Lending of Playaways 

LC has expanded services to Congressional patrons by adding Playaway digital audio books to the selection of formats available for loan and will soon begin a pilot project to lend e-readers to the same patrons. 

Talking Books 

In 2009, the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) issued digital talking-book players and audiobooks on flash-memory cartridges in newly designed mailing containers to libraries around the country for distribution to patrons. Not only does this digital technology offer new spoken-word accessibility opportunities, but it represents a state-of-the-art technological achievement and innovation for the Library of Congress.

In September NLS distributed 150 duplication fixtures to network libraries to support local duplication of digital talking books. This equipment serves as an interface between duplication equipment and the uniquely shaped NLS digital cartridges purchased by libraries. Further distribution will be made upon request as network libraries transition their programs to the digital talking-book system.

Cataloging of African Sheet Maps

The Library of Congress 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 will include geographic coordinates for each map that will permit geographic searching of the catalog records, and enhanced data will make it possible to view the coverage area of individual sheet maps using geographical browsers such as Google Earth. The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The project began with the cataloging of 1,800 sets of maps from the 19th century to the present.  An unexpected challenge arose from the discovery that about 22 percent of the maps lacked coordinate information; the cataloging team has to research or determine coordinates through indirect methods. By December 2, 2009, 1,635 bibliographic records had been completed, providing access to 36,326 map sheets.

Free Access to Publications 

All back issues of Cataloging Service Bulletin (Nos. 1-123) are available.  Also available at the same site are the latest updates to the following publications as they are published: Library of Congress Rule Interpretations, Subject Headings Manual, CONSER Cataloging Manual, CONSER Cataloging Manual, Descriptive Cataloging Manual, and updates to MARC 21 format documentation.

Cookery/Cooking 

The Policy and Standards Division (PSD) would like to thank everyone who sent their thoughtful comments in response to the two discussion papers on the revision of the Cookery headings.  The heading Cookery will be revised to Cooking and a scope note will be added explaining that the heading is to be used for food preparation with and without heat.  The word “cookery” will also be removed from headings wherever it appears, including in the heading for cooking with specific ingredients.  The PSD considered three new heading formats for individual ingredients, Cooking—[Ingredient], Cooking with [ingredient], and [Ingredient]—Use in cooking.  The comments the PSD received on these three options did not display a consensus, and while each option has advantages, each also has distinct disadvantages. Therefore, the form of the headings will not be revised; only the word “cookery” will be.  UFs in the forms [Ingredient]—Use in cooking and Cooking with [ingredient] will be added to each heading, to provide additional entry language.  The PSD will also create a topical heading for cookbooks, as well as an identical genre/form heading.

FAQ on Genre/Form Headings 

The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document was revised in November, 2009, and most of the updates were minor.

The Biblioteca Nacional de España translated an earlier version of the FAQ into Spanish and provided a copy to the PSD.  Ana Cristán of the PSD revised it to include the November revisions, and it is now also posted online.  The PSD warmly thanks the Biblioteca Nacional de España for its efforts.

Moving Image Genre/Form Project 

In May 2009 the PSD posted a discussion paper on the cancellation of the existing topical headings (MARC 21 tag 150) for forms and genres of video recordings.  After reviewing and discussing the comments received, the PSD concluded the following: 

• The headings representing forms and genres of video recordings could be cancelled (accomplished on Weekly List 0950);
  
  
• The heading Video mini-series should be revised to Film mini-series and the heading Television mini-series should be retained (as opposed to cancelling both and making a general heading “Mini-series”) (accomplished on WL 9050);
  
  
• There should be genre/form headings for Internet videos, Podcasts, and Interactive videos, as well as one for Webisodes (accomplished on WL 0950 and 0951);
  
  
• The subdivisions –Video catalogs, --Video recordings for foreign speakers, –Video recordings for French, [Spanish, etc.] speakers, and –Film and video adaptations should be revised (forthcoming).

There is currently a discussion paper on the genre/form web site, asking for comments on a proposal to change the hierarchy of the moving image genre/form headings.  In short, headings would be explicitly placed into either the Fiction or Nonfiction hierarchy where appropriate.  The discussion paper includes a list of all of the approved headings for television programs, and indicates the proposed broader, narrower, and related term relationships for each.  Comments are being accepted through February 26, 2010 and may be sent to jayo@loc.gov.

Cartography Project 

In June 2009, the PSD posted a paper discussing the pros and cons of simplifying form subdivisions used for cartographic materials.  Those subdivisions consisting of an adjective and the word “maps” would be revised to remove the adjective (e.g. –Maps, Comparative would become –Maps).  The specific type of map would then be brought out with the genre/form heading.  The comments were generally positive, but there were concerns related to the limited search and display capabilities of many current ILSs; the need to undertake extensive bibliographic maintenance; and the need to implement the new genre/form headings before, or coincident with, the revised subdivisions.  The PSD has decided to follow through with the proposal presented in the paper, in the belief that the concerns are short term (i.e., search and display capabilities and file maintenance) or could be remedied.  With regard to the latter, the PSD will not revise the existing form subdivisions until the genre/form headings are in place.
The PSD is currently making genre/form proposals for cartographic materials, and will also create proposals to revise existing topical headings to bring headings into natural language order where necessary.  It expects to approve the first group of cartographic genre/form headings in late spring or early summer, 2010.

Music Project 

The PSD is continuing to collaborate with members of the Music Library Association (MLA) to deconstruct existing topical headings into their constituent genres and forms of music, and mediums of performance so the elements can be separately coded and searched.  LC policy specialists and catalogers are currently evaluating the recommendations made by MLA.