Showing papers on "Cataloging published in 1989"

Rethinking Subject Cataloging in the Online Environment.

Abstract: Rethinking Subject Cataloging in the Online Environment New search capabilities in online catalogs have numerous implications for (1) the use of subject cataloging in existing records, (2) the design of thesauri, and (3) the design of the online catalog user-system interface. Online search capabilities are themselves seen as a form of indexing, and it is argued that access is determined by the total mix of preexisting and added "search capability" indexing. The design of a "superthesaurus" as part of a friendly front-end user interface is described. Said thesaurus is geared to the needs of users rather than indexers and incorporates the findings of recent research on the patterns of subject description by searchers. Its design also reflects the different demands of online searching as opposed to manual searching. The introduction of online catalogs into libraries opens up impressive new possibilities of retrieval power and ease of use for ourselves and our clients.[1,2] Our task now is to design the intellectual content and arrangement of catalogs so as to take maximum advantage of these new technical capabilities. In order to do that, we need to understand the interaction between the database--the bibliographic records--and the search capabilities of the online system. There are many ramifications, some obvious and others quite subtle, of this interaction. This article develops these ramifications in three areas relating to subject cataloging: * role of present subject cataloging in existing records * subject headings/thesaurus design * system-user interface design Throughout the discussion, emphasis will be on improving user access and retrieval effectiveness. PRESENT ROLE OF SUBJECT CATALOGING A note on terminology: Throughout this article, the terms indexing and subject cataloging are used interchangeably. Similarly, thesaurus is used to refer both to Library of Congress Subject Headings (more precisely called a subject heading list), as well as to other term lists more conventionally referred to as thesauri. The distinctions between subject cataloging and indexing as processes and between subject heading lists and thesauri are important more for historical reasons than for present practice. Though differences may still be discerned, so many changes in thinking about them are necessitated by the new circumstances associated with the online environment that traditional distinctions are largely meaningless. Based on our experience with card catalogs, we have been conditioned to think of the subject indexing in a catalog as consisting of subject headings and classification numbers. When a card catalog is put online it is natural, then, to continue this assumption--to think of the indexing in an online catalog as consisting of the subject elements already present in the database before it was automated. We think of an online catalog as simply the same catalog we had before, but now online-accessible. But, in fact, online search capabilities themselves constitute a form of indexing. Subject access to online catalogs is thus a combination of original indexing and what we might call "search capabilities indexing" (more on this presently). The interactions between these two kinds of indexing can be subtle. A range of search capabilities is superimposed on textual materials of various kinds in the bibliographic record, including natural and controlled languages. The resulting interaction has a variety of effects on the quality of searches done by users of online catalogs. The effects are not only additive. Sometimes they cancel each other out or are so synergistic as to be multiplicative. Typical online search capabilities are keyword searching, Boolean searching, truncation, and multi-index searching (that is, combining query terms from more than one index, e. …

Library Automation: An Overview.

Abstract: SINCETHE 1960s, libraries have used technology in general, and computers in particular, to automate a wide range of administrative, public, and technical services tasks. Designed as an overview of major facets of automation activity, this article surveys the current state of computer applications in six areas of library work: circulation control, descriptive cataloging, catalog maintenance and production, reference service, acquisitions, and serials control. For each area, the discussion briefly indicates the motives for automation and describes current dominant approaches, citing examples of representative products and services.

Automated title page cataloging: a feasibility study

Abstract: The cost of original cataloging remains a substantial expense for libraries and a hindrance to rapid availability of newly published materials. We have prototyped a rule-based system to explore the impediments to automating descriptive cataloging from title pages. Our test results suggest that it is possible to capture a substantial part of the regularity in title page layout in a small set of rules. Our system correctly identified over 80% of the bibliographic fields present on a random sample of title pages. Significant unsolved problems include the difficulty of incorporating a cataloger's general knowledge about the world in such a system, the complexity and irregularity of cataloging rules, and lack of reliable data capture techniques. Nonetheless, the methods explored hold promise for advancing the state of the art in the automation of cataloging and document format recognition.

The quest for a code, or a brief history of the computerized cataloging of art objects

Abstract: Despite a 20-year effort to develop a code for the description and cataloging of art objects, the art world has not yet developed standard practices for these functions. This failure is explained in part by the redefinition of the goal which has taken place during the three phases of this search: unity in the late '60s, diversity in the '70s, and harmonization in the '80s. This account identifies the principal organizations active in this quest, and describes changes in goals and circumstances during these slightly-more-than-two decades.

