LC Cataloging Newsline

Brian Schottlaender, UCLA, opened the meeting of the PCC Participants Discussion Group on February 16, 1997, at the Library of Congress. As chair of the PCC Executive Council, he welcomed participants to the celebration of the one-millionth record contributed by NACO libraries and over 100,000 new authority records contributed in fiscal year 1996. Schottlaender reported on the PCC-CONSER consolidation and its status. Following separate and joint meetings at the Library of Congress last November, the Executive Council of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) and the Policy Committee of the Cooperative Online Serials Program (CONSER) agreed to join forces. The newly consolidated PCC will comprise four technical programs: BIBCO, CONSER, NACO, and SACO.

Four conclusions were reached in support of the consolidation:

1. consolidation would wed the strengths of both programs;
2. consolidation would eliminate duplication of effort;
3. a consolidated program could speak to the cataloging community with a unified voice; and
4. the one unified program would address issues of common concerns.

Consolidation would allow the program to be more responsive, speed decision-making, broaden the constituency, allow program elements to be implemented across the board, and make possible an easier resolution to economic issues.

As currently envisioned, the new structure will include a policy committee with representatives from CONSER, BIBCO, and NACO; a smaller steering committee; two operations committees; and three standing committees (Automation, Standards, and Training). The CONSER Operations Committee will continue to be inclusive, whereas the BIBCO Operations Committee will have ten rotating members. The chairs of the standing committees will serve on the Policy Committee. Two draft documents are being prepared: one on the governance structure (which will be revised slightly to incorporate comments made at the PCC Executive Council meeting held before ALA) and the other on the strategic plan consolidation.

The merger of the two programs will enable the strategic plans of each to be consolidated into one single strategic plan. The current effective target date for consolidation is October 1, 1997. CONSER will continue to follow its current guidelines until the combined strategic plan is issued. Working groups are looking at the issues of governance structure, merging the strategic plans, and establishing an effective advisory structure. A smaller group will later look at funding issues.

Schottlaender also reported that the CONSER Task Force on Conference Publications finished its draft revision of LCRI 12.0A, which describes the cataloging of conference proceedings. A module for newspaper cataloging has been written in support of the United States Newspaper Program (USNP) and is currently being used by newspaper catalogers. It was also reported that Jean Hirons and Crystal Graham with the assistance of the CONSER AACR Review Task Force will author a paper on seriality. The paper is to be presented at the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR in Toronto in October 1997.

Ann Della Porta then presented the report from the Cooperative Cataloging Team. She announced the dates for the next Series Institute as April 16-18, 1997; spoke of the NACO 20th year anniversary celebration now planned for ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco; and described plans for upcoming NACO training. She also praised the SACO libraries for their record-setting contributions of new subject proposals. The first SACO Workshop, taught by Lynn El-Hoshy, Cataloging Policy and Support Office (CPSO), was held before ALA Midwinter and was designed to assist catalogers interested in learning how to propose subject headings for LCSH and classification numbers for the LC Classification schedules.

In fiscal year 1996, the first year of BIBCO, almost 15,000 bibliographic records were contributed by twenty libraries. (These records can be identified by "pcc" in the 042 field and are supported by full authority work for all access points.) Della Porta announced the availability of the fifth edition of Subject Cataloging Manual: Subject Headings, and the second edition of NACO Participant's Manual and reported the results of the core- level record experiment completed at the Library of Congress.

The following libraries joined the program and received NACO training in fiscal year 1996: Blackwell/North America, Bowling Green State University, Brooklyn School of Law, Brown University, Cooperative Computer Services, Eden-Webster Library (Florida State University Law Library), Freer Gallery of Art, Indiana University Law Library at Indianapolis, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, Indiana Historical Society, Michigan State University, National Art Library (Great Britain), Oliveira-Lima Collection (Catholic University), Pace University Law School, University of California at Santa Barbara, University of Kansas, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, University of Wyoming, and Western Washington University, in addition to the DC Law Funnel Project.

The final portion of the evening was highlighted with the PCC Awards Ceremony. The recipients were:

• Best Producer: Princeton and Berkeley
• Best Director of a Funnel Project: ArtNACO
• Best Individual Participants in a Suporting Role: Bill Garrison, Colorado, and Daniel CannCasciato, Central Washington Univ.
• Best NACO Publicists: Cleveland Public Library
• Best Library in (a) Series: University of Chicago
• Best Special Library: Adam Schiff, California Academy of Sciences
• Best Performance in a Serial Role: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Best Supporting Role: Cataloging Policy and Support Office, LC
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Sarah Thomas

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  On Track with PCC Training

  In conjunction with the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Washington, D.C., the Cooperative Cataloging Team hosted three training sessions in support of Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) projects.

