Minutes of 10/13/04 TERMinators meeting

Present: Alan Krieger, Kathie Ryan-Zeugner, Cheri Smith, Mark Dehmlow, Linda Sharp, Nastia Guimaraes, Mary Lehman, Tom Lehman, Laurie McGowan

Tom presented his concept of the differences between the catalog and the DDW:

Catalog	DDW
Includes all resources library provides access to	Selected resources
Research in depth	Get people started in their research
Describes resources fully	Help user identify the best resources of a particular type of for a particular use on the topic they are researching

There was further discussion about the purpose of the DDW. We discussed the relationship between the DDW infrastructure and the application of terms broadly across the DDW. As an example, we looked at the Theology page and The Digital Library of the Catholic Reformation. We discussed one of the current facets & terms, Genre - Drama, and the fact that this would appear in any subject page that uses this resource. These prompted discussions of judging the "significance" of a term, i.e., should we only include terms that are "significant" elements of a particular resource. The questions of balance in judging significance and the consideration of cross-discipline issues were also discussed.

Mark asked if we should be thinking about how to make the infrastructure respond to the needs of the DDW. Several members suggested that we need more context-sensitive descriptors. Mark followed that we need to be conscientious about how the infrastructure works to avoid unintended consequences. Linda asked whether we should use the highest common denominator (most important resources) as a guide or the lowest common denominator (all possible resources). She suggested that the committee should develop policy on this issue. The discussion waxed philosophical and Linda reiterated that the committee should articulate a philosophy of what the DDW will be. Kathie suggested that we first ask selectors to review individual pages to include or exclude resources.

We agreed on one facet definition before the meeting ended: FORMATS - Physical or electronic media through which content is presented.

Respectfully submitted on October 13, 2004 by Laurie McGowan