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Showing papers on "Cataloging published in 1992"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A classification system is proposed that can classify documents without human intervention and can incorporate both classification by subject and by other forms of bibliographic information, allowing for the generalization of browsing to include all features of an information carrying unit.
Abstract: A document classifier places documents together in a linear arrangement for browsing or high-speed access by human or computerized information retrieval systems. Requirements for document classification and browsing systems are developed from similarity measures, distance measures, and the notion of subject aboutness. A requirement that documents be arranged in decreasing order of similarity as the distance from a given document increases can often not be met. Based on these requirements, information-theoretic considerations, and the Gray code, a classification system is proposed that can classify documents without human intervention. It provides a theoretical justification for individual classification numbers going from broad to narrow topics when moving from left to right in the classification number. A general measure of classifier performance is developed, and used to evaluate experimental results comparing the distance between subject headings assigned to documents given classifications from the proposed system and the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) system. Browsing in libraries, hypertext, and databases is usually considered to be the domain of subject searches. The proposed system can incorporate both classification by subject and by other forms of bibliographic information, allowing for the generalization of browsing to include all features of an information carrying unit. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

31 citations


Journal Article
TL;DR: Browsing is an important aspect of the information-seeking activities of library users and is primarily visual, but second-generation OPACs lack lack necessary visual characteristics for browsing, and Public Access Catalog Extension (PACE) is designed as an alternative interface based on mental images of users and MARC records.
Abstract: Browsing is an important aspect of the information-seeking activities of library users and is primarily visual. Second-generation OPACs lack lack necessary visual characteristics for browsing. These characteristics may be best implemented through simulation of images of books and library shelves on the computer monitors. To mimic users" mental models of the real world may be costly, however, unless new interfaces can tap into existing sources of information. A possible solution may be found in using the information embedded in the MARC record pertaining to the physical description of a book. Public Access Catalog Extension (PACE) is designed as an alternative interface based on mental images of users and MARC records. In the 1960s MARC was introduced to the library world; in the 1970s automated cataloging systems were developed; and in the 1980s came the introduction of online public access catalogs (OPACs). As each decade passed, sophisticated systems were produced and implemented to automate library functions and to provide end users with more efficient and effective services. Today, automated systems are used extensively in different information environments and online catalogs have had overwhelming acceptance by the public, replacing the more traditional card catalogs. (1) OPACs have evolved from the first to the second generation, enabling users to search through keywords in a variety of fields using Boolean logic, truncation, and proximity operators. In addition, many second-generation systems enable end users to have access to two or more search modes, such as menus and commands, and several display options. These OPACs, however, are different from commercial databases available through systems such as DIALOG and BRS in several respects. They are primarily designed for end users. They do not have extensive descriptors, abstracts, or many other accessible fields as traditional online bibliographical databases do. Furthermore, they cover a variety of subjects and are not confined to a particular discipline. (2) Traditionally, OPACs have involved mini or mainframe computers in a multi-user environment. With the introduction of CD-ROMs, a new generation of online catalogs, sometimes referred to as PACs (public access catalogs), has emerged in the market. PACs have been associated with single-user computing, but some may be used in a network environment. The distinction between the two categories of online catalogs has become blurry; one CD-ROM vendor reports that its largest system serves over 250 stations and includes two million records. (3) Using the microcomputer's graphic capabilities, user interfaces of CD-ROM PACs are generally more "friendly" than OPACs, with such features as help windows and pull-down menus. Despite their sophisticated retrieval engines, research shows users have a number of problems in interacting with OPACs. An in-depth analysis of these problems may be found in a recent article by Martha M. Yee, who has reviewed over 150 studies in this area. (4) Yee summarizes the obstacles facing users of OPACs as: finding appropriate subject terms, large number of hits and failure to reduce the retrieval sets, zero hits and failure to increase the retrieval sets, failure to understand cataloging rules, and spelling and typographical errors. In addition, lack of understanding of the indexes, files, and the basic database structure has led to the use of articles, stop words, inputting author's first name before the last name, and hyphenation problems. Interfaces and retrieval systems have caused a few problems of their own--namely, complex interfaces and the need for training and relearning when used infrequently, incomprehensible error messages, problems associated with displays both for brief records and for complete cataloging information, incomprehensible HELP messages, and predicaments of Boolean logic. These problems have prompted one researcher to state that the second-generation OPACs, like many other online retrieval systems, are "powerful and efficient but are dumb, passive systems which require resourceful, active, intelligent human searchers to produce acceptable results. …

