SCATNews
Newsletter of the Standing Committee of the IFLA Section on Cataloguing

Number 10,
June 1998
ISSN: 1022-9841

NEWS FROM THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE SECTION ON CATALOGUING

IFLA Annual Conference, August 16-21, 1998, Amsterdam

The IFLA Standing Committee of the Section on Cataloguing is planning a very exciting and informative program during the general IFLA conference.

Program Session

1. The Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules and their future : Ralph Manning;
2. Cataloguing vs. metadata : old wine in new bottles? : Stefan Gradmann;
3. User benefits of a change to the bibliographic model : follow-up of the IFLA Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records Study : Dan Matei;
4. L'utilité des fichiers d'autorité pour le public : Thierry Giappiconi.

Cataloguing Committee members are working hard to have copies of all these papers available at the Conference in all five official languages.

Workshop

John Byrum

Library of Congress
Fax: (202) 707-2824

Email: jbyr@loc.gov

Division of Bibliographic Control Open Forum

Standing Committee of the Section on Cataloguing meetings

Observers are welcome to attend these two meetings.

We hope to see many of you at our Cataloguing programs and meetings during the 64th IFLA General Conference!

What in the World...Cataloging on an International Scale

In line with the American Library Association's annual conference theme this year of "Global Reach... Local Touch," June 26-July 1, 1998, ALCTS and its Cataloging and Classification Section sponsored a Pre-conference called "What in the World... Cataloging on an International Scale." Four of the speakers -- Monika Muennich, Ingrid Parent, Glenn Patton, Barbara Tillett -- are current members of the IFLA Section on Cataloguing. In addition, two other speakers have close ties with the Section: John Byrum is an honorary advisor and Olivia Madison is a past-chair of the Standing Committee. Three other speakers -- Joan Aliprand, Ralph Manning, and Sally McCallum -- rounded out the program.

Topics covered included a history of the Section on Cataloguing and its achievements, a report on the results of the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records Study, authority control activities, UNICODE, future development of AACR, the project REUSE in Germany and MARC harmonization. There was a lively discussion with members of the audience concerning issues such as metadata, the need for more multiscript capabilities in cataloguing standards and more non-Western hemisphere participation in standards development.

The proceedings of the Pre-conference will be published by ALCTS/ALA.

Photo: J. Byrum
Faculty members (from left to right):
Ingrid Parent, Barbara Tillett, Monika Muennich, Ralph Manning, Olivia Madison, Sally McCallum, Joan Aliprand, Glenn Patton, John Byrum.

ISBD(ER)

John Byrum, chief, Regional and Cooperative Cataloging, and Ann Sandberg-Fox, cataloging consultant/trainer in Fairfax, Vermont, are the authors of "From ISBD(CF) to ISBD(ER): Process, Policy, and Provisions". This article, which appears in the April 1998 issue of Library Resources & Technical Services, p. 89-101, provides a detailed review of the newly published International Standard Bibliographic Description for Electronic Resources and points to areas in AACR2 which are affected by changes introduced by ISBD(ER).

BYRUM NAMED RECIPIENT OF ALCTS MANN CITATION

The award, a citation and $2,000 donated by OCLC Online Computer Library Center to the library school of the winner's choice, recognizes outstanding professional achievement in cataloging or classification.

"The Margaret Mann Committee is pleased to award the Citation to Mr. Byrum for his sustained leadership in the continuing development of cataloging standards, nationally and internationally," said Carlen Ruschoff, chair of the Margaret Mann Citation Committee. "Internationally, his notable contributions have been through his work on the Joint Steering Committee for Revision of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules; IFLA committees on various international standard bibliographic descriptions (ISBDs); and other IFLA/UBC committees. Nationally, he has been deeply involved in efforts toward bibliographic standardization through initiatives such as the Name Authority Cooperative Program (NACO) and the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC)."

ISU Dean of Library Services

Cataloging and Classification Quarterly

Certification

LIBRARY REPORTS

News items from Australia

Kinetica

Kinetica will provide modern interfaces to the national database and a wide range of options for customer libraries who wish to use and contribute to the national system. When fully implemented the system will support up to 1,000 concurrent users and handle up to 15 million authority and bibliographic records.

Kinetica is scheduled to become operational in the first quarter of 1999. Major tasks during 1998 will be data migration from ABN and training in the use of the Kinetica system. Training at the National Library of Australia has commenced and will be extended nation-wide later in the year.

Metaweb Project

The project is assisting the Australian metadata community by running an Australian metadata discussion list; gathering metadata; searching metadata; and providing a creation tools analysis, enabling creators to craft high quality metadata and generate it automatically. The Dublin Core metadata standard is used as a basis for all tools development.

