RSS

Introduction to RSS is a short, 3 page, introduction. It has links to some tools for display and creation of RSS. I can see some use for this in a library setting, but I'm not yet savvy enough to set one up for us.

Catalogs

Folks are always looking for low cost alternatives in cataloging software. Small church libraries, clubs, and departments are just a few who find the cost of even the smaller PC systems out of their budget. Well, there are a few alternatives.

Koha is an open source library system running in a LAMP environment (Lunix, Apache, MySQL, Perl). That means it is free and all the software needed to run it is also free. It includes a catalog, OPAC, circulation and acquisitions system. The drawback is it does not yet support MARC.

Library.com is a commercial service which provides small users with free space, up to about 5000 records. Larger collections, more features or better support are available for a fee. The database is available remotely on the Web. It provides an OPAC, circulation and cataloging system. It does support MARC.

Open Archives Initiative

Open Archives Protocol for Metadata Harvesting v.2.0 scheduled for release. Here is a description of the OAI from their FAQ:

The Open Archives Initiative develops and promotes interoperability standards that aim to facilitate the efficient dissemination of content. The Open Archives Initiative has its roots in an effort to enhance access to e-print archives as a means of increasing the availability of scholarly communication. Continued support of this work remains a cornerstone of the Open Archives program. The fundamental technological framework and standards that are developing to support this work are, however, independent of the both the type of content offered and the economic mechanisms surrounding that content, and promise to have much broader relevance in opening up access to a range of digital materials. As a result, the Open Archives Initiative is currently an organization and an effort explicitly in transition, and is committed to exploring and enabling this new and broader range of applications. As we gain greater knowledge of the scope of applicability of the underlying technology and standards being developed, and begin to understand the structure and culture of the various adopter communities, we expect that we will have to make continued evolutionary changes to both the mission and organization of the Open Archives Initiative.

Not Cataloging Related

My co-workers will be at the Texas Library Assoc. annual conference. Their exhibit displays a Youth Services and Children's program for public and school libraries named, "Explore! Fun with Science". It is a series of hands-on, fun activities presented to library staff through workshops. Explore! is a collaborative project between NASA's Office of Space Science and the Lunar and Planetary Institute and public libraries. Even if you are not interested in the program stop by booth 3043 and tell them Hi.

Color

Ask any reference person and they will tell you they often get requests for items by color. Well, the library at the New England School of Law have done something to help those folks, they have included the color of the book in the MARC record. In subfield z of field 599 they have included the color of the item. It has been indexed on their system and is used to limit searches or may be searched. This makes some sense for monographs. Now if the patrons could only remember the color correctly.

Metadata Standards

The UK has issued e-Government Metadata Standard "The e-GMS lists the elements and refinements that will be used by the public sector to create metadata for information resources. It also gives guidance on the purpose and use of each element." Elements from Dublin Core, GILS and other standards are part of the mix.

I've added permanent links to the items. Slowly but surely I'm learning the tools. If anyone has suggestions or tips, please let me know. Thanks.

Textbooks

Not major news but welcome news to some of my co-workers.... The latest supplement to the Subject Cataloging Manual: Subject Headings says the term "textbooks" is now a valid form/genre subdivision. That one snuck by me until I was filing the update pages.

OLAC

Another useful organization for catalogers is OLAC, the OnLine Audiovisual Catalogers.

Their statement of purpose is "In 1980, OLAC was founded to establish and maintain a group that could speak for catalogers of audiovisual materials. OLAC provides a means for exchange of information, continuing education, and communication among catalogers of audiovisual materials and with the Library of Congress. While maintaining a voice with the bibliographic utilities that speak for catalogers of audiovisual materials, OLAC works toward common understanding of AV cataloging practices and standards."

Dues are merely $12.00 a year with discounts given for multiple year subscriptions. Well worth the investment.

AUTOCAT

After posting about the Radical Cataloging List it is only fair to mention the most important list for catalogers AUTOCAT

"AUTOCAT is a semi-moderated international electronic discussion list running on LISTSERV(R) software. It serves as an electronic forum for the discussion of all questions relating to cataloging and authority control in libraries. The range of topics discussed extends from the very broad to the very specific, from the very theoretical to the most pragmatic."--from their scope note.

AUTOCAT is a busy list, for example, last week there were 83 topics, some with many postings. However, it is possible to subscribe in digest mode or even in no mail and scan the archives as time permits. There is a wealth on knowledge and experience available here.

Dublin Core

Proposal: Agent roles in DCMES This proposal is submitted by Rebecca Guenther for review by the DC-Agents and DC-Libraries Working Groups. It proposes establishing element refinements for the Dublin Core elements Creator and Contributor to express a role in relation to the resource.

The DCMI Libraries Working Group exists to: Foster increased operability between DC and library metadata by identifying issues and solutions; Keep the library community informed on DC developments; Consider reasons to experiment more widely with Dublin Core in libraries; Build a library Implementors community; Explore the need for a cross domain namespace(s) to register non-DC elements and qualifiers needed by the library community.

Radical Cataloging List

This is a note I recently received. I've replaced the @ sign in the e-mail address with "at" to prevent harvesting by spammers.

Due to a perceived need, I've started a list devoted to discussions of cataloging from a radical perspective. (Discussing the meaning of the phrase "radical cataloging" is a perfectly appropriate list topic.) Unlike many lists devoted to library work that don't allow political discussion, this one welcomes it.