The roles of collection and the scope of collection development

Abstract: Libraries assemble very large quantities of materials. These collections perform three quite different roles: archival, dispensing, and bibliographic. The bibliographic role of the collection is compared with bibliographies and catalogues. The distinction between materials and collection development is basic. Collection development in libraries is analogous to file organisation in computing systems and, although commonly viewed narrowly as selection for acquisition, includes a range of decisions which determine the profile of any collection. The rise of remotely‐accessible materials makes possession less important relative to access, has important consequences for all three roles of collections, and indicates a shift in emphasis away from collection development and conventional catalogues and toward bibliography and cooperation.

Recruiting, educating, and training cataloging librarians : solving the problems

Abstract: Preface Introduction Keynote Address The More Things Change ... Session on Recruiting Cataloging Librarians Session Keynote Address Recruitment: The Way Ahead Recruiting, What Next? Recruitment, a Positive Process Are We Teaching Dinosaurs to Forage: Recruiting Catalogers to the Profession A Network of Professionals Recruiting (In Lieu of a Staff of Professional Recruiters) Recruiting Catalogers: Three Sets of Strategies The Evolving Public/Technical Services Relationship: New Opportunities for Staffing the Cataloging Function Beneath the Stereotyping: Matching Recruitment to Reality Recruiting Catalogers at the Louisiana State University Libraries Session on Educating Cataloging Librarians Session Keynote Address Educating Cataloging Librarians: Its Art and Craft Making Cataloging Interesting Preaching to the Unconverted: The Cataloging Educator's Challenge The Crisis in Cataloging: A Feminist Hypothesis Responding to Change: New Goals and Strategies for Core Cataloging Courses Alternatives for Educating Catalogers: A Small Library School Perspective Using Computers to Enhance Cataloging Productivity Cataloging Education in the Library and Information Science Curriculum Session on Training Cataloging Librarians Session Keynote Address Developing Catalogers for the Nation: Problems and Issues in Training Cataloging Librarians for the Future The Role of Training in the Changing Cataloging Environment Training and Continuing Education for Catalogers: The Electronic Environment of the 1990s Training the Cataloger: A Harvard Experience Standards, Volume, and Trust in the Shared Cataloging Environment: Training Approaches for the Smaller Library Dollars and Sense: Training Catalogers Using Management Tools for Cataloging Discussions Selected Bibliography Index

Cataloging and expert systems: AACR2 as a knowledge base

Abstract: A project where two expert systems were built for library cataloging is described. The main task for these systems was to choose access points, identifying main and added entries. The resulting ESSCAPE systems and the increased understanding of the cataloging process and AACR2 developed in the project are discussed. Some of the insights gained are presented under headings such as: Expert systems and cataloging, Cataloging as interpretation, The structure of AACR2. Some reflections on rule sets in general are also included. The general conclusion is that at present expert systems for cataloging can be used to produce correct bibliographic records, which might be useful in nontraditional environments. In normal library settings such systems would seem to be less meaningful, however. The research reported here was funded by grants from the Swedish Delegation for Scientific and Technical Information. The ESSCAPE project was also presented at the 51st IFLA Council and General Conference, Chicago, August 18–24, 1985. © 1989 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Bibliographic Networking in the Arabian Gulf Region

Abstract: The development of a bibliographic network to serve the needs of the academic, research, and special libraries in the Arabian Gulf region has long been the dream of professionals in the field. The formulation of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), introduction of automation in libraries, and strong networking capabilities of the DOBIS/LIBIS Library Automated System, hold the promise of shared access to library resources. It is hoped that the recent improvements in telecommunications in the region would further advance the chances of development of a bibliographic network. Introduction of Gulfnet, a computer-to-computer communication link among academic institutions in the Gulf region, should contribute to the development of such a network by facilitating interlibrary loan services. In this venture toward greater regional library cooperation the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) Library can serve as a central node by providing a central database for online cataloging, cooperative acquisition...

Library Management and Emerging Technology: The Immovable Force and the Irresistible Object.