Further information is available at:
http://www.dstc.edu.au/RDU/MetaWeb/

Australian Libraries Gateway

The Australian Libraries Gateway contains address and directory information of libraries by region and category. It enables linking to a Library's web site to discover the resources it provides and the services it offers.

Access to on-line exhibitions, events and image collections is provided, and the gateway allows users to search the catalogues of libraries throughout Australia. The Web address is:
http://www.nla.gov.au/libraries/

Spain's Web catalogs and other news

In the past year many libraries in Spain provided access to their catalogs via the Internet. Below are the Web sites for the online catalogs of Spain's National Library and other academic and research library catalogs:

• Spain's OPACS_ [Electronic resource]. Red Iris, c1995.
  http://www.rediris.es/recursos/ [Cited: June 23, 1998]

• Recursos espanoles de Internet_ [Electronic resource] : mapa de OPACS. Universidad de Oviedo.
  http://www3.uniovi.es/Vicest/Recursos/Spain_OPACS.html [Cited: June 23, 1998]

  The bibliographic databases of public libraries in Spain's provinces can be consulted via the following address:

• Bibliotecas publicas del Estado_ [Electronic resource]. Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia, c1996.
  http://www.mcu.es/bpe/bpe.html [Cited: June 23, 1998]

  Recently, the Direccion General del Libro, Archivos y Bibliotecas published a Web bibliographic database containing almost 300,000 records (monographs, serials, maps, sound recordings, videorecordings, etc.) that can be downloaded in IBERMARC format. The address for access to these records is:

• REBECA_ [Electronic resource] : registros bibliograficos para bibliotecas publicas espanolas. Ministerio de Educacion y Cultura, Direccion General del Libro, Archivos y Bibliotecas, c1998.
  http://www.mcu.es/REBECA/ [Cited: June 23, 1998]

  Of particular interest are two catalogs that contain records for old and rare books from the 15th to the 18th century. These are:

• Catalogo colectivo del patrimonio bibliografico espanol_ [Electronic resource]. Ministerio de Educacion y Cultura.
  http://www.mcu.es/ccpb/ [Cited: June 23, 1998]

• Cataleg col=B7lectiu del patrimoni bibliografic_ [Electronic resource]. Biblioteca de Catalunya.
  http://www.gencat.es/bc/ [Cited: June 23, 1998]

  The very curious can take a look at the retrospective conversion project for the card catalog of the Biblioteca de Catalunya. In its first phase --the one now available--, the catalog cards have been digitized and are accessible via the Web.

  Biblioteca de Catalunya. _Cataleg de fitxes electroniques_
  [Electronic resource]
  http://www.gencat.es/bc/colleccions/index.html [Cited: June 23, 1998]

  In the second phase, these digitized cards will be codified into the MARC format. The following address includes a short explanation of the project (in Catalan):

  Biblioteca de Catalunya. _Biblos_ [Electronic resource]: conversio retrospectiva dels catalegs manuals.
  http://www.gencat.es/bc/fgat-ind.htm> [Cited: June 23, 1997]

  Other news that may be of interest to the international library community is the publication of a CD-ROM with the name, subject and title authority files of the National Library of Spain. The authority records are in IBERMARC format:

• Autoridades de la Biblioteca Nacional_ [Electronic resource]. Disco 1 (1996, nov.)- . Madrid: Biblioteca Nacional: Chadwyck-Healey Espana, 1996- .

DIGITIZATION PROJECT

Heidelberg University Library has digitized its card catalog covering the years 1936 to 1985, about 800,000 titles (1,2 million cards). The catalog up to 1935 could not be digitized because there are many handwritten cards (some of them in Suetterlin!).

The modern literature (1986 onwards, and some of the older) can be found machine-readable either in our local system "HEIDI", or via the regional network "Suedwestverbund" - Southwest German Library Network (including Saxony).

The literature might be of special interest for colleagues who work in the fields of classical archeology, egyptology, middle and modern art history as these are our core collections (supported by the German Research Society). There will be a document delivery system for core collections material as well, starting July 1st. Please visit our homepage. Here are the URLs:
our homepage:    http.//www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de,
then "Kataloge" and "Dokumentlieferdienste" Suedwestverbund:
http://www.swbv.uni-konstanz.de/

UNIMARC

UNIMARC local field 955 - French recommendations

They should be followed in the exchange of local data within the French union catalogue of books (Catalogue collectif de France) and within the university libraries network (Système universitaire).

