Updated FAQ for BIBCO standard record for printed books made available

The November 24 announcement about Implementation of the BIBCO Standard Record (BSR) for printed books brought many questions not covered in the original FAQ. An updated FAQ was issued on December 18 to address these questions. The answers reflect the collaborative efforts of the BSR Task Group, PCC leadership, chairs of the Standing Committees, OCLC, and the BIBCO Coordinator. The updated FAQ is available at: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/bibco/BSR_FAQ.pdf. Thanks to George Prager for this information.

WorldCat Basic API Now Available

A new API called WorldCat Basic is being offered as a very simple interface into WorldCat. Envisioned as a mashable access point for lightweight apps, WorldCat Basic API is available to anyone and everyone for noncommercial use.

from OCLC Abstracts
December 21, 2009

Library Automation

Pace, Andrew. “21st Century Library Systems.” Journal of Library Administration 49(6) (August 2009), at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a915763651
Provides a brief, non-technical review of the history of the library automation system, current environment, and some thoughts on future developments.

An Alternative to RDA

For those dreading RDA, there is a cooperative project online that offers an RDA alternative. 

The Cooperative Cataloging Rules project is a cooperative site originally created as an alternative to accepting RDA by James Weinheimer, Director of Library and Information Services at The American University of Rome, Italy. His basic idea is to have a site where the current cataloging rules can continue to be updated. See http://sites.google.com/site/opencatalogingrules/cataloging-ru for a list of all the rules.

The Cooperative Cataloging Rules project includes a Google Group, a Wiki and a Blog. 

Check out the Cooperative Cataloging Rules Group at:
http://groups.google.com/group/open-cataloging-rules?pli=1

Check out the Cooperative Cataloging Rules wiki at: 
http://sites.google.com/site/opencatalogingrules/
Here you can find out how to get involved!

For more information, check out the blog at: http://coopcatwiki.blogspot.com/
Here you can see the Official Announcement and check out the discussions. 

(site mentioned on Autocat)

NISO December 2009 Newsletter

The NISO December newsletter is now posted at: http://www.niso.org/publications/newsline/2009/newslinedec09.html

Here are a few highlights:

• As part of NISO's 70th Anniversary, NISO has been publishing a series in Information Standards Quarterly (ISQ) of NISO milestones since the organization's inception as the Z39 committee in 1939. NISO has posted the timelines openly on the NISO website. It's a fascinating trip through the past of library and information standards development. In addition, the Fall issue of ISQ, due out this month, completes the anniversary series with a feature article on future trends and issues impacting NISO. 
• With an eye toward the future, NISO has begun work on a review of electronic resource management (ERM) issues as a follow-up to the original DLF ERMI work. The original initiative led to standards work on usage statistics (SUSHI), cost data interoperability (CORE) and license expression (ONIX-PL) as well as many projects outside of NISO. In the coming months, we expect the ERM gap analysis to be completed and identify priorities for further work in this area into the new decade.  
• Finally, NISO has announced its 2010 educational program schedule. 

(NISO website)

GPO/MARCIVE Cataloging Distribution Pilot Project

The United States Government Printing Office has contracted with MARCIVE, Inc. for a Cataloging Record Distribution Pilot Project in which a selection of Federal depository libraries will be chosen to participate. For this pilot, GPO bibliographic records will be distributed from GPO's Integrated Library System (ILS) to participating libraries.   This pilot will serve as a test of the record distribution process. This test will help determine if the catalog records meet the needs of FDLP libraries and are compatible with libraries' workflows.

GPO will evaluate the success of the delivery mechanism pilot and report back to the FDLP community on outcomes and next steps. GPO will take lessons learned from this pilot to look at a long-term solution for bibliographic record distribution. 

To learn more about the Cataloging Record Distribution Pilot Project, read the frequently asked questions here: <http://www.fdlp.gov/home/tutorials/cataloging-record-distribution-pilot>.

View detailed information on how to complete the Pilot Profile here: <http://www.fdlp.gov/home/repository/doc_download/1110-pilot-profile-form-guide-for-the-cataloging-and-distribution-pilot>.

Complete the Pilot Profile Application form <http://www.fdlp.gov/component/form/?form_id=39> to become a participating library in the Cataloging Record Distribution Pilot Project. All applications for participation must be submitted no later than January 11, 2010. Selected libraries will be notified in February, 2010.

At 1:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, December 8, 2009, Laurie Hall, GPO's Director of Library Technical Information Services, and Joan Chapa from MARCIVE, Inc. will discuss the new pilot project and answer your questions with their "Chat with GPO" OPAL session on the Cataloging Record Distribution Pilot Project.  The session will be held in the GPO OPAL room, which you can get to from the FDLP Desktop. Just click on Outreach, then on Online Learning, and then on "Click here to enter the GPO OPAL room." 

It is recommended that participants of this chat view the Cataloging Record Distribution Pilot Project Web page on the FDLP Desktop prior to this session, which can be found at <http://www.fdlp.gov/component/content/article/16-cataloging/579-crd-pilot>.

The program will be archived on the GPO OPAL site, so you will have convenient access at all times. In order to participate in the live session, please follow the instructions below. No prior RSVP is required for participation.   

CONNECTING TO THE OPAL SITE:  

* To bring up the GPO OPAL room, go to: <http://www.conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs38bb0e4b3a5a> 

* If this is your first use of OPAL, install the plugin by following the directions in the box labeled "First time participants." Once you have installed the plugin, you can then go back to the above URL (the same window you had open) and click in the box to enter the room.   

* You may use any name that you choose to log in to the conference room.

