Subject: [NGC4LIB] Notable Names Database

From: Samantha Johnson <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:13:56 -0600

So who are these people vetting user entries on the Notable Names Database?
How do we know this is an authoritative source?  I can't find much
information about this group to tell one way or the other.  Has anyone else
had more luck with this?

Samantha Johnson
Moore Memorial Public Library
Texas City, Texas

Date:    Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:46:50 +0100
From:    Weinheimer Jim <[email-masked]>
Subject: Notable Names Database

To keep apprised of some of the newer developments in library-related techn=
ology, I thought people might be interested in the Notable Names Database h=
ttp://www.nndb.com/. It claims to have over 37,000 names and the closest ot=
her work I can relate it to is the old Century Cyclopaedia of Names (here's=
 a link to the 1954 ed. in the Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/deta=
ils/newcenturycyclop012564mbp)

Here is the record for Leo Tolstoy http://www.nndb.com/people/817/000024745=
/, and it is interesting what metadata they associate with him: Place and c=
ause of death, Religion, Sexual orientation, "Risk factors." But the intera=
ctive part is all of these maps that can be made among them. For example, t=
here is a map of Katherine Graham's funeral. http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?=
map=3D402

I can't say that I understand the purpose of this, but it is an example of =
how our information could be used and transformed to help people do what th=
ey want. At least, the "bibliography" part of Leo Tolstoy's record could be=
 improved by orders of magnitude.

James Weinheimer  [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>
Director of Library and Information Services
The American University of Rome
via Pietro Roselli, 4
00153 Rome, Italy
voice- 011 39 06 58330919 ext. 258
fax-011 39 06 58330992

------------------------------

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From: Weinheimer Jim <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:57:43 +0100

Samantha Johnson wrote:

<snip>
</snip>

These are good questions but it also shows some of the directions of the future which may prove to be alarming to many. As I wrote before, I don't understand the purpose of the site and I know nothing about them. But if we make our data "open" it will mean that *anyone* can use it *any way* they want. Certainly you can make stipulations and make people register and cut them off if you don't agree with what they are doing, but then it's not "open."

But I think this fits in perfectly well with our ethics, anyway. We still buy copies of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion even though we know it's a complete fabrication and has been used to hurt many people. We make available materials from the Heritage Foundation or Dissent, whether we agree with the ideas or not. Going on to open data is a bit frightening because we don't know where it might end up, but it seems to be a logical continuation of the library mission. The way I look at it is that using library data that conforms to library standards and library ethics should only be a positive.

Jim Weinheimer

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From: "Jacobs, Jane W" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:04:25 -0500

One does wonder about the how authoritative they can be about things
like "cause of death" and "sexual orientation" for historical figures
like Tolstoy.  I would think that cause of death is subject to the
limitations of medical science and record keeping of the time.  I have
no personal knowledge about Tolstoy's death in particular, but I don't
think I would feel confident of this as a fact, based upon this site.
Perhaps it is definitely known, or perhaps it is a historical best
guess.  

"Sexual orientation" for most historical figures has would nearly always
be a best guess based upon exclusion.  In Tolstoy's case he was married
and had children, and we have no evidence that he was bisexual.  That's
probably pretty sound for Tolstoy, but check out Henry James.  Here they
don't list sexual orientation but:
" Slept with: Henrik Andersen (American sculptor)
Slept with: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (U.S. Supreme Court Justice, when
HJ was 22)"
Again, I'm not a Henry James scholar, but my memory is that his
sexuality and partners (if any) were rather mysterious, scarcely a
matter of bald fact as implied here.  Again, perhaps there is reasonable
evidence for these hypotheses, but I think they remain just that:
hypotheses. At the very least I disagree with the semantics.  Possibly
"Probable sexual partners"?

JJ

**Views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent those of
the Queens Library.**

Jane Jacobs
Asst. Coord., Catalog Division
Queens Borough Public Library
89-11 Merrick Blvd.
Jamaica, NY 11432
tel.: (718) 990-0804
e-mail: [email-masked]
FAX. (718) 990-8566

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From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:[email-masked]] On Behalf Of Samantha Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 10:14 AM
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Notable Names Database

So who are these people vetting user entries on the Notable Names
Database?
How do we know this is an authoritative source?  I can't find much
information about this group to tell one way or the other.  Has anyone
else
had more luck with this?

Samantha Johnson