In 1876 Charles Cutter first stated that the objectives of the library catalog is to enable a patron to find a known item, show what the library has and to assist the patron in the choice of material. In other words the Library catalog should identify an object, collocate objects, and provide information to evaluate an object. Over the last 100 years the mechanisms for achieving these objectives has developed but the goals of the library catalog and the cataloger have remained the same.
Today’s catalogers help patrons locate what they want by reliably bringing together information and clearly displaying differences which allow for meaningful choices to the public. This is done by inputting data into Integrated Library System (ILS) that works with an Online Public Access Catalog to display the information to patrons.
Backstage Library Works recently announced they are hosting a free RDA webinar on June 18th. Backstage Library Works is an authority control agency much like Marcie. This free webinar will cover the background of RDA, the basics of the FRBR model on which RDA is based, some of the major differences between RDA and AACR2, and MARC fields added to accommodate RDA elements.
These topics and more are covered in the SELCO RDA cataloging classes being offered throughout the next year. However, RDA represents is a significant change for catalogers it's often beneficial for learners to hear new material in more than one manner for more complete understanding.
After the the first RDA class, the catalogers and I (Becky. Kristi and with help from Cindy) evaluated the class and decide to break the class into two separate offerings.
Each cataloger may choose which class they feel is appropriate for their cataloging level. Both classes fulfill your RDA cataloging requirement. Each classes will last approximately 3 to 4 hours.
- Cataloging Fundamentals - will cover the basics of the MARC record and how to utilize OCLC, how to bring records into Horizon and up to minimum record standards.
- Copy Cataloging: The Next Steps - is designed for those who are comfortable with MARC and OCLC. We will cover the most common international standards that govern cataloging and SELCO's policies and procedures. We will go more indepth into the differences between AACR2 and RDA and catalogers will learn how to identify quality records beyond minimum standards.
Cataloging Fundamentals sessions are available for the fall.
Copy Cataloging : The Next Steps is the class most of you will be interested in.
Please visit the coursewhere site here http://www.solutionwhere.com/selco/cw/main.asp if you would like to sign up for a class.
The Group 2 OCLC Project Kickoff that was scheduled for today will be postponed to a later date. With several folks unable to attend due to closed libraries, no power, or anything else that this crazy May snow is wreaking havoc with, we will find a new date in the next week or so to have that kickoff. Cheryl will be in contact with those of you who are in that group of libraries.
Continuing on with our OCLC reclamation project, over 400 boxes of books were picked up from SELCO on Monday April 29 by Better Futures Minnesota formerly known as Network for Better Futures. Rushford-Peterson School and Red Wing Public Library were 2 additional stops made on Friday April 26 with over 30 boxes each. Better Futures Minnesota will attempt to resale the books, give some to local prisons, work with Better World Books to deliver books to Africa and recycle what is left.
Boxes came to SELCO through our delivery courier, Alliance and also some libraries chose to bring their cars full to quicken the process of getting them here. SELCO will continue this service for the next few years as the OCLC project continues for the region. If your library would like to participate and has not already contacted SELCO, please contact Cindy Baker who will coordinate pickup of the boxes from your library. For more information about Better Futures Minnesota, please click here.
SELCO will schedule another pickup from Rochester when we have another full load (typically 300 boxes). If you have an excess of 30 boxes, let us know and we can schedule for Better Futures Minnesota to come to your location. Keep up the good weeding and let us know if you have any questions.
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Since RDA focuses on relationships it's no surprise that that many of the RDA changes taking place are occurring in the Authority Records for authors, subjects and series. These records work behind the scenes in our ILS to connect records.
Last August the Library of Congress (which we utilize for their subject and name authority file) identified thousands of records that were not up to RDA standards and began updating and re-releasing those in a phased approached.
As part of our regular monthly notification file from Marcive a file of several thousand RDA files were delivered in late August. I did not load this into Horizon until this week as I was waiting for the 7.5.2 upgrade and time to develop a better understanding of RDA and Authority Records. There is a second phase of records that was released right at the end of March that will be loaded into Horizon shortly.
You will begin to see these new updated authority records reflected in the author, subject and series browse searches (among other places).
Mostly you will see 4 major changes:
- Keeping with RDA abbreviations are spelled out thus Sandford, John,$d1944 Feb. 23- becomes Sandford John$d1944 February 23
- Death dates move from d. 1977 to -1977
- Authority records for the Old and New Testament will no longer be Bible N.T. and O.T. but instead will bible. Bible.$pN.T.$pMatthew will become Bible.$pMatthew with a see from reference for the previous method.
- If you look inside of an RDA authority record you will see many more fields and subfields that identify the profession, gender, place of residence, associated countries, place of birth etc. Adding this detailed information to authority records is the first step toward making library data more interactive with the larger information world.
If you would like more information about PCC RDA and RDA Authority Records, including more examples, please follow the link to the SELCO RDA/FRBR website.
You may recall that back in November I posted about the 264 in the MARC record.The 264 is a newer RDA MARC tag designed to clearly differentiate between the publication, distribution, manufacturer and copyright information in place of the 260 tag. Last year I worked with Aquabrowser to get the 264 to display to the public, but only recently focused on making the date in the 264 display in the staffpac, Horizon. This past week I was able to attend then annual COSUGI (Customers of SirsiDynix User Group Inc.) conference where I learned how other Horizon Libraries are handling RDA. I learned how to handle this new MARC tag and have promptly adjusted Horizon to reflect this addition. The view windows and indexes have been adjusted to account for this new tag. The cataloging team here at SELCO is continuing to meet regularly to discuss, train and prepare for RDA. We are currently working on changes in how formats are handled in RDA and will be in touch with the requisite groups as issues arise. If you notice any additional problems with this new MARC tag and its display please contact the Help Desk.
For this weeks biweekly cataloging post I want to announce the first of SELCO's RDA training dates. More classes will be added in the coming weeks. You can register for one of these sessions in Coursewhere HERE.
With the announcement in June 2011 that the Library of Congress will switch their cataloging standard from AACR2 to RDA on March 31st 2013 the rest of the country has been gearing up to learn, identify and cataloging using RDA. Since RDA, for right now, will continue to use MARC as its data standard most RDA cataloging will appear the same to catalogers. However, some fundamental philosophical shifts are taking place and several more specific practices are changing. SELCO's implementation of these changes will occur over the next year. The current goal is that by April of 2014 all original cataloging in the region will be done with RDA and the majority of copy records being brought into Horizon will also be in the RDA standard. Over the next year we will work on making the new MARC tags index properly in Horizon, particularly the 264, and we are looking at replacing the GMD with a locally defined field that follows RDA patterns.
To prepare the catalogers in the region for this shift an all day RDA copy cataloging training session will commence in April 2013. The copy cataloging class will teach catalogers to identify RDA records, and to identify what needs to be edited in books, audio materials and visual materials.. The class will also include a refresher of cataloging in general, and will cover how to utilize the OCLC database to retrieve records. These classes will take place in the SELCO training lab and catalogers will have access to Horizon, OCLC and physical material to garner real life RDA copy cataloging practice. Later in 2013 an original RDA cataloging class will be offered that will also cover authority work.
Everyone who has the permission in Horizon to edit MARC records will be required to take an RDA copy cataloging within the next year. If you would prefer to avoid editing MARC records SELCO offers alternatives. SELCO catalogers can work with your materials vendors to provide vendor loads of MARC records for materials ordered (for schools and public libraries). SELCO also offers contract cataloging of materials as a service. If materials are not in Horizon SELCO catalogers will catalog your material for $5.65 an item. Dewey Day in December is a 1 day free cataloging day for limited amounts of material.
For those of you interested in learning more about RDA prior to the copy cataloging class please visit the RDA section of the SELCO cataloging website located HERE.
Over the past several months the SELCO catalogers have been meeting regularly to discuss and learn RDA and develop classes to teach RDA to our member libraries. A previous posts discussed the new MARC 264 tag, but another new feature of RDA that is making it's appearance in MARC records are Relationship Designators.
Simply stated the Relationship Designators are terms (or codes) that are used to define what role or roles the personal or corporate name has to the work. In print material we primarily see authors, editors, illustrators. In media there will be a wider variety of appropriate terms, producers, directors, composers, actors, etc. One person or corporate body can have multiple terms in a separate subfields. Therefore Clint Eastwood would be both director and actor for the 2008 film Gran Torino.
RDA focuses heavily on clearly defining relationships between the resource and its descriptive components. This is part of the reasoning behind the development of the previously mentioned 264 tag. Due to it's indicators the 264 has the ability to clearly communicate the relationship the data in the 264 plays with the resource. Where as the 260 lacks that definition. Along these lines the development of Relationship Designators help clearly communicate to the user the exact role the creator or contributor has to the resource.
Relationship Designators are proscribed, or defined, terms found in appendix I of RDA. As part of the SELCO training we will providing a list of these terms to the catalogers during training.
