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08-06-19

Announcements

  • Community Catalog Project to be postponed to October. Stay tuned.
  • 8/20 meeting: ETD ice cream party and guest: Leslie McRoberts

Authorities Processing Refresher: Lisa Robinson

  • Metadata Management Unit
    • Comprised of Lisa Robinson, Lark Braten, Mark Andrews
  • Quick Facts
    • We have 9.5+ million bib records, 3.3+ million authority records in the catalog
    • Backstage Library Works is our authorities processing vendor for last three years
    • Last year, we sent out 250k bib records for processing, excluding Serials Solutions records because of their frequent changes and overlays. But we do include stable records from vendors in authorities processing.
    • Average of 21k bib records sent per month
    • Average of 13k authority records per month changed or updated, not including average of 950 local manual changes made
    • Locally using 982 "No Backstage" to exclude specific records from being sent for processing
    • BSL bases authority file changes sent to us on comparison against a copy of our authority file
  • What BSL does:
    • MetMan gathers each months bib records, sends to BSL
    • BSL changes headings in bibs based on authority record cross references; has some trouble with typos and incomplete string matches
    • Dumb machine stuff, for example: the keyword "gender" incorrectly added as a 6XX triggered the inclusion of 6 irrelevant corporate name headings based on cross-reference matches
    • BSL corrects skip indicators, various codes like language and country
    • Performs RDA enrichment, inserts reading level codes, URI enrichment
    • Doesn't add TOC or summaries
  • What MetMan does:
    • Responds to BSL reports on prospective headings and codes to change
    • Responds to / uses Sierra tools, e.g. daily headings report
      • Headings report helps evaluate new headings in catalog - not as useful now given BSL
      • Headings report usable as a way of finding retrospective cataloging that lacks BSL treatment
    • Local authority records
      • Minted for disambiguation (e.g. Rovi band names)
      • Aliens & Illegal aliens local changes
    • Looks for broken URLs for non-licensed resources
  • Info for original catalogers:
    • You can bring in NARs yourself for new cataloging, if you want - BSL will just overlay the record you bring in (presumably unchanged) at the end of the month
    • You should bring in NARs for any new authority work done for retrospective cataloging - BSL processes may not catch these otherwise

07-16-19

Cataloging Show-and-Tell

  • Kate
    • Executioner's log, 1600-1821 : manuscript. Cataloging still in progress. Manuscript volume kept by executioners in the Franconia region.

ALA reports (Part 2)

  • Tim
    • CC:DA
      • Tim is a member; ALA entailed many hours of meetings, updates and discussion regarding the 3R project
      • Announcements will now be made whenever BETA Toolkit is updated
      • Development of BETA Toolkit "Visual Browser" is suspended
      • BETA Toolkit becomes official Toolkit first half of 2020 at earliest (though we speculate it will be longer)
      • Policy Statements:
        • RDA worked with stakeholders to create templates
        • Reformatting existing PS's will be difficult; not sure if it will be possible
        • British Library furthest ahead; currently 200+; their PS's tend to be less detailed than LC. Mapping to BETA proving difficult with many one-to-many mappings.
        • New RDA data and MARC: discussion papers to come at Midwinter, running through Jan. 2021.
      • RDA revision procedures: Kathy Glennan advocating for quarterly updates. RDA is now atomized, so new proposals will have cascading effects.
      • Non-human personages (Kate James):
        • Fictitious characters, spirits, living animals, etc: new RDA doesn't count these as agents, but subjects aren't in scope for RDA, so these can still be treated as subjects. Only ruled out as RDA contributors and creators.
        • Could be accommodated as a generic "related entity" but still not defined as an RDA entity.
        • LC proposes to keep putting these in NAF but not to code them as RDA.
        • Guidelines would have to be a new manual outside RDA and outside PS's.
  • Nicole
    • LD4P: Sinopia BF editor is WYSIWYG - don't need to know coding to use.
    • Wikidata buzz: LC/OCLC are populating IDs for linkages
    • MarcEdit: to include an XML editor and lightweight OpenRefine
    • Janis Young: LCDGT development on hold due to issues implementing certain hierarchies
    • New ClassWeb on the way

07-02-19

ALA reports (Part 1)