* No password is required for this session.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO PARTICIPATE?
To participate in the event, you will need to be connected to the Internet, access an Internet browser, and have speakers turned on to listen to the audio presentations. A microphone connected to (or embedded in) your PC allows you to speak to the other participants. If you don't have a microphone, you will be able to text comments and questions.
_________________________________  

If you have questions or comments, please use the askGPO help service at: <http://www.gpoaccess.gov/help>.  When submitting a question, please choose the category "Federal Depository Libraries" and the appropriate subcategory, if any, in order to ensure that your question is routed to the correct area. 

(AUTOCAT)

OCLC publishes 42nd annual report to the membership

OCLC's 42nd annual report to the membership has just been issued and is available at: http://www.oclc.org/news/publications/annualreports/2009/2009.pdf?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=OCLC+Abstracts&utm_campaign=OCLC+Abstracts.

"In the report, Jay Jordan, OCLC President and Chief Executive Officer, wrote that fiscal 2009 was a challenging year as libraries and the OCLC cooperative felt the impact of the worldwide economic recession. At the same time, the cooperative continued to execute its long-term strategy of building Web-scale services, setting the stage for an exciting transformation in the way libraries serve their institutions and users."

From: OCLC Abstracts, Vol. 12, no. 47 (Dec. 7, 2009).

Beacher Wiggins announces delayed implementation of the BIBCO Standard Record guidelines at LC

Beacher Wiggins made the following announcement on the BIBCO and PCC mailing lists today:
LC will not be ready to implement the BIBCO Standard Record guidelines
on January 4, 2010, when PCC participants will begin following those
guidelines.

A delayed implementation at LC is necessary so there will be time
(1) to consider the following:
a. the inclusion of additional elements in records created by
LC's cataloging staff (as proposed by Policy & Standards Division in
April);
b. the use of code "pcc" in the 042 field for "in process"
items;
c. the impact on vendor-provided records;
d. whether Validator (an internal check application) checks are
necessary;
e. whether OCLC's algorithms to preserve series access points
when merged with LC's need to be adjusted;
f. impact on non-Acquisitions & Bibliographic Access cataloging
operations at LC;

(2) to make the appropriate changes to the following:
a. Voyager templates;
b. preprocessing software for vendor-provided records, if
necessary;
c. ECIP software;
d. EPCN software;
e. any additional software maintained by ABA's
automation specialist;
f. documentation to reflect the change in practice (LCRI's have
been/are in the process of being adjusted to reflect the new PCC series
policy). There are also numerous DCMs that would need to be adjusted
(B13, B16, C1, D8, E1, E2, M7-- not an exhaustive list), and perhaps
workflow documentation as well.

CDS will issue a subscriber notice to announce that LC will begin coding
records PCC again. (These are usually 60 or 90 days ahead.)

Just announced on the RDA list!

RDA: Resource Description and Access will be published in June 2010. While we regret this delay in release of RDA, the transition from publication of AACR2 as a printed manual to release of RDA as a web based toolkit is a complex process with many interdependencies.
The updated text of RDA incorporates recommendations from constituencies and other stakeholders approved at the JSC meeting earlier this year. The revised text has been successfully loaded into the RDA database. The product is currently undergoing thorough quality review and testing in preparation for release.

We recognize that customers and prospective users of RDA need reliable and timely information for planning and budgeting. We are confident that this revised deadline is a realistic target for publication of RDA.



Pricing and purchasing information will be introduced at the time of the ALA Midwinter Meeting, 15-18 January 2010.



Mary Ghikas, Chair Committee of Principals
Alan Danskin, Chair Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA
Don Chatham, Chair Co-publishers

ALCTS draft report on romanization -- comments due

The ALCTS non-english access working group draft report on romanization

is up on the web and available for comment. The working group was charged with examining the current use of romanized data in bibliographic and authority records, and make recommendations for best practices.

The conclusion seems to be that we are not quite ready to move away from providing romanized data in access points, but that we should rely on automatic translation whenever possible.

Comments are due by Tuesday, Dec. 8.

From Catalogablog

ISBD Area O published

Area O of the ISBD has now been published on the web. Area 0: Content Form and Media Type Area is an amendment to the International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD). Area O will take the place of the general material designation (GMD) in area 1. It is being issued with a set of examples and will be incorporated into the consolidated ISBD for its next revision in 2010.

From Catalogablog

Google Scholar Chief Engineer on Law Librarian podcast

Google Scholar's chief engineer, Anurag Acharya, will be the featured guest for the Dec. 4th installment of Richard Leiter's The Law Librarian podcast.

From Just in Case

Free provider neutral webinars

OCLC will be holding two Webinars on the topic of Provider Neutral E-Books to be presented by Robert Bremer, OCLC Senior Consulting Database Specialist. Robert served on the PCC task group that formulated the provider neutral policy. He will describe how a provider neutral record differs from previous cataloging practices for eBooks, and will also discuss OCLC’s plans for conversion and consolidation of existing eBook records in WorldCat.

You can access the Provider-Neutral E-Monograph MARC Record Guide at:
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/bibco/PN-Guide.pdf
The two free webinars will be held on Thursday, December 10 at 1:30 PM EST and on Tuesday, December 15 at 11:00 AM EST. Each will last no more than 1 hour.

Registration is available at the following links:

Dec. 10:
https://www3.oclc.org/app/request/bin/request.asp?specialCode=Neutral10Dec09

Dec. 15:
https://www3.oclc.org/app/request/bin/request.asp?specialCode=Neutral15Dec09

The sessions will also be recorded and available on the web after December 15.

Info from Cynthia Whitacre on the OCLC Cataloging e-list

BIBCO Standard Record (BSR) guidelines for printed books

The PCC Policy Committee (PoCo) has set January 4, 2010 as the implementation date for the BIBCO Standard Record (BSR) guidelines for printed books as outlined in the Final Report of the Task Group on BIBCO Standard Record Requirements.   