Unlike a publication statement (in either a 260 or a 264) a Relationship Designator is optional as defined in RDA. However, since the Library of Congress' practice will be to input them into records, many of the MARC records we receive as copy will have these terms. SELCO will follow what the Library of Congress does in terms of Relationship Designators. Particularly, because these terms have the potential to be useful to patrons, researches, staff, and could help with linked data as we move into the future world of cataloging. More specific information on how to apply Relationship Designators to MARC records will be provided in the upcoming SELCO RDA training.
In June 2010, LC announced plans to formally separate genre/form headings from LCSH (Library of Congress Subject Headings) to a new, standalone thesaurus: Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms for Library and Archival Materials (LCGFT). They are using a phased approach, evaluating and migrating headings on a discipline-by-discipline basis.
List 1 : The disciplines that are complete:
Moving images (films, television programs, video recordings)
Spoken-word recorded sounds (including radio programs)
Legal material
Cartographic materials
Few other smaller areas (i.e. cookbooks)
List 2: Disciplines still in process (or not yet begun):
Music (LC working with Music Library Association)
Religion (LC working with American Theological Library Association)
Literature
Form subdivisions (sub field v) are being looked at (abstracts, pamphlets etc.)
other projects if requested.
General Guidelines for SELCO Catalogers
List 1 - For completed disciples SELCO will follow the LCGFT thesaurus only - LCGFT are designed for faceted systems and therefore should not be subdivided.
List 2 - For incomplete disciplines we follow our previous practice of using the the 650 LCSH headings as a 655 Genre heading in the Bib record.
Do not use terms other thesauri like GSAFD for genres (655) even for those disciplines in list 2.
Specific Instructions for SELCO Catalogers
The authorized list of terms is found in several places:
- Classification web (a online paid resource that LC offers) has the LCGFT available for viewing only.
- In OCLC authorities you can search by genre.
- In the LC authorities (although eventually they will be broken out into their own) - You will notice these all have lcgft in the 040, and a 010 in the authority record that begins with gf. The website is http://authorities.loc.gov or http://id.loc.gov/
- An unauthorized, yet easier to read list, is located here http://www.hahnlibrary.net/libraries/formgenre-categorized.html. This list has not been updated since 2011.
For more information on the LCGFT see the following websites:
- Library of Congress FAQ on LCGFT
- http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/genreformgeneral.htmlLibrary of Congress LCGFT website
- Online Audiovisual Catalogers (OLAC) best practices guidelines for LCGFThttp://olacinc.org/drupal/capc_files/LCGFTbestpractices.pdf
- Library of Congress Subject Cataloging Manual section 1913, guidelines for Moving Images
I have had a chance to compile some figures from Dewey Day 2012. It was again a great success. We had the most number of items cataloged this year. I am glad we could help get some more titles into the catalog for patrons to use. Here are some statistics:
6: The number of catalogers on Dewey Day itself - Becky Lashinski, Kristi Robb, Jeannie Johnson, Tyler Irvin, Kirby Johnson and Cheryl Hill
42: The number of SELCO Libraries/School Districts that participated in Dewey
778: The number of physical items cataloged for Dewey Day 2012
712: The number of physical items cataloged for Dewey Day 2011
495: The number of physical items cataloged for Dewey Day 2010
181: The number of OCLC records sent to SELCO that were loaded into Horizon in 2012
1251: The number of OCLC records sent to SELCO that were loaded into Horizon in 2011
4,595: The amount of money Dewey Day saved the members libraries in cataloging fees for 2012
Also of note this year SELCO held two online Webinars that walked attendees through how to use OCLC to search and import copy records into Horizon. The recording of one of these sessions will be available soon.
Finally, a reminder that this year a new report is available in Web Report that tells you what your circulation is on an item by statcat and location. So remember to put in the Dewey 2012 statcat records in your items so that you can check your circulation and see if it's worth holding onto these items or not. You can find this report in Web Reporter at Shared Reports>Circulation>Statcat number of CKO by location.
Thanks to all the libraries that participated in Dewey Day, and a special thanks to all the catalogers who make this Dewey Day a great success.
Much like our bib# in Horizon, OCLC assigns a unique number to each of its records. This OCLC number is sometimes referred to as an accession number in OCLC literature due to the face that an OCLC number is assigned based on when the record is added to the OCLC database. Each OCLC number corresponds to one unique OCLC bibliographic record.
ILS systems typically are set up to either handle the this unique number in the 001 tag or the 035 tag of the MARC record. Since our 001 tag is already spoken for by the bib#, the OCLC number gets placed into the 035 tag. When the OCLC number gets inserted into the 035 tag OCLC wants it to look like this: (OCoLC)xxxxxxxxx, where x is the unique OCLC number.
Historically, in our ILS setup we have not utilized that (OCoLC) prefix and have relied on the prefixes ocm or ocn then the number. This is why you see both the (OCoLC) and ocm/ocn prefixes in our Horizon. When you see both variations of a prefix you should leave both the (OCoLC) and the ocm/ocn prefix. Even though this seems redundant, the presence of (OCoLC) makes matching the OCLC database easier for computers. This is because the ocm prefix indicates to the computer that the number is 8 digits long, and ocn indicates that the OCLC number is 9 digits long. Many records in Horizon have an incorrect prefix before the OCLC number. But since the (OCoLC) prefix is not digit length specific it helps records match when the ocm/ocn prefix is incorrect.
Horizon also allows you to search by OCLC number by utilizing the “ Utility Control Number (035) Browse” index in Horizon. However, you need to input the proper prefix. This is another reason why leaving the (OCoLC) prefix is beneficial.
Additionally, catalogers should be aware that as of July 1st 2013 OCLC anticipates running out of 9 digit numbers and will be introducing oc as a prefix before 10 digit numbers.
To summarize, (OCoLC) is a good prefix for an 035 tag, do not delete them. Ocm is valid before 8 digit numbers and ocn is valid before 9 digit numbers. You are not expected to update these manually as this is being done as part of the OCLC reclamation project. OCLC numbers are unique to an OCLC record, like our bib#s. There should only be one OCLC number on each bib in Horizon although the record may have multiple 035 tags with differing prefixes of the same OCLC number.
As we work through the OCLC reclamation project the unique nature of the OCLC number is becoming more and more important If you have any questions or problems please let the SELCO catalogers know.
More and more libraries are beginning the switch to RDA, with the Library of Congress aiming to switch fully on on March 31st 2013. As a result, more and more new bibliographic records in OCLC are being cataloged following RDA instead of AACR2, and then these records are utilized by the SELCO catalogers. Many catalogers in the region have questions about these records and general RDA training for SELCO.
In preparation for the library communities’ transition to RDA several new MARC tags have been created. You will see these in RDA bibliographic records.
How do you recognize an RDA bib record? It’s easy the 040 tag will have "rda" in a subfield e. There will be a 336, 337 and 338 tag. Words like pages, illustrations, and sound will be spelled out and not abbreviated. The records may have a 264 field instead of a 260, and there may be multiple 264 fields.
What do you do with these records? For now you are going to ignore the 336, 337 and 338 fields and leave them as they are. Also leave the 264 field. Since these records are RDA records, and RDA does not use the GMD at all, these records might need the SELCO cataloger to input a GMD. Make sure you add a GMD from SELCO’s approved list of GMDs located here, but only if the material’s format warrants a GMD.
In addition to the new tags listed above, catalogers will also begin to see new subfields representing relator terms ($e) or relator codes ($4) next to some Marc tags. These are also correct and are helping to building the relationships that are so fundamental to RDA and should also be left as is.
What's happening with RDA and SELCO in the future? SELCO catalogers should follow the guidelines in the paragraph above until they undergo SELCO specific RDA training. This SELCO training will focus on how to make an AACR2 record into an RDA record for use in our Horizon ILS, and any local edits that need to be made to records. The trainers will also aim to answer questions while reviewing cataloging fundamentals. Tentatively this RDA SELCO training will commence this spring. SELCO catalogers will have approximately one year to take one of these classes before we "go live" with RDA. Anyone who has not taken one of these classes by the go live date will not have the ability to edit MARC records in Horizon.
Please note that even though we will be transitioning to RDA over the next year, the use of the majority of GMDs will continue in RDA records within Horizon until an alternative display is developed.
To summarize, right now you can identify RDA records in MARC by the presence of "rda" in the 040. Leave the 336,337,338 and 264 tags as they are. Add a GMD from the list of SELCO approved GMDs if the material's format warrants a GMD. Over the next year to year and half, catalogers in the region will transition to RDA by taking SELCO RDA training. More information about this training will be coming in the next few months.
Yesterday, Network for Better Futures made the trip to Rochester with their first stop being Rochester Public Schools (ESC Building). Here, they picked up 2 stretched wrapped pallets of boxes filled with books from their collection and also from Mayo High School's collection. SELCO was the next stop on their list and they were totally surprised to see just how full our garage was. We were 3 rows deep on the outside wall with an estimate of over 300 boxes. Numerous libraries have been contributing to this ongoing project and a few that come to mind for this particular pick up are Plainview Schools, Hokah, Pine Island, West Concord, Northfield, Kenyon and Wabasha/Kellogg Schools. The truck had so much weight that they had to stop midway to fill up their tires! After all was loaded from SELCO, they continued on their journey to Owatonna where they loaded 30 plus boxes. Thanks to all for making this project so successful!
