Modest Proposal

Modest Proposal for Product Searching

June 1, 2020

 

Over the past few weeks ordering online has been the way to get groceries and non-food items, but I find the whole search process rather tedious and time consuming.  The item database and search process does not compare to the library search process, which is a combination of needing an exact match or a close match. This is a modest proposal of how to adapt library cataloging and searching to the retail experience. The idea is to make the search process fit both exact searching and fuzzy searching needs. 

In a real computer system, there will be one database for the item description, the second for the transactions, and a third for marketing.  These databases will be kept separate for security and performance reasons.  The people who deal with sales, inventory, and accounting functions do not need to know the rules and features of the description database.  The catalogers i.e. describers do not need to know the financials and inventory.  In this paper I am only concerned with the description and searching aspects of products.

The descriptive database is more static when compared to the transaction database.  To facilitate searching and maintenance the descriptive database needs to follow rules including authority work for names and places. The transaction database would handle the inventory, sales and purchasing activity.  The marketing database would include anything that would help in the sales process such as pictures, extended descriptions, and reviews. The display on the customer screen would have information from all of these databases presented in a way that customers could make a purchase decision, place an order or go on to other items.

I will use MARC fields as examples because it is the standard in libraries and that is what I know best.  The rules for library descriptions are complex, well known and can be looked up easily. The rules follow standards.  A commercial database does not have to follow any standards.  One need not reinvent a new system, but I will have to invent some new MARC field descriptions and subfields to better fit realia. 

The first example is an electrical cord that is sold in hardware and home improvement stores.

MARC field	Value	Description
001		Control number generated by the system.  A unique number for the system to use
024	877035760751	Other standard identifier.  This is the bar code on the item that uniquely identifies the item.  This number is supplied by the manufacturer or distributor
028	0242042	Vendor supplied part number
110 2	L.G. Sourcing $e distributor	The 100 level main entry is the maker or distributor of the item.  This is the name on the packaging that indicates the prime vendor (i.e. the vendor who sold the item to the retail store.) This will generally be a 110 for corporate name unless it is obvious that one person is responsible. Subfield $e indicates the type of responsibility
245	Light duty outdoor cord	The 200 level  is used for titles and related fields.  245 is the title statement supplied on the packaging
246 1 1	Cable para exteriors para trabajo livano	Alternate or variant title from packaging.  This is a parallel title in Spanish
257	China	Country producing item
258	30138	Model number
264 1	$a N. Wilkesboro, NC  $b L. G. Sourcing,	Production, distribution statement
270	P.O. Box 1535 $b N. Wilkesboro, $c NC, $e 28659	Address of company
300	$a15 feet, $c green	Physical description
360	$9.98	Trade price This is a descriptive price and may not be the sale price.
500		Brand name: Utilitech.
500		Three-pronged plug. 13 amp. Certified for use in the US and Canada.
650  4	Electrical supplies $xExtension cords	Subject
650 4	Cables $x110/120 volts	Subject
710	Utiitech	Added entry.  This is the brand name.

Here is an entry for food.  If this is sold in several sizes the information would be I the inventory database.

MARC field	Value	Description
001		Control number generated by the system.  A unique number for the system to use
024	4133102496	Another standard identifier.  This is the bar code on the item that uniquely identifies the item.  This number is supplied by the manufacturer or distributor
028	PP 20737-05	Vendor supplied part number
110 2	Goya Foods $e producer	The 100 level main entry is the maker or distributor of the item.  This is the name on the packaging that indicates the prime vendor (i.e. the vendor who sold the item to the retail store.)
245	Red lentils	The 200 level is used for titles and related fields.  245 is the title statement supplied on the packaging
246 1 1	Lentejas rojas	Alternate or variant title from packaging.  This is a parallel title in Spanish.
246 1 1	Lal masoor dal	Alternate title from packaging.  This is a parallel title in Hindi.
257	United States	Country producing item
264 1	$a Jersey City. NJ  $b Goya Foods	Production, distribution statement
270	$b Jersey City$cNew Jersey, $e07307	Address of company
300	$a16 oz, $a 454 grams $c red	Physical description
360	$1.89	Trade price This is a descriptive price and may not be the sale price.
500		No.1 grade.
586	$kKosher $c parve $c vegan $c gluten-free	Dietary status.  I redefined this field.  Subfields -- $k could be kosher or not kosher $c could have value of meat, dairy or parve.. $c could be repeated to include vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free.
650  4	Foods $xBeans $xLentils	Subject

The search engine should allow searching on any of the fields or a combination of them.  The searchers could search on the vendor numbers.  This should mean when the searchers know the item number, the result should exactly match what they want.  A fuzzy search on all or part of the subject should get near matches. For foods the searcher should be able to make limits such as only kosher foods. If the searcher knows the Spanish name of the item, the alternative title should make a match. If items have alternative names or spellings, this can be taken care in an authority file.

This just a modest proposal because of the frustration I found when searching for items.  I would search by words for foods and the matches had nothing to do with the search terms.  If any company really wants my help to design their databases, please send me an e-mail.

