Catalogablog

This makes post number 3,074 since 5 March 2002. Just an EOY summary. Happy New Year.

Flock

Version 1.0 for Flock, the social Web browser has been released. They also had the smarts to release an API, so others can continue the development.

Metadata

Adding COinS and DOIs to our Contribution pages. Don't look for them yet, not yet live. I've also updated the RSS feed for the pages. This is not cataloging, or is it? The metadata fits some of the activities in FRBR. Find, identify, and acquire are all aided by these bits of info. In any event, anything that makes our work easier to find, use and cite is all good for the Institute. For me it makes a nice change of pace from ISBD/MARC/AACR2.

Clustering Tags

Simpson, Edwin has published HP technical report HPL-2007-190 Clustering Tags in Enterprise and Web Folksonomies

Recently there has been massive growth in the use of tags as a simple, flexible way to categorize resources. Tags are often used collaboratively to help share information using website; such as del.icio.us. However, the number of tags used in such a service is extremely large, so the unstructured nature of tags limits their value when navigating these websites, and prevents users from fully exploiting tags added by others. Clustering similar tags can improve this by adding structure. In this paper we discuss techniques for deriving tag similarity and explain two tag clustering algorithms. We applied the algorithms to two datasets containing tags provided by users with common interests. The first dataset is from a tagging service used by a small group of colleagues and the second is a public, web-based service. The paper examines the effectiveness of both clustering algorithms and their robustness to the different types of data, giving suggestions of possible ways to improve the algorithms.

Titles in Retail and Publisher Data

There has been much talk about using metadata from other communities to enrich our catalogs and/or lower the costs of cataloging. Recently there has been quite a flap on AUTOCAT when distributors have dumped minimun level records into OCLC. Now Karen Coyle has looked at Titles in Retail and Publisher Data. Real data.

Meeting Tool

Here is a free tool that might be useful for meeting facilitators or workshop presenters, Qipit.

Copy documents, whiteboards and handwritten notes with your camera phone or digital camera to store, fax, email or publish!

• Turn documents, notes and whiteboards into digital copies (PDFs)
• Email or fax qipit digital copies via email, your online Qipit account, or right from your phone
• Store all of your paper documents and notes as digital documents for easy archiving and sharing
• Tag your qipit documents for easy searching and sorting
• Publish and share your documents on the web

Save those flip-chart notes from the brainstorming meeting, capture the white-board result at the end of the meeting. Sounds useful.

Library Funding

In the latest Thinking Out Loud with George and Joan George Needham revealed a startling finding from the next OCLC report. That library use does not correlate with library support. We can't assume that our members will support us in a bond issue. Nor can we assume those not using the library won't support funding. Rallying our members for a tax increase or bond issue is not the best way to get funding. We have to mobilize our supporters, whether members or not. The full report is due in the first part of 2008.

For the use of members instead of patrons, users, etc. listen to the podcast.

Additions to the MARC Code Lists for Relators, Sources, Description

The codes listed below have been recently approved for use in MARC 21 records. The codes will be added to the online MARC Code Lists for Relators, Sources, Description Conventions.

The codes should not be used in exchange records until after February 18, 2008. This 60-day waiting period is required to provide MARC 21 implementers time to include newly defined codes in any validation tables they may apply to the MARC fields where the codes are used.

Classification
The following codes are for use in subfield $2 in field 084 in Bibliographic and Community Information records (Other Classification Number), in subfield $2 in field 084 in Classification records (Classification Scheme and Edition) and in subfield $2 in field 065 in Authority records (Other Classification Number).

Additions:

asb

Allgemeine Systematik für Öffentliche Bibliotheken (ASB). (Berlin: Deutsches Bibliotheksinstitut) [use only after February 18, 2008]

ghbs

GHB-Aufstellungssystematik: HBZ Köln [use only after February 18, 2008]

ifzs

Systematik der IfZ-Bibliothek. [use only after February 18, 2008]

kab

Klassifikation für Allgemeinbibliotheken (Bad Honnef : Bock und Herchen Verlag) [use only after February 18, 2008]

rvk

Regensburger Verbundklassifikation (RVK) [use only after February 18, 2008]

sbb

Systematik der Bayerischen Bibliographie [use only after February 18, 2008]

sfb

SfB: Systematik für Bibliotheken (München: K.G. Saur) [use only after February 18, 2008]

sdnb

Systematik der Deutschen Nationalbibliographie [use only after February 18, 2008]

ssd

Systematik: Stadtbücherei Duisburg: Buchaufstellung und Ordnung des systematischen Kataloges (Reutlingen: Verlag Buch und Bibliothek) [use only after February 18, 2008]

stub

Systematik der TUB München [use only after February 18, 2008]

zdbs

ZDB-Systematik = ZDB-Classification [use only after February 18, 2008]

Description Conventions
The following codes are for use in subfield $e in field 040 in Bibliographic and Authority records (Description Conventions).

Additions:

pi

Instruktionen für die alphabetischen Kataloge der preussischen Bibliotheken (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrasowitz [use only after February 18, 2008]

rna

Regeln zur Erschließung von Nachlässen und Autographen (RNA) [use only after February 18, 2008]

Language codes
The following code is for use in subfield $2 in field 041 in Bibliographic and Commmunity Information records (Language code).

Addition:

din2335

Sprachenzeichen: DIN 2335 (Berlin: Beuth) [use only after February 18, 2008]

Abbreviated Title
The following code is for use in subfield $2 in field 210 in Bibliographic records (Abbreviated Title).

Addition:

din1502

Regeln für das Kürzen von Wörtern in Titeln und für das Kürzen der Titel von Veröffentlichungen: DIN 1502 (Berlin; Köln: Beuth) [use only after February 18, 2008]

Other Standard Identifier
The following code is for use in subfield $2 in field 024 in Bibliographic and Community Information records (Other Standard Identifier).

Addition:

urn

Uniform Resource Name [use only after February 18, 2008]

MARC Code List for Languages

The 2007 edition of the "MARC Code List for Languages" is now available from the Library of Congress. This new publication contains a list of languages and their associated three-character alphabetic codes that allow for the designation of the language or languages in MARC records. References from variant forms and specific language names assigned to group codes are included.

The list includes all valid codes and code assignments as of September 2007 and supersedes the 2003 edition of the "MARC Code List for Languages." There are 27 code additions and 12 changed code captions in this edition.

An XML version of the 2007 edition of the "MARC Code List for Languages" is available for use in applications.

HTML and PDF versions of the 2007 edition of the "MARC Code List for Languages" are available online.

MARBI Proposals

The following papers are available for review by the MARC community:

• Proposal No. 2008-02: Definition of field 542 for facts related to copyright status in the MARC 21 bibliographic format
• Discussion Paper No. 2008-DP01: Identifying headings that are appropriate as added entries, but are not used as bibliographic main entries

The draft agenda for the 2008 ALA Midwinter MARBI meetings is available.

Joint Steering Committee Documents

The following documents were posted on the JSC website on 2007/12/17:

• 5JSC/RDA/Sections 2-4, 9 (This is a large PDF file and may take a few seconds to open)
• 5JSC/RDA/Prospectus/Rev/5
• 5JSC/Chair/9/Chair follow-up/5 [Appendices WG]
• 5JSC/RDA/Objectives and Principles/Rev
• 5JSC/RDA/Element analysis/Rev
• 5JSC/RDA/RDA to FRAD mapping
• 5JSC/RDA/RDA to FRBR mapping/Rev
• 5JSC/RDA/Scope/Rev/2
• 5JSC/Chair/9/Chair follow-up/4 [Appendices WG]

Code4Lib Journal

The Code4Lib Journal has released the first issue. Lots of good stuff there.

• Beyond OPAC 2.0: Library Catalog as Versatile Discovery Platform by Tito Sierra, Joseph Ryan, and Markus Wust
• Facet-based search and navigation with LCSH: Problems and opportunities by Kelley McGrath
• Communicat: The Next Generation Catalog That Almost Was… by Ross Singer

Are just some of the papers.

Christmas Music

I went to a wonderful preformance of Messiah this week. It is always one of the best parts of the season. However, it really is an Easter piece. There is a Christmas section, but then it goes on to the death and aftermath. Not very Christmas. What I'd like to see is to just have the 1st part and the Hallelujah Chorus (folks would complain if that was missing) and then the Amen Chorus. Then after intermission another work could be presented. Hodie by Vaughan Williams does not get played often enough for my taste. There a plenty of works that could fill a second half. If one was a bit short a nice sing-along could fill the end of the concert.

I hope some music director in the Houston area is reading this and takes the suggestion (Ha!). Has anyone heard Hodie live?

PCC Series Policies and Practices

The PCC Ad Hoc Series Review Task Force seeks your comments on its "Discussion Paper on PCC Series Policies and Practices"

The paper is intended to generate comments useful in making recommendations for the future direction of PCC series practices and policies. Any individuals or organizations interested in series control policies, practices, and services are welcome to comment.

The task force membership and charges are available.