●       The PCC has posted the BSR guidelines, Metadata Application Profile (MAP), and a BSR FAQ to support implementation.  

●       Libraries contributing BSR records for printed books (excluding rare books) using the BIBCO Standard Record requirements will use the single encoding level “blank.”  This replaces the use of BIBCO Full and Core standards for printed books. 

●       Libraries contributing BIBCO records for rare books, electronic books, and materials in non-book formats will continue to code full records “blank” and core records “4”, until BSR guidelines can be developed. 

●       Encoding level “4” will remain as a valid encoding level in OCLC for earlier BIBCO core records and for records not contributed as PCC printed book records in the future.  It is understood that batch loading processes by libraries that catalog in local systems may result in some BIBCO core level records entering OCLC even after January 4, 2010. 

●       The Standing Committee on Standards is charged with developing BSR guidelines for rare books, for electronic books, and for monographs in non-book formats, in consultation with appropriate stakeholders. 

●       The Standing Committee on Training is charged with developing training materials aimed primarily at libraries joining the BIBCO program.

The full BSR announcement: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/bibco/BSRAnnouncement.pdf

Searching for legal opinions and journals on Google Scholar

Google itself has an interesting discussion of its new Google Scholar legal opinions and journals search engine, now in Beta, on its blog:

As many of us recall from our civics lessons in school, the United States is a common law country. That means when judges issue opinions in legal cases, they often establish precedents that will guide the rulings of other judges in similar cases and jurisdictions. Over time, these legal opinions build, refine and clarify the laws that govern our land. For average citizens, however, it can be difficult to find or even read these landmark opinions. We think that's a problem: Laws that you don't know about, you can't follow — or make effective arguments to change. Starting today, we're enabling people everywhere to find and read full text legal opinions from U.S. federal and state district, appellate and supreme courts using Google Scholar. You can find these opinions by searching for cases (like Planned Parenthood v. Casey), or by topics (like desegregation) or other queries that you are interested in. . . . We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of several pioneers, who have worked on making it possible for an average citizen to educate herself about the laws of the land: Tom Bruce (Cornell LII), Jerry Dupont (LLMC), Graham Greenleaf and Andrew Mowbray (AustLII), Carl Malamud (Public.Resource.Org), Daniel Poulin (LexUM), Tim Stanley (Justia), Joe Ury (BAILII), Tim Wu (AltLaw) and many others. It is an honor to follow in their footsteps. We would also like to acknowledge the judges who have built this cathedral of justice brick by brick and have tried to make it accessible to the rest of us. We hope Google Scholar will help all of us stand on the shoulders of these giants.

CS-SIS has a good overview of the new Google Scholar service, citing other sources, like the Just in Case, the Case Western Reserve Law School Library Blog, which have done some actual testing. According to Andrew Plumb-Larrick, in Just in Case, it sounds like sometimes Google Scholar works well, and sometimes it doesn't. It cites to full text opinions, but journal articles tend to be hosted by third parties and not available in full text. Its search mechanism, based on citation analysis, works differently from the usual keyword approach, which makes it interesting. There will be more to come on this one.

Classification at a Crossroads

I don't think many of us use the Universal Decimal Classification, but the materials for the 2009 International UDC Seminar are now available on the web, and they seem quite interesting even apart from the UDC. Topics include: Classifying Web resources; Classification and thesauri; Classification frameworks, concepts, structure and relationships; and Classification and the Semantic Web, as well as other topics. Worth a look.

Found via Catalogablog

That 2.0 thing

Who among us is not tired of hearing about Library 2.0? But here (via here) are the notes to a talk Jessamyn West gave recently, encouraging librarians "to think about the content that they may be generating elsewhere [via blog, twitter, facebook, whatever] and how to bring that back to their library’s website." If you put it that way, it doesn't sound quite so insipid after all.

MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Updated - new fields to accommodate RDA

The MARC 21 Bibliographic Format has been updated through Update No. 10 (October 2009). The update includes several changes to accommodate RDA. For instance, 336 (Content Type), 337 (Media Type) and 338 (Carrier Type). 

Changes to the MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data that resulted from Update No. 10 (October 2009) are displayed in red print.

(http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/ecbdhome.html)

PCC Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access Directorate Policy and Standards Division decisions

ACQUISITIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHIC ACCESS DIRECTORATE
POLICY AND STANDARDS DIVISION

SUMMARY OF DECISIONS, EDITORIAL MEETING NUMBER 46

November 18, 2009


PSD policy specialist responsible for this weekly list: L. Dechman


CLASSIFICATION

BS2098.5.A-Z
 Private versions of the New Testament would be better classified in BS2095, which does not restrict the kinds of versions and revisions that are classed there.  A number for the Paul version will be established at BS2095.P38-.P382.  The proposal to establish a private versions number in BS2098.5 was not approved.


SUBJECT HEADINGS

Subdivisions to be added to lists of free-floating subdivisions:

 H 1154, Languages
  $x Age differences (May Subd Geog)

 H 1200, Wars
  $x Mountain warfare

Other decisions:

Conspiracy theory
 The heading Conspiracy theories was approved on WL 09-37.  The proposal was not necessary.

John C. Green School of Science (Princeton, N.J. : Building)
 This heading falls into the category of buildings that have the same name as the corporate body residing in them, and according to SHM H 1334, the corporate heading should be assigned.  The proposal was not approved.

Palmer Hall (Princeton, N.J.)
 The authority record indicates that Palmer Hall was completely gutted and renamed Frist Campus Center.  Frist Campus Center (Princeton, N.J.) is a heading that appears on this list (WL 09-46) and is approved.  Palmer Hall (Princeton, N.J.) will be added as a UF on the Frist Campus Center record.  The proposal for a separate heading for Palmer Hall (Princeton, N.J.) was not approved.


