Summary of the PCC Participants Discussion Group Meeting

June 28, 1998

On Sunday evening, June 28, 1998 the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) Participants Group meeting was held in the Mumford Room at the Library of Congress. The evening event was opened by Brian Schottlaender, Chair of the PCC. Schottlaender welcomed the audience, many of whom had just attended the 25th anniversary celebration of CONSER. He first noted that the PCC was very pleased that three leaders in the field of cooperative programs had received recognition in the past year: Winston Tabb, Associate Librarian of Congress, received the Melvil Dewey medal and was honored "for his vision, leadership, and determination in establishing the Program for Cooperative Cataloging, which resulted in significant improvements to global bibliographic control"; John D. Byrum was awarded the Margaret Mann Citation for outstanding professional achievement in the fields of cataloging and classification; and Crystal Graham was presented the Bowker/Ulrich's Serials Librarianship Award.

Schottlaender then announced that the PCC has now joined other library organizations in the United States in becoming a non-voting member of the Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access (CC:DA). Joan Schuitema, chair of the PCC's Standing Committee on Standards, will serve as the first PCC representative to CC:DA.

Schottlaender also announced that the PCC Steering Committee had approved the final version of the PCC Tactical Plan and this is now available on the PCC Home Page. The draft version of the PCC document governing the use of its name and logo and the PCC budget were also discussed and approved by the Steering Committee at their meeting on June 25th. Condensed versions of both these documents are soon to be available on the PCC home page.

Schottlaender next reported on the first joint meeting of the BIBCO and CONSER Operations Committees in May 1998. At that meeting it was decided that the two groups would meet concurrently and the next meeting is set to take place April 22-23, 1999. BIBCO Operations Committee decisions and action items which were forwarded to the Steering Committee and approved include the establishment of a new BIBCO listserv and a request to the Network Development and MARC Standards Office for a code to be assigned to the PCC for use in series authority records. For a summary of the operation committees' meetings, visit the Program for Cooperative Cataloging Home Page and click on either the CONSER or BIBCO buttons.

John Byrum provided the BIBCO/NACO/SACO report. Byrum gave the Cooperative Cataloging Team update and began by congratulating and listing the newest participants in BIBCO, the bibliographic component of the PCC. The newest BIBCO members include the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Princeton University, Brooklyn Law School and the University of New Mexico. He also welcomed the libraries which have joined NACO since the ALA Midwinter meeting in New Orleans, and hastened to add that NACO is very excited about expanding membership in August for the University of Newfoundland in Canada and the upcoming plans to provide training to the Universidade de São Paulo in September 1998 and to South Africa in the Spring of 1999. Byrum also reported on other training initiatives including the seventh Series Institute, the Asian Materials Cataloging Seminar, the SACO workshops, and the upcoming Cataloging Now! Institutes.

CONSER Announces New Training Initiative

Schottlaender announced that the CONSER Program has initiated the formation of the Serials Cataloging Cooperative Training Program. The new program was conceived by Jean Hirons, CONSER Coordinator, as an effort to standardize and simplify the serials cataloging instruction process. Working with Hirons on this effort are colleagues in CONSER, the ALCTS Serials Section Training Committee, the North American Serials Interest Group, as well as several library school professors.

Schottlaender noted that "this is a logical extension of CONSER's role in providing educational materials for serials catalogers through its documentation. The aim of the program is to provide training materials and trained trainers but not to sponsor the actual training. We will leave that for ALCTS, NASIG, OCLC networks, regional and state library associations, and others. The training will be based on the CONSER Cataloging Manual and will also take advantage of the World Wide Web." Current plans are to develop a program pilot in spring 1999 that will address the most pressing need identified through a recent CONSER training survey: introductory instruction in serials cataloging. It will include both print and electronic serials and will be designed for classroom training with supplementary material on the Web. Classes will be developed through a modular approach to allow a trainer to mix and match sessions of particular interest. A subgroup of the PCC Standing Committee on Training will be formed to keep materials up-to-date and accurate.

Schottlaender also thanked those who have formed the program's steering group: Jean Hirons, John Riemer, and David Van Hoy, from CONSER; Sharon Mason, Julia Gammon, and Bea Caraway, representing ALCTS; Cameron Campbell, Ann Ercelawn, Beverley Geer, representing NASIG; Patti Fields from FEDLINK, and; Thom Saudargus from the College Center for Library Automation. NASIG president, Steve Oberg, and Karen Muller Executive Director of ALCTS were also recognized for their support. Library school professors Lynne Howarth (University of Toronto) and Sherry Vellucci (St. John's University) plan to participate in upcoming months.

CONSER Then and Now

Hirons gave a slide presentation that featured a review of CONSER's development and achievements, and included an effort to "dispel the myths about CONSER." Several accomplishments were highlighted: instructions for cataloging microforms and computer files, the development of serials-related LCRIs, documentation on format integration, and CONSER's lead in the AACR2 review process. According to Hirons, CONSER is perceived as involving too much work, having too much documentation, and for only large universities and elite institutions. In reality, Hirons explained that the creation of CONSER records and use of CONSER documentation, while seemingly time-consuming, saves time overall in providing records for library catalogs and in training new staff. She also noted that, while many institutions have few original serials or catalogers dedicated solely to serials, there are many possibilities for smaller institutions to participate in the program.

Benefits of CONSER

Providing three different perspectives on the benefits of CONSER were Cecilia Leathem, (University of Miami, Coral Gables), Jennifer O'Connell (EBSCO Information Services), and Mechael Gago (Indiana University). Leathem reported on her institutionþs retrospective conversion of its serial records and their success in finding CONSER or other OCLC records for all but eight percent of the titles (82% had CONSER copy). According to Leathem, the availability of CONSER records and documentation has allowed her to become a manager while her support staff perform more of the cataloging activities. O'Connell discussed the use of the CONSER database for EBSCO's production of The Serials Directory. In their efforts to supply accurate information without having the piece in hand, O'Connell explained that "CONSER allows us to 'view' the publication without seeing it and to list it by the title proper with the correct ISSN." Gago noted the cost- and times-savings benefits of CONSER membership that Indiana has realized in its 19 years as a CONSER member.

The meeting concluded with a tribute by Sally Sinn, PCC chair-elect, to outgoing chair, Brian Schottlaender. Sinn remarked on his many contributions to cooperative cataloging and particularly for his leadership of both CONSER and the PCC during a time of change.