Encoding RDA, Resource Description and Access data in MARC 21

The following discussion paper is available for review by the MARC
community:

Discussion Paper No. 2008-DP04: Encoding RDA, Resource Description and Access data in MARC 21.

VuFind, New Release

Version 0.7 of VuFind is now available.

VuFind is a library resource portal designed and developed for libraries by libraries. The goal of VuFind is to enable your users to search and browse through all of your library's resources by replacing the traditional OPAC to include:

• Catalog Records
• Locally Cached Journals
• Digital Library Items
• Institutional Repository
• Institutional Bibliography
• Other Library Collections and Resources

VuFind is completely modular so you can implement just the basic system, or all of the components. And since it's open source, you can modify the modules to best fit your need or you can add new modules to extend your resource offerings.

It is Solr powered, which seems to be a trend these days.

Study of the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records

During spring and early summer of 2007, the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University conducted a Delphi study on critical FRBR issues as part of an IMLS-funded project concerning the research and development of FRBR-based retrieval systems.

The greatest concern was "Need to develop cataloging rules in line with FRBR." A bit further down the list was "Need to verify and validate the FRBR model against real data and in different communities to make sure the model is valid and applicable."

Rights Metadta

Creative Commons has announced that their rights metadata will now be semantically richer.

First, the RDF/XML we serve for each license is now considerably more informative. It includes:

• an explicit pointer to the license legalcode
• information on when the license was deprecated (for example, the Developing Nations 2.0 metadata)
• information about what license replaces this one (for example, the Attribution 1.0 Generic metadata)
• an explicit assertion about the license’s jurisdiction; this was previously encoded only by convention

In addition to the RDF/XML, we’re starting to encode license information as RDFa on the license deeds. Try using the GetN3 bookmarklet on the Attribution 3.0 Unported deed for an example.

We’re also starting to use this metadata to power our own applications. The OpenOffice.org Addin ships with a copy of the RDF and uses SPARQL to determine the license you’ve selected. As we continue to build out the tools around CC licenses we’ll be moving in a similar direction, looking for ways we can leverage this resource we already have.

You can build on it, too; everything we do goes into source control. You can find the RDF files in the license.rdf module. A description of the namespace is also available.

Object Reuse and Exchange Specs

Now available, the Open Archives Initiative Object Reuse and Exchange specification.

Open Archives Initiative Object Reuse and Exchange (OAI-ORE) defines standards for the description and exchange of aggregations of Web resources. This document provides an introduction and lists the specifications and user guide documents that make up the OAI-ORE standards.

Response to the Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control Report

A wiki has been put together to respond to the lack of any mention of open date in the Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control's report. If you agree with the statement, sign it, it is a wiki after all.

The draft report of the Library of Congress's Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control features many interesting suggestions. In particular we wholeheartedly endorse the vision of a bibliographic ecosystem which is "collaborative, decentralized, international in scope and web-based". However, we are concerned that the report lacks any discussion of a key component for any future of bibliographic data: open licensing and access.

UMich OAI Toolkit

The University of Michigan have released their open-source OAI toolkit on SourceForge. This toolkit contains both harvester and data provider, both written in Perl.

FRBR Book

While I might not want to find this under the tree, it is on my must read list. Understanding FRBR : what it is and how it will affect our retrieval tools

What is FRBR, and why is everyone talking about it? Is it really going to revolutionize cataloguing? And if so, what form will it take? Taylor and her compadres won't even try to teach you how to construct a hierarchical catalog record. Instead, their efforts are directed towards showcasing what's possible when digital technology and traditional cataloging practice meet. Serials, art, music, moving images, maps, and archival materials are just a few of the formats covered. Not for catalogers only.

Video Genre Terms

Good news from LoC.

After hearing from catalogers and deliberating further, CPSO has decided to reinstate "Video recordings for the hearing impaired" and "Video recordings for people with visual disabilities."

Happy dance.

MARC Code List for Languages

News from LoC

The 2007 edition of the MARC Code List for Languages is now available from the Library of Congress. This new publication contains a list of languages and their associated three-character alphabetic codes that allow for the designation of the language or languages in MARC records. References from variant forms and specific language names assigned to group codes are included. This edition contains 484 discrete codes, of which 55 are used for groups of languages.

The list includes all valid codes and code assignments as of September 2007 and supersedes the 2003 edition of the MARC Code List for Languages. There are 27 code additions and 12 changed code captions in this edition.

An XML version of the 2007 edition of the MARC Code List for Languages is available for use in applications.

MARBI Proposals

The following papers are available for review by the MARC community:

• Proposal No. 2008-01: Representation of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) System in the MARC 21 formats
• Proposal No. 2008-03: Definition of first indicator value in field 041 (Language code) of the MARC 21 bibliographic format

Additional proposals and discussion papers will be posted shortly.

The draft agenda for the 2008 ALA Midwinter MARBI meetings is available.

Unicode and MARC

News from LC.

The revised Character set specifications are now posted on the MARC site. They take into account the use of the full Unicode repertoire, as opposed to only the MARC-8 subset of Unicode, and also include the loss-less and lossy techniques for converting full Unicode to MARC-8 repertoire that were approved this year.

The MARC-8 specifications are still part of the document and the MARC-8 character code tables and mappings have some improved formatting, but no changes have been made to the MARC-8 to Unicode character set mappings.The XML (all MARC-8 repertoire) and comma-delimited (East Asian MARC-8 only) files are still downloadable, but we plan to improve the XML file in the near future. We are interested to know whether the comma-delimited file is used, as we may only need to offer the XML for download.

FRBR at IFLA

A new home page has been created on IFLANET for the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR).

It includes links to the recently-approved amendment to the expression entity, to the 1998 text in PDF and HTML, to errata that were identified during the review process, and to a new list of basic readings about FRBR.

Dublin Core News

An updated specification for DC-TEXT, a syntax for serializing, or representing, a Dublin Core metadata description set in plain text, has been published as a DCMI Recommended Resource.

The "Description Set Model" of the DCMI Abstract Model [DCAM] describes the constructs that make up a DC metadata description set. This document specifies a syntax for serialising, or representing, a DC metadata description set in plain text. The format is referred to as "DC-Text". A plain text format for serialisation of such description sets is useful as a means of presenting examples in a human-readable form which highlights the constructs of the DCMI Abstract Model, and also as a means of comparing the information represented in other machine-processable formats.

Additions to the MARC Code Lists for Relators, Sources, Description

The codes listed below have been recently approved for use in MARC 21 records. The codes will be added to the online MARC Code Lists for Relators, Sources, Description Conventions.

These codes should not be used in exchange records until after January 30, 2008. This 60-day waiting period is required to provide MARC 21 implementers time to include newly defined codes in any validation tables they may apply to the MARC fields where the codes are used.

Term, Name, Title Sources

The following codes are for use in subfield $2 in fields 600-657 in Bibliographic and Community Information records, and in subfield $f in field 040 (Cataloging Source) in Authority records.

Additions:

asrcrfcd

Australian Standard Research Classification: Research Fields, Courses and Disciplines (RFCD) classification (Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics) [use only after January 30, 2008]

asrcseo

Australian Standard Research Classification: Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) classification (Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics) [use only after January 30, 2008]

asrctoa

Australian Standard Research Classification: Type of Activity(TOA) classification (Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics) [use only after January 30, 2008]

muzvukci

MuzeVideo UK Contributor Index (London: Muze Europe Ltd) [use only after January 30, 2008]

Texas Library Association Annual Conference

I'm signed up for TLA. Did it too late to get a decent rate on a conference hotel so I'll be staying behind the convention center. From the map it looks close, not a bad walk. I'm on the ballot for councilor for the Digital Library group. So, I'll be going there and to the TRGCC events.

Last Spring I suggested they have Cali Lewis on the program. She lives in Dallas and has a video podcast, Geekbrief. Her story is great, two years ago she was working at a u-rent-space place and heard about podcasting. Without any experience she and her husband started one . Now, that is their job. She has been on TV and rubs shoulders with Web 2.0 luminaries. Since I was the one to suggest her, I hope she gets a good turnout. I should be there unless it conflicts with the DL or TRGCC events, or its part of a preconference workshop. Hope not.

FRBR and RDA

This note from Martha Yee was posted to the FRBR discussion e-mail list.

I have written elsewhere about the fact that our rules and our cataloging data are already considerably FRBR-ized and that what is lacking for the creation of true FRBR-ized catalogs is adequate software support. ("FRBRization: a Method for Turning Online Public Finding Lists into Online Public Catalogs." Information Technology and Libraries 2005; 24:3:77-95. [also at the California Digital Library eScholarship Repository, http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/715].) We already collocate all of the expressions of a work using work identifiers (formerly known as main entries). However, it is still up to the user to look through all of the various expressions and manifestations of the work and make decisions about which one is the most useful.