From the PCC list

New Searching Tool for Google Books

A recent message from Bryan Carson of Western Kentucky University Libraries to LAW-LIB reported that the Chronicle of Higher Education reported recently that the group of college libraries working with Google on their book scanning project, the HathiTrust Digital Library, has released its own search tool for Google Books. According to the article (which can be found at http://tinyurl.com/yc3nlhv), this will return all pages with the search term. This is an improvement over the regular Google book search, which only returns a partial result list.

This search tool is especially important now that Google Books has actually digitized a fair number of opinions, statutes, treatises, and legislative hearing records. Carson reports that a student searching his library for the 1919 Civil Code of California found it in full text on Google Books.

The Hathitrust Digital Library Search can be found at http://catalog.hathitrust.org/

R. David Lankes gives thought-provoking keynote address at the Charleston Conference

R. David Lankes, associate professor and director of the Information Institute of Syracuse, gave a keynote address at the 29th Annual Charleston Conference on November 5, 2009. According to the abstract of the presentation, entitled "New Librarianship," "The best days of librarianship are ahead of us. However, to get there the field must step back, refocus, and reexamine our core principles. We as a profession have become so focused on the trees of standards and process that we are now at risk from missing the larger forest of opportunities. This talk will present a view of a new librarianship, one focused on knowledge and action instead of artifacts and collection. The presentation will look beyond the trends of today’s technologies to a durable new librarianship that focuses on innovation, leadership, and service."
Slides, audio, and a link to a screencast of the presentation are available at: http://www.resourceshelf.com/2009/11/05/slides-audio-and-screencast-of-dr-r-david-lankes-keynote-at-the-charleston-conference-now-online/.

WorldCat Local single-search access expands with metasearch functionality

WorldCat Local metasearth represents a new approach for consolidated access to library resources. The combination of a rich central index of content in WorldCat, WorldCat.org and FirstSearch databases with a growing number of well-known, remotely indexed databases delivers a single, integrated set of search results to users. Users also get the items they need more quickly through a variety of smart delivery options. Metasearch is available at no additional charge to all libraries that subscribe to the WorldCat Local service.

See article at http://www.oclc.org/worldcatlocal/overview/metasearch/default.htm?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=OCLC+Abstracts&utm_campaign=OCLC+Abstracts

From OCLC Abstracts

Blacklight

Blacklight is a new, open source ruby-on-rails discovery interface, AKA a next-gen catalog that can be used as a front end for heterogeneous collections. What does that really mean? I'm not entirely sure, but here's a list of people who are trying it out, including Stanford. Check it out.

Found via Catalogablog

Web scale for libraries: a sea change for the 21st century

In April, OCLC announced plans to launch new services for web-scale library management: network-level tools for managing library collections through circulation and delivery, print and licensed acquisitions, and license management. These new services will complement existing OCLC web-scale services, such as cataloging, resource sharing and integrated discovery.

New services will be built upon new technologies and platforms that allow libraries to customize workflows based on the changing nature of their collections, their users and their business processes.

Internal LC Group Distills "On the Record" Report into Actions

"On the Record Report: Recommendations the Library of Congress Should Pursue Over the Next Four Years" was released on September 15th, 2009. This is an important report because it distills the recommendations from the 2008 Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control (http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/news/lcwg-ontherecord-jan08-final.pdf) into activities that LC should include in its planning process over the next four years.

NISO to Develop Recommended Practice for Physical Delivery of Library Materials

Document aims to facilitate library resource sharing 

November 11, 2009 - Baltimore, MD - 

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) Voting Members have approved a new work item to develop a Recommended Practice related to the physical delivery of library materials. NISO is pleased to announce that the Working Group roster for this project is now finalized, and work will be commencing with a kick-off call of the group on November 18, 2009. Building on the efforts of three recent projects--Moving Mountains, Rethinking Resource Sharing's Physical Delivery Committee, and the American Library Association's ASCLA ICANS' Physical Delivery Discussion Group-the recommended practice document is proposed to include recommendations for: packaging, shipping codes, labeling, acceptable turn-around time, lost or damaged materials handling, package tracking, ergonomic considerations, statistics, sorting, a set of elements to be used for comparison purposes to determine costs, linking of regional and local library carriers, and international delivery.

"A recent study found that 77% of academic libraries participate in state or provincial resource sharing networks above and beyond the 10,000,000 interlibrary loan (ILL) transactions that OCLC annually processes," Valerie Horton, Executive Director, Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC), who proposed the project and will be serving as co-chair, explained. "The increased volume and costs of library delivery is creating a demand for more information about how to run efficient and effective delivery operations." Diana Sachs-Silveira, Virtual Reference Manager, Tampa Bay Library Consortium, will be co-chairing the group with Ms. Horton.

"We can't ignore the tremendous number of books, journals, DVDs, and other physical library resources that continue to be borrowed by patrons," commented Tony O'Brien, co-chair of NISO's Discovery to Delivery Topic Committee, which reviewed and approved the proposal prior to its submittal to NISO's voting membership. Added co-chair Tim Shearer, "In today's economic environment, libraries have become borrowers too, sharing more of their resources with each other and across greater geographical distances. New services and technologies offer opportunities to improve the traditional ways such sharing and delivery has been done."

"The three groups that have already done work in this area expressed interest in working with NISO to further develop their efforts into a set of recommended practices," states Todd Carpenter, NISO Managing Director. "We are also hoping to involve carrier organizations and consultants for the delivery industry in addition to libraries, consortia, and cooperatives."  