Abstract: SCENARIO: Professor B., a member of the History Department faculty, sits at his PC, located in his departmental office and linked to the campuswide Local Area Network (LAN), to consult the library catalog by scanning the holdings for definitive works in his area of interest. He finds that three items are on the shelf and then he sends a computer message to the library requesting that they be charged out anddelivered to his office. Finding that a fourth item is already charged out to another user, he places a hold on it. He is disturbed to find that two desired books are not in the collection so he files an order request with the acquisitions department. Another book is not in the local catalog, but he is able to switch his request to a national database where he locates the item at Princeton. He then places an interlibrary loan request. He also finds an article in a journal held by the University of Michigan and requests telefacsimile transmission of the article. Without setting foot in the library building, Professor B. has thus perused the holdings of dozens of libraries, has made arrangements to secure desired material, and has received a copy of a pertinent article, all in a matter of minutes. Indeed, he continues by using the library’s online system as a gateway to external full-text databases of interest to him. Libraries and librarians have been involved with automation for decades; the concepts are no longer new, and people now coming into the library profession cannot imagine cataloging books without OCLC or relying only on hardcopy indexes for a reference search. The technologies discussed here are, for the most part, commonplace in mediumsized and large libraries. Technology, once the special preserve of the

The Literature of Online Public Access Catalogs, 1980-85: An Analysis of Citation Patterns

Abstract: The Literature of Online Public Access Catalogs, 1980-85: An Analysis of Citation Patterns This paper reports the findings of a citation analysis of journal articles published between January 1980 through April 1985 dealing with online public access catalogs. The cited works were analyzed to determine patterns in subject content, date, publication format, authorship affiliation, and type of authorship. The text of the citing articles was analyzed to determine how the cited publication was used within the work. Findings revealed that the literature has many characteristics identified with a scholarly or scientific literature, and also indicate evidence of a research thrust. In recent years, the topic of online public access catalogs has acquired a growing body of literature that reports on a considerable volume of research. This literature documents fast-breaking current developments and presents a wide range of viewpoints and opinions. It reflects a technological phenomenon that, in a relatively short period of time, has revolutionized modes of access to library bibliographic records. This topic interconnects many areas of the profession, such as management, automation, and bibliographic instruction, and consequently engages the attention of information professionals well beyond the immediate areas of cataloging and classification. The subject offers opportunities for research that can evaluate innovative developments and lay the groundwork for exploring potential changes in services based on a wave of technological change. This concentration of research studies comprises one of the research fronts in the discipline of library and information science. An examination of the literature of online public access catalogs can provide a view of publication activity at a key point in the development of the technological change it describes. Citation analysis offers a methodology for the examination, in its attention to characteristics of citations in the literature of a discipline. Authors rely to a considerable extent on previously published materials, and it is these previously published works, cited in the professional literature, that help to shape and direct the works that follow them. A great deal can be learned about the development of dominant themes in the exploitation by libraries of new information technology. CITATION ANALYSIS Citation analysis can reveal patterns in publication that serve as broad indicators of quality of a subject literature, as well as of trends within a discipline. It can address questions such as * How scholarly and how scientific is the literature, as measured by bibliometric criteria for publication and research? * How current is the literature? * How research-oriented is the literature? (To what extent does the literature report on or refer to research?) * How interdisciplinary is the subject literature; and a companion question: How directly related is the cited literature to the subject at hand? * Who is taking part in the research and writing activity? Is the literature written by practitioners, educators, or researchers? * To what extent is the writing and research a collaborative venture? * Through what publication vehicles (e.g., journals, report literature) is the literature made accessible? * How has the literature been used by other authors in subsequent publication and research? Published literature studies in library and information science have identified qualitative and quantitative trends in scholarly research and publications.[1] Observations were drawn from this research about the maturity of the discipline and its relative standing among other areas of study. A few studies focused on the literature of cataloging and classification. …

Are Children and Teenagers Second-Class Users?