With the proliferation of methods of reproduction in the 20th century, this set of all of the various manifestations and expressions of a particular work has become more and more chaotic, however. At the International Conference on the Principles & Future Development of AACR in Toronto in 1997, I thought I heard a desire to revise AACR to further FRBR-ize the rules so that catalogers went beneath work collocation and performed expression and manifestation collocation to aid users in navigating this chaos. Instead, RDA seems to be headed toward an increase in chaos by atomizing the bibliographic description into lists of data elements that are all tied to the FRBR entity manifestation. As Hal Cain so eloquently put it in his September 6, 2007, post to Autocat, "Compiled bibliographic information has greater value than just the value of the separate data."

I have been a vocal critic during this process, but it occurred to me that people might not really understand what I was talking about without a demonstration code, an alternative RDA, so to speak. Thus, with the help of many generous and intelligent friends, whom I acknowledge in the introduction, I have created such a code, which you can view at http://myee.bol.ucla.edu. Since it is clear that we need to move toward more standard ways of coding our data within the sphere of the internet, I have made a stab at creating an RDF model of my cataloging code, as well. I'm certain that it is currently a very amateurish effort, as it is my first data model of any kind, but it might encourage more expert data modelers to help improve it as a group effort. (I should say that I have already received considerable help from the most generous topic map expert Alexander Johannesen). The data modelling process has already been valuable to me in that it has raised a number of issues that I suspect would arise in any effort to model the bibliographic universe (a discussion of these, including Alexander's comments and some from Sara Shatford Layne, can be found at: http://myee.bol.ucla.edu/rdfmodel.html).

It may well be that catalogers do not have enough information to collocate items at the expression and manifestation levels, and that the designers of our current Anglo-American cataloging practices were wiser than we seem to give them credit for these days in limiting collocation to the work level except in the case of prolific works, which get some expression collocation.It may also be that our illustrious leaders have so thoroughly deprofessionalized cataloging that there is no longer any personnel available to carry out this user service. If either or both of those propositions are the case, I would suggest that we abandon the current RDA development process and work instead on designing an effective RDF (or topic map?) model of our current cataloging rules and our millions of existing cataloging records.

The Yee rules also contain some suggestions for reforming our practices in other ways to bring our entity definitions into closer alignment both with those of our users and with those of our colleagues outside the Anglo-American world, in order to facilitate better international cooperation in creating a virtual international authority file.

So, with some trepidation, I put this forth for you all to tear apart (smile). Please send comments to the RDA, FRBR, and NGC4LIB lists, to my email address (myee@ucla.edu) and/or post them to my blog at: http://yeecatrule.wordpress.com/

Thanks for your consideration!

Martha

I have added some active links.

LC Classification Schedule Q: Science

News from LC. "Due to our printing company's error, Library of Congress Classification schedule Q: Science, 2007 edition was delivered to CDS with pages 10 and 11 missing." They have mounted the missing pages on their website.

RLG Programs Descriptive Metadata Practices Survey

The results of the RLG Programs Descriptive Metadata Practices Survey are now available.

• RLG Programs' interpretation of the results and the issues they identified to pursue in future projects. (13 pages, 99K)
• The data supplement with the charts and graphs generated from the 89 survey responses the survey instrument. (46 pages, 258K)

The Virtual Museum of Cataloging and Acquisitions Artifacts

The Virtual Museum of Cataloging and Acquisitions Artifacts is looking for additions to their collection. Although they love getting anything they are hoping to find:

• a hand-written catalog card in "library hand"
• artifacts of homemade or local early computer systems for cards and
  orders, e.g. keypunched cards, etc.
• the ever-elusive Polaroid camera with attachment for taking pictures from the NUC
• local manuals for typing cards, filing, etc.

Topic Maps in Libraries

Some of these people interested in applying Topic Maps in libraries created a mailing list to discuss and inform about new applications and advances in this issues.

Controlled Vocabulary Add-on for DSpace

The Odisseia Research Group at the University of Minho has just released a new version of the Controlled Vocabulary add-on for DSpace.

This patch adds a few improvements to the controlled vocabulary add- on currently present in DSpace:

1. The Node Schema (see [dspace]/docs/controlledvocabulary.xsd) has been updated to support other types of relationships and/or properties that are part of a true thesaurus, and now all elements in this structure are properly processed and displayed by the add-on.
2. The add-on recognizes thesaurus/controlled vocabularies described in SKOS standard schema. This vocabulary can be created according to the W3C recommendations and must be saved with the extension ".skos".
3. In the DC metadata fields you wish to control, it is now possible to configure distinct vocabularies associated to specific communities. You may also define one or more generic vocabularies to be used by default on the rest of the communities. To use this functionality you have to edit the file [dspace]/config/input- forms.xml and place a new "controlled-vocabularies" element under the that you want to control.

Rights Metadata

The Creative Commons Add-in for OpenOffice allows license information to be embedded in OpenOffice Writer, Impress and Calc documents.

New Character Sets in MDS-Maps, MDS-Music, MDS-Visual Materials, MDS-Computer Files

In order to expand the use of non-Latin scripts already used in bibliographic records, the MDS-Maps, MDS-Music, MDS-Visual Materials, and MDS-Computer Files records may now include records containing Japanese, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Hebrew, Yiddish, Greek, or Cyrillic script characters. These elements will become valid for distribution no earlier than January 2008.

Any questions regarding the data content of these records can be directed to:

Cataloging Policy & Support Office
email: cpso@loc.gov

Additions to the MARC Code Lists for Relators, Sources, Description

Network Development and MARC Standards Office, Library of Congress The codes listed below have been recently approved for use in MARC 21 records. The codes will be added to the online MARC Code Lists for Relators, Sources, Description Conventions.

The codes should not be used in exchange records until after January 16, 2008. This 60-day waiting period is required to provide MARC 21 implementers time to include newly defined codes in any validation tables they may apply to the MARC fields where the codes are used. Term, Name,

Title Sources

The following codes are for use in subfield $2 in fields 600-657 in Bibliographic and Community Information records, and in subfield $f in field 040 (Cataloging Source) in Authority records.

Additions:

afset

American Folklore Society Ethnographic Thesaurus [use only after January 9, 2008]

aiatsisl

AIATSIS Language Thesaurus (Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies [use only after January 16, 2008]

aiatsisp

AIATSIS Place Thesaurus (Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies [use only after January 16, 2008]

aiatsiss

AIATSIS Subject Thesaurus (Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies [use only after January 16, 2008]

Other Standard Identifier

The following code is for use in subfield $2 in field 024 in Bibliographic and Coommunity Information records (Other Standard Identifier).

Addition:

gtin-14

Global Trade Identification Number 14 (EAN/UCC-128 or ITF-14) [use only after January 16, 2008]

Virtual International Authority File

News from OCLC.

OCLC, the Bibliothéque nationale de France, the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek and the Library of Congress have signed a memorandum of understanding to extend and enhance the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF), a project which virtually combines multiple name authority files into a single name authority service.

Genius

This does not reflect very well on my writing, but any readers can feel proud that they have such a level of understanding.

I edited the provided script and took out all their advertising. What are the ethics of that?

Future of Bibliographic Control

The live feed had so many viewers it overloaded the servers. Now it is available to view at your leisure. Draft Final Report: Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control.

In November 2006, Deanna Marcum, associate librarian for Library Services at the Library of Congress, convened a Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control to examine the future of bibliographic description in the 21st century in light of advances in search engine technology, the popularity of the Internet and the influx of electronic information resources.

After a year of careful and comprehensive study, the group presented its draft report to Library of Congress managers and staff in the Coolidge Auditorium. The draft report will be made available on or about Nov. 30, and a comment period on the draft report will last until Dec. 15, 2007.

Due to unprecedented demand for the live webcast, the Library has made this unedited version of the presentation available immediately. An enhanced version of this webcast, featuring the accompanying slide presentation, will be available shortly.

History of Writing

Added to my MP3 player, A Brief History of Innovation in Publishing.

Where would the people of the world be without published material? Hardly any information about anything would be exchanged even in today's modern society. Published material is so ubiquitous that you couldn't avoid it if you tried. The newspapers and websites you read, the billboards you see on the way to work, and even reports on your desk at work would all make this a futile attempt. As Sarah Milstein and Tim O'Reilly explain in this presentation, the published material we see today was not just invented recently, and in fact has been being constantly updated since the days of writing on clay tablets.

I think Tim O'Reilly would be a great keynote speaker at library conferences.

21 Nov. 2007. Had a chance to listen, and it is short with not much content. It is well presented and the recording is good, so it is worth a listen, but it is not the content-filled talk I was hoping for.

Cataloging Training Survey

This survey request was posted to several e-mail lists.

This survey is for librarians who have supervised a library science intern or practicum student in cataloging. A great deal of discussion about cataloging education has been raised in the library community as of late, and we feel an important component of cataloging education is the practicum/internship experience.

Our intent is to include the survey results in a journal article that examines cataloging practicum/internship experiences and offers guidelines to both students and supervisors on how to create a successful cataloging practicum/internship experience. If you supervised a library science graduate student internship or practicum, we invite you to participate in this survey.