An interest group list for this project is available for those who would like to receive updates on the Working Group's progress and provide feedback to the group on its work. Information on how to subscribe is available at www.niso.org/lists/physdelinfo. Visit the Working Group website at www.niso.org/workrooms/physdel. Additional questions may be directed to Karen A. Wetzel, NISO's Standards Program Manager at kwetzel@niso.org.   

About NISO 

NISO fosters the development and maintenance of standards that facilitate the creation, persistent management, and effective interchange of information so that it can be trusted for use in research and learning. To fulfill this mission, NISO engages libraries, publishers, information aggregators, and other organizations that support learning, research, and scholarship through the creation, organization, management, and curation of knowledge. NISO works with intersecting communities of interest and across the entire lifecycle of an information standard. NISO is a not-for-profit association accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). More information about NISO is available on its website: www.niso.org. For more information please contact NISO on (301) 654-2512 or via email on nisohq@niso.org.   

For More Information, Contact: 

Victoria Kinnear 

Business Development and Operations Manager, NISO 

Phone: 301-654-2512 

Email Victoria Kinnear 

Karen A. Wetzel Standards Program Manager, NISO 

Phone: 301-654-2512 

Email Karen A. Wetzel

(NISO website: http://www.niso.org/news/pr/view?item_key=85529122530e18e6753743fbc834ac40d4226702)

The Open Library Environment Project issues its final report

The Open Library Environment Project (OLE Project) has issued its final report, available at: http://oleproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/OLE_FINAL_Report1.pdf. From the Executive Overview of the report:
"With funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Open Library Environment project (OLE Project) convened a multi-national group of libraries to analyze library business processes and to define a next-generation library technology platform. The resulting OLE platform is predicated on Service Oriented Architecture and a community-source model of development and governance. Over 300 libraries, educational institutions, professional organizations and business participated in some phase of the project. Using input from those participants, the project planners produced an OLE design framework that embeds libraries directly in the key processes of scholarship generation, knowledge management, teaching and learning by utilizing existing enterprise systems where appropriate and by delivering new services built on connections between the library’s business systems and other technology systems."

General information about the project is available at: http://oleproject.org/.

Challenges for Great Libraries in the Age of the Digital Native

Brindley, Lynne. "Challenges for Great Libraries in the Age of the Digital Native." Information Services and Use 29(1) (2009): 3-12.
http://iospress.metapress.com/content/c7t6417n2484vk22/?p=0f0e081b63ff47b7af84f5b26a27fa7d&pi=1

Abstract:
Lynne Brindley has played a key role in digital library developments since the early 1980s, and since 2000 as Chief Executive of the British Library. During that time the role of academic and national libraries has changed significantly, with ever-increasing expectations of researchers requiring libraries to re-focus their priorities.
This speech will discuss what the emergence of Digital Natives means for great libraries, now and in the future. Amongst areas libraries will need to tackle is an increased focus on e-science and e-research, utilizing web 2.0 and 3.0 and digital preservation. The digital age offers huge opportunities, but the decline of information literacy skills risks robbing a generation of the ability to fully utilize these. Lynne assesses the changing role of special collections and the continuing relevance of inspiring physical space. Libraries and information services must step up to the plate to provide services which meet the needs of the new generation of researchers, and which add value beyond the search engine.

OCLC Americas Regional Council to hold its first meeting at ALA Midwinter 2010

Plan now to join OCLC for the first meeting of the OCLC Americas Regional Council, which will be held on Friday, January 15, 2010, 8:30 – 11:30 am (ET), in conjunction with the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

The meeting location, agenda and online registration details will be announced in the next few weeks. (If you will be unable to attend in-person, please watch for details on how you can view portions of the meeting that will be broadcast live on the Web.)

The Americas Regional Council meeting will provide an open forum to discuss issues of importance to its members and to advise OCLC about its products, services, policies and operating direction. The Americas Regional Council Executive Committee, members of OCLC Board of Trustees, Global Council and OCLC Management will be present for interactive discussions. Bring your ideas and be ready to participate.

Comprised of members from libraries and other cultural heritage organizations from Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean and the United States, The Americas Regional Council is part of the OCLC cooperative’s new governance structure that consists of three Regional Councils and a Global Council to facilitate member-to-member discussions across the cooperative.

Remember, every member has a voice! The Americas Regional Council is interested in what you have to say. Plan now to make this meeting a part of your ALA Midwinter experience.

If you have questions about the meeting or the Americas Regional Council, please contact Patrick Wilkinson, the Chair of the Americas Regional Council at wilkinso@UWOSH.EDU. Learn more about OCLC Global Council and the three Regional Councils.

(reposted from OCLC email list)

Technical services consolidation a possibility in Massachusetts college libraries

Leonard Kniffel reports in American Libraries on efforts that are underway to consolidate the technical services operations of five Massachusetts college libraries: Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Since the Sept. 29 release of a Technical Services Consolidation Task Force report, a decision has been made to study the issues further, based on reactions to the report. Jay Schafer, director of libraries at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, maintains that “consolidating these services is a difficult task and impacts many layers in our libraries and our organizations, but we’ve been talking about this for a couple of years. It’s not easy, but it’s something that we have to explore.”

2010 NISO Education Schedule

2010 NISO Education Schedule and Discount Program 

Building on the success of its 2009 educational programs, NISO will be hosting 16 educational events throughout the coming year—13 webinars and three in-person events—focusing on a range of  technology- and standards-related topics affecting the library and publishing communities. Among the important topics that will be addressed are: assessment, interoperability, preservation, identification, RFID, metadata, and accessibility. 

NISO is also pleased to announce a discount program for organizations interested in having staff participate in multiple events. The entire 12-part series of webinars can be purchased for the price of six events. There is also a "buy 4 and get 2 free" discount. This is an excellent opportunity for professional development without the expense of travel. 

