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

Number 11,
January 1999
ISSN: 1022-9841

IFLA ANNUAL CONFERENCE, August 16-21, 1998, Amsterdam

by Ingrid Parent

The Standing Committee of the Section on Cataloguing was very active during the IFLA annual conference in Amsterdam. The programme session on library catalogues responding to user needs, and the workshop on ISBD(ER) were standing-room only and very informative. The papers from the programme session are on IFLANet at:
www.ifla.org/IV/ifla64/64intro.htm and will be published in International Cataloguing and Bibliographic Control in 1999.

The Committee met twice during the Conference and advanced several projects which are reported on separately in this newsletter. In addition, the Committee established a new working group on metadata, chaired by Lynne Howarth, to develop guidelines to assist libraries in the appropriate use of metadata. Other IFLA sections have been invited to join.

The minutes of the Committee meetings are on IFLANet at:
www.ifla.org/VII/s13/sc.htm#4

Several members of the Standing Committee on Cataloguing met for a well-deserved coffee break during the Amsterdam Conference

(photo: I. Parent)
Left to right: M. Madsen, M. Witt, I. Parent, D. McGarry, I. de Pinedo, Z. Dimec, B. Tillett, P. Bunn, M. Münnich, M-F. Plassard, G. Patton, T. Heijligers, R. Rinn.

World-Wide Review of "GUIDELINES FOR OPAC DISPLAYS"

by Dorothy McGarry

We invite your review of the proposed text for the "Guidelines for OPAC Displays." It can be found on IFLANet in PDF format at: www.ifla.org/VII/s13/guide/opac.htm. If you are unable to read the PDF document, please contact me and I will send you an email version. Please send your comments to me on or before April 30, 1999, upon which date the review period will be completed. Following the review, comments will be considered in revision of this document, and a final version will be presented to the Standing Committees of the Sections on Bibliography, Cataloguing, Classification and Indexing, and Information Technology for a vote.

The primary purpose of producing these guidelines is to bring together recommendations on a corpus of good practice to assist libraries in designing or re-designing their OPACs. Existing OPACs demonstrate differences in the range and complexity of their functional features. It was considered important to make recommendations on displays in order to work toward fulfulling recognized functions of catalogues.

The Task Force on Guidelines for OPAC Displays was set up by the IFLA Division of Bibliographic Control, with the Section on Cataloguing as the lead Section. The Sections on Cataloguing, Bibliography, Classification and Indexing, and Information Technology were represented with members, and commentators were appointed from a number of Sections and Round Tables. The first meeting of the Task Force took place at the 1997 IFLA conference in Copenhagen, with a follow-up meeting discussing a draft of the guidelines held at the 1998 IFLA conference in Amsterdam.

The draft guidelines were drawn up by Martha Yee, Consultant to the Task Force, with input from Task Force members and commentators.
It is necessary to get a wide range of input, including comments from people from various cataloguing traditions and using various formats, in order to make the final guidelines meet the needs of libraries througout the world.

Dorothy McGarry
tel.: 1-310-825-3438
fax: 1-310-206-3908
Email: dmcgarry@library.ucla.edu

ISBD(S) WORKING GROUP

by Ingrid Parent

The ISBD(S) Working Group continued its revision of ISBD(S) at a meeting on November 23-24, 1998 in Copenhagen. The discussion focussed on various papers prepared by group members on issues that need resolution, such as scope of ISBD(S), definition of a serial, sources for description, changes requiring new records, multiple format issues, and the relationship of title practice between ISBD(S) and ISSN.

One of the strategies of the working group is to be in direct contact with similar revision work being undertaken by the AACR community and by the ISSN network. The development of one international serials cataloguing standard that can be used for several purposes is highly desirable.

Work continues on the revision, with a new version of ISBD(S) expected in the year 2000.

DIVISION OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL

New Brochure

The Division has just produced a new brochure describing the role and activities of its Sections (Bibliography, Cataloguing and Classification and Indexing) and the UBCIM Core Programme. It is available in English, French, German and Spanish. The Russian translation is in progress. If you would like a copy (or copies) please contact the chairs of the Sections (Werner Stephan, Ingrid Parent, Ia McIlwaine respectively).

NEWS FROM IFLA HEADQUARTERS

1. Following the resignation of Leo Voogt in December 1998, Mr. Ross Shimmon has been appointed as the new IFLA Secretary General. Further information on Mr. Shimmon's appointment can be found on the IFLANet website at:
   www.ifla.org/V/press/pr99-01.pdf. The Section on Cataloguing enthusiastically congratulates Mr. Shimmon and looks forward to working with him.