  • Joshua
    • Jackie Shieh (Smithsonian) exhorted catalogers (yet again) not to fret over unfamiliarity with underlying coding of SPARQL and other LD technologies, assuring us that interfaces will be provided. Analogy: we all use Connexion Client and (almost) none of us know or care that ‘Desc’ is character 18 in the Leader of the fixed fields.
    • University of Wyoming demoed their process of inserting JPEGs into Sierra records to display thumbnails and full images of equipment available for checkout. (Discussion at our meeting speculated that thy are using Millenium Media Manager, a product we have available).
    • TJ Kao (George Washington U) discussed workarounds for network zone vs. institutional zone in Alma/Primo. They use MARC Format for Holdings Data to insert fields like 541, 561, 563, etc. but have to map them to local 9XX fields to prevent them from displaying in NZ.
    • At a cataloging ethics discussion, a representative from Baker & Taylor mentioned a growing awareness at the company of market pressure to inject “advertising” into vendor-created catalog data as a means of tooling catalog data for discovery tools. That is, kind of like SEO for library discovery tools.
    • That same discussion group mentioned the need for clear statements of purpose for the National Authority File – is it for bibliographical disambiguation? Or for biographically-infused identity management? The temptation is there to record much more personally identifying information than is necessary (or in some cases more than is safe).
  • Emily
    • As part of CaMMS Executive Committee, Emily heard updates on the formation of an ALCTS ethics committee that will be assessing and drafting statements on cataloging ethics issues. The committee is being chaired by Beth Shoemaker and Karen Snow. RSVPs are out now to join working groups within the committee. Their work is being kept up here: http://sites.google.com/view/cataloging-ethics
    • The ALCTS CaMMS Subject Analysis Committee (SAC) wanted to pursue the issue of aliens / illegal aliens with the Library of Congress. A meeting was held between ALCTS and LC representatives. LC feels directed to "adhere to US Code" in the use of the term "illegal." A productive meeting, though, and SAC hopes to find a way to move forward.
  • Lucas
    • OCLC Linked Data Roundtable: LC is integrating LCCN into Wikidata entries, updating every two weeks. LC Photographic Section have a way to use Wikidata data points to support contextual browsing.
    • Cataloging & Classification Interest Group: German National Library is using machine learning to do Dewey Decimal Classification as a response to being unable to keep up with influx of cataloging. Storing machine-generated data in MARC field 883.
    • Technical Services Workflow Efficiencies Interest Group: Lehigh University is uing a Google App script to search OCLC automatically. "Match-MARC" is an add-on. It searches Google Sheets columns of ISBN or LCCN against WorldCat and downloads matching data. The spreadsheet can then be passed to MarcEdit to create MARC records or used to output OCLC numbers to use Connexion Client to do a batch search.
  • Lisa
    • Reports on the LD4P project discussed developments with the BIBFRAME editor Sinopia. There was discussion of the development of an authority data normalization layer to search varying authority data sources (i.e. not just NAF) at the same time.
    • The movie Change the Subject was shown at ALA. It deals with the genesis of the aliens / illegal aliens subject change, which started among students at Dartmouth.
    • LC's BIBFRAME catalog is now available (experimentally) at id.loc.gov.

Cataloging Show-and-Tell

05-21-19

PCC OpCO meeting report

  • See Joshua's slides here for more detail
  • RDA Beta Toolkit
  • Aggregates
    • manifestations that embody multiple expressions of works
  • Diachronic works
    • [indefinite?] work intended to be embodied over time
  • OCLC updates
    • Record Manager (intended Connexion replacement) now has NACO functionality 
    • OCLC still planning to discontinue some encoding levels (M, J, K, and I) but no timeframe yet
  • NACO updates
    • inclusion of URIs in 024 fields not currently valid; but a working group is interested in suggestions from catalogers around what types of URIs should be included; specific examples can be sent to them
    • acknowledgement of ethical implications of personally identifying information in NARs
      • an emerging willingness to back away from including non-necessary information, especially demographic information
  • LCSH multiples
    • subject strings with placeholders for multiple possible subdivisions are being converted and broken out into all specific valid options
      • Example: Bashfulness–Religious aspects–Buddhism, [Christianity,etc.]
    • once converted to individual heading strings by LC, use the new heading strong; if the heading string you need isn't established, we must propose it
  • ClassWeb
    • new interface coming; hopefully less clicking between menus!
  • WikiData workshop

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04-26-19

  • Going back to 1st and 3rd Tuesdays at 3pm
  • Change in local treatment of Aliens and Illegal aliens
    • These won’t be used in original cataloging
    • Report contains recommendation for catalogers: continue use of normal practice, and Backstage processing will make programmatic changes
    • This means we aren’t changing practice in WorldCat
    • Terms will be recognized by second ind 4
    • Two local authority records to support local terms
    • We expect at some point LC will implement this change as well, and we will already be in line with the new practice
    • Refer to report sent out earlier
    • Change to these terms has happened
    • EC has approved some further related changes; plans are still in process for this
    • The only other lib we know of who has made a similar effort is Bard (Amber Billey)
    • Changing the Subject doc being shown at ALA
  • ISBD punctuation
    • No punctuation changes may be made to already authenticated PCC records
    • But non-PCC cataloging should follow conventional practice for now
    • PCC recently rolled out plan for discontinuing ISBD punctuation
    • Terminal punctuation may now be omitted from descriptive fields in new PCC compliant records
    • Let Joshua know if you encounter records missing more than terminal ISBD punctuation — our system can not accommodate these records
    • Local policy for those doing PCC work — ok to leave off terminal periods
  • 900ish ETDs remaining
    • Great progress! Down from 1563