29 citations


Journal Article
TL;DR: Characteristics of interest were language, place of publication, publication date, subject, and bibliographic format, as it was though such factors might prove useful in predicting particular types of relationships for future cataloging systems.
Abstract: In 1986 an empirical study was conducted to examine the extent of bibliographic relationships (equivalence, derivative, descriptive, whole-part, accompanying, sequential and shared caracteristics) as reflected in their frequency of occurrence within the 1986-July 1986 machine-readable database of the Library of Congress. Frequency of occurrence was determined by counting the incidences of specific codes associated with each relationship type within the machine-readable records. Also examined were characteristics of bibliographic items exhibiting particular relationships. Characteristics of interest were language, place of publication, publication date, subject, and bibliographic format, as it was though such factors might prove useful in predicting particular types of relationships for future cataloging systems.

26 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 1992
TL;DR: The expert system used to determine whether sets of records that appeared to be for the same monograph were in fact duplicates was outlined and problems and further developments in automated examination of bibliographic records are discussed.
Abstract: The QUALCAT project at the University of Bradford attempted to apply automated quality control to databases of bibliographic records. Sets of records, putative duplicates, that appeared to be for the same monograph were grouped together and an expert system used to determine whether they were in fact duplicates, and if so which were the best records. This paper outlines the expert system used and discusses problems and further developments in automated examination of bibliographic records.

25 citations


Journal Article
TL;DR: Investigating changes in task times, staffing patterns, and personnel costs as automation is expanded identifies both continuity and change in the amount of time spent on all activities over a multi-year period.
Abstract: Staff Time and Costs for Cataloging For years now, automation has had a major impact on technical services, and will continue to do so. Very different views of its effect on technical services staffing exist. One view expressed by Phelps and Getz, based on their cost study research, is that the "scope for reduction of labor costs in technical services due to automation is relatively limited as long as libraries continue to acquire and own materials in traditional ways."[1] However, within the Iowa State University Library (ISUL) there is the perception by some, and certainly the hope by many, that automation will allow reductions in staffing and costs within traditional technical services, providing the opportunity for shifting staff resources to new service areas. Research on the longitudinal impact of automation on technical services personnel time and costs will shed light on what is happening to staffing costs and patterns. In 1987 the Technical Services Division of the Iowa State University Library began a longitudinal study of all personnel time and costs. Staff record all time worked in a week according to defined tasks grouped within cost centers. Exact salaries with benefits are collected for each staff member. From these data the amount of time spent at tasks and within cost centers, as well as the associated costs, can be calculated. The data analyzed in this article cover sixteen sample weeks over a three-year period. The purpose of the research project is to investigate changes in task times, staffing patterns, and personnel costs as automation is expanded. The study also provides a wealth of management and planning information. The Iowa State focus on actual measurement of time spent at tasks over a multi-year period identifies both continuity and change in the amount of time spent on all activities. This perspective provides the opportunity to analyze the changes in tasks and the time spent on them as automation expands and improves. Because actual salaries can be assigned to the task times, cost analysis is also an ongoing result of the study. In this article, cataloging personnel time and costs are highlighted. At the time of sample week sixteen, technical services at ISUL was divided into two departments, Cataloging and Acquisitions (see figure 1). There were 15.8 faculty, 1 professional and scientific position, 50 support staff, and about 370 hours of student assistants weekly. On the average, 3,100 hours (including paid leave) were worked weekly. The Cataloging Department was divided into three sections: Monographic Cataloging including pre-order searching, Serials Cataloging, and Catalog Management. Staff involved in Cataloging tasks include Library Assistants I, II, III, and IV and faculty catalogers. Student hourly employees work in various support activities. Time and Cost Study Methodology Task and Center Definitions To facilitate analysis of all technical services time, centers divided by tasks were established. All actual work is grouped into seven centers, and an eight center, Leave, tracks sick leave, vacation, and holiday time. One hundred thirty total tasks are divided among the centers as shown in table 1. Table : TABLE 1 Technical Services Centers and Tasks Number of Centers Tasks Ordering/Receiving/Claiming 27 Cataloging 14 Volume Preparation 19 Catalog Maintenance 21 Automation 12 Conversion 14 Miscellaneous 20 Leave 3 The time and cost study centers are defined as follows: 1. Ordering/Receiving/Claiming: Includes all the order, receiving, and claiming functions as well as the maintenance of associated files, but not the selection of materials. …