NISO's web seminars are held on the second Wednesday of each month, except July, from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. (Eastern Time). There are two 2-part seminars planned for March and September, which will take place on consecutive Wednesdays. 

NISO will hold three in-person forums in 2010: Discovery to Delivery: Creating a First-Class User Experience (March 23rd in Atlanta, GA); The 4th Annual NISO/BISG Changing Standards Landscape Forum (free, open event at ALA Annual, June 25th, Washington, DC); and E-Resource Management: From Start to Finish (and Back Again) (October 7th, Chicago, IL). NISO educational forums are routinely praised for their excellent selection of speakers representing a diversity of viewpoints across the scholarly information community and the small size that provides opportunities to network with speakers and other attendees. 

Free teleconferences are also held on the second Monday of every month (except July) to discuss projects underway in NISO and to provide the community with an opportunity to provide feedback and input on areas where NISO is or ought to be engaged. 

The complete list of 2010 NISO educational events is available on the NISO website. Registration is now open for all events.

(http://www.niso.org/publications/newsline/2009/newslinenov09.html#report3)

SirsiDynix VP of Innovation Stephen Abram fires a shot over the bow of open source ILSs

Stephen Abram, VP of Innovation for SirsiDynix, has written a paper called "Integrated Library System Platforms on Open Source" in which he "set[s] out to clarify what open source is, how it is different from proprietary software platforms, and why Integrated Library Systems (ILS) are not ready for open source at this point." Accused of spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt, Abram defends the report on his blog, saying, "I call it critical thinking and constructive debate—something that everyone in libraries should embrace and engage in."

For a good overview of the controversy, see Josh Hadro's article in Library Journal: "SirsiDynix Report on Open Source: Promoting Debate or Sowing Fear?"

Digital Preservation: "This is how the world ends, not with a bang but an error message"

NDIIPP Partners Play Major Role at iPRES 2009

October 29, 2009 -- The 2009 International Conference on Preservation of Digital Objects was held in San Francisco, CA, October 5 and 6. The California Digital Library, a National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program partner, hosted the meeting, which brought together digital-preservation researchers and practitioners from 70 universities and 33 national libraries, as well as a variety of other interested parties.

Martha Anderson, NDIIPP Director of Program Management, gave a keynote address that focused on the growth of the NDIIPP distributed collaborative effort. She announced intent to develop a National Digital Stewardship Alliance with a goal of enabling collaboration across institutional, industrial and state boundaries while encouraging diverse solutions.

The financial cost of digital preservation received particular attention during the conference. A panel session considered the work of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Sustainable Digital Preservation and Access and all the speakers were united on the need for increasing financial incentives and reducing economic risk. They also agreed that digital preservation projects must be well-justified to receive financial support.

In a panel session, Martha Anderson said that Congress understands digital preservation but they have limited resources to allocate. They want to see the immediate impact of their investment rather than promises for results at a distant point in time. Another panelist, Paul Courant, the University Librarian and Dean of Libraries at the University of Michigan, said that the academic world needed to collaborate in addressing the digital preservation challenge. Anderson echoed the shared-work solution as a practical strategy; later, in another panel session, Anderson called attention to the success of the MetaArchive cooperative, who has distributed stewardship of their content at a relatively low cost.

The panel also suggested that a tax credit or write-off might be an incentive for individuals or corporations to preserve their digital collections. Other sessions during the conference -- such as "Predicting Long Term Preservation Costs" and "Cost Model for Digital Preservation: Cost of Digital Migration" -- also addressed economic sustainability issues.

There were several other presentations about other projects in which the Library is involved: keynote speaker David Kirsch of the University of Maryland talked about preserving the digital records of corporations; Henry Lowood of Stanford University talked about preserving virtual worlds (and included the memorable quote, "This is how the world ends, not with a bang but an error message"); Ardys Kozbial discussed the Chronopolis project and Rebecca Guenther spoke on best practices for expressing preservation metadata.

(http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/news/2009/20091029news_article_iPRES.html)

December webinar: The Potential of Partnerships: Dissolving Silos for a Successful IR Implementation

The Potential of Partnerships: Dissolving Silos for a Successful IR Implementation

Presented by Marilyn Billings

Wednesday, December 16 at 2pm Eastern (11am Pacific; noon Mountain; 1pm Central)

Click Here to Register

This webinar will use the University of Massachusetts’ institutional repository as a case study to explore how the new digital repository service has affected the way librarians envision our place in the future of the academy, how the academy is changing its view of the library’s role, new tools and skills that we are developing to fulfill this service, and new partnerships that we have created and fostered to exploit this new vision. We hope to foster discussion and provide insights and opportunities for further exploration of how the role of libraries as publishers enables us to be key partners in the creation, dissemination, and archiving of academic scholarship.

Marilyn Billings (mbillings@library.umass.edu) is the Scholarly Communication & Special Initiatives Librarian at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She provides campus-wide leadership and education in alternative scholarly communication strategies and is frequently an invited speaker at faculty department colloquia. 

(http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alcts/confevents/upcoming/webinar/ir_series.cfm#7)

Upcoming ALCTS webinar: Bringing Research Data into the Library: Expanding the Horizons of Institutional Repositories

Upcoming ALCTS webinar:  

Bringing Research Data into the Library: Expanding the Horizons of Institutional Repositories 

Presented by MacKenzie Smith 

Tuesday, November 10 at 2pm Eastern (11am Pacific; noon Mountain; 1pm Central) 

Click Here to Register 

The focus of Library-managed Institutional Repositories has so far been on document-like items (published articles, preprints, theses, reports, working papers, etc.) but there is growing demand to expand their use into new genres such as scientific research datasets (sensor readings, genomics data, neuroimages,etc.). The presentation will explain how IRs are including this type of collection, what librarians need to know in order to manage such collections, and a few case studies from the MIT Libraries. 