ILS Contract awarded

As part of the most massive library automation effort in its history, the Library of Congress has awarded a contract to Endeavor Information Systems of Des Plaines, Ill., to provide comprehensive integrated library system (ILS) software and support to the Library.

The Voyager system from Endeavor Information Systems will replace many of the Library's older, independent automated systems -- some of which date back to the late 1960s and early 1970s -- with a single, modern client/server system that will support all standard library operations, including acquisitions, cataloging, inventory and serials control, circulation, and the on-line public catalog. Using the ILS, the Library expects to improve control over its collections, increase the efficiency of its operations and provide better service for its many customers. In addition, the system is "year-2000" compliant.

When the ILS is fully operational, users will be able to perform comprehensive searches of the extensive collections of the world's largest library. A search for a keyword or subject area will result in a list of resources that may include books, maps, manuscripts, periodicals, or sound recordings -- as well as the precise location, whether on the shelf, in use, undergoing microfilming or in storage. These searches may be conducted on site at the Library or through the ILS on-line catalog, which will be fully accessible through the Library of Congress web site (www.loc.gov). Currently, electronic searches of different collections in the Library require the use of several separate catalogs.

In addition to installing software on nearly 3,000 staff and public workstations and loading approximately twelve million bibliographic records and four million authority records into the new system, the project will involve converting information now in two mammoth card files -- the twelve-million-card manual shelf list and the 900,000-title serials check-in file -- from paper to electronic format.

The award of the ILS contract is the culmination of many years of effort to modernize the Library's core systems and automate its remaining manual processes. In the last five years, vendors of automated library systems have demonstrated the capacity to support successfully a collection of the Library's size. For that reason, the Library began to seek cost-effective solutions already available in the commercial marketplace, rather than investing in developing its own system.

Congressional appropriation of $5.6 million for the project in fiscal 1998 will cover the Endeavor Information Systems software, training, maintenance, and support, in addition to some new system hardware and other items to support inventory tracking and the initial conversion of the card files.

The Library anticipates the possibility of a short-term decrease in cataloging production while it installs the ILS and trains the staff to use it effectively, which will have long-term benefits for LC and the national and international library communities. Fortunately with the ongoing expansion of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging and in particular its BIBCO component, the overall production of national level records should continue to increase.

AACR2 TO BE INCLUDED IN CATALOGER'S DESKTOP

An electronic version of AACR2 -- AACR2-e -- is expected to be available this summer. The electronic version of the text will now include all revisions through 1997. In addition, a new print version of the text, based on this electronic file, will be available later. ALA Editions will license rights to the electronic file to third party vendors and consortia so that catalogers can access the rules electronically for use in their local environments. For more information on AACR2-e consult the ALA web site at URL:
http://www.ala.org/market/books/technical.html

On April 28, 1998, ALA Editions signed an agreement with the Cataloging Distribution Service (CDS) of the Library of Congress to incorporate the electronic file of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, second edition, 1988 revision, into LC's Cataloger's Desktop, CDS's one-disc CD-ROM cataloging tool.

AACR2-e will first appear in Cataloger's Desktop in the fourth quarter of 1998. With the inclusion of AACR2-e, catalogers will have access to the cataloging rules, any corresponding LCRI, and the MARC formats in a single electronic source.

CATALOGUING NEWS FROM RUSSIA

1. In spring 1997 the Working Group of the Russian Version of UNIMARC completed the "UNIMARC manual". At the end of 1997 the Group held the last meeting on "UNIMARC authority" and approved it.

   The meeting of the PUC in Moscow that was held on 25-26 March 1998 registered it under the title UNIMRUS. Thus one more national UNIMARC was added to the UNIMARC family.

2. The Round Table on the harmonization of AACR-2 and Russian cataloguing rules was held on 25 May 1998 at the Russian State Library. In connection with this theme, the revision of the national standard for bibliographic description was also discussed. Due to financial difficulties, the priority was given to the first objective.

3. The 5th annual conference "Crimea-98" was held on 8-14 June at Sudak (Crimea, Ukraine). The questions under discussion were: computer cataloguing, retrospective conversion, MARC formats, classification and indexing, cooperative cataloguing, etc. Papers were presented at different sections and "round tables".

4. The process of standardisation is continuing in Russia. Currently the Russian Book Chamber is developing standards connected with document publishing. The standards on bibliographic description of monographs and serials and title heading are ready for comments in Russia in May-June 1998.

5. The first stage of the Russian OCLC project (Russian Centre on Cataloguing Cooperation) was completed and the results were reported at the Crimea Conference.

