The Library of Congress (LC) is in the process of developing a separate thesaurus of genre/form terms, which describe what a work or expression is, rather than what it is about. From the beginning, LC policy specialists realized that to accomplish this undertaking, it would be both necessary and desirable to collaborate with the library community. This article examines and evaluates the various methods of collaboration used by LC in the creation of the genre/form thesaurus.

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How to Successfully Survive a Mandated Project.

It Takes a Village: Developing Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms

During the course of the last decade, libraries have begun to offer enhanced library catalogs. These catalogs include features such as improved relevance ranking, a simple keyword search box, federated searching of library collections, and facet-based search and browse capabilities. Facets have been one of the most anticipated and admired features of new library catalogs; embraced as a way to help users navigate and refine search results, discover unknown material and avoid empty results sets. This dissertation research sought to answer two main research questions, 1: How are facets interpreted by librarians and library staff members involved in developing and implementing facet-based catalogs? 2: What individual and institutional beliefs, practices and policies guide the implementation of facet-based catalogs in libraries? For this mixed methods study, data was collected through online surveys and semi-structured interviews. Forty-eight individuals who have assisted with the implementation of a facet-based catalog at their libraries responded to the survey, and nine of these were also interviewed. Study participants provided their own understanding of facets as well as reflections on the processes by which the facet-based catalog was chosen, and how facets were selected. The findings of this study revealed that participants were inclined to view facets in one of two ways; as interface refinement and filtering tool or as a characteristic or attribute common to a set of information objects. Study participants held a fairly sophisticated view of facets which was informed by the history of facets in library and information science, information architecture and web design, and, most notably, their application in library catalogs. While libraries endeavor to create facets and catalogs which are useful and user-friendly, obstacles remain such as staff indifference, cataloging and metadata problems, and software and system constraints. The findings of this study may provide information professionals with useful information to support the development and implementation of increasingly sophisticated and useful facet-based catalogs, as well as have implications for LIS educators and researchers.%%%%Ph.D., Information Studies  – Drexel University, 2016

How to Successfully Survive a Mandated Project.

Citations

It Takes a Village: Developing Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms

Facets in Library Catalogs: The Beliefs, Behaviors, Policies and Practices That Guide Implementation

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