The survey is eleven questions long and should take approximately fifteen minutes. All results will remain completely anonymous. The survey is completely voluntary, and your completion of the survey implies your consent to participate in this study. You must be 18 years of age or older to participate in this survey. You are not required to answer every question and can choose to skip to the next question. The study has fulfilled the requirements for conducting human-subject research. Please provide as much detail about your experiences as possible.

The survey will be available through December 8, 2007. If you have any questions, please contact Melanie McGurr at the Ohio State University , mcgurr.2@osu.edu or Ione Damasco at the University of Dayton, ione.damasco@notes.udayton.edu.

21 Nov. 2007. This survey is closed.

Resource Description and Access

News about RDA.

Outcomes of the October 2007 meeting of the Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA have been mounted on the JSC Web site.

The Outcomes outline a new organization for RDA which has been agreed to by the Joint Steering Committee and the Committee of Principals. Further information on the organization has also been posted on the JSC Web site. New sections of RDA will be issued for review in December 2007.

MARC Record Service Survey

Help inform our decisions buy taking this survey on MARC Record Services.

Does your library use a MARC Record Service such as SFX's MARCit! or Serials Solutions' 360 MARC Updates? If so, I invite you to participate in a brief, anonymous survey that is designed to provide information about how libraries are using different MARC record services. The goals of the survey are to identify the benefits of using these services and areas in which the services could be improved, as well as to solicit general feedback about them.

Your participation in this study will provide valuable information about a major aspect of serials cataloging: outsourcing MARC records to vendors. Your responses will inform a formally published article, which I will share with the listserves once it is finished.

Movers and Shakers

If you nominated someone better do it again.

Nominations for Library Journal's Movers and Shakers that were made before November 5 were not captured and stored on LJ's server. We need you to go back and Renominate those people. We are assured that the electronic nomination form is working, but if you prefer, you can supply all the information requested on the form and either fax it to 646-746-6734, or send it in an e-mail to Francine Fialkoff, fialkoff@reedbusiness.com. The deadline has been extended to November 28.

Online Social Spaces

All the discussion of on-line social spaces seems to miss an important way folks are connecting, through their game consoles. I'm not sure of the numbers but I'm guessing the number of people connecting using X-Box Live is not insignificant. Where are the libraries in Halo 3?

MODS Tool

Great news for MODS users

The University of Tennessee Digital Library Center is proud to announce the release of the DLC-MODS Workbook, version 1.2 under the GNU General Public License version 3.

The DLC-MODS Workbook provides a series of web pages that enable users to easily generate complex, valid MODS metadata records that meet the 1-4 levels of specification outlined in the Digital Library Federation Implementation Guidelines for Shareable MODS Records, (DLF Aquifer Guidelines November 2006).

Developed by programmer Christine Haygood Deane under the direction of metadata librarian Melanie Feltner-Reichert, this open source client-side software provides control of date formats and other problematic fields at the point of creation, while shielding creators from the need to work in XML. Metadata records created can be partially created, saved to the desktop, reloaded and completed at a later date. Final versions can be downloaded or cut-and-pasted into text editors for use elsewhere.

Developed in support for our state-wide digitization project, Volunteer Voices, we hope this system will assist others in their efforts to create valuable digital libraries also. The software can be viewed here and downloaded here.

Drill Clouds

Lorcan Dempsey mentions Drill Clouds in his discussion of some interesting work being done at CISTI. They are Tag Clouds 2.0, ones that enhance the searching and presentation of results. Might be something worth considering.

Ungava extends tag clouds to make them a useful tool for search refinement. That is, to use a tag cloud to refine an existing query by adding new elements to the query through interactions with the cloud. As this results in a kind of drill-down search behaviour, these new clouds have been named drill clouds.

OAI-ORE Meeting

Seen on several e-mail lists.

A meeting will be held on March 3, 2008 at Johns Hopkins University to roll-out the first beta release of the OAI-ORE specifications. These specifications describe a data model to identify and describe aggregations of web resources, and the encoding of the data model in the XML-based Atom syndication format.

Additional details are available at:

• The full press release for this event
• The registration site for the meeting

Note that registration is required and space is limited.

3000 Entries

Recently, this weblog passed the 3000 postings mark. Since Tuesday, March 5, 2002, when the first item was posted there have been at least 3000 news items I thought would be of interest to catalogers. Maybe a few less, there were some of general library interest and a couple of personal entries. Cataloging is changing. Catalogablog has tried to keep everyone, myself included, aware of what is happening. What a long strange trip its been and promises to be.

xISSN Web Service

OCLC has announced a companion to the xISBN service, the xISSN Web Service.

The xISSN Web service supplies ISSNs and other information associated with serial publications represented in WorldCat. Submit an ISSN to this service, and it returns a list of related ISSNs and selected metadata. The service is based on WorldCat, the world's largest network of library content and services. The current xISSN database covers 575,573 ISSNs.

Ideal for Web-enabled search applications, such as library catalogs and OpenURL Resolvers, and based on associations made in the WorldCat database, xISSN enables an end user to link to information about alternate versions of serial publications.

This is an API, requests are accepted using REST (or OpenURL or unAPI), this is not a place you can type an ISSN in a box and get back a list.

WorldCat and the Future of Bibliographic Control

Karen Calhoun spoke on WorldCat and the future of bibliographic control at the recent OCLC Members Council.

One bit I found interesting was that Baker and Taylor Cataloging Plus libraries are now OCLC members. These were described as small school libraries, ones that would never have joined otherwise. I wonder if this is a route the Lunar and Planetary Institute (MPOW) could use to join. We can not afford the set-up and training fees for OCLC, but just might be able to pay the yearly dues. (Maybe.) We have a lot of unique or rare records to contribute and I'd love to become a NACO library, since we have access to the planetary science community. But we can just not afford OCLC as the fees are currently structured.

MARC Jack-o-lantern

Now this is scary, a MARC Jack-o-lantern. A year old, but still fun.

Electronic Integrating Resources

News from OLAC.

I am pleased to announce that an updated version of OLAC's Introduction to Cataloging Electronic Integrating Resources: An Online Training Presentation is now available.

I would like to thank Steve Miller for his work in updating this presentation to reflect current rules and practices (primarily the transition to biblevel "i" by OCLC and the removal of the prohibition against physical description of remote electronic resources).

I would also like to acknowledge the Subcommittee on Maintenance for CAPC Resources (David Prochazka, Paige Andrew, Richard N. Leigh, and Susan Leister) for their work in organizing a review of the resources on the CAPC web site and arranging for those that have become out-of-date to be updated or archived.

OCLC's OpenURL Referer for IE

News from OCLC about an OpenURL referer.

OCLC's OpenURL Referrer is now available for Internet Explorer!
Previously available only for Firefox, this popular browser extension inserts OpenURLs into Google Scholar and Google News Archive search results. It also detects and makes links out of web COinS, such as those found in Wikipedia and Worldcat.org.

The extension can be downloaded for free.

OpenURL Referrer uses your institution's link resolver settings from the OCLC WorldCat Registry, so there is no need to manually configure the extension. Institutions can register their resolver in the OCLC WorldCat. ... All institutions can register for free, even if they are not OCLC member libraries.

The LPI uses COinS on some pages, so it should work for those. Check out our Contribution List.

Folksonomy Analysis

Smith, Tiffany (2007) Cataloging and You: Measuring the Efficacy of a Folksonomy for Subject Analysis. In Lussky, Joan, Eds. Proceedings 18th Workshop of the American Society for Information Science and Technology Special Interest Group in Classification Research, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Taxi Delivery?

Just had a idea, rather than an expensive bookmobile, why not deliver and pick up books by taxis? A yearly contract with the local cab company to pick-up books and bring them to the library and also deliver books to people might be less expensive than a bookmobile. The cab driver could even return the books at the end of their shifts, just collect them in a clean part of the trunk. Just an idea, not fully-formed.

Movers & Shakers 2008

Nominate someone you know.

The editors of Library Journal need your help in identifying the emerging leaders in the library world. Our seventh annual Movers & Shakers supplement will profile 50-plus up-and-coming individuals from across the United States and Canada who are innovative, creative, and making a difference. From librarians to vendors to others who work in the library field, Movers & Shakers 2008 will celebrate the new professionals who are moving our libraries ahead. Movers & Shakers 2008 will be distributed with the March 15 issue of Library Journal.

Deadline for submissions is extended to November 15, 2007!

A Chat with Stuart Weibel

Stuart Weibel, of OCLC and Dublin Core, appears on Jon Udell's Interviews with Innovators.

On this episode of Interviews with Innovators, host Jon Udell invites Stuart Weibel to reflect on his leading role in the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative. They also discuss how databases like the Online Computer Library Center's WorldCat - which consolidates bibliographic data from over 50,000 participating libraries - can enrich our experience of using and contributing to the web.

Additions to MARC Code List for Languages

The following codes have been approved for use in the international language code standard, ISO 639-2 (Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages--Part 2: alpha-3 code) and are also being added to the MARC Code List for Languages. These are being published in the new 2007 edition of the MARC Code List for Languages.