Abstract: Are Children and Teenagers Second-Class Users? One very important group of library users is routinely subjected to restrictions regarding access to resources. A number of technical services policies, primarily relating to circulation but also including cataloging and collection development, prevent full access for children and youth. Technical service librarian can work closely with those in youth services so as not to waste the opportunity to make young people full members of the library community. Our profession abounds with a wealth of abstractions about the right of all individuals to information and ideas. There is, however, one very important group of library users to whom this right is routinely denied in practice. Restrictions often dominate our thinking about access to resources for minors. Technical service librarians may believe that the planning and development of policies and practices that restrict young people's access to library resources are in the hands of public service librarians, who have more direct contact with these users. There is evidence, however, that a number of technical services policies, primarily relating to circulation, but also including cataloging and collection development, prevent full access for children and youth. Should a child expect service that recognizes language, decoding, and comprehension skills? In 1977, Broderick expressed deep concern over the rights of children and youth in terms of their access to materials and contended that these problems were (and still are) unresolved dilemmas in children's librarianship. She asked: "Are children's librarians to protect the young, to shield them from ideas and attitudes deemed inappropriate, or are they to provide free access to all materials and trust the children to decide for themselves what is appropriate to their needs and what is not?"[1] Kingsbury's study found the second most important priority to children's coordinators was "to recognize the rights of all children to library services and materials that will provide for individual differences in cultural backgrounds, abilities, and interests and that will help them to develop to their fullest potential."[2] Miller's 1981 article supports youth rights and makes suggestions for children's librarians to ensure that their clients receive adequate services.[3] Young, in another 1981 article, suggests that the children's librarian needs "to be versed in the need for planning as an ongoing process; to be involved in the library's community-needs analysis; and to be included in determining goals, objectives, and policy strategies that will reflect the library's attitude toward children."[4] Young discusses goals of children's services and emphasizes the responsibility of children's librarians to the child. She states that, because of this responsibility, the children's librarian "must be informed about the redefining of library policy at the national level, such as the current wording of the National and Model Interlibrary Loan Codes [that eliminate age discrimination], must recognize it for what it is, and must use it to further the development of all children."[5] Earlier that year Gerhardt, in a generally favorable report on children's access to public library services in the Prince George's County Memorial Library in Maryland, also called on children's librarians to get involved in policy making both within and beyond the library. After lising four "wicked generalizations" about how public libraries make access difficult for children, she challenged readers to do more than just support the "thou shall nots" of the Library Bill of Rights and present "a positive statement on how full library access of minors can be achieved."[6] Library professionals, especially those in the technical services, who control so many of the basic systems undergirding information access, need to be more aware of these concerns and recognize how their work either enhances or prohibits access for young people. …

Subject Access in a Bilingual Online Catalogue

Abstract: Canadian library records, bilingual by statute, are created according to a common set of rules and standards. Subject access to the catalogue remains language dependent. Even searches by classification in some OPACs rely first on an alphabetical index as an entering key. Fully bilingual OPACs with authority control and reciprocal references in one file have yet to appear. Thus far the Canadian Workplace Automation Research Center has produced ISIR/SIRI with an online bilingual thesaurus. The National Library of Canada has developed withh DOBIS a bilingual system providing automatic linkages between records and authority files. But true bilingual searching (a search in one language retrieving records in both languages) could be achieved by a built-in automatic translation module. Total accommodation of diacritical marks by terminal keyboards and display monitors is also a challenge to be met.

Operations handbook for the small academic library

Abstract: Preface Administration Practical Presentation of Cost Data in the Smaller Academic Library The Library Advisory Committee An Overview of the History of Bibliographic Networks Focused on the Impact of the National and Regional Networks Library Cooperative Activity: Common Characteristics of Successful Efforts Personnel Designing Jobs for Changing Libraries Recruitment and Selection of College Librarians Staff Training Student Workers in the College Library Public Services Circulation--The Workhorse Interlibrary Loan Off-Campus Library Services Technical Services Input and Output: Technical Services, 1989 and Beyond Allocation Formulas: The Core of the Acquisition Process Cataloging outside the Network Preservation Programs in Small Academic Libraries Technology Microcomputers in Libraries: Planning for Effective Use Microcomputer Personal Productivity Software CD-ROM in a Small- to Medium-Sized Academic Library Electronic Book Ordering Integrating New Services and Technology into the Library Material Selection Selecting Monographs in a Small Academic Library Guidelines for Periodical Acquisition and Budget Control: An Overview of Selection and Deselection in the Small Academic Library Faculty and Librarian Participation in Selecting Journals for a Small Academic Library Microform Periodicals Academic Media Selection: A Faculty and Librarian Collaboration Facilities Library Interior Design and Furniture Selection Effective and Efficient Library Space Planning and Design Issues in Academic Librarianship: A Bibliographic Essay Index

Putting the Experience of the World at the Nation's Command: Music at the Library of Congress, 1800-1917

Abstract: Between 1800 and 1917 the music section at the Library of Congress grew from a few items in The Gentleman9s Magazine to almost a million items. The history of this development provides a unique view of the infant discipline of musicology and the central role that libraries played in its growth in the United States. Between 1800 and 1870 only 500 items were acquired by the music section at the Library of Congress. In 1870 approximately 36,000 copyright deposits (which had been accumulating at several copyright depositories since 1789) enlarged the music section by more than seventy fold. After 1870 the copyright process brought an avalanche of music items into the Library of Congress. In 1901 Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress, hired American-born, German-educated Oscar Sonneck to be the second Chief of the Music Division. Together Putnam and Sonneck produced an ambitious acquisitions program, a far-sighted classification, cataloging, and shelving scheme, and an extensive series of publications. They were part of Putnam9s strategy to transform the Library of Congress from a legislative into a national library. Sonneck wanted to make American students of music independent of European libraries and to establish the discipline of musicology in the United States. Through easy access to comprehensive and diverse collections Putnam and Sonneck succeeded in making the Library of Congress and its music section a symbol of the free society that it served.

