Re: [Koha-zebra] .abs file and subfield ordering

[Joshua Ferraro]

On Tue, Feb 14, 2006 at 11:47:09PM -0500, Sebastian Hammer wrote:
> Of course MARC must die... but I don't think this is a major issue. I've 
> had extensive conversations with staff at the LoC about Zebra's 
> weaknesses as pertains to MARC, so I'm acutely aware of the weaknesses, 
> but I'm not sure this is one of them. Most of their concerns have 
> concerned the ability to combine multiple subfields into one phrase 
> index for scanning or complete subfield searching... I've never heard of 
> a wish to control indexing based on what subfield follows what other 
> subfield... others on the list may have other experiences (indeed, other 
> formats than MARC21 may pose other challenges here).
OK ... I won't worry about the ordering prob then ... with regards
to the multiple subfields in one phrase search, I have actually 
been saving that one :-). A while ago I found a thread on the lists:
http://lists.indexdata.dk/pipermail/zebralist/2005-August/000875.html

That seems to indicate there is a solution for that -- or am I
reading it wrong?

> >Also, speaking of mappings, I've got a few CQL questions. So I 
> >understand the notion of a 'context set' and 'indexes' within
> >each context set. I'm not clear on what the best context set
> >would be for the MARC records in the libraries using Koha. bath?
> >cql? 
> >
> I'll defer to Mike, since he's on the editorial board. I imagine this 
> might be something that'd be good to bring to the ZING list.
Right ... I'll do that then.

> >Also, though the bath context set defines indexes, it doesn't clearly
> >specify mappings for those indexes into any specific record format
> >like MARC. Are there specifications anywhere that define such 
> >mappings? Bib-1 maybe? MODS? Any suggestions?
> >
> >Finally, in some of the ABS files included with Zebra I see a
> >? after the tag like in this entry:
> >
> >elm 245                 title           -
> >elm 245/?               title           !:w
> >elm 245/?/a             title           !:w,!:p
> >
> >Is this a 'WildThing'? could someone explain what that means? :-)
> > 
> I think Bath has been roundly criticized for stopping short of mapping 
> USE attributes (to say nothing of indexes) to MARC fields. The Bib-1 
> semantics document makes a half-baked effort, but I don't think anyone 
> would consider it an authority today. I've heard some folks say that 
> either the US national profile or the ZTexas profile actually specify 
> mappings to MARC fields for the basic stuff.
Thanks, I'll check those out.

> But the marc21.abs file that comes with Zebra should be a really good 
> starting point for the most simple and obvious stuff. I developed that 
> over several iterations with Larry Dixson of the LoC, and it was 
> directly based on a set of requirements that they developed for their 
> LIS vendor when they migrated to Voyager (of course, the vendor totally 
> ignored them). And the folks at the LoC sure do know their MARC.  :-)
OK ... I'll check this out as well.  Thanks!

Cheers,

-- 
Joshua Ferraro               VENDOR SERVICES FOR OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE
President, Technology       migration, training, maintenance, support
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