New code Language name Previously coded

rup Aromanian roa

syc Syriac n/a

Note that this is a new code for Classical Syriac; the existing code "syr" is changing its caption to: Syriac, Modern

zbl Blissymbolics n/a

LC Implementation Plans
Subscribers can anticipate receiving MARC records reflecting these changes in all distribution services not earlier than January 22, 2008.

MARC Language Code

News from the MARC folks. A new 2007 edition of the MARC Language Code list is now available. The publication is presented in PDF with bookmarks for navigation. The list is published from a new XML file that is also made available from the site. The services available from the XML file will be enhanced over the coming months as the other MARC code lists are also released.

Sounds like there may be an API for accessing the code lists. Nice. Then the ILS could just tap that file rather than maintain internal lists and always have current info. That would make the codes useful to other communities as well.

Brackets

There is an interesting discussion on AUTOCAT about brackets. It seems ISBD has been changed so each subfield has opening and closing brackets. Like so, [S.l.] : [s.n.]. AACR would display as [S.l. : s.n.]. AACR won't be updated, but the replacement RDA currently follows the new ISBD rules. This poses the larger question, are we following AACR until RDA is published or moving in that direction now by following the new ISBD?

Fish4Info Released

Yet another open-source OPAC replacement has been released, Fish4Info.

Fish4Info is not an OPAC. Why not? OPACs connect users with MARC records when what they really want are resources. Fish4Info is focused on users, and provides a more positive finding experience (as opposed to a frustrating and fruitless search). We talked about book reviews and social connections and the power of a library portal that is a destination instead of a pass-through.

The modules in the code base include:
MARCImport - place a MARC file on the server and this transfers the data into Drupal nodes
BCCKReview - a book review module built using CCK
EZ-Amazon - helps you use an Amazon API developer’s key to access Amazon content
Some others I am sure I am forgetting, but which you will find in /drupal/sites/all/modules/…

Non-Latin Characters in Name Authority Records

News from the CPSO.

The major authority record exchange partners (British Library, Library of Congress, National Library of Medicine, and OCLC, Inc., in consultation with Library and Archives Canada) have agreed to a basic outline that will allow for the addition of references with non-Latin characters to name authority records that make up the LC/NACO Authority File.

While the romanized form will continue to be the authorized heading (authority record 1XX field), NACO contributors will be able to add references in non-Latin scripts following MARC 21’s “Model B” for multi-script records. Model B provides for unlinked non-Latin script fields with the same MARC tags used for romanized data, such as authority record 4XX fields. Using Model B for authorities is a departure from the current bibliographic record practice of many Anglo-American libraries where non-Latin characters are exported as 880 fields (Alternate Graphic Representation) using MARC 21’s “Model A” for multiscript records.

For the initial implementation period, the use of non-Latin scripts will be limited to those scripts that represent the MARC-8 repertoire of UTF-8 (Japanese, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Hebrew, Yiddish, Cyrillic, and Greek). Although the exchange of authority records between the NACO nodes will be in UTF-8, LC’s Cataloging Distribution Service will continue to supply the MDS-Authorities weekly subscription product in both UTF-8 and MARC-8 for some period of time. It is expected that the use of non-Latin scripts beyond the MARC-8 repertoire will be implemented in the future.

Virtual International Authority File

The research folks at OCLC have a Virtual International Authority File running.

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, the Library of Congress, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and OCLC are jointly conducting a project to match and link the authority records for personal names in the retrospective personal name authority files of the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (dnb), the Library of Congress (LC), and the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF).

Amazon MP3s

Amazon has started selling DRM-free MP3s. They are encoded at 256 kb and sell for 89 to 99 cents each. Does this pose a threat to iTunes? Well the convience is lacking at Amazon. At iTunes you get seamless throughput from iTunes to your computer to your iPod. At Amazon each of those steps requires something on my part. A little bit better skill set.

The other part is the catalog. No Beatles, almost no U2. They do have the Frank Sinatra With Bono song. Only one song by the Corrs. A good selection of Pentangle. I'll give it a try, but with the limited catalog and being less convient, I don't see this as an iTunes killer.

Movie Genre Terms in LSCH

The List of LCSH Moving Image Genre-Form Headings compiled by Scott M. Dutkiewicz is being updated weekly to show new terms available.

Map Cataloging

Problems That Arise When Providing Geographic Coordinate Information for Cataloged Maps by Jorge A. Gonzalez has just appeared in Coordinates.

This article explores the importance of correctly understanding, using, and interpreting map cataloging rules to provide the most accurate information possible, with the goal of making it possible to find maps quickly and accurately- whether using database retrieval or a coordinate-driven search engine. It is proposed that we can find an efficient universal method to represent locations, addresses, and areas of the world through the use of geographic coordinates for print and digital cartographic materials. Finally, the article states the strong need to standardize spatial cataloging information to improve search query responses by providing uniform information and by addressing the problems discussed in this article.

RSS Best Practices

Just as MARC gives the structure and AACR guides us on how to fill that structure, there now exists the same documents for RSS. The RSS specification gives the elements, the new Really Simple Syndication Best Practices Profile gives guidelines on how to use those elements. Comments are being accepted on the document.

When to Create a New Record

News from CC:DA.

We are pleased to announce publication of Differences Between, Changes Within: Guidelines on When to Create a New Record (revised edition, 2007). This revised edition is now available as a free, 38-page download (.pdf) and is no longer available as a print publication.

Originally intended to be an appendix to the 2002 AACR2 rule revisions, Differences Between, Changes Within evolved into a stand-alone document that supplements current descriptive cataloging rules by providing information about creating new records or updating existing records.

The document helps guide the cataloger in determining whether the item in hand can be cataloged with existing copy or requires a new bibliographic record. General guidelines are followed by specific guidelines for manifestation-level records for single-part monographs, multipart monographs, integrating resources, and serials. The text describes what constitutes a major difference between manifestations, requiring the creation of an original record, as well as detailing major changes within a serial manifestation that would lead to the creation of a new record. In addition, guidance is also provided to identify minor changes that would not require a new bibliographic record, but might necessitate updating an existing record.

The new edition of Differences Between, Changes Within reflects changes through the final set of amendments to AACR2, which were issued in 2005. Some guidelines have been changed and some removed. All rule references have been verified and updated wherever necessary.

Validation Records

From the LC Cataloging Newsline Vol. 15, no. 3 (October 2007)

The Cataloging Policy and Support Office (CPSO) has begun creating and distributing subject authority records called "validation records" that represent valid 6XX headings plus subdivision strings (topical, chronological, geographic, and form), including strings with free-floating subdivisions for which subject authority records were not previously made. Validation records are being created to improve the "validation" capability of many integrated library management systems used by the Library of Congress and others by providing an authorized form of subject heading strings for machine matching.

The validation records are identified by the presence of the 667 field which reads: "Record generated for validation purposes." All validation records will appear in LC's online catalogs but will not be printed in the annual edition of Library of Congress Subject Headings nor will they appear as proposed headings on the LC Subject Headings Weekly List. As of Sept. 25, 2007, 1,900 validation records have been distributed. Some examples are:

• sh2007005269 Abdominal wall$xAbnormalities (May Subd Geog)
• sh2007100421 United States$xEconomic policy$vPeriodicals
• sh2007100247 Great Britain$xRelations$zUnited States
• sh2007100224 Indians of North America$vSongs and music

CPSO is creating the validation records by using a combination of one-by-one record creation as subject strings are encountered in weekly operations and use of an automated program to generate and distribute validation records without human intervention. For this latter automated method, the focus is on subject heading strings applied since the year 2002 for which the LC catalog contains fifty or more bibliographic records that include the same 6XX string. Once the automated program is tested and approved, several thousand records are expected to be generated and distributed each week. CPSO will make an announcement before the automated method is put into full production.

Folksonomies

The October/November 2007 issue of the Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology includes a special section on Folksonomies.

• Introduction: Folksonomies and Image Tagging: Seeing the Future? by Diane Neal, Guest Editor
• Why Are They Tagging, and Why Do We Want Them To? by P. Jason Morrison
• Trouble in Paradise: Conflict Management and Resolution in Social Classification Environments by Chris Landbeck
• Image Indexing: How Can I Find a Nice Pair of Italian Shoes? by Elaine Ménard
• Flickr Image Tagging: Patterns Made Visible by Joan Beaudoin

Seen on Christina's LIS Rant.

Family

A couple pictures of the family are up.

Video Language Coding

The OLAC CAPC Video Language Coding Best Practices Task Force Draft Recommendations (October 2007) are now available.

The task force was charged with creating a set of best practices for coding MARC 008/lang and 041 language information for videos, especially DVDs, and with using that exercise to examine whether any changes could be made to the MARC format (coding or directions) that would improve access to the multiple types of language information found on videos.

Email Access

Providing access to a collection of email messages isn't something we worry much about, unless we are archivists. Still providing access is what catalogers do. An IMAP plugin for SquirrelRDF by John Recker, Davide Eynard, and Craig Sayers. HPL-2007-161.