Noah Webster's American Magazine

Which is the better story – finding an answer or the story of the search?  I have been researching the history of American copyright law.  Noah Webster, editor of the dictionary and writer of textbooks for American students to learn American English rather than British English, was a prime mover in the creation of the article in the Constitution for the obligation of the federal government to create the laws for national copyright protection.  Before the Constitution, Webster traveled to every state to convince them to write laws for copyright protection.  Every state except Delaware had a copyright law before the national laws were enacted.

 In my search for the story, I learned that Noah Webster was a prolific writer. In addition to his textbooks and dictionary[1] he wrote many short letters to the editor and replies to articles.  In 1787 he founded in New York City, the periodical, American Magazine.  The articles dealt with government, education, literary criticism, agriculture, and copyright.  In 1793 he also edited The American Minerva and The Herald[2].  Since I wanted to read what he wrote on copyright, I attempted to find copies online.  One of the biographers said that American Magazine and many other articles by Webster  are in the database, Archive of Americana, America’s Historical Newspapers, published by Readex. This database is not subscribed to by my college or the Chicago Public Library. I asked my fellow librarians if there is inter-library loan for databases.  

One librarian told me that the database is in the collection of Northwestern University, but they are not allowing visitors in to their libraries because of the COVID-19 virus.  I contacted them via their online chat to ask about guest access.  I also contacted the vendor, Readex,  about access.  Because of the licensing agreements, Northwestern was unable to help.  Readex was not much help either.  I went to their website and called the phone that said call for more information.  I was sent to customer support; they could not help.  They sent me to the automated operator, and I did not know my party’s extension. I gave up trying to access that database.

Of course, I tried my usual sources of digitized materials --- Google Scholar, Google Books, and the Internet Archive.  None had the publications online.  Outside of the reference in two books about Webster, I could not even find a library bibliographic reference to the existence of the American Magazine.  It is not in WorldCat and I do not have online access to the Union List of Periodicals.  

I found another database for early American periodicals, AAS Historical Periodicals Collection, which has access to “ the most comprehensive collection of American periodicals published between 1684 and 1912.”  This database is not subscribed to by my college or the Chicago Public Library.  However, my mother, who lives in another city, was able to get access through her public library.  I searched, but American Magazine is not in that collection.  My usual online sources, Ebsco and Pro-Quest, do not offer access to this publication. [3][4]

The illustration above from American Magazine is from an advertisement for a bound copy of issues 1-8 for sale online for $5500.  The listing claims it is in good condition.  Since it was on rag paper, not newsprint, the paper is in good condition.  I am not buying this. Thanks to the librarians who tried to help.  Online resources are great when you can use them.   Since I am not writing a comprehensive academic article and no one is paying for the research, I am giving up search. 

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[1] American Dictionary of the English Language (1928)

[2]  American Minerva (later known as the Commercial Advertiser) was started in December 1793. He was the editor for four years. He also published the semi-weekly publication The Herald, later known as The New York Spectator.

[3] Here are some sample web pages that are about Noah Webster:

“Other articles in Americans prominently involved with First Amendment issues” by John R. Vile. https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1229/noah-webster


“Father of American Copyright Law”  by Elizabeth J. Normen. https://www.ctexplored.org/noah-webster-father-of-american-copyright-law/


“Early American Made Living from Copyright” by Wendi A. Maloney. https://www.copyright.gov/history/201206_Lore_Noah%20Webster.pdf

“Noah Webster House”  https://noahwebsterhouse.org

[4]  Here are sample articles: 

Donner, Irah. "The Copyright Clause of the U. S. Constitution: Why Did the Framers Include It with Unanimous Approval?" The American Journal of Legal History 36, no. 3 (1992): 361-78. 

“Copyright” Meredith L. McGill.  Chapter 3 from A History of the Book in America: Volume 2: An Extensive Republic: Print, Culture, and Society in the New Nation, 1790-1840. University of North Carolina Press, 2010.

Wilson, by Scott Berg

   Woodrow Wilson is not a name that we mention very much these days and I had little interest in reading about him until I attended the last ALA Conference that met in Chicago in 2107.  I visited the Library of Congress booth while they were asking trivia questions.  The question was, “What was the first book printed in what was then called British North America?”  I knew the answer, The Bay Psalm Book printed in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1640.  My prize was an autographed copy of, Wilson by A. Scott Berg (New York, Putnam, 2013). This article is not meant to be a review of the book or his life, but a few of my reactions to his life and times of Wilson and the treatment Berg gave his subject.   Reading the book was low on my priority, until I was forced to spend many long hours at home because of the stay at home order.  The book is 818 pages and is slow reading.  It is not slow because it is poorly written, but because it made me think and want to look up more about what was being discussed.   I finally finished the book yesterday.

