley’s Law of Distinction

4. duality…

5. Duncan HullDuncan Hull, http://duncan.hull.name/about/ The Cause: “…the semantic web seems more like a religious cult than a scientific endeavour”

6. http://archive.nodalpoint.org/2007/11/30/burn_semantic_web_burn The Cause: Most people who have read this article [Tim Berners- Lee], fall into two camps: "believers" and "non- believers"

7. The Believers: “Spread the Gospel….” “I have a dream….” “The Evangelist….”

8. The Heretics… Can we describe the world in a way that will make sense – have the same meaning – to all observers?

9. “…a witness protection program for AI researchers.” The Heretics… Can we describe the world in a way that will make sense – have the same meaning – to all observers?

10. People who live in Brooklyn speak with a Brooklyn accent The Heretics…

11. People who live in Brooklyn speak with a Brooklyn accent The Heretics… Clay Shirky is the creator of shirky.com

12. People who live in Brooklyn speak with a Brooklyn accent The Heretics… Clay Shirky is the creator of shirky.com The creator of shirky.com lives in Brooklyn

13. People who live in Brooklyn speak with a Brooklyn accent The Heretics… Clay Shirky is the creator of shirky.com The creator of shirky.com lives in Brooklyn …Clay Shirky speaks with a Brooklyn accent The Semantic Web, Syllogism, and Worldview (2003) http://www.shirky.com/writings/semantic_syllogism.html

14. C. Shirky in: Kate Ray’s documentary “A story about the semantic web” http://vimeo.com/11529540 The Heretics… “Does the world make sense? Or, do we make sense of the world?”

15. Prove it!

16. Create a visual tool that would provide access to primary sources as well as contextual information about those resources.

17. Linking primary sources to the predicates of triples as proof that the relationship between the subject and the object exists. For example….

18. Create a list of people, places, events, and organizations that comprise the concept objects within the collection. The core of the tool is the documentation of the relationships between these concepts. Users researching one of these concepts will be able to see how it relates to all other concepts from the list. And…

19. In addition to seeing the relationships, users will have one-click access to the primary source documentation that proves the relationship between two concepts.

20. Librarians Mary Hatch and Sandy Branderson are acquainted. Mary Hatch attended the ALA Annual Conference, 1967 in San Francisco. Sandy Branderson lives in San Francisco. Relationships

21. Each of these relationships are be represented by a separate triple with objects for persons, places and events. In addition, each relationship can be proven by the presence of another object, itself an artifact in the collection. Relationships

22. Mary Hatch, is represented by concept Object, type Person, Sandy Branderson is represented by concept Object, type Person, San Francisco is represented by concept Object, type Place, ALA 1967 Annual Conference is represented by concept Object, type Event. Concept Objects … plus Artifact Objects

24. The artifact, “A letter home” is a scanned TIFF contained as a datastream within Artifact Object, type letter. It is signed by Mary Hatch and contains the sentence, “Visited Sandy at her home in San Francisco, yesterday”. Artifact Objects

25. “Sandy Branderson’s Dairy” is a scanned PDF contained as a datastream within Artifact Object, type diary. This diary has been authenticated to Sandy Branderson and contains an entry with the following: “Spoke to Mary Hatch at Annual on Sunday to discuss this crazy MA.R.C. idea. How much more work is this going to be?” Artifact Objects

27. Prove it!

28. some rights reservedsome rights reserved by dullhunkdullhunk

30. Blessed are they that remain uncertain, Frank Wilson, in “When the Coliseum Falls: A Journal of American Cultural [or lack thereof] 2011.05.23 http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2011/05/03/blessed-are-they-that-remain-uncertain/

31. Blessed are they that remain uncertain, for they will enjoy the mystery. Frank Wilson, in “When the Coliseum Falls: A Journal of American Cultural [or lack thereof] 2011.05.23 http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2011/05/03/blessed-are-they-that-remain-uncertain/

32. Thank you! Robert Pillow (pillowr@vtls.com)