To join, send email to and put "subscribe radcat" in the message body.

If you'd like more information, please contact me privately.

Thanks,
Katia

Katia Roberto
Special Collections Cataloger (618) 453-3269
Southern Illinois University Carbondale kroberto at lib.siu.edu
Carbondale, IL
62901-6632 http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/~kroberto

MARC and FRBR

Data mining MARC to find: FRBR? by Knut Hegna and Knut Hegna is an interesting read.

In this project MARC data from two national bibliographies is analyzed in the light of the data model presented in the FRBR study from IFLA. The analysis shows that even though the information in the MARC records holds attributes relevant for identifying the work, expression and manifestation entities, the accuracy and formal syntax are too simple to be properly handled by programs. Some of the results may be used to present better hit lists in OPACs. Two suggestions for OPAC user interface based on the ideas of the FRBR study and the results of the project are presented.

MeSH Survey

We would like to invite librarians interested in MeSH (medical subject headings) authority control to complete an online survey.

The Health Sciences OCLC Users Group is conducting the survey. It is coordinated by Dan Kniesner (kniesner at ohsu.edu) at Oregon Health & Science University Library and Judith Dzierba (Judith_L_Dzierba at rush.edu) at the Library of Rush University.

The survey is anonymous and will assess the current diversity of MeSH authority practices in health sciences libraries, as well as the impact NLM's application of MeSH and the lack of MeSH authorities in OCLC has had on those practices.

Survey deadline is April 20, 2002. Results will be posted on the HSOCLCUG website.

I’ve replaced the @ symbol in the e-mail addresses to prevent spammers harvesting the addresses.

Journals in Aggregator Databases

The folks at LC are working on this problem, as well as JAKE. They have a task force working it, the Standing Committee on Automation Task Group on Journals in Aggregator Databases. They have convinced some vendors to create and distribute MARC records for the items in their databases. They are also looking at loading the sets into OCLC, sets for E-books, and other possible solutions.

JAKE Jointly Administered Knowledge Environment

How to provide access to journal databases is a major problem. Letting a patron know that the journal or magazine is available on-line is just proper cataloging. However, when there are thousands of journals involved, and the mix is in constant change, and there are several databases with some overlap and some unique contents, the task becomes too large. JAKE provides an answer to the problem. It can be searched on the Web, the bare bones MARC records for database of interest can be downloaded using jake2marc or the jake data and software can be downloaded to a local site. This Open Source effort is worth some support.

Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS)

I've added a PICS tag to the head section of this site. Personally, I like the use of self-rating sites and leaving the decision on what to see in the hands of the user. In both IE and Netscape, there is a content advisor that can block sites which contain violence, sex, or other possible disturbing content from the user. It is up to the user to select what they will accept. Just the opposite if the approach taken by Congress. This ties into cataloging since it could be used to describe a site. It is certainly more descriptive than the MPAA ratings. This system has been in place for quite some time and never caught on. Maybe given the current debate over the CIPA it will be an option. Could a public library set the IE content advisor and call that their filtering device?

A nice article on PICS is PICS: Internet Access Controls Without Censorship by Paul Resnick and James Miller.

I have to give a plug to a very fine comic strip Overdue. I'm glad I subscribed to get mine sent to me every morning.

There will not be a posting Monday. I'm taking the day off. See you Tuesday.

Dublin Core

I've added Dublin Core metadata and AC metadata (Admin-Core) to the head section. To view it select View/Source in IE.

I think some of the Dublin Core folks are on the wrong track in thinking of metadata as cataloging. I think a better view would be as a title page, something from which to take cataloging information. When the book was invented, it took a while for standards in format to evolve. We take for granted a title page, table of contents in the front, index in the back each containing some particular information in a set way. That is not a given. It is a de facto standard in the English-speaking world. The Web will need some format standards and DC metadata can function as a title page.

Cataloging Career

An Interview With an Image Cataloger Jeannette Blohm has been working on a digital image archive project, Connecticut History Online, with the Connecticut Historical Society.

Thanks to Kristina at InfoMuse for this entry and a mention of Catalogablog. Also thanks to the folks at Library Stuff, Library weblogs, and Librarian.net for mentioning us.

Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records

The Network Development and MARC Standards Office has made available the study, "Displays for Multiple Versions from MARC 21 and FRBR."

It is based on an analysis prepared by Tom Delsey as part of the "Functional Analysis of the MARC 21 Bibliographic and Holdings Formats" study that he developed for the Network Development and MARC Standards Office. NDMSO has added display examples to accompany the study.

The FRBR is part of a movement to understand the structure of bibliographic information and then use that knowledge to develop a systematic description. We should see changes in ISBD, AACR and MARC based on this work.

Dublin Core

The Dublin Core metadata initiative is positioned to be one of the components in the semantic web. An easy tool for creating DC metadata is DC Dot Simply enter the URL of the page you desire data for and DC Dot sends back the metadata. It can output in HTML, XHTML and RDF formats. It allows editing of the output. The metadata then can be loaded in a database or pasted in the HEAD section of your document. A nice tool. Very nice to see what DC metadata looks like and how it is formed.

I've added the ability to have the daily posting e-mailed to subscribers. The software is Bloglet; please let me know if there is any problem with this.