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What is CONSER?

CONSER is--

• A cooperative online serials cataloging program
• A source of high quality bibliographic records for serials
• A source of high quality documentation and training materials for the cataloging of serials and the input of serial records
• A group of serial experts who work together in an atmosphere of collegiality and trust
• A promulgator of standards related to serials
• A voice for serials in the library community
• A component of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging

CONSER began in the early 1970s as a project to convert manual serial cataloging into machine-readable records and has evolved into an ongoing program to create and maintain high quality bibliographic records for serials. In keeping with its evolution, the name was changed in 1986 from the CONSER (CONversion of SERials) Project to the CONSER (Cooperative ONline SERials) Program. In October 1997, CONSER became a bibliographic component of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging.

The CONSER database resides within the OCLC Online Union Catalog. CONSER members input, authenticate, and modify serial cataloging records on OCLC or contribute original records via FTP. Authentication is the process of approving the bibliographic elements in the record and providing for the record's availability through distribution services and bibliographic products.

Membership in the CONSER Program includes--

• The national libraries of the United States and Canada (and their respective International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) centers)
• Selected university, government, research, special, and public libraries
• Participants in the United States Newspaper Program (USNP)
• Selected library associations
• Subscription agencies and abstracting & indexing services

The need for CONSER stems from the dynamic nature of serial publications. Unlike most monographs, serials are constantly changing in a variety of ways. Modifications to CONSER records accommodate the changes in the serials themselves and in the rules for their cataloging. Through the CONSER Program, members are given the authority to modify the master serial record on OCLC. To ensure uniformity, the participants agree to follow policies and procedures documented in the CONSER Editing Guide and the CONSER Cataloging Manual.

HOW CAN CONSER BENEFIT MY LIBRARY?

CONSER records are used in support of--

• Serials cataloging
• Collection development
• Interlibrary loan
• Union listing
• Serial check-in

In the words of Suzanne Striedieck, "CONSER's most direct benefit to libraries is the cost savings in having high quality records to use in creating local databases for library public access catalogs, union lists, or serials check-in-files. Its greatest legacy may be the resource it offers the serial world's transition to machine-readable access and delivery of the serial literature."

MISSION AND GOALS

With the consolidation of CONSER and the Program for Cooperative Cataloging, a new PCC Strategic Plan is in effect for CONSER and available on the PCC Web site.

PRODUCTS AND PUBLICATIONS

Products

The primary product of the CONSER Program is the presence in the OCLC database of the records created, edited, and authenticated by CONSER members. In addition, the records are available electronically on tape or via FTP, and in some publications:

• Authenticated records are sent by OCLC to Library of Congress and National Library of Canada for distribution through their MARC services.
• CONSER records can be purchased as a separate MARC Distribution Service (MDS) database from the Library of Congress Cataloging Distribution Service: http://www.loc.gov/cds/mds.html#mdsserials

Selected records are also available in the following publications:

• United States Newspaper Program National Union List, which has records for newspapers and is available on microfiche from OCLC
• New Serial Titles, which ceased publication in 1999, but contained in a printed catalog all the CONSER records created between 1971 and 1999, with the exception of those produced through the United States Newspaper Program

Publications

CONSER cataloging is supported by two publications produced in LC's Serial Record Division and distributed by LC: the CONSER Editing Guide and the CONSER Cataloging Manual. The CONSER Web site includes excerpts from these publications and the CONSER newsletter (CONSERline). Supplemental information about the program, its membership and committees, and external online resources can also be accessed via the CONSER home page.

• The CONSER Editing Guide contains policies, procedures, and a history of the program in Part I. Part II is a field-by-field guide to the USMARC formats as applied in CONSER records.
• The CONSER Cataloging Manual is a guide to serials cataloging, both original and adapted from OCLC copy. It also includes sections on cataloging of specific types of serials, such as CD-ROMs, microforms, online serials, newspapers, and legal serials.
• CONSERline, the program newsletter, includes news and recent events about the program.
• The Serials Cataloging Cooperative Training Program provides authoritative training materials that are used for workshops and individual instruction.

MANAGEMENT

The management of CONSER is carried out through a framework of committees with support from LC staff, as specified in the "PCC Governance Document." Advice and action on technical procedures and documentation is supplied by the CONSER Operations Committee, composed of senior serial cataloging staff. Direction on long-term strategy and major policies comes from the PCC Policy Committee, on which three rotating members represent CONSER. The PCC Steering Committee is a five-member subgroup of the Policy Committee which approves new members and makes recommendations to the Policy Committee. Augmenting these are three PCC standing committees on standards, automation, and training, and an advisory structure to lend an external perspective. For more information, see the PCC home page.

Overall coordination of CONSER is provided by staff in the Library of Congress' Serial Record Division. The CONSER Coordinator and CONSER Specialist plan meetings, prepare reports and documentation, and oversee training and quality review.

RELATED PROJECTS

United States Newspaper Program

The United States Newspaper Program (USNP) is a national program established to catalog, preserve, and make available U.S. newspapers. The National Endowment for the Humanities and LC jointly administer the USNP. Bibliographic records entered by USNP participants are part of the CONSER database.

CONSER Abstracting and Indexing Coverage Project

This was a cooperative project during the 1980s designed to enrich the CONSER database with information about title coverage by key abstracting and indexing services.

CONSER Publication Pattern Initiative

This is an experimental cooperative project begun in 2000 to add publication pattern and related holdings data to CONSER records.

For further information, contact the CONSER Coordinator (Les Hawkins, lhaw@loc.gov, 202-707-5185) or consult the following publications:

CONSERline. Newsletter published by LC. No. 1, Jan. 1994- . ISSN 1072-611X. Available on the World Wide Web at URL: http://www.loc.gov/acq/conser/consrlin.html.

CONSER Editing Guide. Part I. Background, Policies, and Procedures. Washington, DC, Distributed by the Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 1986. ISBN 0-8444-0527-2.

 

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