The Semantic Web aims to make information accessible to both humans and machines, using standard formats for data and making information available in a formal and structured way. Since the advent of RDF (Resource Description Framework) there have been many efforts to extract and convert existing information in this format. In this paper we describe an adapter tool for the IMAP protocol, developed as a plugin of SquirrelRDF1, which allows users to query IMAP mailboxes using SPARQL. The information returned looks like RDF, is always current, and can be reused and integrated inside other applications.

Metadata Survey

IFLA wants your help.

We are collecting your suggestions to be used in preparing a chapter on metadata decisions for the Digital Library Guidelines, a task of the IFLA- World Digital Library Working Group on Digital Library Guidelines. The Guidelines will be developed for use by libraries and other cultural institutions around the world. The purpose of this survey is to investigate different issues, levels, and concerns regarding metadata and controlled vocabularies that need to be addressed in the Guidelines.

Please take 3-5 minutes to answer these questions on the survey.

Subject Analysis Committee

The ALCTS Subject Analysis Committee Annual 2007 meetings minutes are now available.

CONSERline

The current issue of CONSERline, no. 29, fall 2007 is available.

The table of contents:

• From the Editor
• CONSER Standard Record News
• DLF Registry of Digital Masters
• Integrating Resources Cataloging
• SCCTP
• PCC Ad Hoc Series Review Task Force
• CONSER Documentation
• Membership News
• CONSER People

marcdb

Ed Summers has kindly made available marcdb.

marcdb is a little utility for reading in marc data into a relational database. The magic of sqlalchemy and elixir mean that you can use any supported rdbms: postgres, sqlite, mysql, etc...you'll just need to make sure you've got the relevant database driver installed.

Still available is MARC RTP for converting selected fields into a format databases accept. With these two tools and Terry Reese's MarcEdit converting MARC to other formats should be a snap.

Additions to the MARC Code Lists for Relators, Sources, Description

The codes listed below have been recently approved for use in MARC 21 records. The codes will be added to the online MARC Code Lists for Relators, Sources, Description Conventions.

The codes should not be used in exchange records until after November 28, 2007. This 60-day waiting period is required to provide MARC 21 implementers time to include newly defined codes in any validation tables they may apply to the MARC fields where the codes are used. Language
Coding Sources

The following codes are for use in subfield $2 in field 041 in Bibliographic and Community Information records (Language Code).

Additions:

rfc4646

Tags for Identifying Languages [use only after November 28, 2007]

iso639-3

Codes for the representation of names of languages--Part 3 [use only after November 28, 2007]

Kernel Metadata

For those times when Dublin Core is too complex, there is Kernel metadata. Just four elements, who, what, when and, where.

Kernel metadata is a small prescriptive vocabulary designed to support highly uniform but minimal object descriptions for the purpose of orderly collection management. The Kernel vocabulary, based on a subset of the Dublin Core (DC) metadata element set, aims to describe objects of any form or category, but its reach is limited to a small number of fundamental questions such as who, what, when, and where. The Electronic Resource Citation (ERC), also specified in this document, is an object description that addresses those four questions using Kernel and other metadata elements.

Family

This post is personal, but it will get the word out to lots of friends and family quickly. Next Tuesday, Sept. 25. our family will grow by 3, two girls (12 & 13) and a young man (14). We will be their home for a while. They do have a much older sister in Panama, who may take custody at some point in time, or not. We expect them to be part of our family for a few to several years. Pictures on Flickr as they become available.

Genre/Form Authority Records

Library of Congress Subject Headings Weekly List 35 (August 29, 2007) contains the start of authority records for the TV and movie genres. Most have yet to make it into the LC authority datanbse.

Skype & MS Office

Skype has a new toolbar for MS Office. Works with Office 2007. Things you can do with Skype Office Toolbar

• Start calls to Skype Names and phone numbers written within MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents
• See when the author of a document is online and communicate with them
• Send the file you are currently working on to Skype Contacts
• Turn phone numbers into links within your document

I'll have to give this a try.

Additions to the MARC Code Lists for Relators, Sources, Description

The code listed below has been recently approved for use in MARC 21 records. The code will be added to the online MARC Code Lists for Relators, Sources, Description Conventions.

The code should not be used in exchange records until after November 13, 2007. This 60-day waiting period is required to provide MARC 21 implementers time to include newly defined codes in any validation tables they may apply to the MARC fields where the codes are used. (Description Conventions)

The following code is for use in subfield $2 in field 040 in Bibliographic and Authority records (Description Conventions).

Addition:

enol

Ekspertiza i nauchno-tekhnicheskaia obrabotka lichnykh arkhivnykh fondov: metodicheskiie rekomendatsii (Moskva: 1990) [use only after November 13, 2007]

W3C Completes Bridge Between HTML/Microformats and Semantic Web

Big news from the W3C, GRDDL.

Today, the World Wide Web Consortium completed an important link between Semantic Web and microformats communities. With "Gleaning Resource Descriptions from Dialects of Languages", or GRDDL (pronounced "griddle"), software can automatically extract information from structured Web pages to make it part of the Semantic Web. Those accustomed to expressing structured data with microformats in XHTML can thus increase the value of their existing data by porting it to the Semantic Web, at very low cost.

"Sometimes one line of code can make a world of difference," said Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director. "Just as stylesheets make Web pages more readable to people, GRDDL makes Web pages, microformat tags, XML documents, and data more readable to Semantic Web applications, opening more data to new possibilities and creative reuse."

Library Card Sign-up Month

September is Library Card Sign-up Month. It is also library card renewal month at MPOW, the Lunar and Planetary Institute. In my latest podcast I used the 10 second clip from ALA to reinforce the renewal message. (I felt like a sound engineer getting it the right volume and speed.) They have other lengths that might meet your needs better. Thanks ALA.

Web Ontology Language (OWL)

HP labs has a new report on OWL, Comparing OWL Semantics Turner, David; Carroll, Jeremy J. HPL-2007-146

The OWL Web Ontology Language is endowed with two model theories, reflecting its origins as a compromise between two different communities. By design these model theories give rise to very similar semantics, and a precise statement of the correspondence between the model theories is conjectured with a sketch proof at the end of the OWL semantics specification document. We have filled in the details of this sketch proof using the Isabelle/HOL proof assistant, and developed machinery for further study of the formal semantics of OWL. Our study was sufficiently detailed to find a handful of minor errors in the specification of the semantics of OWL that previous work had overlooked. We also sought a stronger result by showing a partial converse to the known correspondence, but it proved impossible to achieve this within our time constraints; instead we conjecture a possible method for strengthening the correspondence.

OK Training

We invite you to participate in Mars In and Out. A free NASA-supported workshop designed to bring earth and space science into your library and after-school children’s and community programs November 8 and 9, 2007.

The Office of Library Development
Oklahoma Department of Libraries
200 NE 18th Street
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105

Mars Inside and Out! will acquaint you with everything you need to know about the mysterious red planet to bring exciting programs to your community. You will learn about how the Martian environment has changed through time, the possibility for life on Mars, past, present, and future NASA missions to Mars, and plans and challenges for having humans living and working on Mars.

Scientists and educators from the Lunar and Planetary Institute will share space science information, resources, hands-on activities, and demonstrations developed specifically for librarians and after-school program providers to infuse into their programs with children ages 8 to 13 and their families.

During the workshop you will:

• Meet NASA scientists and engineers involved in Mars exploration
• Learn about Mars science, missions, and future exploration
• Receive training in related hands-on science inquiry activities, designed for children ages 8 to 13
• Receive related resources and materials that you can use in your programs
• Explore ideas for presenting space science programs to young audiences and to other colleagues
• Collaborate with other after-school program providers and children’s and youth librarians in Oklahoma and become part of the growing Explore! community
• Receive a $100 stipend for attending!

The workshop is free. You will receive Mars Inside and Out! presentations, activities, and resources (posters, book lists, suggested Web sites), and the first 25 participants to register will receive a $100 stipend for completing the workshop. The materials are ready to be incorporated into your existing children’s and youth programs.

But wait — there’s more! You will also receive materials for ten additional Explore! space science topics (rockets, space stations, space colonies, egg-stronauts, solar system, shaping the planets, comets, staying healthy in space, and the Sun-Earth connection). Each of these topics has complementary hands-on activities and resources that can be found on the Explore! website.

The workshop begins at 9:00 am on Thursday, November 8, and continues until the close of the day, 5:00 pm, on Friday, November 9. Light breakfasts, lunches, and afternoon snacks will be provided and, of course, chocolate will be available, too! Participants are responsible for travel, housing, and dinner costs, and all logistical arrangements.

Space is limited; please register by 5 October to reserve your place in the workshop. Come join us for a fun-filled and learning-filled two days. We look forward to exploring Mars Inside and Out! with you. Drop me a request for a registration form.

Scriblio in Use

Lamson Library at Plymouth State University is now using the Scriblio library catalog. Casey Bisson provides more info in his weblog maisonbisson.

DC Papers

The papers from the Proceedings of the 2007 International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Applications are now available. Lots of good reading here.

