LC Cataloging Newsline

Online Newsletter of the Cataloging Directorate

Library of Congress Volume 9, no. 2 ISSN 1066-8829 March 2001

CONTENTS

Future Directions: Topic 3A-3B of the Bicentennial Conference on Bibliographic Control for the New Millennium
Future Directions: Topic 3C-3D of the Bicentennial Conference on Bibliographic Control for the New Millennium
BEAT as of January 2001
Library of Congress Control Number Restructuring
Fine Arts and Architecture Subject Headings

Future Directions: Topic 3A-3B of the Bicentenennial Conference on Bibliographic Control For The New Millennium

This article and the article that follows report on the third plenary session of the Library of Congress Bicentennial Conference on Bibliographic Control for the New Millennium, held Nov. 15-17, 2000. An overview of the conference and reports on the first and second plenary sessions, Topic 1 and Topic 2, appeared in LCCN, v. 8, no. 12 (December 2000).

Ann Huthwaite, bibliographic services manager at the Queensland University of Technology Library and chair of the Joint Steering Committee for Revision of AACR (JSC), presented her conference paper, "AACR2 and Its Place in the Digital World: Near- Term Revisions and Long-Term Direction." She discussed changes in the bibliographic universe that have brought attention to AACR2, some perceived shortcomings of AACR2, and action items from the JSC's International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR (Toronto, 1997) that have resulted in immediate areas of code development,.e.g. seriality (Chapter 12) and the content-vs.-carrier issue (rule 0.24), or that require additional investigation, e.g., further alignment of AACR2 with the International Standard Bibliographic Description for Electronic Resources (ISBD(ER)) and a proposal to reorganize Part I of AACR2 according to the ISBD areas of description. She mentioned special problems in describing electronic resources: defining the boundaries of electronic documents; describing electronic documents with presentation variations; and describing electronic documents that change over time.

Noting that she did not consider metadata to be true cataloging, Huthwaite described some benefits of using AACR2 to describe Internet resources and presented reasons to include records for Internet resources in the catalog. She outlined important considerations for the future: the need to continue to support and develop AACR2 in cooperation with other communities, e.g., MARC, ISBD, Dublin Core; development of a two-tiered approach to Internet resources, in recognition that not all resources deserve full cataloging; collection development and access policies for Internet resources; and the encouragement of sharing and cooperation.

Sally McCallum, chief of the Network Development and MARC Standards Office, LC, summarized her conference paper "Extending MARC for Bibliographic Control in the Web Environment: Challenges and Alternatives." Noting that MARC has never been monolithically used for cataloging and there are other complementary apparatus in existence, she said that Dublin Core and XML can serve a useful purpose. Not all Web resources are "research" quality, deserving full cataloging and markup; other approaches may be more helpful in capturing the "ephemeral" Web. She concluded that librarians should apply their resource selection expertise to Web resources; the vast majority of Web documents are candidates for simple description, but progress can be made by embedding descriptions in documents (e.g., author-supplied metadata), developing tools to assist this effort, and evaluating the suitability of Dublin Core for this purpose; research-quality Web resources are candidates for MARC, but the library community should review MARC content, make available structural transformation tools to assist authors in providing description and librarians in evaluating authors' efforts, and experiment with XML structures. Most importantly, libraries should insist on standardization.

Lynne C. Howarth, associate professor and dean of the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto, was the panel reactor for Ann Huthwaite's paper. Dr. Howarth said that the paper evoked philosophical and practical questions: What is the place or role of AACR2 relative to other codes and standards (including metadata)? To what extent are the "vision" and "reach" of AACR2 restricted to the Anglo-American context only? How far is the AACR2 community willing to support the "international" focus and applicability of the code? She asked whether metadata will be a "bridge" or another "wedge" between catalogers and others.

The panel reactor for McCallum's paper was Paul Weiss, manager, Conversion and Database Services for Innovative Interfaces, Inc. He reminded the audience that the library community has made a great investment in standards such as MARC and AACR and should share its valuable expertise with the developers of other metadata schemes in hopes of making such schemes interoperable to some degree with its own.


Future Directions II: Topic 3C-3D of the Bicentennial Conference on Bibliographic Control For The New Millennium

This article and the article that precedes it report on the third plenary session of the Library of Congress Bicentennial Conference on Bibliographic Control for the New Millennium, held Nov. 15-17, 2000. An overview of the conference and reports on the first and second plenary sessions, Topic 1 and Topic 2, appeared in LCCN, v. 8, no. 12 (December 2000).

