LC CATALOGING NEWSLINE

Online Newsletter of the Cataloging Directorate Library of Congress

Volume 9, no. 12    ISSN 1066-8829   November 2001


Contents
LC Emergency Closing, Oct. 18-24
PCC News and Notes
Cataloging Electronic Resources at LC

LC Emergency Closing, Oct. 18-24

The three Library of Congress buildings on Capitol Hill were closed to the staff and public at close of business Wednesday, Oct. 17, in order to facilitate environmental tests of the buildings for possible anthrax contamination. The buildings reopened to staff on Thursday, Oct. 25, and to researchers and the public on Friday, Oct. 26. The Library receives mail and book shipments, including those from its overseas offices, through the United States Postal Service's Brentwood facility in Washington, D.C., where anthrax contamination apparently led to the deaths of two postal employees. Although no evidence of anthrax contamination was found in the LC buildings, certain LC staff members who handle mail and shipments were issued prophylactic antibiotics as a strictly precautionary measure after the buildings reopened to staff.

Associate Librarian for Library Services Winston Tabb issued a statement to directors of research libraries on Oct. 25 that read in part: "I am pleased to report that no evidence of anthrax was discovered in any of our buildings. However, like the rest of the government, we are now having to institute rigorous and time- consuming procedures for the examination of all incoming mail.... It will take us weeks--more likely months--to catch up and return to normal productivity levels. We are concerned about the impact these recent events will have on service to other libraries, but request your forbearance as we attempt to regain lost ground. The impact will likely be greatest on 1) those libraries that participate in our cooperative acquisitions programs in Islamabad and Jakarta, where our staff have performed in a truly heroic manner under very dangerous conditions; and 2) on libraries that depend on our cataloging records, whether via our OPAC, OCLC, RLG, and/or the Cataloging Distribution Service."

The Library is preparing a request to Congress for a supplemental appropriation that would provide funding to catch up on work that accumulated during the closure week. The first task will be to handle a backlog of mail that could not be delivered from Oct. 15-29. (Mail delivery to LC was suspended on Oct. 15, when a letter delivered to Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle's Capitol Hill office was found to be contaminated with anthrax, and resumed on Oct. 29.) The LC Mail and Distribution Management Section, Office Systems Services, estimated the backlog at 500,000 pieces as of Oct. 25. The supplemental appropriation would also address the workload that accumulated in the Cataloging Directorate during the week that the Library was closed. In a typical work week, the directorate catalogs 4,544 pieces, including 1,100 Cataloging in Publication (CIP) galleys, and processes 910 CIP verification books. The Cataloging Policy and Support Office replies to 177 phone and email inquiries. In addition, the directorate and the Serial Record Division propose and review 200 new subject headings for the Library of Congress Subject Headings and create 1,626 new name authority records.


PCC News and Notes

Newly-elected Policy Committee Members

In its first online election, utilizing a secure website, the PCC member institutions have elected the following representatives to the PCC Policy Committee: NACO member: Sherry Kelley, Smithsonian Institution Libraries; CONSER member: Jim Stickman, University of Washington; and BIBCO representative: Joan Swanekamp, Yale University Libraries.

PCC Standing Committee Chair

Gary Charbonneau, Indiana University Libraries, has replaced Karen Calhoun as the chair of the PCC Standing Committee on Automation (SCA).

New BIBCO Notification Form

The BIBCO program has developed an online notification form that allows a PCC library to notify LC that a full-level bibliographic record is available in one of the utilities for an LC "in process" record. This notification allows LC to use bibliographic records created by BIBCO participants. The form is available at URL //www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/bibco/notify.html [Nov. 2001].

FAQ on LC Classification in BIBCO Records

The BIBCO program has developed a "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) page about the use of LC Classification numbers in BIBCO records. The FAQ covers a myriad of classification and shelflisting issues that BIBCO participants have encountered when contributing BIBCO records. It is available at URL //www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/bibco/classfaq.html [Nov. 2001].

Identification of BIBCO Records

The guidelines that list all conventions to be applied in identifying records created/upgraded by BIBCO libraries were revised on Aug. 20, 2001. This information includes the conventions to be followed when a PCC library upgrades a bibliographic record that was originally created by a non-PCC national library with cataloging source fixed field "blank." This information is available at URL //www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/bibco/recordtable.html [Nov. 2001].

Article on LC Benefits from BIBCO

The BIBCO Web site provides a link to an article published in _RLG Focus_, v. 47, December 2000, by the LC director for cataloging, Beacher Wiggins, on the benefits gained by the Library of Congress through its participation in the BIBCO program. The text of the entire article is available at URL http://www.rlg.org/r-focus/i47library.html [Nov. 2001].

Types of NACO Membership

The NACO program includes participants from a variety of organizational backgrounds. A chart has been prepared to compare the types of NACO membership and clarify the distinctions between individual NACO membership by a single institution and funnel membership. This chart is available at URL //www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/naco/funres.html [Nov. 2001].