MacKenzie Smith (kenzie@mit.edu) is the Associate Director for Technology at the MIT Libraries, where she oversees the Libraries' technology strategy and its digital library research and development program. 

(http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alcts/confevents/upcoming/webinar/ir_series.cfm#6)

Study of the North American MARC Records Marketplace released

"In January 2009, the Library of Congress (LC) contracted with R2 Consulting LLC (R2) to investigate and describe current approaches to the creation and distribution of MARC records in US and Canadian libraries. The primary focus is on the economics of existing practice, in effect mapping the “marketplace” for cataloging records, including incentives for and barriers to production. The underlying question is whether sufficient cataloging capacity exists in North America, and how that capacity is distributed. This project was designed to be descriptive rather than prescriptive, seeking to understand in detail the ways in which cataloging records are produced and distributed, as well as who bears the costs and who realizes the value. "

The LC study is available at: http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/news/MARC_Record_Marketplace_2009-10.pdf

Law Library of Congress launches Twitter feed

On Oct. 22, 2009, Matt Raymond posted an announcement on the Library of Congress blog that the Law Library of Congress has launched a Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/lawlibcongress). According to the Law Library, the Twitter feed is intended to "engage Members of Congress, their staff, other law libraries, students, professors, librarians, and researchers. … It will also serve as a venue for feedback on our material." View the announcement at: http://www.loc.gov/blog/2009/10/now-tweeting-law-library-of-congress/.

Data, Data Everywhere: Migration and System Population Practices (NISO November Webinar)

The scope and scale of metadata repositories continues to grow, with increasingly heterogeneous data and complexity both on the ingest side (e.g., bibliographic metadata) and in inter- and intra-organizational exchange of usage, patron, purchase, and accounting data. While data format and exchange standards are a given, how do policies, implementations, and standards interact? What are some examples of effective alignment of standards, policies and implementation, and what challenges remain?

These issues and more will be discussed at NISO's November webinar, Data, Data Everywhere: Migration and System Population Practices, to be held on November 11, 2009 from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. (Eastern Time). Specific topics include:

·       Data quality, policy, and large-scale data flows - How do regional consortia establish and implement policies to allow them to cope with increasing amounts of data in a widening variety of formats?

·       Academic library perspective - Individual research libraries provide local, customized services for their audiences that are based upon large quantities of data—hopefully of high quality and supported by easy-to-use tools and processes provided by vendors and consortia. What are the successes, stress points, and failures from the perspective of the academic library?

·       Vendor perspective - The integrated library system remains the central repository of metadata, usage data, and business data for all types of libraries. As the ILS evolves to interact with electronic resource management systems, link resolvers, and other external systems and repositories, how are commercial vendors aligning standards, policies, and implementations? Where do library and vendor interests intersect and conflict? 

For more information and to register, visit the event webpage. Registration is per site (access for one computer) and includes access to the online recorded archive of the webinar for one year. NISO and NASIG members receive a discounted member rate. A student discount is also available.

(http://www.niso.org/publications/newsline/2009/newslineoct09.html#report2)

2nd ed. of the MARC Record Guide for Monograph Aggregator Vendors is now available

The new 2nd ed. of the MARC Record Guide for Monograph Aggregator Vendors is now available at: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/sca/FinalVendorGuide.pdf

The Provider-Neutral E-Monograph MARC Record Guide was approved by the Program for Cooperative Cataloging and OCLC in 2009. The provider-neutral record is defined as a single bibliographic record that covers all equivalent manifestations of an online monograph. Manifestations are considered equivalent if their format and their content are essentially the same, based on clues from the author, title, edition, publishing information, and physical description. Moving to the provider-neutral model puts the emphasis on the content of the resource. Other information such as individual database names, individual e-package names, publishers or third party aggregators that had formerly been entered into the bibliographic records to distinguish different versions should be coded only in appropriate fields in the local version of the record following this guide.

(from George Prager's message on TS-SIS list)

Permanent Usability Team in Libraries

Nichols, Jane, Alison M. Bobal, and Susan McEvoy. "Using a Permanent Usability Team to Advance User-Centered Design in Libraries" Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship 10(2)(Summer 2009)(http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org/content/v10n02/nichols_j01.html).

Abstract

Usability, user studies, and evaluating user experiences have been a part of academic libraries for many years. In the last 20 years libraries have created ad hoc usability teams to do user studies. Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries started its ongoing team in 2006, resulting in an increased focus on user experience throughout the libraries. This article explores the team’s history from formation to work it took on. The merits and challenges usability teams bring to an organization are also discussed. To date the literature describes usability methods and shares findings from libraries’ usability studies but none discusses benefits a standing usability team brings to a library organization or the work it may do.

NISO to Undertake Gap Analysis of ERM-related Data and Standards

New Working Group to Report Results and Recommendations for Next Steps

Baltimore, MD - July 1, 2009 - NISO is pleased to announce the approval of a new work item to focus on Electronic Resource Management (ERM) Data Standards Review. The proposal for this new work was reviewed and approved by NISO's Business Information Topic Committee which will now create a working group to undertake a review and gap analysis of ERM-related data and standards. Following the analysis, the working group will make recommendations regarding the future of the ERMI data dictionary within the context of the broader electronic resource management landscape, to be delivered in a report to the Business Information Topic Committee and made publicly available.

