WG ON THE FUTURE OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL TO PRESENT DRAFT REPORT ON NOV. 13

WORKING GROUP ON THE FUTURE OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL TO PRESENT DRAFT REPORT ON NOV. 13

In November 2006, Deanna Marcum, associate librarian for Library Services at the Library of Congress, convened a Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control to examine the future of bibliographic description in the 21st century in light of advances in search engine technology, the popularity of the Internet and the influx of electronic information resources.

After a year of careful and comprehensive study, the group will present its draft report to Library of Congress managers and staff in the Coolidge Auditorium at 1:30 pm EST on Nov. 13. A live webcast will allow librarians around the country to view the presentation, and a comment period on the draft report will open immediately following the presentation and last until Dec. 15, 2007.

During the past 12 months at three regional group meetings in Mountain View, Calif.; Chicago; and Washington, D.C., invited panelists delivered presentations on various aspects of bibliographic control, and audience members responded with both oral and written comments. The Working Group members have collaborated throughout the year to shape the public meetings and to discuss their ultimate recommendations to the Library of Congress.

“I have been very pleased with the progress of the group and the diligence with which they have gone about writing the report," Marcum said. "The three regional meetings gave them much material to consider, and they have already received a number of comments from members of the library community. I thank them all for their dedication, and I eagerly anticipate their findings and recommendations.”

Information on the Working Group and its findings is available at www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/. The webcast will be available from that address on November 13.

Members of the Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control, and Organizations Represented

• Chair: José-Marie Griffiths of the School of Information and Library Science (SILS) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• American Association of Law Libraries: Richard Amelung
• American Library Association: Janet Swan Hill, Diane Dates Casey, Sally G. Smit
• Association of Research Libraries: Brian E.C. Schottlaender, Olivia M.A. Madison (Working Group co-chair), Judith Nadler
• Coalition for Networked Information: Clifford A. Lynch
• Google: Daniel Clancy
• Medical Library Association: Diane Boehr
• Microsoft Corporation: Jay Girotto
• National Federation of Abstracting & Indexing Services: Christopher Cole
• OCLC: Lorcan Dempsey
• Program for Cooperative Cataloging: Robert Wolven
• Special Libraries Association: John Latham

The Library of Congress is the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled integrated resources to Congress and the American people. Founded in 1800, the Library seeks to spark the public’s imagination and celebrate human achievement through its programs and exhibits. In doing so, the Library helps foster the informed and involved citizenry upon which American democracy depends. Today, the Library serves the public, scholars, Members of Congress and their staff—all of whom seek information, understanding and inspiration. Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may also be accessed through the Library’s award-winning Web site at www.loc.gov.

Press contact: John Sayers (202) 707-9216; jsay@loc.gov
Public contact: Beth Davis-Brown (202) 707-3301, bbro@loc.gov

New OCLC Report

"The latest OCLC report to the membership, Sharing, Privacy and Trust in Our Networked World, is now available." (Lorcan Dempsey's weblog)

http://www.oclc.org/reports/sharing/

Google Using LC Subject Headings

"One can't help see the irony here ... it appears that Google is using LC subject headings to enhance the search capabilities of Google Book Search." (Cataloging Futures blog)

http://www.catalogingfutures.com/catalogingfutures/2007/10/google-using-lc.html

Virtual Museum of Cataloging and Acquisitions Artifacts

Heidi Lee Hoerman announced the virtual Museum of Cataloging and Acquisitions Artifacts on the AUTOCAT e-list.

http://www.heidihoerman.com/museumca/index.html

Virtual International Authority File

"Name authority files are often national in scope and will be created under different policy regimes. This is the rationale for VIAF (the Virtual International Authority File)." (Lorcan Dempsey's weblog)

http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/001460.html

Subject Authority Validation Records

"The [Library of Congress] Cataloging Policy and Support Office (CPSO) has begun creating and distributing subject authority records called 'validation records' that represent valid 6XX headings plus subdivision strings (topical, chronological, geographic, and form), including strings with free-floating subdivisions for which subject authority records were previously not made." (Catalogablog)

http://catalogablog.blogspot.com/2007_10_07_archive.html#1992779656103239277#1992779656103239277

Provider Neutral Records for Electronic Integrating Resources

The final recommendations from the Task Force on Provider Neutral Records for Electronic Integrating Resources is available from:

http://www.loc.gov/acq/conser/ProvNeutforE-IRs-Sept-21-2007.pdf

Please send any comments to Les Hawkins (lhaw@loc.gov) or Peter Fletcher (pfletcher@library.ucla.edu) by October 31, 2007.

Posted to AUTOCAT, October 10, 2007.