Holly Hibner and Mary Kelly of the Awful Library Books Blog are known for their amusing Blog on questionable and often outdated library holdings and the importance of weeding a collection. On January 31st they will be at SELCO to present two 2-hour long free weeding workshops. Sessions begin at 9:30 AM and 3:30pm and are open to everyone. These repeating sessions will focus on the benefits of weeding, the integral part of collection development weeding is to your library, common complaints to weeding, weeding aids, shelf balance, circulation benchmarks and more.
For more information about this workshop see the flyer here.
Please click here to register.
Ever wonder how to care for family textiles? Want to get a jump on RDA and FRBR? Interested in intellectual property or copyright? Have questions about book repair? Curious about floating collections? Need to develop a disaster plan? Looking for ways to save on your collections budget? Looking for help managing the changing nature of your reference collection? If any of these topics hold a spark of interest take a look at the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS a division of ALA). ALCTS offers archived free webinars on their Youtube channel on a wide variety of topics. Take a look here for some free professional guidance.
Backstage Library Works recently announced they are hosting a free RDA webinar on June 18th. Backstage Library Works is an authority control agency much like Marcie. This free webinar will cover the background of RDA, the basics of the FRBR model on which RDA is based, some of the major differences between RDA and AACR2, and MARC fields added to accommodate RDA elements.
These topics and more are covered in the SELCO RDA cataloging classes being offered throughout the next year. However, RDA represents is a significant change for catalogers it's often beneficial for learners to hear new material in more than one manner for more complete understanding.
After the the first RDA class, the catalogers and I (Becky. Kristi and with help from Cindy) evaluated the class and decide to break the class into two separate offerings.
Each cataloger may choose which class they feel is appropriate for their cataloging level. Both classes fulfill your RDA cataloging requirement. Each classes will last approximately 3 to 4 hours.
- Cataloging Fundamentals - will cover the basics of the MARC record and how to utilize OCLC, how to bring records into Horizon and up to minimum record standards.
- Copy Cataloging: The Next Steps - is designed for those who are comfortable with MARC and OCLC. We will cover the most common international standards that govern cataloging and SELCO's policies and procedures. We will go more indepth into the differences between AACR2 and RDA and catalogers will learn how to identify quality records beyond minimum standards.
Cataloging Fundamentals sessions are available for the fall.
Copy Cataloging : The Next Steps is the class most of you will be interested in.
Please visit the coursewhere site here http://www.solutionwhere.com/selco/cw/main.asp if you would like to sign up for a class.
The Group 2 OCLC Project Kickoff that was scheduled for today will be postponed to a later date. With several folks unable to attend due to closed libraries, no power, or anything else that this crazy May snow is wreaking havoc with, we will find a new date in the next week or so to have that kickoff. Cheryl will be in contact with those of you who are in that group of libraries.
Continuing on with our OCLC reclamation project, over 400 boxes of books were picked up from SELCO on Monday April 29 by Better Futures Minnesota formerly known as Network for Better Futures. Rushford-Peterson School and Red Wing Public Library were 2 additional stops made on Friday April 26 with over 30 boxes each. Better Futures Minnesota will attempt to resale the books, give some to local prisons, work with Better World Books to deliver books to Africa and recycle what is left.
Boxes came to SELCO through our delivery courier, Alliance and also some libraries chose to bring their cars full to quicken the process of getting them here. SELCO will continue this service for the next few years as the OCLC project continues for the region. If your library would like to participate and has not already contacted SELCO, please contact Cindy Baker who will coordinate pickup of the boxes from your library. For more information about Better Futures Minnesota, please click here.
SELCO will schedule another pickup from Rochester when we have another full load (typically 300 boxes). If you have an excess of 30 boxes, let us know and we can schedule for Better Futures Minnesota to come to your location. Keep up the good weeding and let us know if you have any questions.
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Since RDA focuses on relationships it's no surprise that that many of the RDA changes taking place are occurring in the Authority Records for authors, subjects and series. These records work behind the scenes in our ILS to connect records.
Last August the Library of Congress (which we utilize for their subject and name authority file) identified thousands of records that were not up to RDA standards and began updating and re-releasing those in a phased approached.
As part of our regular monthly notification file from Marcive a file of several thousand RDA files were delivered in late August. I did not load this into Horizon until this week as I was waiting for the 7.5.2 upgrade and time to develop a better understanding of RDA and Authority Records. There is a second phase of records that was released right at the end of March that will be loaded into Horizon shortly.
You will begin to see these new updated authority records reflected in the author, subject and series browse searches (among other places).
Mostly you will see 4 major changes:
- Keeping with RDA abbreviations are spelled out thus Sandford, John,$d1944 Feb. 23- becomes Sandford John$d1944 February 23
- Death dates move from d. 1977 to -1977
- Authority records for the Old and New Testament will no longer be Bible N.T. and O.T. but instead will bible. Bible.$pN.T.$pMatthew will become Bible.$pMatthew with a see from reference for the previous method.
- If you look inside of an RDA authority record you will see many more fields and subfields that identify the profession, gender, place of residence, associated countries, place of birth etc. Adding this detailed information to authority records is the first step toward making library data more interactive with the larger information world.
If you would like more information about PCC RDA and RDA Authority Records, including more examples, please follow the link to the SELCO RDA/FRBR website.
You may recall that back in November I posted about the 264 in the MARC record.The 264 is a newer RDA MARC tag designed to clearly differentiate between the publication, distribution, manufacturer and copyright information in place of the 260 tag. Last year I worked with Aquabrowser to get the 264 to display to the public, but only recently focused on making the date in the 264 display in the staffpac, Horizon. This past week I was able to attend then annual COSUGI (Customers of SirsiDynix User Group Inc.) conference where I learned how other Horizon Libraries are handling RDA. I learned how to handle this new MARC tag and have promptly adjusted Horizon to reflect this addition. The view windows and indexes have been adjusted to account for this new tag. The cataloging team here at SELCO is continuing to meet regularly to discuss, train and prepare for RDA. We are currently working on changes in how formats are handled in RDA and will be in touch with the requisite groups as issues arise. If you notice any additional problems with this new MARC tag and its display please contact the Help Desk.
For this weeks biweekly cataloging post I want to announce the first of SELCO's RDA training dates. More classes will be added in the coming weeks. You can register for one of these sessions in Coursewhere HERE.
With the announcement in June 2011 that the Library of Congress will switch their cataloging standard from AACR2 to RDA on March 31st 2013 the rest of the country has been gearing up to learn, identify and cataloging using RDA. Since RDA, for right now, will continue to use MARC as its data standard most RDA cataloging will appear the same to catalogers. However, some fundamental philosophical shifts are taking place and several more specific practices are changing. SELCO's implementation of these changes will occur over the next year. The current goal is that by April of 2014 all original cataloging in the region will be done with RDA and the majority of copy records being brought into Horizon will also be in the RDA standard. Over the next year we will work on making the new MARC tags index properly in Horizon, particularly the 264, and we are looking at replacing the GMD with a locally defined field that follows RDA patterns.
To prepare the catalogers in the region for this shift an all day RDA copy cataloging training session will commence in April 2013. The copy cataloging class will teach catalogers to identify RDA records, and to identify what needs to be edited in books, audio materials and visual materials.. The class will also include a refresher of cataloging in general, and will cover how to utilize the OCLC database to retrieve records. These classes will take place in the SELCO training lab and catalogers will have access to Horizon, OCLC and physical material to garner real life RDA copy cataloging practice. Later in 2013 an original RDA cataloging class will be offered that will also cover authority work.
Everyone who has the permission in Horizon to edit MARC records will be required to take an RDA copy cataloging within the next year. If you would prefer to avoid editing MARC records SELCO offers alternatives. SELCO catalogers can work with your materials vendors to provide vendor loads of MARC records for materials ordered (for schools and public libraries). SELCO also offers contract cataloging of materials as a service. If materials are not in Horizon SELCO catalogers will catalog your material for $5.65 an item. Dewey Day in December is a 1 day free cataloging day for limited amounts of material.
For those of you interested in learning more about RDA prior to the copy cataloging class please visit the RDA section of the SELCO cataloging website located HERE.
Over the past several months the SELCO catalogers have been meeting regularly to discuss and learn RDA and develop classes to teach RDA to our member libraries. A previous posts discussed the new MARC 264 tag, but another new feature of RDA that is making it's appearance in MARC records are Relationship Designators.
Simply stated the Relationship Designators are terms (or codes) that are used to define what role or roles the personal or corporate name has to the work. In print material we primarily see authors, editors, illustrators. In media there will be a wider variety of appropriate terms, producers, directors, composers, actors, etc. One person or corporate body can have multiple terms in a separate subfields. Therefore Clint Eastwood would be both director and actor for the 2008 film Gran Torino.