The Birth of a Network: The Brazilian Struggle

Abstract: A national plan for university libraries in Brazil recommends a center for cooperative cataloging, a standard format for computerized cataloging, and development of an online network of libraries. Problems associated with online network implementation in Brazil, such as computer import restrictions, changes in government agencies, and an historical lack of resource sharing, are discussed. The prognosis is positive; the need and motivation are strong.

Sampling the Cataloging Backlog: The University of Wyoming Library's Experience.

Abstract: The intent of this cataloging backlog project was to determine if there were specific categories of materials for which Library of Congress cataloging co y would be found within a limited period of time, and alternative, if there were identifiable categories of materials which should receive immediate local cataloging attention. A year's backlog at the University of Wyoming Library was sampled to learn some of the specific characteristics of these uncataloged materials. Among the characteristics included were the material's Library of Congress cataloging priority, subject areas, purchase plan, and type of cataloging copy available on OCLC. In addition to giving information about materials acquired but unavailable for use in a specific collection, this study provides a model for other backlog studies

Library Applications of Knowledge-Based Systems

Abstract: Computer-based systems capable of performing a variety of tasks which are regarded as requiring intelligence are finding their way into library operations and services. This paper identifies a broad range of library applications for expert systems. Descriptions of developments include systems for document selection, cataloging, classification, reference, retrieval, and instruction. It may be time for the library profession to consider the effects of expert systems on job structuring and content.

Serials Cataloging Handbook: An Illustrative Guide to the Use of Aacr2 and Lc Rule Interpretations

Abstract: Since publication of the first edition of the "Serials Cataloging Handbook", a number of major changes have occurred in the world of serials cataloguing, making it more complex than ever. Now, this guide to cataloguing and classifying serials has been completely updated and expanded. This revised edition incorporates the changes in serials cataloguing resulting from the "Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, Second Edition", 1988 revision, along with the 1993 Amendments. Other changes have resulted from the LCR Rule Interpretations (LCRI) as well as enhancements to the USMARC formats, the implementation of Format Integration in 1995 (phase 1) and in 1996 (phase 2), and from the need to provide access to various types of electronic resources. The "Serials Cataloging Handbook" Second Edition merges the new rules and interpretations into a case method and problem-centred approach to discussing situations encountered in actual serials cataloguing. The comprehensive revision covers all aspects of current serials cataloguing practice and methods, and all of the previous edition's sections have been updated with new examples and problems. Anyone who needs to know the latest rules on serials cataloguing - and how to apply them everyday - should consider the new "Serials Cataloguing Handbook" a useful volume.

Automatic extraction and classification of data items from library cataloging cards by a knowledge-based approach

Abstract: An experimental approach to extracting and classifying data items automatically from library cataloging cards is presented. A basic strategy in this approach is to utilize various kinds of knowledge cooperatively. For example, for cataloging cards this would include the card structure, relationships among data items, and data format information. Unlike many traditional character recognition approaches, the authors' approach is adaptable to cataloging cards composed of blurred and indistinct characters and/or described by various layout structures. >

The exhibition catalog as source of artists' primary documents

Abstract: Exhibition catalogs and related ‘ephemera’ frequently include statements by artists which can be regarded as primary documents. Artists’ statements which are included in catalogs of group exhibitions tend to be relatively difficult to access and so are easily overlooked, while statements included in ephemeral publications associated with group exhibitions are virtually irretrievable even when such material is retained by libraries. Some help is available from published bibliographies and online databases; more thorough cataloging procedures are also available.

The MARC Archival and Manuscripts Control (AMC) Format: A New Direction in Cataloging

Abstract: The development and use of the MARC Archival and Manuscript Control (AMC) format is described. The format's unique characteristics stem largely from the needs of the archival community for both a uniform means of control of materials at the collection level and a powerful tool for exchanging information about archival holdings. AMC cataloging does not replace, but rather forms an additional component of traditional archival arrangement and description activities. Unique aspects of AMC cataloging are described, including differing approaches to access points, form of entry, title, physical description, notes, subject headings, and call numbers.