Carl Lagoze, digital library scientist, Computer Science Dept., Cornell University, was the author of the conference paper "Business Unusual: How Event Awareness May Breathe Life into the Catalog?" Lagoze began with the contrast drawn by Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen between sustaining technology, which improves on an existing product and addresses the needs of an existing customer base, and disruptive technology, which introduces a new value proposition and changes what is offered, maybe offering less value and lower functionality in the process of transformation. The catalog may be seen as a sustaining technology, but there is currently a disruptive context in which the catalog is operating, both technically (ubiquitous computers and high speed networks; protocols, compression, delivery systems) and socially (what is "publishing" in the digital age? who is an author? why bother with libraries?) Coupled with issues of scale, permanence, authenticity, and variety, these disruptions threaten the very meaning of the catalog. Lagoze noted that centrality is key to the catalog's importance, but in the digital age, this centrality is in jeopardy. He pointed out ways that relationship- centric data modeling could support cataloging and metadata creation for networked digital information and called for incorporating event-awareness into the catalog model to describe continually changing digital objects. Lagoze gave a brief overview of the Harmony Project, which has examined a number of metadata vocabularies. (More information about the Harmony Project is available at URL http://ilrt.bris.ac.uk/discovery/harmony/. [February 2001]). He concluded that a variety of descriptive schemes is inevitable, and the catalog can serve as a mediator between them, a way of talking among formats rather than simply listing them.

In their conference paper "Descriptive Resource Needs from the Reference Perspective," Library of Congress business reference librarian Carolyn Larson (Science, Technology & Business Division) and network development specialist Linda Arret (Network Development and MARC Standards Office) presented results of a survey they conducted concerning reference needs for digital documents. There were two hundred responses to the survey from 169 institutions, preponderantly academic libraries. The survey responses reflect the growing reliance of reference providers on Web-based resources. Almost half reported consulting print/microfilm resources and local networked digital resources "somewhat" or "much" less frequently than a year ago, whereas considerably more than half reported consulting subscription Internet resources, search engines, and other freely available Web-based resources "somewhat" or "much" more frequently than a year ago. Approximately forty percent of the responding libraries reported providing access to online subscription or selected free Internet resources through the OPAC. Most of the remainder provide access only through Web lists or bookmarks. In contrast, more than eighty percent of the respondents indicated that, in their opinion, selected Internet-based resources should be included in the OPAC. Overall, respondents suggested that if Web-based resources are included in the OPAC, it would be most useful from a public service perspective if there were records in the catalog for the individual titles included within aggregator databases or within a Web site rather than for the aggregator itself or for the top-level Web site only. However, since these resources are often licensed at the highest level, it was felt that perhaps the top-level page was most likely to remain stable. Thus, preference is for cataloging the top page with some lower-level title access if of great value.

Cataloging elements considered most important for searching were, in this order: title; subject/keyword; author/URL; link to index/keyword search; subject controlled vocabulary; date of last update of the resource; time period covered by the resource; language; link to table of contents. Respondents thought that improved interfaces and navigation are needed and desired some sort of unified interface through the OPAC.


BEAT as of January 2001

The Bibliographic Enrichment Advisory Team (BEAT) was formed in December 1992 as a Cataloging Directorate program charged with the development and implementation of initiatives to improve the tools, content, and access to bibliographic information. The membership has now expanded to include representatives from the core cataloging divisions, the Cataloging Distribution Service, the Acquisitions Directorate, the Cataloging in Publication Division and the Public Service Collections Directorate. Since the last BEAT update appeared in LCCN (v. 8, no. 9, September 2000), BEAT has expanded three ongoing projects, BECites+, BEOnline+, and D- TOC, and begun to investigate projects focusing on ONIX and "e- books."

BECites+

Begun in 1999, the BECites+ initiative enhances traditional printed library bibliographies by placing them on the Web in electronic form and including annotated citations, tables of contents, indexes, and back-of-book bibliographies cited therein. Furthermore, reciprocal links are made between all of these data elements and the online catalog record for each title in the bibliography, and links to pertinent online journal indexes, other related web resources, and to applicable subject headings in the Library's OPAC are also included.

The prototype selected for BECites+ was Dick Sharp's "Guide to Business History Resources" (1999), a revision of Chapter 13 of his Finding Business Reference Sources at the Library of Congress. It was followed in 2000 with work on two additional guides: Thomas Jefferson, an American Man for All Seasons: a Selected List of References prepared by Marilyn K. Parr, of the Humanities and Social Sciences Division, and two chapters ("The Ships" and "The Immigrant Experience") from Immigrant Arrivals: a Guide to Published Sources, originally compiled in 1997 by Virginia Steele Wood and revised for the BECites+ project by Barbara Walsh, reference specialists in the Local History and Genealogy Section of the Humanities and Social Sciences Division. Both guides have been enhanced by the addition of sections on related Internet resources ("pathfinders") making use of OCLC's CORC software. The Internet resources section of the Thomas Jefferson guide is available online at URL http://purl.oclc.org/corc/system/Pathfinder/1152:xid=LCP [February 2001], while that for the Immigrant Arrivals guide may be viewed at URL http://purl.oclc.org/corc/system/Pathfinder/1111:xid=LCP, [February 2001]. The revised Immigrant Arrivals guide also contains an extensive listing of subject headings at URL http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/business/guide/immi1.html#libr [February 2001] that link directly into the Z39.50 interface to the Library of Congress online catalog.