RDA focuses heavily on clearly defining relationships between the resource and its descriptive components. This is part of the reasoning behind the development of the previously mentioned 264 tag. Due to it's indicators the 264 has the ability to clearly communicate the relationship the data in the 264 plays with the resource. Where as the 260 lacks that definition. Along these lines the development of Relationship Designators help clearly communicate to the user the exact role the creator or contributor has to the resource.
Relationship Designators are proscribed, or defined, terms found in appendix I of RDA. As part of the SELCO training we will providing a list of these terms to the catalogers during training.
Unlike a publication statement (in either a 260 or a 264) a Relationship Designator is optional as defined in RDA. However, since the Library of Congress' practice will be to input them into records, many of the MARC records we receive as copy will have these terms. SELCO will follow what the Library of Congress does in terms of Relationship Designators. Particularly, because these terms have the potential to be useful to patrons, researches, staff, and could help with linked data as we move into the future world of cataloging. More specific information on how to apply Relationship Designators to MARC records will be provided in the upcoming SELCO RDA training.
In June 2010, LC announced plans to formally separate genre/form headings from LCSH (Library of Congress Subject Headings) to a new, standalone thesaurus: Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms for Library and Archival Materials (LCGFT). They are using a phased approach, evaluating and migrating headings on a discipline-by-discipline basis.
List 1 : The disciplines that are complete:
Moving images (films, television programs, video recordings)
Spoken-word recorded sounds (including radio programs)
Legal material
Cartographic materials
Few other smaller areas (i.e. cookbooks)
List 2: Disciplines still in process (or not yet begun):
Music (LC working with Music Library Association)
Religion (LC working with American Theological Library Association)
Literature
Form subdivisions (sub field v) are being looked at (abstracts, pamphlets etc.)
other projects if requested.
General Guidelines for SELCO Catalogers
List 1 - For completed disciples SELCO will follow the LCGFT thesaurus only - LCGFT are designed for faceted systems and therefore should not be subdivided.
List 2 - For incomplete disciplines we follow our previous practice of using the the 650 LCSH headings as a 655 Genre heading in the Bib record.
Do not use terms other thesauri like GSAFD for genres (655) even for those disciplines in list 2.
Specific Instructions for SELCO Catalogers
The authorized list of terms is found in several places:
- Classification web (a online paid resource that LC offers) has the LCGFT available for viewing only.
- In OCLC authorities you can search by genre.
- In the LC authorities (although eventually they will be broken out into their own) - You will notice these all have lcgft in the 040, and a 010 in the authority record that begins with gf. The website is http://authorities.loc.gov or http://id.loc.gov/
- An unauthorized, yet easier to read list, is located here http://www.hahnlibrary.net/libraries/formgenre-categorized.html. This list has not been updated since 2011.
For more information on the LCGFT see the following websites:
- Library of Congress FAQ on LCGFT
- http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/genreformgeneral.htmlLibrary of Congress LCGFT website
- Online Audiovisual Catalogers (OLAC) best practices guidelines for LCGFThttp://olacinc.org/drupal/capc_files/LCGFTbestpractices.pdf
- Library of Congress Subject Cataloging Manual section 1913, guidelines for Moving Images
I have had a chance to compile some figures from Dewey Day 2012. It was again a great success. We had the most number of items cataloged this year. I am glad we could help get some more titles into the catalog for patrons to use. Here are some statistics:
6: The number of catalogers on Dewey Day itself - Becky Lashinski, Kristi Robb, Jeannie Johnson, Tyler Irvin, Kirby Johnson and Cheryl Hill
42: The number of SELCO Libraries/School Districts that participated in Dewey
778: The number of physical items cataloged for Dewey Day 2012
712: The number of physical items cataloged for Dewey Day 2011
495: The number of physical items cataloged for Dewey Day 2010
181: The number of OCLC records sent to SELCO that were loaded into Horizon in 2012
1251: The number of OCLC records sent to SELCO that were loaded into Horizon in 2011
4,595: The amount of money Dewey Day saved the members libraries in cataloging fees for 2012
Also of note this year SELCO held two online Webinars that walked attendees through how to use OCLC to search and import copy records into Horizon. The recording of one of these sessions will be available soon.
Finally, a reminder that this year a new report is available in Web Report that tells you what your circulation is on an item by statcat and location. So remember to put in the Dewey 2012 statcat records in your items so that you can check your circulation and see if it's worth holding onto these items or not. You can find this report in Web Reporter at Shared Reports>Circulation>Statcat number of CKO by location.
Thanks to all the libraries that participated in Dewey Day, and a special thanks to all the catalogers who make this Dewey Day a great success.
Much like our bib# in Horizon, OCLC assigns a unique number to each of its records. This OCLC number is sometimes referred to as an accession number in OCLC literature due to the face that an OCLC number is assigned based on when the record is added to the OCLC database. Each OCLC number corresponds to one unique OCLC bibliographic record.
ILS systems typically are set up to either handle the this unique number in the 001 tag or the 035 tag of the MARC record. Since our 001 tag is already spoken for by the bib#, the OCLC number gets placed into the 035 tag. When the OCLC number gets inserted into the 035 tag OCLC wants it to look like this: (OCoLC)xxxxxxxxx, where x is the unique OCLC number.
Historically, in our ILS setup we have not utilized that (OCoLC) prefix and have relied on the prefixes ocm or ocn then the number. This is why you see both the (OCoLC) and ocm/ocn prefixes in our Horizon. When you see both variations of a prefix you should leave both the (OCoLC) and the ocm/ocn prefix. Even though this seems redundant, the presence of (OCoLC) makes matching the OCLC database easier for computers. This is because the ocm prefix indicates to the computer that the number is 8 digits long, and ocn indicates that the OCLC number is 9 digits long. Many records in Horizon have an incorrect prefix before the OCLC number. But since the (OCoLC) prefix is not digit length specific it helps records match when the ocm/ocn prefix is incorrect.
Horizon also allows you to search by OCLC number by utilizing the “ Utility Control Number (035) Browse” index in Horizon. However, you need to input the proper prefix. This is another reason why leaving the (OCoLC) prefix is beneficial.
Additionally, catalogers should be aware that as of July 1st 2013 OCLC anticipates running out of 9 digit numbers and will be introducing oc as a prefix before 10 digit numbers.
To summarize, (OCoLC) is a good prefix for an 035 tag, do not delete them. Ocm is valid before 8 digit numbers and ocn is valid before 9 digit numbers. You are not expected to update these manually as this is being done as part of the OCLC reclamation project. OCLC numbers are unique to an OCLC record, like our bib#s. There should only be one OCLC number on each bib in Horizon although the record may have multiple 035 tags with differing prefixes of the same OCLC number.
As we work through the OCLC reclamation project the unique nature of the OCLC number is becoming more and more important If you have any questions or problems please let the SELCO catalogers know.
More and more libraries are beginning the switch to RDA, with the Library of Congress aiming to switch fully on on March 31st 2013. As a result, more and more new bibliographic records in OCLC are being cataloged following RDA instead of AACR2, and then these records are utilized by the SELCO catalogers. Many catalogers in the region have questions about these records and general RDA training for SELCO.
In preparation for the library communities’ transition to RDA several new MARC tags have been created. You will see these in RDA bibliographic records.
How do you recognize an RDA bib record? It’s easy the 040 tag will have "rda" in a subfield e. There will be a 336, 337 and 338 tag. Words like pages, illustrations, and sound will be spelled out and not abbreviated. The records may have a 264 field instead of a 260, and there may be multiple 264 fields.
What do you do with these records? For now you are going to ignore the 336, 337 and 338 fields and leave them as they are. Also leave the 264 field. Since these records are RDA records, and RDA does not use the GMD at all, these records might need the SELCO cataloger to input a GMD. Make sure you add a GMD from SELCO’s approved list of GMDs located here, but only if the material’s format warrants a GMD.
In addition to the new tags listed above, catalogers will also begin to see new subfields representing relator terms ($e) or relator codes ($4) next to some Marc tags. These are also correct and are helping to building the relationships that are so fundamental to RDA and should also be left as is.
What's happening with RDA and SELCO in the future? SELCO catalogers should follow the guidelines in the paragraph above until they undergo SELCO specific RDA training. This SELCO training will focus on how to make an AACR2 record into an RDA record for use in our Horizon ILS, and any local edits that need to be made to records. The trainers will also aim to answer questions while reviewing cataloging fundamentals. Tentatively this RDA SELCO training will commence this spring. SELCO catalogers will have approximately one year to take one of these classes before we "go live" with RDA. Anyone who has not taken one of these classes by the go live date will not have the ability to edit MARC records in Horizon.
Please note that even though we will be transitioning to RDA over the next year, the use of the majority of GMDs will continue in RDA records within Horizon until an alternative display is developed.