20 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors provides a critique of the Cochrane/Kirtland study and a survey of the literature concerning the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) during the 1980s.
Abstract: Pauline Cochrane and Monika Kirtland's "Critical Views of LCSH-Library of Congress Subject Headings: A Bibliographic and Bibliometric Essay" published in Cataloging & Classification Quarterly v.1 (2/3) 1982, pp. 71-93 has been widely cited as a source for discussion and complaints about Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). Cochrane and Kirtland cover the literature from 1944 to 1979. The present work provides a critique of the Cochrane/Kirtland study and a survey of the literature concerning the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) during the 1980. The classified bibliography is arranged according to the format of the Cochrane/Kirtland study to facilitate comparison. Criticism of LCSH reiterates the same points over and over again, whether it is sparseness, bias or currency of the subject headings. Significant trends which emerged in the 1980s include an increased emphasis on the use of LCSH as an online searching tool, concern for the syndetic structure of LCSH and the role of subdivisions...

20 citations


Journal Article
TL;DR: It is submitted that cataloging and classifi cation (a.k.a. bibliographic control) is the only candidate to be the center of educa tion for librarianship.
Abstract: Learning is, in great part, a matter of training the mind to analyze and organize the data, information, and knowledge with which it is presented throughout life. The vehicle for that train ing should be rigorous, intellectually satis fying, coherently structured, and of practical usefulness. By that standard, I would submit that cataloging and classifi cation (a.k.a. bibliographic control) is the only candidate to be the center of educa tion for librarianship. Before expanding on this idea and ex ploring its ramifications, I would like to share my thoughts on library education in general. As I see it, the problems with American library education stem from two great issues. The first is the unresolved matter of the difference between education for librarianship and training to work in a library. The blame can be divided equally. On the one hand, we have library educa tors who deride libraries and librarians from an invincible position of practical ig norance. On the other, we also have many librarians who expect recent library gradu ates to be trained to work in their libraries and who dismiss all research/publication and professional activities as tomfoolery and egotistical puffery. The second great problem is that of the pernicious and pointless pseudo-discipline

17 citations


Journal Article
TL;DR: This article discussion is limited to the devices used as links for bibliographic relationships: multiple entries, cross-references, added entries, and entries based on multilevel description.
Abstract: The History of Linking Devices In the first two articles in this series, a taxonomy of bibliographic relationships was reported and an overview of the treatment of the various relationships in cataloging rules was presented. A review of principal sets of cataloging rules from Panizzi to the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, second edition (AACR2)[1] revealed an interesting evolution in the various linking devices used in library catalogs over the years. "Linking devices" are those specific devices within the catalog that connect or link bibliographic records for related items. We now turn to an examination of each device, indicating its specific use as a linking mechanism. Linking devices encompass the following: 1. Catalog entries Multiple entries Common main-entry headings Dash entries Analytical entries Cross-references See also references See references Added entries Name, title, and series added entries Multilevel description 2. Uniform titles 3. Other linking devices Notes, including contents, annotations of a library's holdings, etc. References to multiple entries or headings Edition statements Series statements Additions to the physical description Often a device used to show relationships is also used for other purposes. For example, an added entry heading is used to link two bibliographic records, but it may also act simply as an access point for one bibliographic record. In the first situation, it expresses a bibliographic relationship, while in the second it merely identifies an access point. In this article discussion is limited to the devices used as links for bibliographic relationships. CATALOG ENTRIES[2] Various types of catalog entries have been used as linking devices: multiple entries, cross-references, added entries, and entries based on multilevel description. It is probably not surprising that changes in such entries directly correspond to changes in the physical form of library catalogs. Just as catalogs emerged from inventory lists on clay tablets and progressed through handwritten card catalogs, typeset book catalogs, and printed or typed card catalogs to arrive at computerized, computer-output microform (COM) and online catalogs, so catalog entries have evolved from single, brief entries on a chronological list and progressed through single-author entries and cross-references in book catalogs, and more complex added entries in card catalogs, to arrive at the present records in machine-readable form based on the MARC format. Panizzi's rules, published in 1841, suited the then-predominant book and handwritten card catalogs. As a result of the economic restrictions on the size of book catalogs and the extensive time involved in writing cards for the handwritten card catalogs, Panizzi's rules called for a bibliographic item to be described in full only once, by means of an "entry." To provide more complete access to the entries and to make the catalog more than a mere finding list or inventory of the collection, the rules called for "cross-references." Panizzi's three classes of cross-references linked (1) name to name, (2) name to work, (3) work to work. The first class of cross-references referred the catalog user from a variant form of name to the form chosen for an "entry heading." The second class of cross-references directed the user to a catalog entry for a work from headings that might be considered equally as important as the main heading in accessing the entry. Such headings included personal, corporate, conference, and geographic names, as well as the names of works, i.e., titles. The third class served to direct the user from one work to another work, most commonly from parts of a work to the whole work in which they were contained. …