  On Friday morning, February 14, Lynn El-Hoshy presented the SACO workshop entitled "How to Propose Subject Headings to LCSH." Approximately one hundred catalogers learned the principles and practical aspects of proposing subject headings and classification numbers for publication in LCSH and the LC Classification Schedules, respectively. In fiscal year 1996, SACO libraries contributed 3,473 proposals for new or changed subjects and class numbers.

  The Friday afternoon BIBCO workshop, "Timely Access to More and Better Cataloging: PCC Values Training" attracted over forty participants. Penny G. Mattern, consulting user training analyst with OCLC, led the group in examining how shrinking budgets have affected the cataloging environment. Mattern advocated the use of the PCC-designed core-level record as one way to reduce the costs of cataloging, while still offering a high quality record to the user. In fiscal year 1996, participating BIBCO libraries pioneered this new option, creating 2,606 core-level records.

  Thirteen catalogers, ten from NACO libraries and three from LC, attended the two-day "Training the NACO Trainer" workshop that followed the ALA meetings. Staff from the Cooperative Cataloging Team, CPSO, and the Technical Processing and Automation Instruction Office served as faculty. The intensive course prepared participants to train new libraries who wish to join NACO (Name Authority Cooperative Program). Trainers who attended this course two years ago have been invaluable partners in NACO's annual training initiative to add twenty new libraries per year.

  Future cooperative cataloging training sessions already scheduled include the sixth Series Institute on April 16-18, 1997, and a NACO training course, July 15-18, 1997, preceding the American Association of Law Libraries conference. The Library of Congress is the location for both sessions.

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  REUSE Project Steering Committee

  REUSE is a project involving OCLC, some German libraries, and the Library of Congress to enable the exchange of bibliographic and authority records between the U.S. and Germany. After thirteen months' work, the project's steering committee held its final meeting March 13 in Dublin, Ohio. Barbara Tillett, chief, CPSO, represents LC. The committee has ascertained that USMARC records from OCLC can be matched for use in German libraries with simple matching algorithms using Allegro software. Differences in cataloging practices for personal names and uniform titles have been identified, and proposals have been made to the German Expert Group for RAK (the German cataloging rules) to revise RAK to conform to ISBD and AACR2 in significant areas that will facilitate future exchange of records. The parties agreed that there should be active participation of German libraries and library networks in sharing authority data internationally. The expert group would explore matching the German authority records against the LC authority records to insert LC record numbers into the German records for future links.

  In the area of corporate names the differences in the cataloging rules between the two countries will need to remain to reflect different philosophies of corporate entry and structure. For example, German cataloging rarely provides headings for subordinate bodies.

  In the area of uniform titles, work will be done to explore the possibility of having a machine-code for some of the form subheadings, including languages and form titles such as "works" and "selections."

  The issue of multi-level works remains a challenge, as the German participants want particularly to preserve their fuller contents analysis to accommodate retrieval from closed stacks. In the United States libraries often do not provide bibliographic descriptions of all physical pieces of a multi-part item, especially when the titles of the pieces are non-distinctive.

  The REUSE Steering Committee's final report is due in May. It will be published simultaneously by OCLC and the University of Goettingen.

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  LC Workshop on New Subclasses JZ and KZ

  LC team leaders and catalogers who work with history, political science, international relations, and international law were invited to an orientation workshop sponsored by CPSO in February on new subclasses JZ (international relations) and KZ (law of nations). Conducted by law classification specialist Jolande Goldberg, the workshop emphasized the structure of the new subclasses and their eventual impact on the schedules and custodial assignments of materials. Based on treaty law in international legislation, JZ and KZ will have a major effect on the classification of treaties, which will be removed from their current locations in history and political science. A background paper distributed before the workshop explained the LC collections policies and classification history that resulted in the placement of treaties in their current classes.

  JZ and KZ present a single hierarchical development that libraries can apply as they wish, in either political science (class J) or law (class K). These subclasses will replace the current subclass JX (international law and international relations). For libraries that use LCC, the elimination of JX will necessitate reclassification of holdings.

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  Presentations on LC Classification Schedules

  The Cataloging Directorate's Subject Cataloging Working Group (SCWG), in cooperation with CPSO, is sponsoring a series of briefings on the LC Classification Schedules for staff who use the classification schedules in their work.