To summarize, right now you can identify RDA records in MARC by the presence of "rda" in the 040. Leave the 336,337,338 and 264 tags as they are. Add a GMD from the list of SELCO approved GMDs if the material's format warrants a GMD. Over the next year to year and half, catalogers in the region will transition to RDA by taking SELCO RDA training. More information about this training will be coming in the next few months.
Yesterday, Network for Better Futures made the trip to Rochester with their first stop being Rochester Public Schools (ESC Building). Here, they picked up 2 stretched wrapped pallets of boxes filled with books from their collection and also from Mayo High School's collection. SELCO was the next stop on their list and they were totally surprised to see just how full our garage was. We were 3 rows deep on the outside wall with an estimate of over 300 boxes. Numerous libraries have been contributing to this ongoing project and a few that come to mind for this particular pick up are Plainview Schools, Hokah, Pine Island, West Concord, Northfield, Kenyon and Wabasha/Kellogg Schools. The truck had so much weight that they had to stop midway to fill up their tires! After all was loaded from SELCO, they continued on their journey to Owatonna where they loaded 30 plus boxes. Thanks to all for making this project so successful!
Holly Hibner and Mary Kelly of the Awful Library Books Blog are known for their amusing Blog on questionable and often outdated library holdings and the importance of weeding a collection. On January 31st they will be at SELCO to present two 2-hour long free weeding workshops. Sessions begin at 9:30 AM and 3:30pm and are open to everyone. These repeating sessions will focus on the benefits of weeding, the integral part of collection development weeding is to your library, common complaints to weeding, weeding aids, shelf balance, circulation benchmarks and more.
For more information about this workshop see the flyer here.
Please click here to register.
Ever wonder how to care for family textiles? Want to get a jump on RDA and FRBR? Interested in intellectual property or copyright? Have questions about book repair? Curious about floating collections? Need to develop a disaster plan? Looking for ways to save on your collections budget? Looking for help managing the changing nature of your reference collection? If any of these topics hold a spark of interest take a look at the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS a division of ALA). ALCTS offers archived free webinars on their Youtube channel on a wide variety of topics. Take a look here for some free professional guidance.
(Thanks to Austin Public Library for making Melvil Dewey a hipster!)
The 4th Annual Dewey Day of free cataloging has kicked off at SELCO. Library materials from around the region have been sent in to have the SELCO Cataloging team (Cheryl Hill, Becky Lashinski, and Kristi Robb) + guest catalogers Tyler Irvin, Kirby Johnson, and Jeannie Johnson catalog in the SELCO ILS. SELCO's Dewey Day 2012 is in honor of Melvil Dewey's birthday, December 10, 1851, librarian, educator, and inventor of the Dewey Decimal library classification system. To view photos from Dewey Day 2012 click here.
As part of Dewey Day 2012 member libraries could send in a properly formated list of OCLC control numbers to SELCO for loading into Horizon. This morning, as promised, I compiled the lists from member libraries, attached each libraries OCLC holdings code to the records and exported them out of OCLC and imported them into Horizon. Those libraries that sent in items have been notified and have been asked to finish cataloging the records and add the statcat dew12 to the items they attach to that title. Tomorrow we begin cataloging the shelves full of material we have recieved for Dewey Day.
In the past there seems to have been a special procedure in place regarding the Last Copy of an item, where by the cataloger had to mark the bib staff only. I am sure there was an excellent reason for this procedure at the time, probably something to do with the IPAC display, but it is no longer necessary.
With the recent uptick in weeding I have received several questions form libraries wondering how to handle the Last Copy of a title. The procedure for this is as follows:
If you are deleting the last item on a title you do not need to mark the bib staff only. All you need to do is delete the item. Aquabrowser does not display bibs with no items.
If you are marking your items with the status of Withdrawn and having SELCO delete them for you, then when we delete the item we will also take care of removing the bib if that item is the last item, and we will update your OCLC holdings where appropriate.
At the beginning of each month I run Killbib. This program looks for Bibs with a created date older than 1 year, that have no items, no requests, no copy (serial) records and that are not ebooks, and deletes those bibs.
I hope this answers any questions you have. If not, please feel to contact me.
Since 1967 the library community has defined the catalog by a set of rules called the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR). Now in its second revised edition AACR2 is the data standard most librarians in the world use to describe their materials for patron access. The successor to AACR2 is called Resource Description and Access (RDA). Published in 2010, there has been a lot of angst and resistance to implementing such a profoundly different approach to data. Where AACR2 is focused on describing material and was designed for a card catalog, RDA focuses on relationships and has been designed to mirror a relational database (such as Horizon), with hierarchies and linked information. When earlier this year the Library of Congress announced it would implement RDA in March of 2013, it became clear that RDA implementation by the library was imminent.
A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the Minitex Conference where I attended a RDA 101 session by Mark Ehlert. Mark did a great job discussing RDA in general and outlining the major changes from AACR2 to RDA that will impact catalogers as they implement. The biggest change, a transition from the MARC dataset to a new yet to be determined dataset, will not be seen for a few years. I’ve listed the major differences between AACR2 and RDA below, and while there will certainly be a transitional period from AACR2 to RDA, I anticipate the continued use of MARC should make that transition easier for everyone in SELCO and beyond to manage.
Personally, I am excited by the transition and I eagerly anticipate the move from MARC to a new dataset (most likely Linked Data). I am excited because catalogers’ work will have a wider audience. Catalogers all over the world have spent numerous hours adding useful information into the library catalog, and much of this information goes unused. The transition to RDA, and away from MARC, will allow the plethora of data within the library community to move from siloed databases to the larger information world (like the internet). It will take some time, and there are still many areas that need to be fleshed out, but transiting librarians, ILS vendors, and discovery layers to RDA is a good beginning to changing mindsets. As Mark Ehlert said in his conference session we are no longer going to be “artisan catalogers” but instead we will be “shepherds of data” as we join the larger information and data world.
Over the next few months the SELCO catalogers will meet regularly to design a training program and an implementation timeline. FRBR, GMDs, ILS changes, discovery layer changes, training and a schedule will all be discussed during these meetings. As concrete information is produce, that information will be shared with the region. For now, anyone interested can begin familiarizing yourself with some of the changes below and look at some of the background RDA and FRBR information on the SELCO website located here.
Some Major Changes from AACR2 to RDA:
- RDA discontinues the Rule of Three (Rule 1.1F5 in AACR2)
- RDA does not use abbreviations. In RDA you write what you see on the material.
- RDA uses the entire resource as the proscribed source of information.
- RDA eliminates the use of Latin abbreviations such as et. al.
- RDA replaces the GMD (general material designator or format) with three new areas of description that work together to describe the format of the resource.
On Tuesday December 4th at 930am and 330 pm I will be offering OCLC training classes online.
If you have not had instruction on how to use OCLC with Horizon in the last year, I highly recommend you attend one of these classes.
Each class will walk you through how to use the OCLC Connexion Browser to save your OCLC number, search the Worldcat database for MARC records, determine which record is the one you want, how to export records and finally how to import records into Horizon. I will cover some time saving tips and tricks and answer questions as time allows.
I do not believe time will allow me to cover the Connexion Client, but if there is time I will show some tips and tricks with the client and answer questions.
You do not need to pre-register, but if you have not received log in infromation via email please contact me and I will email it to you.
Just a quick Reminder that Dewey Day is right around the corner. Please remember to have your Dewey Day items and/or OCLC numbers to us by this Friday, November 30th.
If you are wondering which items to send or if it was worth it to have that DVD cataloged last year? Then take a look at the Web Reporter report entitled Statcat number of CKO by location, under the circulation folder. This report will list the statcat for your items and the total number of checkouts for each item.
Next Tuesday, December 4th, I will hold two, one hour long OCLC training sessions at 930 am and 330 pm, where I will discuss tips and tricks to exporting records from OCLC into Horizon.
For more information about Dewey Day please see the Flyer located here.
As part of the new Cataloging Standard, RDA, that the Library of Congress is adopting in March of 2013 a few new MARC tags are being created and utilized. Since many libraries are already cataloging on RDA, SELCO catalogers are beginning to see and import RDA records from OCLC. One of the newer MARC tags is a 264 tag being used in place of a 260. These tags generally describe publication information. SELCO catalogers are asked not to delete the 264 tag or change it to a 260. The 264 is a valid tag. And after some work with Aquabrowser the 264 tag now indexes and displays in Aquabrowser like the 260. As for the Horizon ILS that staff use, I am looking into the possibility of utilizing the 264 now, but the next update of Horizon is expected during the 1st quarter of 2013. This update is expected to address many RDA issues with Horizon.
The 264 is very similar to the 260. Like the 260, the 264 is used for Production, Publication, Distribution, Manufacture, and Copyright Notice. Unlike the 260, the 264 has a second indicator that defines which of these descriptive elements is represented in tag. For more information about the 264 tag please see http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/bd264.html
More information about RDA and training for SELCO Online Libraries will be coming soon.