2. This is an election year for IFLA committees. Members of the Cataloguing Committee whose term has expired and who are eligible for re-election should ensure that their nomination forms have been submitted to IFLA Headquarters. New members to the committee are also encouraged. The deadline for submitting nominations to IFLA headquarters is March 1, 1999.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHIC SERVICES
November 25-27, 1998, Copenhagen

Over 120 participants from 72 countries, along with representatives from international associations attended this international conference to discuss issues related to national bibliographies and to update the recommendations of the International Congress on National Bibliographies held in 1977 in Paris.

Three days of papers and intense discussions by a truly international group led to the development of several recommendations touching all aspects of national bibliographies. Some key conclusions:

• The concept of Universal Bibliographic Control was reaffirmed.
• National bibliographic agencies should be proactive in the area of standards development, especially with regard to new standards for the creation and identification of digital documents.
• National bibliographic agencies should adopt the components of the Basic Level Record recommended in the final report of the IFLA Study Group on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records.
• Additional standards recommendations were made with respect to authority control, convertibility of MARC formats, and harmonization of international standards for various types of materials, especially serial publications.

The local organizing committee chaired by Erland Kolding Nielson did an outstanding job in looking after the professional, social and "housekeeping" needs of the participants.

For further information about the Conference, please consult the IFLANet website at:
www.ifla.org/VI/3/icnbs/icnbs.htm.

LIBRARY REPORTS

NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Bibliographic Enrichment Advisory Team - Recent Accomplishments

Last year, the Bibliographic Enrichment Advisory Team (BEAT), which operates under the auspices of the Cataloging Directorate but includes representatives from many areas of the Library, especially public services and electronic programs, focused attention on three projects.

1. Entrepreneur's Reference Guide to Small Business Information

   This Guide covers reference sources for persons seeking information relevant to starting up a business and for those providing advice in this area. With the participation of staff of the Library's Business Team, BEAT recently issued a Second Edition of the Guide, consisting of appropriately 170 titles, both monographs and serials. The Second Edition is now available on the Internet at
   lcweb.loc.gov/rr/business/guide2.html or from the Business Reference Services Web page at
   lcweb.loc.gov/rr/business/ under the Indexes, Bibliographies, and Guides section.

2. BEOnline

   Among the projects which BEAT is sponsoring is Business and Economics Online (BEOnline), which is intended to serve as both a model and a catalyst for developing approaches to meet the challenges of identifying, selecting, and providing bibliographic access (as well as direct access) to electronic works that are remotely available on the World Wide Web. This project is concentrating on business- and economics-related materials, especially those which will facilitate business reference in the area of entrepreneurship and small business.

   All the resources selected to date are now listed on the BEOnline home page at: lcweb.loc.gov/rr/business/beonline/beohome.html. This Web page also contains:

   (a) The BEOnline Project Statement;
   (b) The Selection Criteria;
   (c) The Cataloging Framework;
   (d) Cataloging Electronic Resources: a Brief Bibliography;
   (e) Links from the Resources to their Catalog Records;
   (f) The BEOnline Workflow; and,
   (g) The List of BEOnline Bibliographic Elements.

   To date, more than 100 electronic works have been cataloged; these record can be accessed via the BEOnline

   Web site. In addition, approximately 45 records for print versions have been enhanced to inform researchers of Internet equivalents or related works.

3. Digital Table of Contents (TOC) Project

   BEAT initiated a project in early 1997 to investigate the economic and technical feasibility of using the World Wide Web to link MARC bibliographic records for selected business books represented in the LC catalogs to Tables of Contents (TOC) data for those works. This project has concentrated on printed monographic publications in the fields of business and economics (particularly, the areas of small business and entrepreneurship) with the expectation that techniques developed by the project could later be extended to other materials. To date the project has created more than 1,000 TOC items for works cataloged during this past year and continues to add new data for approximately 25 titles per week. The project is largely automated and involves use of "off-the-shelf" desktop computer and scanning equipment and conventional software, supplemented with the applications programs developed by Library staff. The HTML meta-tags -- which contain key words and other index terms -- are also being encoded in the TOC files, so that a general Web search can also result in a user anywhere finding a TOC file, and through the links built into the TOC file, be pointed in turn to the actual bibliographic record as well as to access to other related works in the LC catalog. Both the MARC records themselves and the linked TOC data may be viewed through a Web browser by accessing the Library's online catalog access options, available at lcweb.loc.gov/catalog/.

   The Library of Congress's Bibliographic Enrichment Advisory Team (BEAT) announces that in 1999 it will implement a project to add or link additional information to important subject bibliographies prepared by LC's Reading Room staffs. This project to be called BeCites (pronounced: bee-sites) holds the promise of both expanding and further demonstrating the value of LC's bibliographic enrichment initiatives.