SEYMOUR LUBETZKY CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION AND SYMPOSIUM

More than two hundred fifty friends, family, and associates gathered on April 18 to celebrate the one hundredth birthday of Seymour Lubetzky who is widely considered as the "foremost cataloging theorist of the twentieth century." The event was sponsored by the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies and held in conjunction with the UCLA Library & Information Sciences Alumni Association's annual gathering. Michele V. Cloonan, dean, organized the event, and Professor Lubetzky attended throughout the day.

In the morning, there was a panel presentation covering recent research in the field of cataloging.

Following presentation of a birthday cake and a reading of greetings from Library of Congress Director for Cataloging Beacher J. Wiggins, Michael Gorman, (Dean of Library Services, Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno) gave the key-note address: "Seymour Lubetzky--Man of Principles." This talk covered the milestones in development of cataloging theory and practice from Panizzi to Professor Lubetzky's work, with a detailed analysis of the shortcomings of cataloging rules in place prior to AACR2. Gorman argued that the Lubetzkyan principles that are at the heart of the Paris Principles were not fully implemented into the Anglo-American tradition until the publication of the Second Edition. He closed with a tribute: "As a maker of cataloguing rules and as a cataloguing theoretician, Seymour Lubetzky is unrivaled and all of us who are involved in cataloguing are forever in his debt."

In the afternoon, the presentations focused on "The Idealogy and Technology at the End of the Millennium."

PROJECT AUTHOR

The Project AUTHOR (1995-1997) was part of the Forum CoBRA's activities (CoBRA = Computerised Bibliographic Record Actions) financed by the Libraries Programme of the Directorate General XIII of the Commission of the European Communities
(http://www.konbib.nl/gabriel/en/projects/cobra.html ).

It was developed from the need expressed by national bibliographic agencies to have access to the existing authority files throughout the world to re-use the work already done for identifying authors. It aimed to give access to cataloguers to the name authority files (names of persons and corporate bodies) of the participating national libraries (Belgium, France, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom). The Bibliothèque Nationale de France was the pilot of this project : Bureau van Dijk (France) and Index Data (Denmark) were subcontractors. Progress reports of the Project were presented during workshops in Beijing (1996) and Copenhagen (1997) in the framework of the IFLA conference.

Main results:

• UNIMARC to search and display authority records was considered easy to exploit even by users who were not familiar with this format
• the conversion of a sample of 110000 records from national formats to UNIMARC was made using UseMARCON (User-Controlled Generic MARC Converter) which was primarily prepared to convert bibliographic records. The feasibility to convert authority records with this software was demonstrated.
• the necessity to define a minimum contents for authority records exchanged internationally to be re-used locally.
• the Web interface of the prototype, using EUROPAGATE as gateway between a Z39.50 client and a ISO SR server and vice versa was considered easy to use.
• the great interest of the international community of librarians; 16 libraries in 13 countries tested the prototype available on Internet.

Follow-up

• the realisation of a European operational system: format agreement between partners to create the target system, establishment of a realistic calendar of development, association of other countries.
• the implementation of a common profile Z39.50
• the definition of a minimum content for authority record, closely with the IFLA Working Group MLAR (Minimal Level of Authority Record)
• the development of UNIMARC Authorities format closely with the IFLA Permanent UNIMARC Committee.

The final report (40 pages, June 1998) is available free of charge.
Please contact Sonia Zillhardt (sonia.zillhardt@bnf.fr) or Françoise Bourdon (francoise.bourdon@bnf.fr), Bibliothèque nationale de France, Quai François Mauriac, 75706 PARIS cedex 13, France.

BRITISH LIBRARY - LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING COOPERATION

Members of the Library of Congress staff met with Alan Danskin, the British Library's Corporate Bibliographic System (CBS) database coordinator, on Thursday, May 14, and Friday, May 15, 1998 in Washington, D.C.

The British Library's Corporate Bibliographic System (CBS), cataloging and information retrieval modules, is scheduled to be implemented by Jan. 31, 1999. The CBS will enable the British Library to commence contribution of corporate name headings to the LC Name Authority File (LCNAF) during FY99/00. The British Library is currently the largest contributor to the NACO and SACO programs and the expansion of its participation is expected to increase its contributions by up to twenty percent of its current number of name authority records.

Danskin reported that the BL is planning a program that will retrospectively align the headings within its catalogs to a single authorized form. The basic principle will be to adopt the USNAF form as much as possible. This will be a major undertaking, which will be carried out in a series of projects. The timescale has not been estimated, but will certainly be measured in years. The BL will begin with high-use items, and the project will be accomplished by both automatic as well as manual conversion. The BL has bid for resources to commence this project in 2001.

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