New Edition: Differences Between, Changes Within

A revised edition (2007) of Differences Between, Changes Within: Guidelines on When to Create a New Record has just been published by ALA/ALCTS. It is available as a free, 38-page PDF at the URL below. It is no longer available in print. (OCLC-CAT e-list)

http://www.ala.org/ala/alctscontent/alctspubsbucket/webpublications/cataloging/newrecord/differences.htm

IFLA Metadata Survey

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions is "collecting your suggestions to be used in preparing a chapter on metadata decisions for the Digital Library Guidelines." (Catalogablog)

http://catalogablog.blogspot.com/2007_09_30_archive.html#114601048172551605#114601048172551605

Really Modern Library Project

"There's an interesting project afoot in a collaboration between the Institute for the Future of the Book and the Digital Library Federation on the purpose and nature of mass digitization efforts." (ACRLog)

http://acrlblog.org/2007/10/09/iflibrary/

ASIS&T BULLETIN ON FRBR

The entire August/September 2007 issue of the ASIS&T Bulletin is devoted to the FRBR model: its current status and new developments, its impact on the cataloging world, and the critical issues and challenges that FRBR faces.

The issue is available at http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Aug-07/index.html

Current Issue of CONSERline

The current issue of CONSERline, no. 29, fall 2007 is available at:

http://www.loc.gov/acq/conser/conserline/conserline-29.html

The table of contents:

From the Editor
CONSER Standard Record News
DLF Registry of Digital Masters
Integrating Resources Cataloging
SCCTP
PCC Ad Hoc Series Review Task Force
CONSER Documentation
Membership News
CONSER People

Strategy for Academic Libraries

Lewis, David W. "A Strategy for Academic Libraries in the First Quarter of the 21st Century" College & Research Libraries 68(5)(September 2007): 418-434. - At a library assessment conference a year ago, John Lombardi, then Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, explained that although he had depended on libraries and librarians in his professional career, he no longer knew what an academic library should be. Lewis took this message as a challenge to articulate a "strategy for academic libraries in the digital age or at least in its early stages." His strategy has five parts: 1) complete the migration from print to electronic collections; 2) retire legacy print collections; 3) redeploy library space as informal learning spaces; 4) move library tools and resources to where the users are (e.g. course management systems); and 5) shift the focus from purchasing collections to curating locally owned and produced unique and special collections. Whether you agree with his strategy or not, Lewis' article makes for an excellent catalyst to start these discussions with your staff.

--Reprinted by permission from Current Cites 18(9) (September 2007)

Collection Building for Today and Tomorrow

Genco, Barbara. "20 Maxims for Collection Building" Library Journal (15 September 2007)(http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6476396.html). - Barbara Genco summarizes her curriculum for a library school course on collection development principles, theory, and practice in twenty talking points for LJ. Genco embraces emerging and standard technologies as a way to assist librarians in a changing environment. Highlighted issues on her list include security and self-check; user-generated tagging in addition to MARC; content vs. containers; off-site storage and digitization; downloadable digital materials; and the possibility of "one big library." Genco has her eye on the big picture of libraries and collections, and invites us to join her in evaluating what we're doing in our libraries to prepare for the future that's here today.

--Reprinted by permission from Current Cites 18(9) (September 2007)

Managing Communications at Work

Feather, Celeste. "Electronic Resources Communications Management: A Strategy for Success" Library Resources & Technical Services 51(3)(July 2007): 204-211, 228. - In her article "Electronic Resources Communications Management," Celeste Feather discusses how e-resources staff can better handle their lines of communication. She writes, "As libraries face the question of how to provide more services with fewer resources, administrators often expect e-resources acquisitions units to mange more resources with fewer staff than their peer print acquisitions units." We can easily apply this situation to other departments in our libraries -- it seems that we're all trying to do more with less. If you find yourself in a communications black hole, Feather's article addresses the literature of the organization of communications, provides analysis of the types of communication the department is receiving, and makes recommendations on how communication can be improved. She admits that her findings are specific to her library's needs, but many of her suggestions can be applied at any library. It's no surprise that a movement to increase face-to-face communication helped to relieve what Feather calls "information fatigue."

--Reprinted by permission from Current Cites 18(8) (August 2007)

ILS Migration in the 21st Century

Cervone, Frank. "ILS Migration in the 21st Century: Some New Things to Think About This Time Around" Computers in Libraries 27(7)(July/August 2007): 6-8; 60-62. - Cervone pens a timely and useful article on making the tough transition from one integrated library system to another. Given the current upheaval (some forced, some voluntary) in the ILS market, his advice is timely indeed, and those who are not immediately facing such a migration would nonetheless be wise to pin it to their bulletin board for future use. To rephrase an old quote, there are only two kinds of librarians -- those who have weathered a system migration and those who will. In addition to listing the basic steps of a migration, Cervone includes a summary list of typical tasks and some links to open source web application testing tools. Highly recommended for anyone with an ILS and a future.

--Reprinted by permission from Current Cites 18(8) (August 2007)