   This initiative will focus first on A Guide to Finding Business Information at the Library of Congress (Richard F. Sharp, compiler), making a portion of the Guide available on the Internet in hypertext for the first time as an enhanced electronic bibliography. This "webliography" will ultimately include electronic links to additional content information from the titles it contains. The individual catalog records for works included in the Guide will themselves be modified so that they will link to the enhanced content information and/or the electronic version of the bibliography, thus creating a two-way route for users and reference librarians to expand the scope of a search by following these new links. From the user's perspective, this means that a search in the Library's catalog may lead to the discovery of the Guide -- which heretofore would have to be found through additional and perhaps serendipitous searching of various types; while the webliography, referenced through these links, will lead users to related titles on the subject, whose content may be searched in turn. As the catalog records for individual items as well as the Guide itself will be available online over the Internet, BeCites has the potential to expand LC business information service to the global Internet community.

   PINYIN CONVERSION UPDATE

   The Library of Congress and the Research Libraries Group (RLG) have begun working together to prepare for conversion of Chinese records in the RLIN database to pinyin, beginning in the spring/summer of 2000.

   The Library has begun to also draft program specifications to help RLG prepare a computer program which will perform as much of the conversion as possible. The program should also be able to change headings for the most frequently used Chinese conventional place names.

   Advance copies of new Chinese romanization guidelines based on the pinyin system were distributed to institutions and organizations in November. The new guidelines will generally follow standard Chinese pinyin romanization procedures, with certain exceptions. Words of non-Chinese origin will be romanized systematically in all cases. Tones will not be indicated. The Library will continue its practice of separating individual syllables, except in the cases of personal names, geographic locations, and certain proper nouns. This approach assures that converted LC records will maintain their consistency with those found on both RLG and OCLC. The separation of syllables should also facilitate international exchange of Chinese bibliographic data in the future.

   Decisions on conversion of authority records will be made following the implementation of the Library's new Integrated Library System (ILS).

ANNOUNCEMENT

John Byrum, chief, Regional and Cooperative Cataloging, and Ann Sandberg-Fox, cataloging consultant/trainer in Fairfax Vermount, 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).

NEW CATALOGUING PROJECTS IN CROATIA

In spring 1998 the National and University Library in Zagreb (NUL) initiated two new projects of direct interest for cataloguers. An editorial board for the revision of the Croatian Cataloguing Code was nominated, consisting mainly from cataloguing experts from the NUL and the Department of Information Sciences, Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. The project proposal was presented and funding for it sought from the Ministry of Science and Technology in the early autumn. The present Catalguing Codes dates back to the eighties and covers rules for books and serials (rules for the choice of access points for serials only). Therefore it is expected that a revised edition of the Code will be expanded to comprise the rules covering all kinds of library materials. It is also planned that the new edition appear as a loose-leaf publication easy to update. Changes foreseen also comprise harmonizing the rules with the ISBDs, possible inclusion of the "general material designation" not used up to now and inclusion of new examples. The need to include the rules for bibliographic description of serials in the revised Code has already proved controversial, since it would be much easier for the NUL to process serials only once. At present foreign serials are described following the ISBD(S) rules and Croatian serials according to the ISSN rules. Since there is a difference between the provisions of the two, the experts would have to decide on one set of respective rules to be included in the Code.

Another project was started in June 1998, when the NUL organized a Round Table on Union Catalogue for Serials. Experts from the NUL and major academic, special and major public libraries in Croatia were invited to take part. The purpose of the Round Table was to determine the feasibility of the establishment of a union catalogue of serials kept in Croatian libraries. Differences in opinions on various issues concerning the establishment and organization of the union catalogue were remarkable: medical and science librarians were interested in obtaining a simple and efficient tool needed in their daily routine (i.e. lending and reference), with minimum bibliographic data included in a record. They would also be satisfied with a union catalogue of foreign serials only. Librarians from other major academic libraries would like both foreign and Croatian serials to be included, with more bibliographic data per record. They also insisted that a union catalogue could and should be used for other purposes, such as coordination of acquisitions, bibliographic control, statistics. Since the NUL has other special tasks to perform, such as creating national bibliography of serials and analytics and maintaining a national ISSN office for periodicals, the establishment and maintenance of the union catalogue of serials should be coordinated and linked to these tasks.

Also the translation of the ISBD(ER) appears to be rather difficult, since Croatian terms for new concepts are to be devised while the well established terms which appeared in earlier translations of various ISBDs have to be consistently applied. The Croatian Library Association hopes to obtain the manuscript of the translation ready for printing by the end of 1998.

CATALOGAGE DES LIVRES LITURGIQUES

À l'initiative de la Bibliothèque du Centre d'études du Saulchoir (dominicains) et avec la participation de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, un groupe de bibliothécaires ayant à traiter des fonds d'ouvrages liturgiques a travaillé depuis trois ans à:

• la traduction en langue française du document publié par l'IFLA List of Uniform Titles for Liturgical Works of the Latin Rites of the Catholic Church (2nd ed, 1981). Avec l'aide d'un liturgiste, le texte a été enrichi des équivalents français des titres uniformes latins.