NACO Participants' Manual, Second Edition Online

A link from the NACO Web site has been provided to a Web-version of the second edition of the _NACO Participants' Manual_. The link is at URL //www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/naco.html [Nov. 2001]

PCC Reports on Web Site

The BIBCO annual report for fiscal year 2001 provides an in- depth status of this component program of the PCC and includes an annual update of each of the forty-three BIBCO participating members. The report is located at URL //www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/bibco/bibcofy01.html [Nov. 2001].

The Integrating Resources Task Group Final Report recommends feasible future cataloging procedures for the cataloging of integrating resources and the subsequent impact on the BIBCO and CONSER programs. The report is available at URL //www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/tgintegrfinal.pdf [Nov. 2001].

The final report of the "User Perspectives on the PCC BIBCO core record standard", is the pilot study of the core bibliographic record for books, also known as the Model C report. This study is available at URL //www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/modelcfinal.pdfz [Nov. 2001].

The BIBCO Core Record Study: Final Report, prepared for the PCC Policy Committee by David Banush, is available. Banush is scheduled to present his findings at the November 2001 Policy Committee meeting. The report is located at URL http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/bibco/coretudefinal.html [Nov. 2001]

The PCC Standing Committee on Automation (SCA) 2nd Task Group on Journals in Aggregator Databases final report proposes recommendations for data elements for machine-derived and machine-generated serial records. The report is at URL //www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/aggtg2final.html [Nov. 2001].


Cataloging Electronic Resources at LC

LC first began cataloging Internet resources in 1996, in a pilot project called Business and Economics Online (BEOnline) under the aegis of BEAT (Bibliographic Enrichment Advisory Team). It was to be both a model and a catalyst for developing approaches to meet the challenges of identifying, selecting, and cataloging electronic works available on the Internet. As its scope expanded across the disciplines, the project was renamed BEOnline Plus.

Earlier this year Beacher Wiggins, director for cataloging, decided that cataloging of electronic resources at LC should become a mainstream activity, rather than a discrete project. Susan Vita, chief of the Special Materials Cataloging Division (SMCD), is responsible for planning and implementing the transition, with the help of BEAT's BEOnline Plus team. Allene Hayes, leader of SMCD's Computer Files and Microforms Team, is responsible for developing the training programs needed for this transition.

Hayes and other members of the BEOnline Plus team worked with David Reser of the Cataloging Policy and Support Office to create a training program for LC catalogers on subject cataloging of electronic resources. Topics in the training program include subject cataloging policy issues and workflow as they relate to remote access resources and a subject cataloging toolkit.

Two senior book catalogers from the Regional and Cooperative Cataloging Division and the Social Sciences Cataloging Division recently completed four-month details to the Computer Files and Microforms Team for training in the descriptive cataloging of both direct and remote access computer files. They will continue to catalog selected computer files for their divisions in addition to their regular responsibilities.

Carolyn Larson, reference librarian in the Science, Technology, and Business Division, is training reference staff in several subject areas to create preliminary bibliographic records in OCLC's CORC for Web sites that they have selected. These records are then imported into the LC database, where cataloging is completed.

The BEOnline team continues to focus on the creation of needed cataloging guidelines and on solving workflow problems. Regina Reynolds of the Serial Record Division is compiling guidelines for determining if an Internet resource is a monograph, a serial, or an integrating resource. Several team members have been meeting with other LC staff to plan implementation of revisions to AACR2 as they pertain to cataloging integrating resources.

Other team members are designing and coordinating the development of Web-based software to manage the workflow of selecting and cataloging electronic resources. This software is modeled on the traffic manager software developed by LC for the electronic cataloging in publication program.

Additional information on the BEOnline program is available at URL http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/business/beonline/ [Nov. 2001]. Inquires concerning BEOnline may be directed to Allene Hayes ([email protected]). Information about related BEAT projects is available at URL //www.loc.gov/catdir/beat/ [Nov. 2001].


LC CATALOGING NEWSLINE (ISSN 1066-8829) is published irregularly by the Cataloging Directorate, Library Services, Library of Congress, and contains news of cataloging activities throughout the Library of Congress. Editorial Office: Cataloging Policy and Support Office, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540-4305. Editor, Robert M. Hiatt; Editorial Advisory Group: Victoria Behrens, John Byrum, Roselyne Chang, Jurij Dobczansky, Anthony Franks, Les Hawkins, Albert Kohlmeier, Susan Morris, Geraldine Ostrove, David Smith, David Williamson, and Roman Worobec. Address editorial inquiries to the editor at the above address or [email protected] (email), (202) 707-5831 (voice), or (202) 707-6629 (fax). Listowner: David Williamson. Address subscription inquiries to the listowner at [email protected].

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Comments : [email protected] 11/07/01