14 citations



Journal Article
TL;DR: Hopes to develop a universal character set are described, and its potential effect on USMARC is described, so that text in the authentic script(s) may be included in bibliographic records.
Abstract: The representation of nonroman scripts in Latin characters causes information to be distorted in various ways. USMARC now provides for "alternate graphic representation," so that text in the authentic script(s) may be included in bibliographic records. As more library systems with nonroman capability are developed, conformance to standards for the encoding of nonroman data becomes more critical. The development of a single global character set standard is a significant change that must be accommodated in USMARC. In Rule 1.0E, AACR2 mandates that the bibliographic description be written in the same script as the source of information "if practicable." (1) For more than a decade, machine-readable cataloging and bibliographic transcription in a nonroman script were mutually exclusive. During this period, the only way to represent nonroman data in machine-readable form was by transcription into Latin letters (romanization). The first part of this paper criticizes romanization as information distortion. The USMARC Format for Bibliographic Data was modified to accommodate nonroman scripts in 1984. (2) The previous September, a Chinese/Japanese/Korean (CJK) capability had been added to the Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) system. (3) The USMARC modifications are outlined in the second part of this paper, since not all readers will be familiar with them. The remainder of this paper describes efforts to develop a universal character set, and its potential effect on USMARC. ROMANIZATION AS INFORMATION DISTORTION Currently, most local systems are limited to Latin script; romanization is necessary if the automated catalog is to be a comprehensive representation of the library's holdings. The practice of romanization has two causes: the lack of the proper typographical facilities and the concept of the "universal" catalog, "the catalog in which all items in the collection are entered in a single alphabet from A to Z, regardless of language, regardless of form, regardless of subject. The American ideal." (4) The deficiencies of romanization from the point of view of the reader have been documented. (5-7) However, many nonspecialist librarians are unaware of the deficiencies and still regard romanization as adequate for access. Language experts reject this view; they persuaded the Library of Congress (LC) to continue to provide original script cataloging on cards for material in the so-called JACKPHY languages: Japanese, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Persian (Farsi), Hebrew, and Yiddish. Not only does romanization impede access, it distorts the presentation of information in a number of ways. The presentation of the text is unnatural. Distinctions present in the original language may be lost, or distinctions not present in the original script may be artificially created. Different transliteration schemes are used in different countries or contexts. Finally, the normalization used in automated indexing and searching, when applied to romanized text, introduces another layer of distortion. Unnatural Presentation Romanization is the presentation of language text in unfamiliar letters. Readers of a language may, in time, become used to a particular romanization scheme, and be able to read their language even when it is written in Latin letters. In the People's Republic of China, pinyin, the national standard for the romanization of Chinese, has a number of applications: it is used to show the pronunciation of ideographs (in which Chinese is normally written), and it underlies a system of finger-spelling for the blind. A reader faced with text rendered in an unfamiliar way may find it incomprehensible. This can be illustrated by the case of alternative romanization methods. Hebraica bibliographers in the United States have become used to reading Hebrew written in Library of Congress romanization (which includes the vowels that are usually omitted in Hebrew orthography). …