Houston Area

District 8 of the Texas Library Association has announced that registration is open for those who wish to register for the Fall Meeting.

I personally like this meeting very much. I think it is the size of some state conferences, it gets about 1,000 attendees I guess. But, compared to TLA it is much more intimate. It is large enough to have a session or two I like, small enough to sit down and chat with folks I've not seen in too long.

Tagging and Controlled Vocabalaries

EntityDescriber is an add-on tool for Connotea that allows taggers to select terms from a controlled vocabalary.

E.D. is a mechanism for intersecting the Semantic Web with the normal Web. It lets Connotea users (though we may extend it to other systems such as Del.icio.us) annotate (tag) resources on the Web with terms from existing controlled vocabularies such as MeSH, the Gene Ontology, the Atom ontology, and the Person ontology. For more thoughts on and progress with ED, see blog posts about ED.

You might enjoy using ED if any of the following apply to you:

• You would like to organize your tags more effectively
• You are using Connotea to create a reference system - for example for a class
• You are a member of a group of people that would like to use a common set of tags - possibly with the aim of creating a nice reference library
• You like the idea that every time you tag something you are contributing to the semantic web
• You would like to utilize queries over your collection and others that take advantage of the structure of ontologies. For example, queries for "brain", that return resources tagged with "hippocampus", "cortex", "cerebellum", etc...
• You would like to help an aging graduate student add one more chapter to his thesis...

Telescope Metadata

More and more people are getting into the metadata game. Here is a proposed XML metadata schema for telescopes.

Earlier I described my idea for an RSS-like XML feed for telescopes. The idea was to allow anyone to keep up with what particular telescopes were doing. In this post I will try to describe my current idea.

He is looking for comments.

PERSNAME-L

PERSNAME-L, exists for the purpose of dealing with issues about personal names. To subscribe to PERSNAME-L, follow this link and click on "Join or leave the list (or change settings)". Or send a message to LISTSERV@LISTS.OU.EDU with the words SUBSCRIBE PERSNAME-L followed by a forename and surname. I've found this to be a very useful group.

BookTour

Here is a very useful website for book-lovers, BookTour. Shows what authors are speaking in an area.

We're a free online service that connects authors and potential audiences of all sorts, from book groups to civic organizations, from bookstores to corporate events. Authors create their own page (biography, books, tour dates and availability) and any group looking for speakers can find them and contact them directly to arrange for an appearance. Relevant information for both authors and venues can be added in minutes through a simple fill-in-the-blanks interface. Connecting authors with potential audiences then becomes as easy as searching (by geography, book titles, subject, dates of availability) and sending an email.

There is an interview with the site's creators, Kevin Smokler and Adam Goldstein, on IT Conversations.

Text Encoding Initiative

TEI@20: 20 Years of Supporting the Digital Humanities.

• Pre-Conference Workshops: 31 October 2007
• Conference: 1-2 November 2007
• Members Meeting: 3 November 2007

McKeldin Library, University of Maryland College Park

Zotero Has an New Version

Zotero, the open source citation manager, has added some new features.

• Zotero now offers full-text indexing of PDFs, adding your archived PDFs to the searchable text in your collection.
• Zotero’s integration with word processing tools has been greatly improved. The MS Word plugin works much more seamlessly and we now support OpenOffice on Windows, Mac (in the form of NeoOffice), and Linux.
• Zotero is also now better integrated with the desktop. Users can drag files from their desktop into their Zotero collection and can also drag attachments out of their Zotero collection onto their desktop.
• We have begun to add tools to browse and visualize Zotero collections in new ways. Using MIT’s SIMILE Timeline widget, Zotero can now generate timelines from any collection or selected items.

Here is their description:

Zotero is an easy-to-use yet powerful research tool that helps you gather, organize, and analyze sources (citations, full texts, web pages, images, and other objects), and lets you share the results of your research in a variety of ways. An extension to the popular open-source web browser Firefox, Zotero includes the best parts of older reference manager software (like EndNote)—the ability to store author, title, and publication fields and to export that information as formatted references—and the best parts of modern software and web applications (like iTunes and del.icio.us), such as the ability to interact, tag, and search in advanced ways. Zotero integrates tightly with online resources; it can sense when users are viewing a book, article, or other object on the web, and—on many major research and library sites—find and automatically save the full reference information for the item in the correct fields. Since it lives in the web browser, it can effortlessly transmit information to, and receive information from, other web services and applications; since it runs on one’s personal computer, it can also communicate with software running there (such as Microsoft Word). And it can be used offline as well (e.g., on a plane, in an archive without WiFi).

Social Software in Libraries

One of the books I'm currently reading is Social software in libraries : building collaboration, communication, and community Online by Meredith G Farkas (Amazon). It is a very readable, and seems to me reasonable treatment of the topic. Finding a mention of Catalogablog was a nice surprise.

Revised Dublin Core

Revised Dublin Core has been published as RFC 5013. This replaces the old version, RFC 2413.

Scriblio Download Now Available

Scriblio, the Mellon Award winning front end for the catalog, is now available for free download. It is based on WordPress, the popular blogging tool.

Scriblio (formerly WPopac) is an award winning, free, open source CMS and OPAC with faceted searching and browsing features based on WordPress. Scriblio is a project of Plymouth State University, supported in part by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

• Free and open source
• Represents bibliographic collections — library catalogs and such — in an easily searchable, highly remixable web-based format
• Leverages WordPress to offer rich content management features for all a library’s content
• Free and open source

Metadata Object Description Schema Revision

Revisions to MODS.

We have revised the draft of the MODS schema version 3.3, which we had released for review in April. The revision is based on comments from the review of that draft.

Substantive changes to the previous (April 12) version:

1. Add Xlink attribute to physicalLocation This would allow for a link to the website of the entity in physicalLocation. This is equivalent to MARC 21 852$u, e.g.
   Library of Congress
2. Add additional enumerated values for authority under : ISO 639-3 and RFC4646. ISO 639-3 is a new standard that codes all individual languages without the criteria for usage that ISO 639-2 has. RFC4646 updates RFC3066, which details how to use language codes in Internet applications. (RFC3066 already defined in MODS). We are planning to add these to the MARC source code list used for field 041$2.
3. Changes to MODS holdings to be generally consistent with the ISO XML holdings standard, now out for ballot as a Draft International Standard (ISO TC46).

A review of the MODS approach to holdings information is documented.

The new schema and the main MODS site has additional information about MODS 3.3 including the outline of elements and attributes.

We would like to have a 2 week review period. Please send any comments to the MODS list by Sept. 5.

Z Copy Cataloging

Z Copy Cataloging is a Z39.50 client with additional features. It is a free to use. Features:

• Z39.50 search for records
• Search by Title, ISBN or LCCN
• Sort your result sets by relevancy (title search only), date, content (AACR, ISBD), or any chosen subfield (first instance only)
• See the most important fields for copy cataloging when choosing correct records
• View the full MARC record before choosing
• Compare two records and choose the best
• Optional: Check the record for common errors
• Choose records from different targets and then choose among them to find the best record
• Scripted changes to records
• Output to CSV file
• Light editing of subfields

This is an alpha release, use with caution. The developer will work for Ruby books, if you need a feature added.

VuFind, New Release

The latest version, 0.6, of VuFind has been released.

VuFind is a library resource portal designed and developed for libraries by libraries. The goal of VuFind is to enable your users to search and browse through all of your library's resources by replacing the traditional OPAC to include:

• Catalog Records
• Digital Library Items
• Institutional Repository
• Institutional Bibliography
• Other Library Collections and Resources

VuFind is completely modular so you can implement just the basic system, or all of components. And since it's open source, you can modify the modules to best fit your need or you can add new modules to extend your resource offerings.

Additions to the MARC Code Lists for Relators, Sources, Description Conventions

The codes listed below have been recently approved for use in MARC 21 records. The codes will be added to the online MARC Code Lists for Relators, Sources, Description Conventions.

The codes should not be used in exchange records until after October 13, 2007. This 60-day waiting period is required to provide MARC 21 implementers time to include newly defined codes in any validation tables they may apply to the MARC fields where the codes are used.

Other Sources

The following code is for use in subfield $2 in field 017 in Bibliographic records (Copyright or Legal Deposit Number).

Addition:

rocgpt

R.O.C. Government Publications Catalogue
(Tapei: Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, Executuve
Yuan) [use only after October 13, 2007]

The following code is for use in subfield $2 in field 042 in Authority, Bibliographic and Classification records (Authentication Code).

Addition:

ukblderived

British Library derived cataloging Code ukblderived signifies that the British Library has re-used another organization's catalog record for its cataloging. Headings have not been validated against the relevant authority file. [use only after October 13, 2007]

Term, Name, Title Sources

The following code is for use in subfield $2 in fields 600-657 in Bibliographic and Community Information records, and in subfield $f in field 040 (Cataloging Source) in Authority records.

