Problems Associated with Classifying the Web

One of the problems associated with cataloging the web is the rate technology changes and develops. For example, “PUSH technology”, is a collective technology that sends information directly to people’s computers. Users must subscribe to the service and provide information about the types of resources they want. The problem with this is valuable information may be limited.
According to Gralla, [6]

“Instead of you having to go out and gather information, its delivered right to you with no effort."

However, with the convenience of having information packaged and sent, the problem of accuracy within the information still exists. In this writer’s opinion, packages should consist of information that has been cataloged and validated as a valuable resource by those in the Library and Information Science profession.

Another problem is that titles and other descriptions may change without notification. For example, URL’s change and/or disappear. According to Karen G. Schneider, author of Cataloging Internet Resources: Concerns and Caveats, [7]

“One solution is to assign a PURL [8] to the record at creation, so the PURL is displayed in the master record in the online catalog.”

Therefore, if the URL changes the PURL does not. This solution seems to work for
changing URL’s but what about sites that disappear? This question can be answered by future research. Nevertheless, by using PURL, catalog maintenance is reduced to a single update.

Another problem is the Internets rate of growth. According to Vinh-The Lam, author of Cataloging Internet Resources: Why, What, How, [9]

“During the one year period of the first OCLC Internet Project from October 1991 to September 1992, the network traffic in bytes grew from 1.88 to 3.32 trillion.”

Therefore, more people continue to access the web. Other difficulties in cataloging websites include the variety of materials to select from, file formats, which are subject to change, and time consumed because of back load problems. Additionally, many tools used for retrieving information have limited capabilities. Vinh-The Lam states, [10]

“They rely on directories and filenames assigned to the
Internet electronic files, which contain incomplete,
inconsistent and nonstandard data.”

Another problem with classifying the web is that publication date and edition information is not provided. To combat this problem many Library and Information Science professionals suggest the use of notes for the title proper field of MARC
500, and notes for the MARC field 856, which is for the location of electronic and access information.

The information provided above further illustrates ways in which the web can be classified. Vinh-The Lam’s statement proves that catalogers and others in the Library and Information Science profession have a valid reason for wanting the web to have standards: so users can be provided with information that is complete.