13 citations


Journal Article
TL;DR: The article provides background information on the processing of Arabic materials using a combination of local and modified cataloging rules and the creation of the Arabic card catalog at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Library (KFUPM), and presents various options considered for developing the Arabized version of DOBIS/LIBIS.
Abstract: The article provides background information on the processing of Arabic materials using a combination of local and modified cataloging rules and the creation of the Arabic card catalog at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Library (KFUPM). It also gives a brief history of KFUPM library automation and then presents various options considered for developing the Arabized version of DOBIS/LIBIS. Finally, the functions and features of the Arabic online catalog are described. King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM, formerly UPM) was founded as a college in 1963. The status of the college was later changed to a university in 1975. KFUPM provides advanced training of students in the fields of science and engineering to prepare them for service and leadership in the Kingdom's petroleum and mineral industries. (1) The academic programs of the university are well supported by a central library with a strong collection of more than 250,000 volumes. Because the university's main focus is on study and teaching in scientific and technical areas, the library's collection is comprised mostly of non-Arabic materials. Only about 7.5 percent of its collection is in Arabic, most of which supports the Islamic and Arabic studies programs. PROCESSING OF ARABIC MATERIALS The Arabic collection of the library received less attention than others in both development and processing. Until 1976, there was only one person with a professional degree in library science, responsible for acquisitions, bibliographic control, shipment clearance, and all paperwork regarding Arabic materials. For processing, a brief description of books was provided on cards without much attention to cataloging rules. For classification, a temporary modified Dewey Decimal Classification scheme was used, according to which a book was assigned a call number composed of a general number for the class, followed by a slash and an accession number. (2) It was soon realized that the local system for processing Arabic materials was creating access problems. For example, a second copy of a title would appear with a call number different from the first copy, whereas two separate books were at times assigned the same call number. A decision was made therefore to shift from the local system to a standard cataloging system using AACR, Library of Congress (LC) Subject Headings, and the LC Classification Scheme. The idea was also to make use of the LC card sets. To save effort and time in consulting two separate catalogs for Arabic and non-Arabic materials, integration of the two was considered necessary. The transliterated LC cards enabled us to interfile them with the non-Arabic catalog cards. However, to satisfy the library patrons, who still preferred access to the collection through the Arabic alphabet, an Arabic title file was provided wherein one card in every card set was arranged alphabetically by Arabic title. On the other hand, the Arabic collection was also integrated with the non-Arabic collection so that the readers could browse the library's holdings in their subject of interest in one area of the stacks. The decision to adopt a transliterated system for Arabic material was taken also in view of a growing backlog of Arabic books for cataloging and the shortage of Arabic catalogers. The idea was to make use of the LC catalog records and thus reduce the amount of original cataloging. This decision ran against the general feeling of the Arabic speakers who take pride in their native language and show strong opposition to subordinating Arabic to another language in bibliographic records. It was observed that fewer and fewer people were using the card catalog. They resented this scheme and were not willing to learn it. In 1979, the policy was modified to drop transliteration practice in favor of vernacular script records, except for subject heading and class number, which remained in English. …

Journal Article
TL;DR: The inadequacy of current methods of access to works of fiction in academic and public libraries is discussed, and a rationale for providing enhanced catalog access to diction is presented.
Abstract: The inadequacy of current methods of access to works of fiction in academic and public libraries is discussed. A rationale for providing enhanced catalog access to diction is presented; the literature on subject-and-genre access to fiction is reviewed. A preliminary study in providing enhanced catalog access to fiction is described and its findings compared with a similar study conducted by the Subject Cataloging Division of the Library of Congress

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The data for the Serials Cataloging Section, present times and costs associated with serials cataloging at ISU, compare them with monographic cataloging times and cost, and explain the use and importance of the information are analyzed.
Abstract: All Technical Services staff at Iowa State University (ISU) Library are involved in an ongoing time and cost study which began in April 1987. Since the initiation of this research project, nineteen one-week samples have been taken. In this article we will analyze the data for the Serials Cataloging Section, present times and costs associated with serials cataloging at ISU, compare them with monographic cataloging times and costs, and explain the use and importance of the information.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Automation of vendor files and integrated library systems are changing the process of collection development, the role of the collection developer, the relationship between libraries and vendors, and even the library's organization.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article begins with a folksy exploration of the evolution of audiovisual materials as an important media and discusses the tendency within the cataloging community to treat these materials differently from print publications, i.e., give them less-than-full cataloging.
Abstract: This article begins with a folksy exploration of the evolution of audiovisual materials as an important media. It then discusses the tendency within the cataloging community to treat these materials differently from print publications, i.e., give them less-than-full cataloging. Handman then discusses the Impact of minimal-level cataloging on the ability of the user to retrieve these materials. Handman cites examples where access to them is greatly impeded by the lack of added entries, subject headings and genre headings.