This project is an outgrowth of the Digital Library Federation's Electronic Resource Management Initiative (ERMI), first begun in 2002. A second phase of the Initiative was completed in late 2008. In follow-up discussions between Todd Carpenter, NISO's Managing Director, and Peter Brantley, Executive Director of DLF, regarding the future of ERMI, NISO agreed to perform a needs assessment with respect to ERMI and broader ERM-related data needs and standards, and to assume any appropriate maintenance responsibilities. A subgroup of NISO's Business Information Topic Committee, comprised of committee members Tim Jewell (Director, Information Resources and Scholarly Communication, University of Washington Libraries) and Ivy Anderson (Director of Collections, California Digital Library), was tasked with surveying this landscape to determine what, if any, further steps should be undertaken by NISO. This new project is an outcome of the ERMI landscape review and proposes next steps in this area. "This is the perfect time for an ERM data standards review-not only will it provide a much-needed assessment of the current state, but it will allow a formal mechanism for hearing from the different communities on where clarification, improvement, or further investigation is needed," commented Topic Committee co-chair Kathleen Folger (Senior Associate Librarian, University of Michigan Library). Added co-chair Helen Szigeti (Business Development Manager, HighWire Press, Stanford University), "This is key if we are going to accurately identify how NISO can best assist with next steps in this area of business information development work."

The analysis will begin with a review of the ERMI data dictionary as it presently exists, and a mapping of ERMI data elements to those within relevant standards-related projects (e.g., CORE, SUSHI, ONIX-PL, etc.). Vendors, libraries using ERM systems, and other identified stakeholders will then be consulted via surveys and/or more in-depth interviews to solicit additional feedback.

Register to attend the free "RDA and OCLC" webinar

Register to attend the "RDA and OCLC" webinar.

RDA, Resource Description and Access, is the new cataloging standard that will replace AACR2. RDA offers libraries the potential to change significantly how bibliographic data is created and used. The RDA publication is scheduled for formal release later this year. To help you learn more, OCLC is offering a webinar titled, "RDA and OCLC."

During the no-cost, live webinar you'll learn about:

• Ongoing work at OCLC that relates to RDA concepts, including bibliographic relationships, linked data and mappings to and from other data structures 
• OCLC's involvement in the development and testing of RDA
• Work being done at OCLC to support implementation of RDA
• Other resources that will help you prepare for the implementation of RDA

Choose the date and time that's most convenient for you and register to attend one of the sessions listed below.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 11:00 AM Eastern Time

Register: < http://visit.oclc.org/t?ctl=2AE7E48:818D03AAD9EF35E88628A3A0FC0CE34FB99A427DD10DD538& >

Friday, October 30, 2009, 1:00 PM Eastern Time

Register: < http://visit.oclc.org/t?ctl=2AE7E49:818D03AAD9EF35E88628A3A0FC0CE34FB99A427DD10DD538& >

More information about RDA is available on the Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA Web site, the OCLC Web site and on Metalogue, a cataloguing and metadata blog: < http://visit.oclc.org/t?ctl=2AE7E4A:818D03AAD9EF35E88628A3A0FC0CE34FB99A427DD10DD538& >

(Posted on OBS- and TS-SIS lists from OCLC)

===============================================================

NISO Newsline - October 2009

This week, the IPRES group held its Sixth International Conference on Preservation of Digital Objects in San Francisco, hosted by the California Digital Library. The program—which looks at traditional and non-traditional media, such as blogs, IRs, and research data—is just one example of the need for continued support for preservation and highlights the number of good approaches worthy of formalization and promotion as best practices in the community. We'll have a report on the meeting from Priscilla Caplan in the Fall issue of Information Standards Quarterly (ISQ).

 

Finding out about new projects and effective approaches to digital preservation provides us with some clues forward. For example, just last week Roger Schonfeld & Ross Housewright at Ithaka S+R, the strategy and research arm of ITHAKA, published a research report on What to Withdraw? Print Collections Management in the Wake of Digitization. This interesting report presents libraries with a framework for selecting print titles that may reasonably be withdrawn from their collections, while addressing the potential impact on long-term preservation. The report concludes: "For journal collections that are available digitally, the online version provides for virtually all access needs, leaving print versions to serve a preservation role and therefore be required in far fewer numbers." However, because many publishers still rely on the print-and-online revenue mix, actions by the library community to cancel print versions would certainly have a financial impact on publishers. In some ways, the argument for preservation copies was among the last bastions for a robust print collection. This report questions those presumptions and many libraries, whose budgets and space needs are squeezed, will find some comfort in this report's recommendations. Publishers, unfortunately, won't.

 

The role of preservation by libraries, particularly for that content which is "born digital"—without a print counterpart—has been increasingly visible recently. In August, we touched briefly on the proposed change to the Library of Congress's mandatory deposit rules for online-only content. Initial feedback to the ruling has been submitted from a broad range of stakeholders—publishers, libraries, software developers, photographers, and creators of musical works—and is available on the Copyright Office website. The Office has extended its final deadline for receipt of comments until October 16th. I encourage you to take a look at the comments already submitted, which provide much food for thought on the preservation issues for this electronic only content.

 

These cross-cutting projects all have a central theme: the need for community best practices and improved preservation standards for digital content. The publishing industry was quick to note that the preservation of the "long tail" of content would require significant standardization and best practices. In many ways, standardizing around some common file formats, such as NISO's newly approved Standardized Markup for Journal Articles project (based on what is commonly known as the NLM DTD) will go a long way toward facilitating both preservation and long-term access to journal content. Other standards are also addressing file formats, such as the International Digital Publishing Forum's EPUB standard for e-books and similar content. While there is no expectation that every publisher will use the same production formats, narrowing them down to several standardized options will help to solve some of the problems that preservation of content presents. Certainly, there are other areas—such as packaging, metadata, and digital rights management—that need some work in order for us to find more comprehensive solutions. But, with the work underway at NISO and in the community at large, we'll be a step closer to addressing some of these bigger issues.

Todd Carpenter

Managing Director

(http://www.niso.org/publications/newsline/2009/newslineoct09.html)