  A member of CPSO usually gives a broad overview of a particular schedule. This is followed by presentations given by other staff on the unique aspects of that schedule in daily work. Through lectures and handouts, speakers may address one or more of four broad categories: distribution of materials, cataloging, shelflisting, and reference. Specific topics include the history of the schedule, explanations of tables and subarrangements, and reasons why certain materials are covered by one schedule and not another.

  To date, the program has included briefings on the Z, P, and H classification schedules.

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  Goldberg in St. Petersburg

  During a visit in March to St. Petersburg, Russia, Jolande Goldberg held several meetings with staff at the National Library of Russia (NLR) about the USMARC Format for Classification Data, development of a new law classification scheme for NLR, and the use of the RUSMARC format, which is also being developed there. Meetings chaired by Marina Ekstrem, head of Processing and Catalogues, and Yulia Selivanova, head of the Automation Section, were devoted to preparations for online conversion of the library's classification scheme using the MARC format. The Russians also expressed interest in the MINARET software that LC has used for the online conversion of its classification schedules.

  Goldberg led an information session for law specialists from the NLR's Law Section. These specialists are preparing a draft of a new law classification scheme to replace the one that was abolished in 1991. The library now orients itself toward the West, and Goldberg was asked to provide the LCC schedules covering European countries and international law. Her final meeting was with Galina Rieder, head of the Rare Book Recataloging Group, and group staff, who are retrospectively converting several hundred thousand cards to RUSMARC.

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  MARC Format Harmonization

  The British Library (BL), the Library of Congress (LC), and the National Library of Canada (NLC) have reached a major milestone in the harmonization of their MARC formats. Agreement has been attained on full harmonization of USMARC and CAN/MARC. In addition, a technical meeting held at LC in January 1997 made significant progress on alignment with UKMARC.

  The benefits of a harmonized format include easier and more efficient record exchange between the users and producers of MARC records, elimination of the need for conversion programs, and potential reductions in the expense of format maintenance and documentation. Whereas full harmonization of USMARC and CAN/MARC has been accomplished, the three libraries recognize that UKMARC must retain certain features of particular value to the UKMARC user community, and therefore full harmonization is not achievable in the short term. Partial alignment is being pursued immediately, with full harmonization as a longterm goal.

  Meetings of representatives of the BL, LC, and NLC were held in Washington on December 2, 1996, and February 18, 1997. It was agreed that over the next few months, LC and NLC will formulate mechanisms for the coordination and approval of future format development as well as determine a schedule for implementation. To facilitate the continuation of the harmonization process with UKMARC, a MARC Harmonization Coordinating Committee was also established. The committee is interested in the following developments:

  • Coordination of new developments in the UKMARC and harmonized USMARC and CAN/MARC formats;
  • Seeking further opportunities for harmonization of the two formats;
  • Ensuring that future development of the formats takes into consideration other international standards;
  • Exploring the impact of changing technology on MARC formats.

  In addition, a technical panel will meet regularly to discuss issues relating to the formats.

  For further information, contact Sally McCallum, chief, Network Development and MARC Standards Office, Library of Congress, LM639, Washington, D.C. 20540-4102 (phone: 202-707-6237; fax: 202- 707-0115; email: smcc@loc.gov).

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  LC CATALOGING NEWSLINE (ISSN 1066-8829) is published irregularly by the Cataloging Directorate, Library Services, Library of Congress, and contains news of cataloging activities throughout the Library of Congress. Editorial Office: Cataloging Policy and Support Office, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540-4305. Editor, Robert M. Hiatt; Editorial Advisory Group: William Anderson, John Byrum, Roselyne Chang, Eugene Kinnaly, Angela Kinney, Albert Kohlmeier, John Mitchell, Susan Morris, Geraldine Ostrove, David Smith, Richard Thaxter, and David Williamson. Address editorial inquiries to the editor at the above address or rhia@loc.gov (eMail), (202) 707-5831 (voice), or (202) 707-6629 (fax).

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  LC CATALOGING NEWSLINE is available in electronic form only and is free of charge. To subscribe, send a mail message to listserv@loc.gov with the text: subscribe lccn [firstname lastname]. Back issues of LCCN, volumes 1-3, are available on LC MARVEL. Volume 4, number 1- are available through the LC World Wide Web site (http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/lccn). The back issues on LC MARVEL are being migrated to the web site.

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