There are many ways to encode data. Without encoding the surrogate records, e.g., title, creator, subject, etc., of an information resource in electronic form, they cannot be accessed on the World Wide Web. During my 2-year experience as school librarian, I have learned about two ways that records can be encoded--the MARC (MAchine-Readable Cataloging) format and HTML (HyperText Markup Language).
Encoding surrogate records allows individual parts of a record to be set aside to be used for specific reasons. When my students search our online library catalog for their favorite authors, the catalog will only search the areas in the MARC records that are designated for author entries, either 100 or 700. Thanks to The Library Corporation, the family-owned company who created S.O.A.R. (Seeking Online Access to Resources),the Integrated Library System, or ILS, for Chicago Public Schools, I do not have to remember what field (title, author, publisher, etc.) is associated with what number. TLC provides us with all of that information. See a few of the components of a MARC record below. Then, notice a rough example of how that information looks when I have to enter it into the S.O.A.R. database.
MARC
1XX Main entry field (usually author's name)
2XX Title and edition field
3XX Physical description field
100 |a Polacco, Patricia.
245 |a Betty Doll/|cPatricia Polacco.
260 |a New York: |b Philomel Books |c c2001.
S.O.A.R.
Name Polacco, Patricia
Title Betty Doll
Publisher Philomel Books
Date of Publication 2001
Another encoding method, HTML, HyperText Markup Language, brings power to the people! Almost anyone can create Web pages. HTML defines the content and display of documents on the web. By using this application, images can be displayed and documents can be linked. I have included a excerpt from a Wikipedia article on Patricia Polacco. Compare that to the HTML version of the text.
Patricia Barber Polacco (b. July 11, 1944, Lansing, Michigan) is the author and illustrator of numerous picture books for children. She struggled in school because she was unable to read until age 14 due to dyslexia; she found relief by expressing herself through art. Polacco endured teasing and hid her disability until a schoolteacher recognized that she could not read and began to help her. Her book Thank You, Mr. Falker is Polacco's retelling of this encounter and its outcome.
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<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr"><p><b>Patricia Barber Polacco</b> (b. July 11, 1944, <a href="/wiki/Lansing,_Michigan" title="Lansing, Michigan">Lansing, Michigan</a>) is the author and illustrator of numerous picture books for children.</p>
<p>She struggled in school because she was unable to read until age 14 due to <a href="/wiki/Dyslexia" title="Dyslexia">dyslexia</a>; she found relief by expressing herself through art. Polacco endured teasing and hid her disability until a schoolteacher recognized that she could not read and began to help her. Her book <i>Thank You, Mr. Falker</i> is Polacco's retelling of this encounter and its outcome.</p>
I do not know how to read this encoded data, but thank you, Mr. Tim Berners-Lee, for being instrumental in creating HTML so everyday people can create audible and visual web pages!
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