N.S.A.L.T. conference PowerPoint slides (as promised)

The 2009 conference of the Nova Scotia Association of Library Technicians was held Friday, October 23rd in Kentville, Nova Scotia.

My presentation was in two parts. 

Part 1 explained the move toward Social Catalogues, with specific references to AquaBrowser, the social catalogue overlay which my library has chosen.  We are still in the beta testing phase at present, but we are excited about the day it goes ‘live’. 

The ‘Social’ Library Catalogue

Part II gave a rudimentary explanation of RDA, FRBR and the changes we are making to the catalogue in order to make it a more efficient online tool.

RDA is on the way

My handouts included many useful web links on the topics of RDA and FRBR.

RDA
http://www.rdaonline.org/
RDA FAQ
http://www.rda-jsc.org/rdafaq.html
MARC Changes to accommodate RDA
http://www.loc.gov/marc/formatchanges-RDA.html
Joint Steering Committee for RDA
https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/jsc/rda.html
RDA Element Sets and Vocabularies
http://metadataregistry.org/rdabrowse.htm

FRBR
The FRBR Blog:
http://www.frbr.org/
What is FRBR? a brochure created by Barbara Tillett of LC
http://www.loc.gov/cds/downloads/FRBR.pdf
An explanation of FRBR from TechEssence.info
http://techessence.info/frbr
From FRBR to FRAD
http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla75/215-patton-en.pdfen.pdf

Everything you ever wanted to know about LibraryThing.

View this You Tube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4genpc-DZs4&feature=related

Non-fiction films

I apologize up front that this is a RANT.

I catalogue the non-fiction DVDs for my library.  As a result I come across a lot of copy.

What I see all too often is the use of the following two genre headings in the same record !

655  7 $aNon-fiction films.$2lcsh

655  7 $aFeature films.$2lcsh

These are direct opposites!  The non-fiction film is NOT a feature film, rather it is a non-feature.

The LC scope note for Nonfiction films reads:

term stands in opposition to fiction or fiction film and serves to group together all films which are meant to be educational or informational; used for films of a documentary nature and for films which have scientific, industrial, or pratical use; another term is factual film, which in its most restrictive sense only deals with the presentation of facts)

Our library has chosen to use other genre terms for these nonfiction films.  Some of the terms we use are:

655  7 $aDocumentary films.$2lcsh

655  7 $aInstructional videos.$2lcsh

655  7 $aEducational videos.$2lcsh

655  7  $aExercise videos.$2local

We have chosen not to use the Non-fiction films heading.

The Wikipedia definition of a feature film is as follows: a feature film is a film made for initial distribution in theaters and being the “main attraction” of the screening. I think the use of feature films for non-fiction films is confusing for the patrons. That is like saying a non-fiction book is a novel if it is over 500 pages. Just wrong!

Cataloguing items that are part of a series

There seems to be much confusion about the cataloguing of series.

As of June 2006, the Library of Congress no longer authorizes series statements.

However, most cataloguing agencies  (including mine) continue to use/create them.

The 440 tag was made obsolete in December 2008.

The series statement as it appears on the item is entered in a 490 tag.

The authorized form of the series statement is entered in a 8xx tag.

Never use a 490 tag without also using a corresponding 8xx tag.

There is no provision for nonfiling characters in the 490 tag’s indicators. Therefore it is prudent to NOT ENTER initial articles in the series statements.  If initial articles are entered the series will not index correctly.

When in the past you would have entered a 440 tag, you will now use 490 and 830 tags.

The 830 tag is most often used in direct conjunction with and never without the 490 tag with a first indicator of 1.

The 830 tag will include the Library of Congress authorized title of the series and may also include the number assigned to the particular item.

830 tags must always be justified by a 490 tag.

830 tags are used for series that are produced by more than one author or a corporate body.

800 series tags are used in direct conjunction with and never without the 490 tag with a first indicator of 1.

The 800 tag is used when a series statement is entered under the author’s name. (one author is responsibe for the entire series)

The 800 tag will also include the Library of Congress authorized title of the series and may include the number assigned to the particular item.