For further information, visit the BECites+ web page at URL http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/business/guide/becites1.html [February 2001] or contact Carolyn Larson at [email protected].

BEOnline+

The BEOnline project has moved from research and development into production and in 2001 will be expanded and incorporated into the regular processing workflow. The expansion of BEOnline+ is now under the direction of Susan Vita, chief, Special Materials Cataloging Division. BEAT's BEOnline+ Team will remain in place during the transition, as expansion from a two-to-four person operation to a directorate-wide enterprise will be a major undertaking. The transition will proceed in phases. The first and easiest phase will entail changing from a paper workflow to an online workflow for referrals of computer files to various cataloging teams for subject analysis. The second phase will involve detailing monographic book catalogers to the Computer Files and Microforms Team for one-on-one training for the descriptive cataloging of tangible and intangible electronic resources.

Phases one and two focus on short-term goals. For longer-term planning, the BEOnline+ team will collaborate with staff from the Library's Technical Processing Automation Instruction Office (TPAIO) in preparing for possible classroom and Web-based training for processing Internet resources. For further information contact Allene Hayes at [email protected].

Digital Tables of Contents (D-TOC)

The Digital Tables of Contents project creates tables of contents (TOC) data from surrogates of the actual TOC, using scanning and optical character recognition (OCR). The TOC are subsequently HTML-encoded and placed on a server at the Library. In the process links are added to the appropriate MARC records. With the Library's installation of the Voyager integrated library system (ILS), the project was temporarily halted to redesign software for use in the Voyager context. That project has now been completed. The scope of the project, originally limited to the areas of small business and entrepreneurship, is being broadened to include all areas of study. Currently about 2,200 records have been enhanced by the project.

Both the MARC records and the linked TOC data may be viewed at URL http://lcweb.loc.gov/catalog [February 2001]. In addition, a variety of Web indexing software makes catalog and TOC records available over the Web. The Z39.50 server and the browse search capability are recommended for direct searches and subsequent viewing.

Those who have comments or questions about this project should contact Bruce Knarr, project manager, at [email protected].

Support for ECIP (Electronic Cataloging in Publication)

During fiscal 2000, TOC data were included in the MARC records for approximately twenty-one percent of the titles processed as ECIPs, and the goal is that ultimately fifty percent of ECIP titles will contain TOC data.

New Projects for 2001: ONIX

BEAT has become interested in ONIX, an XML-based communication standard for metadata about published works. ONIX contains a set of data elements describing various aspects of a publication and appears as a highly granular markup that defines and represents significant detail about book and publishing product information in electronic form. One possibility is to investigate ONIX files as a source of enhancements (TOC, summaries, blurbs, etc.) for existing records.

Additional questions about BEAT or its projects may also be directed to the BEAT chair, John D. Byrum, Jr., chief, Regional and Cooperative Cataloging Division, [email protected].


Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) Restructuring

The Library of Congress Control Number (formerly Library of Congress Card Number) is a number that has been used since 1898 to identify bibliographic records uniquely. Before 2001, the beginning two digits of the number represented the year, with the century being implicit, e.g., 00008000. Beginning Jan. 2, 2001, the year portion was expanded to make the century explicit, e.g., 2001008000. The restructuring applies both to authority and bibliographic records.

Some examples of the new structure for bibliographic records structured for searching in the LC ILS are:

2001000001

2001123456

sn2001058000

For some printed displays or for searching in other systems, a hyphen is used to separate the year portion from the serial number.

2001-000001 or 2001-1

2001-123456

sn2001-058000 or sn2001-58000

Numbers assigned under the old structure will not be changed. For those interested in detailed information about the old and new structures of the LCCN, see the documentation under "LCCN Restructuring to Four-Digit Year" on the Cataloging Policy and Support Office home page at URL http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/ [February 2001].

Questions about this change may be addressed to the Cataloging Policy and Support Office at [email protected].


Fine Arts and Architecture Subject Headings

On Feb. 1, 2001, the Library of Congress implemented substantial changes in the subject headings that are assigned to works in the field of fine arts and architecture. Cataloging of these materials more closely resembles cataloging in other disciplines.

The principal changes are in the use of geographical and chronological subdivisions. Geographical subdivisions will now precede chronological subdivisions. Chronological subdivisions are permitted following many art headings, especially those with qualifiers for nationality. Headings such as Drawing--20th century--France--Paris will be reformulated as Drawing, French-- France--Paris--20th century. These changes will reduce the number of subject entries required on bibliographic records.

A new pattern of free-floating subdivisions has been created for art. The use of free-floating subdivisions reduces the amount of authority work required in cataloging.

The new list of pattern subdivisions is being added to the Subject Cataloging Manual as instruction sheet H 1148, and the existing instruction sheet on art cataloging, H 1250, is being revised. The text of these instruction sheets will be available on the Web home page of the Cataloging Policy and Support Office (URL http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/artcat.html [February 2001]) until the publication of the next update of the Subject Cataloging Manual: Subject Headings.


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Comments : [email protected] 03/16/01