Journal Article
TL;DR: It is widely perceived that spelling errors in OPACs and other large databases are few in number, randomly distributed, and impossible to locate in any systematic fashion, but the results of this study demonstrate that these perceptions are incorrect.
Abstract: In order to find and correct spelling errors in the online public access catalog at Adelphi University, a visual inspection was performed of the 117,000 keywords indexed in the system. More than 1,000 errors were found. Certain long but common words such as administration, education, and commercial were found to generate many different misspellings. Most of the records were derived from bibliographic utilities, so the findings can be generalized to other OPACs. The same misspellings were also found in substantial numbers in CD-ROM databases. Misspellings were analyzed by the machine-readable catalog (MARC) field in which they were found, part of speech, and type of mistake. Lists of commonly misspelled root words and specific mistakes are included. In the years since the online public access catalog (OPAC) has replaced the card catalog as the primary source of bibliographic information in research libraries, much has been written about miskeyings of library users by Peters and Blazek, among others. (1,2) However, little attention has been paid to spelling errors that become a part of the database. Perhaps this is because researchers can work with logs of OPAC transactions to find the searching errors of OPAC users, but there is no easy way to get at misspellings that are in a database containing millions of words. It may be widely perceived that spelling errors in OPACs and other large databases are few in number, randomly distributed, and impossible to locate in any systematic fashion. The results of this study demonstrate that these perceptions are incorrect. HISTORY OF THE STUDY In a recent issue of American Libraries, (3) there appeared a short article describing how Jeffrey Beall at Harvard had found words that are prone to misspelling, such as Febuary or government. Librarians at Adelphi University Library in Garden City, New York, checked the keyword index in the library's Innovative Interfaces OPAC (Innopac) and found single examples of two of the ten words that were featured. According to a formula provided in the article, Adelphi had a very clean database. This was not surprising because the cataloging supervisor has described the operation as one with a history of perfectionism. However, misspelled words did show up occasionally, and the author found a way to make a thorough search of the database for such problems. In the Inoopac system, a successful keyword search will display a record that contains the word that was queried or a menu if there is more than one hit. However, if there is no matching word, it will produce a screen of choices that are nearby in the alphabet. One may then browse forward or backward looking at eight rifles per semen A trial search of the A's was performed by typing in aaaaa and browsing forward through hundreds of screens. The result was the identification of forty-two spelling errors. This justified a search of the 117,000 words that are contained in Adelphi's 310,000 bibliographic records. A complete visual check of the keyword index represented a large volume of work, but it seemed like the only reasonable way to get the problem solved. Normally, two letters were searched in a single workday. Once a potential spelling mistake was identified, the full record was called up and checked for context, e.g., langage is correct in French, but it is a misspelling in English. If it did turn out to be a mistake, the screen containing the incorrect word was printed along with the menu screen of eight words that contained the error. At the end of reviewing a letter, the printout was marked for immediate correction by a student assistant. The system allows the staff member to call up a record, identify the field with the misspelling, and substitute the correct word for the misspelled one. In going through the screens, one major problem was non-English words that contained only a single letter's difference from the English equivalent. …

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the changing role of paraprofessional catalogers in academic libraries is described vis-a-vis their counterparts, the professional catalogers, and the barriers encountered by parapprofessionals are presented and the changing dynamics within cataloging departments are explored.
Abstract: The changing role of paraprofessional catalogers in academic libraries is described vis-a-vis their counterparts, the professional catalogers. Today paraprofessional catalogers are getting involved in what used to be considered "professional work." The issues of educational requirements, cataloging duties, training, and lack of acknowledgement are brought forward. The barriers encountered by paraprofessionals are presented and the changing dynamics within cataloging departments are explored.