I hope this post clarifies the subject.  The changes in series cataloguing that have come about in recent years have made many of us confused.  Our databases reflect both the old and the new input practices.  I guess we all have a lot of recon ahead of us.

RDA Carrier type terms

I have been searching online for a list of carrier type terms to be used with RDA.  These carrier type terms will replace the GMDs that we all know and love.

These terms will be entered in the marc record in a 338 tag.    A carrier type term is the term for the category of carrier used to convey the content of the resource.

Example:

338 $aVideodisc.

I have culled the following list from the .pdf document put out by the American Library Association ©2009.

I have included only those most often used.  For a full list you must view the .pdf document !

RDA Carrier Type
Audio Disc. A disc on which sound waves, recorded as modulations, pulses, etc., are incised or indented in a continuous spiral groove.
Audiocassette. A cassette containing an audio tape.
Audiotape Reel. An open reel holding a length of audio tape to be used with reel-to-reel audio equipment.
Computer Disc. A disc containing digitally encoded data, magnetically or optically recorded.
Online Resource. A digital resource accessed by means of hardware and software connections to a communications network.
Microfiche. A sheet of film bearing a number of microimages in a two-dimensional array.
Microfilm. A film bearing a number of microimages in linear array.
Microopaque. A card or sheet of opaque material bearing a number of microimages in a two-dimensional array.
Film Reel. An open reel holding a motion picture film to be used with a motion picture film projector.
Filmstrip. A roll of film, with or without recorded sound, containing a succession of images intended for projection one at a time.
Overhead Transparency. A sheet of transparent material (with or without a protective mount) bearing an image designed for use with an overhead projector.
Slide. A small sheet of transparent material (usually in a protective mount) bearing an image designed for use with a slide projector or viewer.
Card. A small sheet of opaque material.
Object. A three-dimensional artifact (or a replica of an artifact) or a naturally-occurring object.
Sheet. A flat piece of thin material (paper, plastic, etc.).
Volume. One or more sheets bound or fastened together to form a single unit.
Videocassette. A cassette containing a video tape.
Videodisc. A disc on which video signals, with or without sound, are recorded.
Videotape Reel. An open reel holding a video tape for use with reel-to-reel video equipment.

Cookery? not for much longer…

With RDA on the horizon, the Library of Congress is moving toward subject headings that are more in keeping with everyday jargon.  That means that inverted headings are being gradually changed to direct order headings.  This also means that antiquated terminology is being converted to more commonly accepted and understood terms.

A prime example of this trend is described in the .pdf document put out by the  ABA Policy and Standards Division (PSD) of the Library of Congress. In a move to modernize the cookery subject headings, they are in the initial stages of a major clean-up.

It looks like Cookery will be changed to Cooking.  And that’s just the beginning…

Once final decisions have been made, the Subject Headings Manual, H 1475, Cooking and Cookbooks, will be revised

505 Formatted contents notes

As a full-time cataloguer I see a lot of copy.  Lately I’ve noticed that many libraries are beginning to use the formatted contents note.  However, I have noticed some inconsistencies and you can imagine how much that bugs me…

Some put initial articles in a subfield g and some do not.

Examples: ‡tThe maiden’s promise      vs.    ‡gThe‡tmaiden’s promise.

I have searched high and low for a definitive answer and came up with the following from OCLC.

Do not use subfield ‡g to separate initial articles from titles in field 505. Initial articles in titles should be included in subfield ‡t when inputting an enhanced contents note. The correct transcription of formal contents notes is governed by:

• AACR2 rule 2.7B18 and its Library of Congress Rule Interpretation
• The corresponding contents note rules (and Library of Congress Rule Interpretations) in subsequent AACR2 chapters

If anyone can come up with a good argument (with documentation) to refute OCLC’s statements, then I would be very interested in hearing them.   I wonder if the rules are influenced by different software programs.  Perhaps the index needs the initial articles outside of the subfield t ?