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born December 28, 1856 in Staunton, Virginia and died February 3, 1924 in Washington, D.C.  He went to high school in Augusta, Georgia where his classmates included future Supreme Court justice Joseph Rucker Lamar, Wilson’s closet friend and next door neighbor and future ambassador Pleasant A. Stovall. Other students became a Columbia Law School dean, a congressman, and a newspaper owner. He did his undergraduate work at Princeton University (then called New Jersey College) and in 1883 entered Johns Hopkins University where he in 1885 his published the book, Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics, and earned in his Ph.D in 1886. He was on the way to becoming a well-known professor.  The future president was more learned in the history of American politics and law than any other president or member of Congress has ever been. In June 1902 he was appointed president of Princeton University.  At Princeton he proved he was both an able educator and administrator. He gained a national reputation and was nominated and elected to be governor of New Jersey.

This academic experience gave Wilson a broad view of the world and results of decisions.  Later in 1919 when he was negotiating the Treaty of Versailles he saw the forest while the Europeans saw the trees.  Henry Cabot Lodge, a Republican congressman and senator from Massachusetts was his political nemesis.  However, their first encounter was in 1879 when Lodge[1] was a junior editor for International Review and accepted for publication an article by Wilson, “Cabinet Government in the United States.”  Lodge when he was a congressman, was against almost every idea and legislation that President Wilson proposed.  Wilson was a Democrat; Lodge a Republican. Berg does not tell us very much about what Lodge believed in or what was his political agenda other than Lodge was against Wilson.

The first biography of Wilson was written by Josephus Daniels, The Life of Woodrow Wilson, 1856-1924(Chicago, 1924.)  This book was written with the cooperation of Wilson’s widow, Edith.  Daniels worked with Wilson as Secretary of Navy and as part of the team at the Treaty of Versailles.

Wilson’s story is sad.  His first wife died of kidney disease while living the White House.  His greatest accomplishments should have been the League of Nations and the war to end all wars.  Even though Wilson won the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize Congress never authorized U.S. membership in the League of Nations.  During his tenure women got the vote, but prohibition was passed. The country was struggling with the rights of Negroes.  Segregation, even in government was widespread. The country had labor unrest.  Wilson made the Federal government more powerful and established income taxes.  After he left office, the next president, Warren G. Harding, did his best to undo many of the positive programs that Wilson started. He had a stroke and the last years in office his was physically unable to perform most the presidential duties.

I was amazed at some of the details Berg  recounts.  Berg tells us what Wilson was thinking on a given day. I know that Wilson kept a diary and notes, but the level of detail is greater than I know about myself and what was in my head. Berg was writing more than 90 years after the events. The diaries are available in Library of Congress’s digital collection, but they are in shorthand and I couldn’t read them.

Many places Berg says what the Wilsons did in a day to the detail of what they ate for a meal.  Sometimes after dinner he played solitaire. He also liked to watch movies and had a projector in the White House. For a former professor I find it odd that Berg never reports that Wilson sat down with a good book.  When they moved out of the White House, they bought a house on S Street in Washington and one of requirements was that it needed to be big enough for his 8000 volume book collection.  With a collection that big I wonder why there is no mention of obtaining books, reading, or caring for the collection while he was in the White House.

When he was in good health, he would play a round of 9 hole golf in the morning after breakfast and before work.  Many times, his doctor said he needed a rest from work, and he took multiweek vacations.  During the vacations to recover his health he rode his bike and played golf. I realize that most of his health problems had very few treatments, but how does an academic turn off his mind and play 1700 rounds of golf during his presidency? When I discussed this with my friends, they said being president in an era of slower communication was not as taxing as today.  Wilson could afford to play golf and take a ride in a car for pleasure.

Who knows how different the world would be today if France, Italy, and the other European nations would have written a peace treaty that was less punitive and more peace building for Germany.  Would the hyperinflation in Germany of the 1920’s have ever happened?  Would Wilson’s ideas of world peace have prevented some wars? Would a stronger role of the US in the world stage have made this a better world?

Every book needs to offer thanks to those who helped the author.  Berg thanks the librarians at Library of Congress, the Newark Public Library, The Princeton University Library and other libraries.  But his story of how he got interested in Wilson is most endearing.  In 1965 Berg’s mother gave him a book about Wilson, titled, When the Cheering Stopped by Gene Smith.  Berg thanked his editor, Phyllis Grann.  When he first met with her, she asked how he got interested in Wilson.  Berg answered because of the book his mother gave him.  Grann said that in 1964 she was a secretary at Putnam who wanted to be an editor. Her boss gave her the manuscript of When the Cheering Stopped  saying, “Let’s see what you can do with this?” This was the first book that she edited.   Never underestimate the power of a book.  The gift in 1965 turned into a 48 year journey to get Berg’s book into my hands.

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[1] Lodge earned his law degree (1874) and PhD (1876) from Harvard University. He was in favor of limits on immigration and in favor of entering World War I on the side of the Allied Powers. He was against joining the League of Nations; however, his objections were taken into account in the charter of the United Nations.  His grandson, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. was also a politician who represented Massachusetts, ran for vice president with Richard Nixon, and was appointed to several ambassador posts.