Book
10 Mar 1992
TL;DR: This book discusses the Reference/Technical Services Interaction, Revisited, and education for the Dual Role Responsibilities of an Access Services Librarian.
Abstract: Contents Introduction: The Reference/Technical Services Interaction, Revisited * I. Public Services Perspective * Dual Function Librarianship: What Makes it Work? * RLIN Research Access Project: An Education in User Expectations * How Did We Get Here: Thoughts on the Convergence of Reference and Technical Services * Access vs. Ownership: Changing Roles for Librarians * II. Technical Services Perspective * The Blurring of Divisional Lines Between Technical and Public Services: An Emphasis on Access * On Becoming Team Players * Cataloging for Access * Automation, Barriers and Communication: How an Integrated Library System Changes Public Services-Technical Services Relationships * III. The New Access Services * The Climate of Change: Library Organizational Structures, 1985-1990 * From Binomial to Trinomial: The Entrance of Collection Development into the Public/Technical Services Equation * IV. National Library Wide Concerns * Education for the Dual Role Responsibilities of an Access Services Librarian * A United Professional Cadre * From Document Delivery to Information Access: Convergence at the National Level * Special Report: Ranking the Reference Books: Methodologies for Identifying "Key" Reference Sources * Refer Madness: A Sesquilogue * Reference Notes Included


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an analysis of the growing gap in anthropology between book publication output and the aggregate holdings of 70 institutions in the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and discuss the relevance of the new technology to the closely related question of information retrieval in the research process.
Abstract: Literature loss has a dual meaning. In the research process, it refers to the difference between what exists in some published form and what is likely to be found in a literature search. On an institutional level, it refers to the declining ability of American research libraries to maintain comprehensive collections in the wake of the extraordinary growth and price inflation of scholarly literature since the I970s. Recent technological innovations in the library field provide the means not only to measure literature loss on an institutional level but also to alleviate it in one's own research work. An application of this technology to the field of anthropology is presented here in two parts: (i) an analysis of the growing gap in anthropology between book publication output and the aggregate holdings of 70 institutions in the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and (2) a discussion of the relevance of the new technology to the closely related question of information retrieval in the research process. Underlying any analysis of literature loss is the problem of assessing the size of the universal stock of academic books in a given field. That problem has no definitive solution or any prospect of one. Moreover, even if accurate book-publication figures could be compiled worldwide, it would hardly make sense to consider them as realistic or worthy goals for research library collection development. The ancient ideal of the Library of Alexandria-to hold everything ever published-has been considered impossible and undesirable since the early part of this century. For the purpose of the analysis presented here-to assess the financial performance of American research libraries within reasonable bounds-book-publication output is derived from the Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC) Union Catalog (OLUC) bibliographic database. The decision to use this database recognized the utter infeasibility of attempting to locate the publication lists of hundreds of university and trade publishers, scholarly societies, research bodies, and the like, and involved the simplifying assumption that just about any book that appeared over the past decade in the Americas or in Europe would have shown up in the OCLC-OLUC system, which contains the shared cataloging of more than 4,800 libraries, including the Library of Congress, in 26 countries. That part of book output that is held in at least one of the 70 ARL institutions is derived from a different database, the OCLC/AMIGOS Collection Analysis Computer Disk (CACD), developed in I989, which records ARL holdings by year of publication. Figure i compares the aggregate holdings of 70 ARL institutions with total book output in all areas of anthropology for the period I978-87.2 Line A shows that output fluctuated from a high of I,II3 titles in I980 to a low of 934 titles in i982. On average, I,008 titles were published annually, with a standard deviation of 40. Line B shows that holdings in anthropology of the 70 ARL institutions fluctuated from a high of 694 for titles published in I980 to a low of 507 for titles published in I987. On average, 6o6 titles were acquired per year of publication, with a standard deviation of 56. Overall, ARL holdings in anthropology dropped from 66% of book output in the late I970S to 53% in the late I980s. Underlying the deteriorating position of American research libraries are certain inflationary tendencies built into the scholarly communications system. During the I978-87 period, the average price of a hardbound book on anthropology increased I67%, from $18.23 to $30.49 (Bentley I99I:404), and the cumulative inflation rate for institutional subscriptions to anthropology and sociology joumals increased 327%, rising to 45I% by I99I (Carpenter and Alexander I99I:59). Line C demarcates the mainstream literature, books held by at least io% of ARL institutions, from the gray