The past 3 years of Dewey Day events have seen over 3500 items cataloged with over 16,000 accumulated check outs!
Continuing with this successful event SELCO will begin collecting items for the 4th Annual SELCO Dewey Day event to be held December 6th, 2012. Items should arrive at SELCO by Friday, November 30th.
This year each library is allowed to send 20 items to be cataloged (for free) by the SELCO catalogers and guest catalogers. Once again we will also accept an unlimited number of OCLC numbers that SELCO catalogers will load into Horizon that each library is responsible for editing to SELCO standards. For more information on how to send physical items, or how to find and send OCLC numbers, please see the informational flyer located here. Flyers will also be placed in your tubs and arrive via delivery.
New this year we will be hosting 2 online Connexion training sessions, including tips and tricks. The sessions will be one hour long, held at 9:30 am and 3:30 pm. More information about these sessions will be forthcoming.
Also for those of you who are interested, I created a new report in Web Reporter that shows you the number of checkouts by location and statcat. That report can be found in the circulation folder and is titled Statcat number of CKO by location.
As part of the OCLC reclamation project SELCO coordinated with regional libraries and Network for Better Futures to pick up nearly 100 boxes of books for reuse and recycle. Network for Better Futures will attempt to resale the books, give some to local prisons, work with Better World Books to deliver books to Africa and recycle what is left.
Boxes came to SELCO through delivery from all over the region; Dodge Center, Lonsdale, Northfield, Pine Island, and more. SELCO will continue this service for the next few years as the OCLC project continues for the region. If your library would like to participate and has not already contacted SELCO, please contact Cindy Baker who will coordinate pickup of the boxes from your library. For more information about Network for Better Futures, please click here.
SELCO will schedule another pickup from Rochester when we have enough boxes (typically about 75 boxes). So keep up the good weeding and let us know if you have any questions.
Booklist is a library trade magazine published by the American Library Association for over 100 years that contains reliable reviews of recently published material and other tips and tricks for librarians all over the country. As of early 2012 Rebecca Vnuk at Booklist is running a series on Weeding Tips for libraries. As this tips are published I have been adding them to weeding section of the cataloging page here. Rebecca Vnuk also moderated an ALA Webinar on weeding entitled Love to hate it: Weeding. Click here to see common weeding questions and their answers from this Webinar, such as how to weed a reference collection with no circ stats, how to deal with patron complaints, what to do with those Chilton automotive repair books, how to handle series and more.
Recently the below email went out to the region's catalogers that further attempts by the Data Standards and Access Committee to align the region's cataloging practices with national (and international) standards, thus saving the time of the catalogers and libraries.
Catalogers,
The Data Standards and Access Committee decided the section of the cataloging which asks catalogers to move punctuation in the 245 when a GMD is present is longer necessary.
The cataloging manual stated that “For index display purposes, punctuation normally placed between subfields a and b should be placed preceding the ‘h’ subfield when using a GMD.” This section of the cataloging manual has been removed, andt he Cataloging manual has been updated.http://www.selco.info/display/cat/Cataloging+Manual
http://www.selco.info/display/cat/Cataloging+ManualCatalogers should now adhere to international standards that maintain the punctuation before the subfield and catalogers should no longer move punctuation when a GMD is present.
For more information regarding this decision, as well examples of proper punctuation, please click on the Topics Discussed tab of the Data Standards and Access Committee page http://www.selco.info/display/DSAC/Data+Standards+and+Access+Committee
Thank You and please let me know if you have any questions,
Cheryl
Reading American Libraries the other day I came across an article that explained the changing role of cataloging in the library world.
What first grabbed me about this article was that the opening sentence mimics my own life experiences. I am often asked, by friends and family and other non-librarians, what it is I do at SELCO. I find trying to explain to someone who doesn't really understand an ILS, or the plethora of rules involved in cataloging to be extremely difficult. This is especially true since most of the worlds non-librarians currently interact with information in a much different way than the cataloging world. The general public is primarily interacting with data via Google, Amazon, and the general internet, all of which depend far more heavily on natural semantics than the Library of Congress Subject Headings, ISBD and MARC. So when asked what it is I do at SELCO, I keep it simple. I usually say something along the lines of "I put records in the catalog you search online, and I make sure the records that are in there are accurate."
What I also liked about this article was that it described how cataloging is much more than the above overly simplistic statement, and then summed up the way cataloging has changed. In particular I found my self nodding in agreement as I read the section that stated a cataloger is no longer about giving an individual touch to each record, but instead we depend on batch processes like OCLC Cataloging Partners program, MarcEdit, and ILS tools.
To read the full article click here.
As part of the OCLC reclamation project SELCO coordinated with regional libraries and Network for Better Futures to pick up nearly 90 boxes of books for reuse and recycle. Network for Better Futures will attempt to resale the books, give some to local prisons, work with Better World Books to deliver books to Africa and recycle what is left. They left SELCO and headed down to Leroy Public Library to pick up 30 more boxes.
Boxes came from all over the region, Wabash, Dodge Center, Lonsdale, Northfield, Pine Island, Zumbrota and more. Some libraries followed guidelines and sent them through delivery while others dropped them off themselves (or had their wife do it).
With such a successful event we may schedule another pick up later this summer, depending on need. Contact Cheryl Hill at SELCO if you have boxes to be picked up later this summer. Keep up the good weeding!
For many years SELCO Online Libraries have had access to other libraries MARC records via the Z39.50 servers. While this access has been helpful for the catalogers there have been many issues with this connection over the years, and as with many services something more robust has come along.
In February of this year all SELCO Online Libraries became Full Cataloging members of OCLC. At this member level the libraries are no longer paying per MARC record from OCLC.
OCLC is currently the single largest repository of MARC records, and due to collaborative cataloging has high quality records. Addtionally each of the SELCO Online Libraries moves forward with the reclimation process records will need an OCLC number for future holdings maintenance. And for several other reasons OCLC is replacing the Z39 connection for SELCO libraries.
On Friday August 3rd SELCO will terminate the Z39.50 connection.
If you would like to learn, or need a refresher on, how to utilize OCLC to find MARC records, you may either attend one of the upcoming cataloging classes located here, or you can contact me and I will come out and provide training to you and your staff.
If you have any other questions or concerns please feel to contact SELCO.
Some catalogers in the region have reported problems loading in fully cataloged OCLC records when a brief bib already exists in Horizon. When importing a record from OCLC Horizon is looking at unique identifiers (ISBNs and LCCNs) to determine if there is a match. If Horizon finds a match you will want Horizon to create a MARC record despite the duplicate. In order for this to happen your import settings must have Never selected after the “Overlay bibs” option AND the box checked after “Create new bib if not Overlaid”.
I am attaching a screen shot of what your Import Settings in Horizon should look like with the three most important fields circled.
Please take a few moments and double check that your import settings look exactly like the settings below. With the exception of the “Import File” your settings should only need to be set up one time.
The Library of Congress’ Bibliographic Framework Transition Initiative recently announced a partnership with the organization Zehpeira that will accelerate the goal of the Initiative is “to translate the MARC 21 format to a Linked Data (LD) model while retaining as much as possible the robust and beneficial aspects of the historical format”.
Zephpeira, led by Eric Miller from the Semantic Web Imitative, will develop models to begin the conversation and analysis new data standards that will lead to a flexible bibliographic framework for the future. This new flexible framework should provide “a robust reference code, a supporting infrastructure for deployment, and an effective migration plan to support the community in making a transition from MARC”
For the Library of Congress full announcement and more information on Zephpeira and the Bibliographic Framework Transition Initiative please click here.
The March 27th Cataloging Roundtable was big success with 26 people in attendance, thank you all for your interest and contribution.
A lot was covered at this meeting and to help attendees with the abundance of information we have posted the slides and their notes under the Roundtable Tab of the Cataloging website. You will need to login into the website to view these. Please look through these slides and the references at the end, and feel free to ask any questions. Click here for Roundtable Slides.
A few points to highlight and clarify:
1. FRBR is the theoretical basis of RDA, and the purpose of the roundtable was simply to introduce concept. We will discuss FRBR more in depth. If you would like a resource to investigate FRBR on your own I suggest FRBR: a guide for the perplexed by Robert Maxwell.
2. Library of Congress expects to be cataloging fully in RDA (including CIP) by next April. SELCO catalogers will keep an eye on LC and will have more information on RDA training for membership as LC progresses. Tentatively training might occur during Fall of 2013.
3. Further information and instruction regarding the application of LCGFT will be forthcoming later this month.
4. Just to clarify one point regarding the reclamation process - Currently only withdrawn items from libraries that have asked are being deleted monthly. All other libraries are still responsible for deleting their items (either one by one or by contacting the help desk). If you would like your withdrawn items deleted monthly email Cheryl Hill and she will add you to the list. After your library undergoes the reclamation process then your withdrawn items will be deleted monthly as part of maintaining your OCLC holdings. This will be detailed in the forthcoming letter of responsibilities.
