OLAC Newsletter
Vol. 29 | No. 3| September 2009
The OLAC Newsletter (ISSN: 0739-1153) is a quarterly publication of the Online Audiovisual Catalogers, Inc. appearing in March, June, September and December. Permission is granted to copy and disseminate information contained herein, provided the source is acknowledged.
In this issue
President's Column
Meeting Minutes:
News and Announcements:
- MOUG Liaison Reappointed
- Archival Sound Recordings Subcommittee Announcement
- Call for Nancy B. Olson Award Nominations
Conference Reports:
Book Reviews:
- Crash Course in Cataloging for Non-Catalogers
- More Innovative Redesign and Reorganizations of Library Technical Services
OLAC Cataloger's Judgment:
- SMDs for Remote-Access Resources
- Musings on the Mu
- Episode Titles and Season Designations
- Much Ado About Noting
- The Agony of the “sce” (and Other Relator Codes)
- Parallel Title, Displaced
- Records Without Class (Numbers, That Is)
- Uniform Titles for Television Programs
- NTSC, SECAM, and PAL, Oh My
- A Date with Consistency
Library of Congress Update
Janis L. Young
Policy and Standards Division, Library of Congress
July 12, 2009
Integrated Library System Increased Access. Usage of LC’s online catalog, catalog.loc.gov continues to rise. Last year the Library upgraded its hardware and software, which enabled the Library to increase the number of simultaneous external sessions. Denials of service were reduced from thousands per day during the North American academic year to only a handful on a few peak days. Staff continue to monitor activity in order to eliminate the number of denials of service altogether.
RDA Testing. Library Services is working with representatives of the National Library of Medicine and National Agricultural Library to test Resource Description and Access (RDA) for feasibility, compatibility with existing metadata, cost-effectiveness, and user satisfaction. Twenty-four libraries will be participating formally in the test. The US National Libraries Steering Committee to Test RDA will design the test this summer and autumn and plans to begin testing in January 2010.
Automated MARC 21 Records from ONIX. In June 2009 LC began a pilot project to create descriptive cataloging from ONIX data. ECIP applications from Cambridge University Press and Wiley are being used for the pilot. In addition to the basic description, the table of contents, if provided in the ONIX record, will be provided in the 505 field of the MARC 21 record with first indicator value “8” (no display constant) and the legend “Machine generated contents note:” No attempt will be made to edit the field, so words such as “Chapter,” “Part,” etc., as well as sections of the table of contents like the introduction, bibliography, etc. may appear in the field. Additionally, ONIX records frequently contain summaries (called descriptions in ONIX) and the ECIP application has a space for the publisher to provide summary information. If either of these is present, the conversion program will include them in separate 520 fields, quoted to indicate that LC did not create the summary and with “ Provided by publisher” at the end of the field to indicate the source. The summaries will be retained if they follow the guidelines for summaries in ECIP records. There is thus a potential for duplicate summaries to be created. Questions may be directed to David Williamson, Cataloging Automation Specialist, ABA (dawi@loc.gov).
Geographic Coordinate Data in Name Authority Records. Beginning in August 2009, NACO participants may supply geographic coordinates in the 034 field (Coded Cartographic Mathematical Data) of authority records for geographic name headings (tagged 151). LC is investigating sources of coordinate data that may be used to pre-populate existing records in the authority file. Documentation on the use of the 034 fields in authority records will be available in the August update to Cataloger’s Desktop.
Cataloging of African Maps. LC has received a Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) to support a project that will catalog 125,000 sheet maps of Africa. The catalog records to be produced under the $240,240 grant will include geographic coordinates for each map that will permit geographic searching of the catalog records. The enhanced catalog data will make it possible to view the coverage area of individual sheet maps using geographical browsers such as Google Earth.
LC Authorities and Vocabularies service. The Library of Congress has opened its id.loc.gov web service, “Authorities and Vocabularies,” with Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) as the initial offering. The primary goal of this service is to enable machines to programmatically access data at the Library of Congress, but the web interface also provides simple access for human users. This service is a step toward exposing and interconnecting vocabulary and thesaurus data at no cost via URLs. The Library is interested in feedback on the uses and usefulness of the service to inform ways that we might enhance it. (There is a comment form at the site.) Over the next few months the service will be expanding to include other standards that the Library supports such as the Thesaurus of Graphic Materials; geographic area, language, and relator codes; and preservation events and roles.
Genre/Form Headings. General information about genre/form headings at the Library of Congress, including a Genre/Form Frequently Asked Questions PDF document, can be found at http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/genreformgeneral.html. The following announcements and documents have been added to the site since the ALA Midwinter Meeting: Genre/Form Headings for Musical Works; SACO Proposals for Moving Image and Radio Program Genre/Form Headings; Genre/Form Headings for Cartographic Materials; Proposed Change to the Structure of LCSH Subdivisions Used for Cartographic Materials Discussion Paper; and Disposition of Video Recording Headings in the New Genre/Form Environment Discussion Paper.
Cartography Genre/From Project. In February, 2009, the Policy and Standards Division (PSD) announced the beginning of the genre/form project for cartographic materials. PSD is requesting input regarding a possible change to the structure of most of the form subdivisions in the area of cartography. A discussion paper, “Proposed Changes to the Structure of LCSH Subdivisions Used for Cartographic Materials,” has been posted on PSD’s genre/form web page, http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/genreformgeneral.html. Interested parties are invited to send their thoughts on the proposal to Janis L. Young, genre/form coordinator, at jayo@loc.gov. Comments will be accepted through August 10, 2009.
Music Genre/Form Project. LC is collaborating with the Music Library Association to create genre/form headings for musical works. This project will be different from previous ones, in that the syntax of the genre/form headings will not usually mimic that of existing topical headings. Further information on the project is available on LC’s genre/form web page and MLA’s public wiki, at http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/genreformgeneral.html and http://musicgenrepublicforum.pbworks.com, respectively.
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) 31st edition. The 31st edition of LCSH is now available. Because there has been no edition of LCSH published since 2007, this edition will include approximately 17,000 new and 16,000 changed subject headings made since January 2007. With this edition, LCSH will be enlarged to six volumes. The new, sixth volume, LCSH Supplementary Vocabularies, will include free-floating subdivisions, genre/form headings, and children's subject headings. Copies may be ordered at www.loc.gov/cds/contact.html. A limited number of LCSH, 30th edition (2007) are still available, at reduced prices: $195 in North America (33% off full price) and $245 (29% off full price) outside North America.
Questions about this website contact Teressa Keenan