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors compared the first word of a Library of Congress subject heading with words in the title to find how often there will be a match and suggested some of the reasons for nomatch between subject concept and title concept.
Abstract: Libraries with backlogs of Masters theses which are either uncataloged or need retrospective conversion to online catalogs may wish there were a faster way to catalog. Theses cataloging has been recognized by some as requiring in-depth subject knowledge and has often been seen as a time consuming activity. The initial part of this study compares the first word of a Library of Congress subject heading with words in the title to find how often there will be a match. Degree of match could be some indication of how well subject content is represented in the title and therefore available for retrieval through keyword searching in university and college online catalogs. The second part of this study is more qualitative in nature and suggests some of the reasons for nomatch between subject concept and title concept.

DOI
Suzy Taraba1
21 Sep 1992
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the context and the institutional climate in which rare book and special collections librarians catalog 19th-century materials, and indeed, materials from any century.
Abstract: In this paper I will consider the context and the institutional climate in which rare book and special collections librarians catalog 19th-century materials, and indeed, materials from any century. My perspective on this rather sobering topic is not just that of an administrator’s who manages workflow systems and never sees any real books, let alone books from the 19th century. As the Head of the Rare Materials Cataloging Unit at Duke University, I do have time-consuming administrative responsibilities, but I also continue to set rare materials cataloging policy, to answer cataloging questions, and to catalog some rare materials myself. I . . .

Book
01 Aug 1992
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an overview of graphical user interfaces for OPAC's online public access catalogue and music materials and the Illinois Extended OPAC the human interface, as well as the traditional catalogue record.
Abstract: Part 1 User interfaces: overview of graphical user interfaces the online public access catalogue and music materials the Illinois Extended OPAC the human interface. Part 2 Enhancing the traditional catalogue record: building a better mousetrap - enhanced cataloging and access for the online catalogue subject enrichment using contents or index terms enhancing USMARC records with table of contents. Part 3 Redefining the scope of the OPAC and moving beyond the library walls: the Mercury Project oriental language materials in OPACs cooperative cataloging in Yugoslavia and the development of the OPAC the PACLink project in the state University of New York.


Journal Article
TL;DR: The Newberry Library volunteer program from 1974 to the present is explored as a case study in adapting volunteer service to the needs of research libraries.
Abstract: This article explores volunteerism in American institutions and the founding of institutions through voluntary actions, and examines the potential for volunteer support of libraries. The Newberry Library volunteer program from 1974 to the present is explored as a case study in adapting volunteer service to the needs of research libraries. Volunteers are found to be a major resource to meet present and future needs across a broad spectrum of library activities

DOI
01 Mar 1992
TL;DR: In this current era of belt-tightening in the American academic community, rare book cataloging tends to catch the eye of library administrators desperate to cut costs as discussed by the authors, and there is widespread interest in simplifying cataloging practice in the direction of more limited description and fewer formalized access points.
Abstract: In this current era of belt-tightening in the American academic community, rare book cataloging tends to catch the eye of library administrators desperate to cut costs. Shrinking budgets and bloated backlogs demand that staff chum out as many serviceable bibliographic records as possible, and there is widespread interest in simplifying cataloging practice in the direction of more limited description and fewer formalized access points. Cataloging simplification is in the air.1 In such a climate, it is difficult enough to justify paying skilled staff to create lengthy and elaborate catalog records for rare books; devoting hours of professional time to revising . . .

Journal Article
TL;DR: Random samples of main entries on monograph catalog records created by the Library of Congress and the British Library were compared for the year 1989 in order to examine one aspect of the potential usefulness to the library of Congress of British Library monographs cataloging, especially regarding the extent of agreement in cataloging practice between the two national bibliographic agencies.
Abstract: Random samples of main entries on monograph catalog records created by the Library of Congress and the British Library were compared for the year 1989 in order to examine one aspect of the potential usefulness to the Library of Congress of British Library monograph cataloging, especially regarding the extent of agreement in cataloging practice between the two national bibliographic agencies. It was estimated that between 27.1% and 31.5% of the monograph entries in the printed 1989 annual cumulation of the British National Bibliography had been cataloged by both the British Library and the Library of Congress. It was further estimated that, for both choice and form of main entry, agreement was achieved between 60% and 70% of the time, and for choice of main entry alone, between 96% and 99% of the time