Since so many exciting things are happening in the world of bibliographic control another meeting of the catalogers is being planned for late September.
Hope to see you then.
LC has announced a target date of March 31st 2013 as the date "when all catalog records newly created at LC will be produced according to RDA instructions." While this is not a firm deadline it's a firm commitment that RDA is coming. The history of this decision and what this means for SELCO catalogers will be discussed at the March 27th Cataloging Roundtable. For more information about this announcement see Beecher Wiggins statement below or take a look at LC's RDA training plan which can be used to help local library training.
Beacher Wiggins announcement on Long-Range RDA Training
LC's RDA Training Plan is also accessible online (PDF format)
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Greetings! Join us for a Cataloging Roundtable on Tuesday, March 27, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at the SELCO office in Rochester. The first half of the Roundtable will focus on national developments in cataloging and bibliographic control. The second half will focus on recent projects the SELCO Cataloging Staff have been working on. To register for the Cataloging Roundtable, please click here. To see the event flyer, please click here and feel free to distribute. To see the meeting agenda, please visit the Cataloging page here and click on the Roundtables tab. Topics to be discussed:
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We are all eagerly awaiting the Library of Congress' to transition to RDA. The current timeline has LC cataloging solely from RDA during the first quarter of 2013. This Library Journal article details updates LC delivered at ALA Midwinter in Texas. According to LC officials the timeline is still on track. While training staff on RDA, Library of Congress continues to lead the transition away from MARC, and editing of the RDA text to make it easier to read.
Library of Congress also posted its first quarterly update on the RDA transition project here http://www.loc.gov/aba/rda/
The SELCO CAT Express group will switch over to full membership level on Feb 1st.
OCLC needs January 31st to “flip” all the libraries over, and create new authorization numbers.
Therefore SELCO members will not be able to access CAT Express on January 31st.
The new authorization numbers will be sent to Cheryl Hill sometime on the 31st and she will begin sending them out to the current Cat Express members Feb 1st.As before, those numbers will be linked to your libraries’ OCLC Holdings Code.Your authorization levels will be at the Search Authorization Level. At the Search Authorization Level the Connexion Browser will work similarly to the way it did at the CAT Express Level. You will be able to search for records and export them, but you will not pay per record.
In order to receive access to the higher level functionality that OCLC offers, your Library will need to undergo the reclamation process. For more information on the reclamation process please visit the OCLC Reclamation tab on the Cataloging website.
For those libraries that are not currently CAT Express members you will need to attend SELCO’s Cataloging 1 training, Copy Cataloging, in order to get your OCLC authorization number. One session is coming up on January 24th; another is scheduled for March 28th. If neither of these works for you, contact the helpdesk and we will schedule a training visit.
With this change, you are encouraged to begin using OCLC as your primary source for records. All the libraries accessible via the z39.50 servers are in OCLC, including Library of Congress. Beyond that OCLC has over 244 million MARC records, the single largest source for bibliographic records. Additionally, retrieving records from OCLC means the 035 OCLC number is in the record which will make the reclamation process smoother.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact Cheryl Hill.
This is a little late in coming but with all the projects in changes going on in Cataloging at SELCO I guess it’s better late than never!
3rd Annual Dewey Day 2011 was December 8th.
We had six catalogers on Dewey Day itself - Tyler Irvin, Emily Kittelson, Jeannie Johnson, Janice Kunkle, Kirby Johnson and Cheryl Hill.
After Dewey Day Tyler, Emily and Cheryl finished up the rest of the Cataloging.
A total of 1251 OCLC records were loaded into Horizon the morning of December 8th.
These OCLC records came from 19 different member libraries that sent in OCLC numbers previous to Dewey Day itself.
The six catalogers cataloged a total of 712 physical items. (A special thanks to Tyler for doing over 250 of them!)
27 Public Libraries sent in physical items.
14 School Districts sent in physical items.
All items were returned to the owning library before the holidays.
All together I estimate we saved the membership over 5,000 dollars.
This was our busiest and most successful year yet.
I look forward to helping the membership out next year.
Thank you to everyone who helped to make the 3rd Annual Dewey Day a huge success.
Dewey Day 2011, the third annual "free day of cataloging" for SELCO ILS member libraries, arrived on December 8, 2011. Cheryl Hill, Technical Services Librarian; Emily Kittelson, Cataloging Librarian, and Tyler Irvin, Regional Librarian, were joined by guest catalogers Janice Kunkel, Jeannie Johnson, and Kirby Johnson to catalog a variety of materials from libraries across the region. A few examples include a bunny-shaped cake pan, the book Catfish Swimming with Lutefisk, and a Ukrainian & English DVD. In addition to physical items, libraries could also send us OCLC numbers to have cataloging staff download records from OCLC to the SELCO ILS. Final numbers will be available later.
To see a few pictures from the day, which included a birthday potluck for Melvil Dewey (the namesake for the day), check out the Dewey Day 2011 set on SELCO's Flickr site.
Emily Kittelson, Cataloging Librarian
Just a reminder, for Dewey Day 2011, libraries can send any number of OCLC numbers for cataloging at no charge. These numbers will not be counted against the 25 physical items that may be sent in. If you need assistance finding OCLC numbers, please check out this tutorial. If you have any additional questions, feel free to email the cataloging department (SELCOCAT@selco.info) or give us a call at 1-800-992-5061.
Remember, OCLC numbers do not count against the 25 physical items you can send in for Dewey Day.
To celebrate Melvil Dewey's 160th Birthday, the SELCO Cataloging Team will be offering a free cataloging day (Dewey Day 2011) on December 8, 2011. Please click here to view the Dewey Day 2011 flyer -- it has the information you will need to participate. Please send all items to us by Thursday, December 1, 2011. In addition to sending in items for cataloging, we are also offering the option of SELCO Cataloging staff downloading records from OCLC for you to edit and add your items for FREE! We've put together a document to assist you in finding OCLC numbers using WorldCat via FirstSearch or from WorldCat.org -- to view that document, click here. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact the Cataloging team (email SELCOCAT@selco.info) or give us a call at 1-800-992-5061. Start gathering up your items and send them our way!
I've gotten a few questions from members asking if we are going to repeat Dewey Day for 2011.
The answer is yes!
Dewey Day 2011 is coming Thursday December 8th.
We will again allow for lists of Oclc numbers to be sent to SELCO for upload along with physical items.
More details will be coming soon.
Aiming for a robust metadata infrastructure was an ALCTS (subgroup of ALA) webinar originally held August 1st. The webinar discussed the culmination of the RDA Test Committee, and its recommendations. The committee was made up of the three national libraries, National Library of Medicine, National Agriculture Library and the Library of Congress and recommended implement of RDA no sooner than 2013. The webinar discussed the test, the findings and the analysis that led to that recommendation and the future plans of the Library of Congress.
The committee felt there were many problems with RDA, and outline several specific issues that need to be addressed in the near future. The most prominent of these issues was that MARC is poorly suited to fully utilize the advantages of RDA, and that RDA should be reworded in plain English. Despite these issues and more the committee felt that it was appropriate to move forward in implementation RDA for the following reasons:
1. That RDA is better then what we have now.
2. That it is the only international activity currently underway that thinks through cataloging and bibliographic description for the future.
3. All involved felt that it’s important to try and link the library community to the boarder world of information resources and that while RDA is not perfect with everyone
involved working together the community can make it better.
As a result the committee agreed that as certain changes are taking place the Library of Congress would implement RDA by the beginning of 2013. The timeline is:
October, 2011: RDA catalogers/technicians (former LC testers) prepare for returning to RDA cataloging: classroom sessions and practice record discussions
November, 2011: RDA catalogers/technicians return to creating RDA authority and bibliographic records
Not sooner than July 2012: LC begins to train remaining catalogers to apply RDA
According to this timeline LC plans to be fully cataloging using RDA only by early 2013. The Library of Congress will continue to catalog using RDA in the current MARC environment, but discussions with ILS vendors and technicians has begun to determine what the next generation carrier of library data should look like.
LC emphasis that this is a transitional period that there will not be a day when a flip is switched and MARC is turned off and something new is turned on, but rather the process will be evolutionary as items are phased in and out over time.
8 organizations from the test study continue to catalog in RDA, and as LC moves toward RDA in next 12 to 18 months (including CIP) we will see more and more RDA/MARC records.
RDA is not perfect, and clearly has issues that will continue to be addressed. But as the Library of Congress adopts this new standard we all must look at our own plans for implementation. We all will continue to work in a hybrid environment of RDA and MARC until a new data standard is developed that can fully utilize the new entry relationship model Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Resources (FRBR). While change can be fraught with anxiety and concern this change has the potential to improve access and functionality. If the library world can structure library data similarly to the greater world of information we can facilitate users and make the library catalog more intuitive and familiar.