• L'élaboration d'un manuel de catalogue des livres liturgiques qui comportera non seulement les textes normatifs en ce domaine et de nombreux exemples, mais aussi:
  
  • une présentation historique de l'évolution des livres liturgiques
  • une liste des rites avec leurs diverses dénominations
  • un glossaire développé de tous les termes spécialisés utiles aux cataloguers
  • une liste des diocèses français anciens et modernes
  • une liste des langues du monde dans lesquelles il existe des traductions d'ouvrages liturgiques
  • un calendrier liturgique commenté
  • une bibliographie sur les ordres religieux, accompagnée d'une méthologie de recherche
  • etc...

Ce manuel a pour ambition d'être un instrument de travail pratique, réunissant des informations jusqu'à présent dispersées dans des ouvrages spécialisés, qui permettra aux catalogueurs non spécialistes de disposer de tous les éléments dont ils peuvent avoir besoin pour décrire correctement ce type d'ouvrages.
Ces travaux sont en voie d'achèvement.

D'autre part, la Bibliothèque nationale de France, en partenariat avec des bibliothèques possédant des fonds importants d'ouvrages religieux, vient de lancer le programme de recherche CORELIE. L'objectif est d'établir un corpus de toutes les collectivités religieuses apparaissant sur les ouvrages antérieurs à 1960 qui figurent dans les catalogues rétroconvertis de la BNF. Des notices d'autorité complètes (type de collectivité, variantes de dénominations, date de fondation, liens avec d'autres collectivité, etc...) seront établies pour chacune de ces entités et intégrées au fichier d'autorité de la base BN-OPALE de la BNF.

ISBD(ER) IMPLEMENTATION IN RUSSIA

ISBD (ER) was adopted in Russian cataloguing practices as the methodical recommendations for bibliographic description of electronic resources by the Russian State Library in 1997.

Two hundred print editions were requested very quickly. Each library needed them very much.

In July of 1998 the Russian State library being the main developer of the methodical recommendations put an electronic version of them on the Internet.

Now the concept of development of the National Standard for Electronic Resources Description is being discussed. No final decision has been made yet.

But during revision of the Russian Cataloguing Rules the international principles of ISBD (ER) will be reflected in a special section of the new Rules.

MARC 21
Library of Congress / National Library of Canada

USMARC and CAN/MARC Become MARC 21

The harmonized USMARC and CAN/MARC formats will be published in a single edition in early 1999 under a new name: MARC 21. The name both points to the future as we move into the 21st century and suggests the international character of the format, which is appropriate and important given its expanding worldwide use.

MARC 21 is not a new format. From 1994-1997 the USMARC and CAN/MARC user communities worked to eliminate all remaining differences in their two already-similar formats. Compatibility had been a feature of the development processes for both formats for many years. In 1997 and early 1998, updates to the formats were issued that made the format specifications identical. MARC 21, a continuation of both USMARC and CAN/MARC, publishes the formats in one edition under a new name.

Further announcements on the publication of the new editions of the five formats that make up the MARC 21 family of formats -- Bibliographic, Authority, Holdings, Classification, and Community Information -- will be made when printing of each is completed over the next year. The National Library of Canada will also be producing simultaneously a French edition of MARC 21. For further information on the shared format, see the official format web sites at:

www.loc.gov/marc/
www.nlc-bnc.ca/marc/

NEW PUBLICATION

Maria Witt was the editing manager for a new book published recently by Saur.

The "International Bibliography of Bibliographies in Library and Information Science and related Fields"(Volume 2 : 1979-1990) gives details of over 10,000 bibliographies. It deals not only with library and information science but also with related fields such as archiving, the book trade, publishing, the history of books and printing, the history of calligraphy (palaeography), the art of books, copyright law, bibliography, the history of paper, reading, bibliometrics, copying techniques and many others.

Numerous source works were used to produce this publication. These include national and international bibliographies, technical bibliographies, encyclopedias of librarianship and information science and specialist journals connected to the subject.

The bibliography has been systematically arranged into 68 chapters, each treating an individual subject. Bibliographic items are described mainly according to ISO standards. As well as setting out bibliographic details, entries also contain explanatory notes giving the original title in English translation, a brief outline of contents and references to reviews.

The five indexes available (author, title, name, subject and geographical index) allow users to access information quickly and pinpoint items of special interest in this comprehensive reference work. This bibliography is a complete source of information for librarians, publishers, booksellers and archivists, as well as for academics and students.

International Bibliography of Bibliographies in Library and Information Science and related Fields / by Henryk Sawoniak. With the collab. of Maria Witt. - München : Saur, 1999.
ISBN 3-598-11143-6 ; Vol. II 1979 - 1990
ISBN 3-598-11145-2

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