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2-8-19

CATALOGING SHOW AND TELL / ALA UPDATES

  • Tad
    • Recently received, will be cataloging, a Byrnes Euclid: 1840s London book on geometry featuring early color diagrams.
    • A workflow is in progress for getting almanacs cataloged.
  • Tim:
    • ALA updates:
      • Implementation of ISBD omission options being slowed pending creation of OCLC macros to allow for ISBD re-creation.
      • RDA Beta Toolkit to stabilize in the spring.
  • Nicole:
    • ALA updates:
      • LD4P2 update at PCC meeting featured Sinopia, the BIBFRAME-based linked data editing tool.
      • FAST vocabularies moving from "experimental" to production after a looooong time.
  • Kate:
    • Kate shared Karen Hamner's Eighteenth century trade binding, a book with parts cut away to demonstrate such things as marbled endpapers, raised bands, stamped borders, etc.
  • Janice:
    • Shared some examples from the Arsenal Collection.

RBMS VOCABULARIES UPDATE

  • RBMS vocabularies (except for 'Genre') are supposed to be followed by a qualifier bearing the thesaurus name.
  • We were irregularly applying these qualifiers.
  • All RBMS vocabulary authority records have been updated to include the appropriate qualifiers.
  • RBMS headings in bib records should be updated as catalogers come across them.

  • Catalogers are encouraged to use geographic ($z) and chronological ($y) subdivisions with RBMS vocabularies. Chronological subdivisions may be by the century or an individual year. Use of $z or $y will likely precipitate the need for a terminating period before $2.

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1-11-19

CATALOGING SHOW AND TELL / ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Loretta
    • Africana newspapers
  • Emily
    • made progress clearing out inherited serials backlog
    • some order record slips from the 70s and 80s!
  • Nicole
    • SPC and Maps Library manuscript collections with several challenging cataloging decisions
      • handmade postcards with various maps from all over the world
      • digital video files 
  • Mike
    • Zine comic books
    • learning the difference between Randy's local terms for New Wave comics (usually handmade, underground in nature, etc.) and Alternative comics (not mainstream but clearly published material, ready for sale, etc.)
  • Jessica
    • continuing cataloging education with Africana book series in Chinese
    • first attempts at name authority work
  • Cathy
    • collectible card albums from mid-20th century with popularized depictions of colonial Africa
    • interesting from a historical perspective, presents some challenges in terms of subject analysis
  • Autumn
    • cataloged a coursepack and found little guidance in RDA or among best practices communities, and no helpful examples in OCLC
    • hard to determine nature of material and responsibility roles – a mix of reproduced published content and professor's supplied bibliographical content
    • cataloged as unpublished (t workform) and professor as contributor (700) with $e organizer relationship designator
  • Lisa 
    • currently working on batch and manual updates to change Aliens and Illegal aliens subject headings and various related subdivisions in the catalog
    • being replaced with terms Unauthorized immigration and Non-citizens
    • these new terms have local authority records, which contain all the cross-references for Illegal aliens
      • plus they have "Illegal aliens" as a cross-reference
    • headings like Children of illegal aliens are not currently being changed; further discussion is planned for handling such headings

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  • Mini grant project for African language cataloging
    • will involve collaborative work between catalogers and language experts from the community
    • Joshua will be asking for volunteers from among original catalogers shortly
      • flex time will be offered for hours spent on this work
    • the hope is not only to catalog resources we aren't able to process in-house, but also expose these resources to the communities who might be most interested in them, as well as involve stakeholders in the work of describing resources from their own cultures
  • More info about Aliens/Illegal aliens changes
    • TSTM and EC agreed to use LC's proposed alternatives to these headings, which were fully vetted and authorized for use before legislative issues arose
    • A group has been appointed to investigate the possibility of local alternatives to other related subject headings like Children of illegal aliens
    • These changes have implications for terms that we assign in our original cataloging work; more discussion and guidance coming

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12-18-18

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QUESTION

  • Do WEMI-to-WEMI relationship designators require qualifiers in all cases?
    • No, we're to use the relationship designator as it appears in RDA Appendix J. For example:
      • 775 08 $i Translation of: $a ...
      • 700 1_ $i Abridged as (work): $a ...

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Head of Content Support Services

UC Davis Library

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12-04-18

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CATALOGING SHOW & TELL / ANNOUNCEMENTS

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  1. Qualifying personal names in NARs (Lucas)
  2. Change in series tracing policy (Autumn)
    • historical practice of tracing/tracking numbered series titles has changed
    • going forward, untraced titles in a 490 0_ are acceptable for all series, numbered or unnumbered
    • see new procedures on the Series authorities and series tracing page

Back to top

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05-15-18

Agenda

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