On libraries and museums again
Libraries and museums do very similar things. The key difference between them is the level at which they look at a work. Their relationship to the work
- A museum looks at a work’s structure, as a primary source.
- A library looks at the work’s content, as a secondary source.
Their emergent products
The organization of works in a museum forms a narrative. The organization of works in a library forms a knowledge base. Their interrelationship
The museum’s emergent product is a work for a library. The library’s emergent product is a work for a museum. Definitions
Some terms are needed. (Better names for these would be nice; any ideas?)
- A musenon is a work in a museum.
- A musenent is the emergent product of a museum.
- A libraron is a work in a library.
- A librarent is the emergent product of a library.
So a given work can act as a musenon or a libraron, depending on how it’s being looked at. A collection of musenons yields a musenent, which can be repurposed as a libraron.
I think the next step is to have a sort of workshop where we evaluate cases ("is X a musenon or a libraron?" ) and diagram the flows of information in the various stages.
Does this sound fun to anybody but me?
(Cross posted at http://blog.socialplanning.org/ for some reason.)