The full webinar is available below http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alcts/confevents/upcoming/webinar/cat/080111.cfm
Emily Kittelson, Cataloging and Delivery Assistant
The U.S. RDA Test Coordinating Committee has recommended the implementation of RDA no sooner than January 2013. The implementation is contingent upon nine areas of concern raised by the committee. These concerns are as follows:
1. Rewrite the RDA instructions in clear, unambiguous, plain English
2. Define process for updating RDA in the online environment
3. Improve functionality of the RDA Toolkit
4. Develop full RDA record examples in MARC and other encoding schema
5. Announce completion of the Registered RDA Element Sets and Vocabularies; ensure the registry is well described and in synchronization with RDA rules
6. Demonstrate credible progress towards a replacement for MARC
7. Ensure and facilitate community involvement
8. Lead and coordinate RDA training
9. Solicit demonstrations of prototype input and discovery systems that use the RDA element set (including relationships)
For more information, the executive summary of the report is available here: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/cataloging/RDA_report_executive_summary.pdf
Executives from the three national libraries have endorsed the recommendations of the Committee. Their statement can be found here: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/cataloging/RDA_Executives_statement.pdf
The full report and recommendations will be posted for the public prior to the American Library Association Annual Conference: http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/rda/
Carla Johnson, Cataloging Services Librarian
Transforming our Bibliographic Framework: A Statement from the Library of Congress (May 13, 2011)
I was surprised at the news that the Library of Congress is going to review the use of the MARC 21 format. Apparently, enough people made a fuss regarding the use of RDA with MARC 21. The following excerpt explains,
“Spontaneous comments from participants in the US RDA Test show that a broad cross-section of the community feels budgetary pressures but nevertheless considers it necessary to replace MARC 21 in order to reap the full benefit of new and emerging content standards.”
Whatever! Knowing how long it takes anything to happen within the library community referred to in the statement, it could be another 10 years before we see any changes. If it does happen, however, it will be a major change for many of us since we have long lived not in the worlds of AACR2 and RDA, but in the worlds of MARC and our ILS.
See full text of the statement at The Library of Congress website.
Carla Johnson, Cataloging Services Librarian
As we get closer to the probable, yet still questionable, approval of RDA, I am thinking about what SirsiDynix and Horizon can do for us. Currently, we can add new fields to our MARC records, but how will they display for our patrons if at all? Do we want them to display in AquaBrowser?
The CMC fields (content – media – carrier), are meant to replace the GMD in field 245, but their current format, if displayed the same way we enter them into a MARC record, could be confusing to a patron.
These are just a few of the questions that will require our thoughts and input in the upcoming months.
For a better understanding of some of the changes that are coming our way, see RDA in MARC.
Carla Johnson, Cataloging Services Librarian
Please review bib #1079245 to see how fields 336, 337, and 338 are used. Because there are 2 different media and carriers represented by this record, there need to be 2 fields each for 337 and 338. The content of both media is text (book & CD-ROM), so there is only 1 field for 336. To see the term and code lists for these fields, go to http://www.loc.gov/marc/RDAinMARC29.html
Carla Johnson, Cataloging Services Librarian
A new MARC field to ponder is the 380 field, Form of Work. This is closely related to some of our genres that we enter into field 655. OCLC defines it as “A class or genre to which a work belongs. May be used to differentiate a work from another work with the same title.” Some examples from RDA include:
Play (form of work of: Charlemagne)
Tapestry (form of work of: Charlemagne)
Choreographic work (form of work of: The Nutcracker)
Motion picture (form of work of: Ocean's eleven)
Poem (form of work of: Chanson de Roland)
Input standards for MARC have not yet been determined.
Carla Johnson, Cataloging Services Librarian
OCLC has recently added a new assessment tool to its usage statistics. The WorldCat Collection Dashboard Report compares our holdings to all holdings in WorldCat. Not all of our libraries catalog using OCLC so it is not a true reflection of our holdings, but it is still interesting and worth perusing.
Carla Johnson, Cataloging Services Librarian
I brought in an RDA record (#1067212) and thought you might be interested in viewing some of the changes that will be taking place.
--The 040 field should contain subfield e with “rda.”
--There are duplicate dates in field 260, subfield c. The first one, [2011], refers to a probable production date. The 2nd one, c2011, is the copyright date. Both dates need to go in there even if they are the same.
--Fields 336, 337, and 338 need to go in every record. These fields will eventually replace the GMD in field 245. This is a change from our current rules where we use a GMD only for those records representing nonprint material plus large print.
--Even if a decision is made to approve RDA this Summer, it will probably not be implemented until next year. At that time, I am inclined to believe that a certain amount of flexibility will be allowed, although we will eventually need to adhere to the new rules.
--If you would like to learn more about RDA, take a look at FRBR - Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records, http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/frbr/ and
Library of Congress information - http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/RDAtest/rdatraining2.html
Carla Johnson, Cataloging Services Librarian
As the new year gets closer, several catalogers from our member libraries have expressed concern about RDA. It looks like 2011 will be the year for implementation, although there has been no exact date set. Starting in January, catalogers at SELCO will begin working on some points that will change some of our daily cataloging habits. These changes will not be overwhelming and there are resources to guide us. There is a good website for those of you who would like a little more detail regarding RDA - http://www.rda-jsc.org/rda.html
For now, perhaps you would like to look up some information on fields 336, 337, and 338 in OCLC's bib formats and standards. These 3 fields will take the place of our current GMD in field 245, subfield h.
Cataloging Manual
To Access the Cataloging Manual - SELCO members can click here to log in
Cataloging Training
SELCO is in the process of re-developing the Cataloging Training Prgoram.
CAT I - Copy Cataloging of various formats from OCLC's Worldcat database. Attendees will learn to fully edit the MARC bibliographic record, including SELCO's local practices, This class also includes how to Add Items in Horizon. Click here to register for class.
Cat II - Original or near Original cataloging. Details to come.
Add Items - is the ability to edit and and attach a new item record onto a completed bibliographic record.
Supervisors may teach their employees how to add items and can request the appropriate Horizon permissions be given via the help desk. This instruction sheet has step by step instructions.
Cataloging Tutorials
Please keep in mind that these tutorials are meant to be a quick refresher on cataloging topics and are not meant to replace cataloging training. If you have in-depth questions on cataloging issues, please contact the SELCO Cataloging Librarians.
Following is a list of cataloging tutorials. Click here to sign in and view.
Adding an ISBN
Copying a record from the Library of Congress
Editing a record
CatExpress
Changing a 440 series field
MARC punctuation
Cataloging Tools
OCLC Bibliographic Formats and Standards
This is a great site for accessing information about MARC standards and formats. Gives examples for fields, subfields, and indicators. Easy to navigate.
USMARC Concise Formats
This site is an interactive multimedia course on AACR2 and MARC.
Understanding MARC Bibliographic
This site is Understanding MARC Bibliographic: Machine-Readable Cataloging. It is a useful site for translating MARC bibliographic to English.
Babelfish is an internet translator. If you are cataloging a work that includes a foreign language, this can be very useful for creating subject headings and alternate titles.
Cataloging Bulletins
When a revision of standards occurs or a change in cataloging practices at SELCO occurs due to a general concensus, we will publish a bulletin explaining those changes and how they will affect our daily cataloging work.
Cataloging Roundtables
Roundtables are scheduled on a periodic basis to discuss ongoing issues in cataloging. SELCO cataloging staff welcomes suggestions and ideas as to when these take place and which issues should be discussed.
Weeding and Your Library
For information on weeding please click here.
OCLC Reclamation Project
The OCLC reclamation project is multi year project intended to synchronize each SELCO Online Libraries' holdings with the OCLC World Cat Database. Each Library is expected to weed their collection, inventory their collection and work through a series of cleanup reports before data is sent to OCLC for reclamation. After the reclamation process OCLC will return a file of records that may need re-cataloging or additional attention is some manner. Each library is expected to aid the SELCO catalogers with this report.
The benefits of this project are far reaching. Besides having a very accurate, up to date and tidy collection SELCO is currently funding all online libraries as full cataloging OCLC members. This membership level currently gives libraries quick access to high quality MARC records. After the reclamation process is done your libraries’ holdings will be accurate and visible in worldcat.org. Visible holdings in Worldcat.org will give each library many more benefits associated with OCLC, such as preparation for OCLC ILL, and the use of OCLC's APIs like the one used in Goodreads.com. Other tech services processes will alsobe affected after the reclamation process. Use of OCLC's batch record processing and record delivery service, and more will further increase cataloging speed at libraries.
Information about the OCLC Reclamtion project will be posted here as it's available
Inital information on Marcive and OCLC
OCLC Reclamation Project Information
Intro Weeding DRAFT.pdfIntroduction to Reclamation and Step 1 Weeding (Draft)
SELCO TV Episodes on OCLC Project:
Dewey Day 2012
Dewey Day 2012 will be Thursday, December 6th. For more information, see the flyer here.
If you need assistance downloading OCLC numbers to send for Dewey Day, see the information sheet here.
If you would like to know the number of check outs on items you have sent in for Dewey Day Cataloging in years past please see the web reporter report in the ciculation folder entitled Statcat number of CKO by location.
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