Undifferentiated Names

Message from the Program for Cooperative Cataloging Policy Committee about undifferentiated personal names.

The Program for Cooperative Cataloging Policy Committee (PoCo) has been monitoring the discussion on various cataloging email lists over the past months and noticed a recurring topic of (and frustration with) authority records for undifferentiated personal names. We wondered whether this was a problem that we should tackle now, in conjunction with the imminent changes to the LC/NACO authority file to align it with RDA implementation. Even though this is not an RDA issue, we decided yes.

Two PoCo leaders, Philip Schreur and John Riemer, volunteered to prepare a discussion paper, which is attached to this message and is posted on the PCC web site. We invite community comment on this discussion paper beginning now through June 22, 2012. The discussion will continue in person at the PCC Participants Meeting at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. There are several options for you to provide input, and the PCC Secretariat has agreed to compile the issues for the discussion. To participate in this discussion, you may: (1) send your comments privately to the PCC Secretariat at coop@loc.gov; (2) post your comments publicly to one of the cataloging email lists, preferably PCCLIST, with a cc to coop@loc.gov; (3) voice your comments in person at the PCC Participants Meeting at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim in June. While PoCo members will be reading the comments, we will not be able to respond to each comment.

We expect that the community comments in the coming months will help us prepare for and design the public forum on this topic at the PCC Participants Meeting, and will enable those unable to attend that meeting to participate. We are particularly interested in hearing from authorities and ILS vendors, and hope that providing this discussion paper now gives them time to think and react. We also welcome reactions from the international community, especially from CEAL, where we know this topic has particular impact.

Following the PCC Participants Meeting at ALA Annual, PoCo will reach a decision about the next steps in this process. We look forward to your input on this substantive issue.

Related articles

• Names in RDA (catalogablog.blogspot.com)

Library Peeps

Pink Marshmallow Peeps (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Easter is approaching, so it is Peeps season. Time to review Peep Research: A Study of Small Fluffy Creatures and Library Usage.

Although scientific and health research has been conducted on Peeps, most notably that appearing on the Peep Research website (see http://www.peepresearch.org), we have noted an absence of research focusing on the ability of Peeps themselves to actually do research. To address this lack, we invited a small group of Peeps to visit Staley Library at Millikin University during the week of March 17-21, 2003 so that we could more closely observe their research practices. This was determined to be an ideal week for the Peeps to visit the library, as Millikin University students were on spring break. The research that follows documents their visit to the library and provides some evaluative commentary on our assessment of Peeps and library usage.

Additions to Source Codes for Vocabularies, Rules, and Schemes

The source codes listed below have been recently approved. The codes will be added to the applicable Source Codes for Vocabularies, Rules, and Schemes lists. See the specific source code lists for current usage in MARC fields and MODS/MADS elements.

The codes should not be used in exchange records until 60 days after the date of this notice to provide implementers time to include newly-defined codes in any validation tables.

Classification Scheme Source Codes
The following source codes have been added to the Classification Scheme Source Codes list for usage in appropriate fields and elements.

Additions:

egedeklass

Egede-instituttets klassifikasjonsystem

farma

Oversigt over systematisk catalog (Danmarks farmaceutiski bibliotek)

noterlyd

Klassifikasjonssystem for noter og lydopptak = Music classification system (Sheet music and recordings) (Norges musikkhogskole Biblioteket)

mf-klass

Klassifikasjonssystemet ved Menighetsfakultetes bibliotek

no-ureal-ca

Astrofysikk

no-ureal-cb

Biologisk hylleoppstilling

no-ureal-cg

Geofysikk oppstillingssystem

smm

Systematik des Musikschrifttums u.d. Musikalien fur offentl. Musikbibliotheken SMM (Bergen: Universitetetsbiblioteket i Bergen)

utklklass

L-klassifikasjon (Oslo: Universitetet i Oslo)

utklklassex

L-klassifikasjon with extensions (Oslo: Universitetet i Oslo)

Description Convention Source Codes
The following source code has been added to the Description Convention Source Codes list for usage in appropriate fields and elements.

Addition:

ccr

Chinese cataloging rules (Taiwan: National Central Library)

Subject Heading and Term Source Codes
The following source codes have been added to the Subject Heading and Term Source Codes list for usage in appropriate fields and elements.

Additions:

emnmus

Emneord for musikkdokument i EDB-kataloger (Directorate for Cultural Heritage)

erfemn

Erfaringskompetanses emneord (Nasjonalt senter for erfaringskompetanse innen psykisk helse)

nbiemnfag

NBIs emneordslits for faglitteratur (Norwegian Institute for Children's Books)

noraf

Norwegian Authority File (Norway: National Library of Norway)

ordnok

Ordnokkelen: tesaurus for kulturminnevern

Related articles

• Bigwood, David: Additions to Source Codes for Vocabularies, Rules, and Schemes (catalogablog.blogspot.com)