Addition:

muzeukv

MuzeVideo UK DVD and UMD film genre classification
(London: Muze Europe Ltd) [use only after October 13, 2007]

The following code is for use in subfield $2 in fields 600-657 in Bibliographic and Community Information records, in subfield $f in field 040 (Cataloging Source) and in subfield $2 in 7xx (Linking Entry) fields in Authority records.

Addition:

tesa

Tesauro Agrcola (Beltsville, Maryland; National Agricultural Library) [use only after October 13, 2007]

Metadata Editor

SHAME (Standardized Hyper Adaptable Metadata Editor) is a free metadata editor capable of working in Dublin Core, LOM, FOAF and more.

SHAME is a library that leverages editors, presentations and query interfaces for resource centric RDF metadata. The central idea of SHAME is to work with Annotation Profiles which encompasses:

• how the metadata in RDF should be read and modified.
• what input is allowed, e.g. multiplicity and vocabularies to use.
• presentational aspects like order, grouping, labels etc.

These annotation profiles are then used to generate user interfaces for either editing, presentation or querying purposes. The user interface may be realized in a web setting (both a jsp and velocity version exists) or in a stand alone application (a java/swing version exists).

BISAC

Recently there has been plenty of discussion about the library in AZ using BISAC to arrange the collection. Phoenix Public is also adding BISAC terms to the catalog record. Personally I don't see how SCI004000 is any easier to a patron than 520 or QB, but it is good to experiment and they seem to have a significant increase in circulation. If you want to see what they are using, the BISAC classification is available online.

ONIX Records for Libraries

Roy Tennant's ONIX Records for Libraries has a new home. The site contains over 100,000 records from:

• Cambridge University Press
• Harvest House Publishers
• Ingram
• McGraw-Hill
• Penguin
• Random House
• University of California Press

If you know of any other publishers offering free ONIX records please let him know.

TLA District 8 Meeting

Looks like I may be presenting on tagging at the TLA District 8 Meeting. If you have any favorite tagging tools, papers or sites please let me know. The meeting will be at Aldine High School Oct 13, 2007 (Sat).

Tagmash @ LibraryThing

Tim Spalding continues to do some interesting work on tagging books. The latest effort is Tagmash, the ability to combine tags in searching.

I've just gone live with a new feature called "tagmash," pages for the intersections of tags. This is a fairly obvious thing to do, but it isn't trivial in context. In getting past words or short phrases, tagmash closes some of the gap between tagging and professional subject classifications.

It is worth reading the entire post to see the thought process that went into creating the feature.

Podcasting Tips

Podcasting is not so new any more. It seems to me, it is past the time that just throwing up an MP3 file is enough. I've heard some pretty poor production that made me just move on to the next selection on my player. So, here are a few tips I've picked up doing a podcast for our library for well over a year.

1. Noise reduction. Record about 10-12 seconds of room sounds, as a sample, to have them removed after the recording is done. If you are recording a live event, conference presentation, record the room before it fills up with people. The air conditioning, computer fan, outside traffic and such add nothing and can be distracting. The sound of folks shuffling papers, coughing, etc., gives it a live feel. Don't worry about those. Very long pauses can be shortened.
2. Sound compression. Compressing the sounds removes any clipping from segments that are recorded too loud and makes everything clearer. Do this after removing any noise.
3. Volume. Make sure to record at a decent volume level. Then make sure the file plays back at a good level. I've downloaded files only to find they are too soft and getting the level right brings out the hum in the car's system. I just skip to the next selection. MP3Trim will do smaller files for free. Adjust the volume last.

Topic Maps

If you have any projects in a library environment that you are using or are planning to deploy that involves Topic Maps please here is a short survey. They are trying to get a general sense of what, if anything, the library community is doing with this technology.

Pymarc

The latest version of pymarc has the ability to change records from MARC-8 encoding to UNICODE, UTF-8. A task that most of our catalogs will have to go through in the next few years, I guess. Nice to have a tool for when that day arrives.

The pymarc module provides an API for reading, writing and modifying MARC records from python. MARC (MAchine Readable Cataloging) is a metadata format for bibliographic data.

....

While it's not rocket science to read MARC, it's also not something you want to code very often, so pymarc does the lifting for you. pymarc allows you to read records, extract arbitrary fields from each record, update records, and write records back out in transmission format.

OPAC Replacement

The open-source Next-Gen library catalog browser, VuFind has been released. Currently only works with Voyager, other systems are planned or you could help write the code. Features include:

• Search with Faceted Results
• Live Record Status and Location with Ajax Querying
• "More Like This" Resource Suggestions
• Save Resources to Organized Lists
• Tagging
• Commenting

VuFind is a library resource portal designed and developed for libraries by libraries. The goal of VuFind is to enable your users to search and browse through all of your library's resources by replacing the traditional OPAC to include:

• Catalog Records
• Digital Library Items
• Institutional Repository
• Institutional Bibliography
• Other Library Collections and Resources

VuFind is completely modular so you can implement just the basic system, or all of components. And since it's open source, you can modify the modules to best fit your need or you can add new modules to extend your resource offerings

LibX

There is a new version of the LibX Edition Builder.

LibX is a Firefox extension that provides direct access to your library's resources.
LibX is an open source framework from which editions for specific libraries can be built.
Currently, 61 academic and public libraries are offering LibX editions to their users, an additional 86 libraries are testing editions.

MODS in the Digital Llibrary

The Digital Library Federation Aquifer Metadata Working Group has announced the release of the DLF Aquifer MODS Guidelines Levels of Adoption.

The Levels of Adoption document is intended to supplement the Digital Library Federation / Aquifer Implementation Guidelines for Shareable MODS Records, released in November 2006 under the auspices of the DLF Aquifer initiative. The Shareable MODS Guidelines represent a record-centric view of Aquifer's goals, whereas it is often helpful to set priorities for metadata creation with a user- and use-centric view. The newly-released Levels of Adoption document describes five general categories of user functionality that are likely to be supported by following specific recommendations from the Guidelines. It attempts to provide additional guidance to MODS implementers in the planning process by documenting what sorts of functionality is possible when certain elements of the Guidelines are followed.

These documents, together with an FAQ for implementation (forthcoming - stay tuned!), were written primarily to assist institutions preparing metadata for aggregation via the DLF Aquifer initiative, but the Working Group expects they could also be useful in preparing metadata for other aggregations, or for using MODS in a local environment. Comments on the Levels of Adoption are welcome, and can be sent to any Working Group member. Contact information for Working Group members is available from the Levels of Adoption page.

Great Offer from a Great Organization

How's this for a great offer?

Special offer for new members:

Join WAML for only $20 (normally $30)

The Western Association of Map Libraries (WAML) is looking for folks who want to expand their knowledge of maps and geospatial information through fun-filled networking opportunities and information-packed meetings and journals!

$20 (normally $30 a year) -- Good for new members only. Membership good from now till June 30, 2008, but offer ends July 31, 2007.

The Western Association of Map Libraries (WAML) is an independent association of map librarians and other people with an interest in maps and map librarianship. Membership in WAML is open to any individual interested in furthering the purpose of the Association which is "to encourage high standards in every phase of the organization and administration of map libraries."

Membership is not limited to people living in the Western US and Canada, but is open to everyone.

BENEFITS:

• Subscription to the Information Bulletin (IB)
• Discounted registration fees to WAML's bi-annual meetings
• Practical workshops on topics such as aerial photos, scanning projects, and map cataloging
• Networking regarding geospatial and cartographic information
• Participation in WAML's electronic discussion board

INFORMATION BULLETIN
WAML's Information Bulletin is issued three times a year and enjoys worldwide readership. It includes feature articles, photo essays, Association business, book and electronic resources reviews, new map lists, and selected news and notes.

MEETINGS!!!
WAML meetings are the most fun-filled library-related events you can attend!! They occur in the Spring and Fall. They are small (around 50 people), held in great locations such as Fairbanks, Seattle and Boulder, and have great field trips and delicious banquets. The presentations deal only with geospatial topics. Roundtable discussions and workshops take place at every meeting. The registration fee runs from $35 to $60. The accommodations are reasonably priced, the camaraderie is great, and the tone is relaxed. Often, WAML has a "map exchange" where attendees bring their withdrawn and extra copies of maps and make them available for others. We are headed to the Denver in October 2007!!

Field trips have taken WAML members to national parks, volcanoes, mountain tops, museums, and vineyards/wineries.

In the last few years, WAML has met in Seattle, Honolulu, Fairbanks, Chico California, Boulder Colorado, Santa Cruz, Palo Alto California, Portland, Provo Utah, Vancouver BC, Flagstaff Arizona, Pasadena California. Future meeting sites include Denver Colorado, Las Vegas Nevada, Salt Lake City Utah, and Yosemite National Park.

If that weren't enough, you are invited to give presentations at the conferences OR write articles for the Information Bulletin. Presentations and papers run from the very formal to "how I done good." In the past WAML presenters and IB authors have been not just librarians but scholars, novelists, artists, map collectors, map dealers, scientists, and cartographers.

Come join us. The price is right. The offer is limited. Good times, good friends and good maps await you!

To join the Western Association of Map Libraries, fill out the information on the web site.