BIBCO-At-Large Meeting

Summary report

ALA Midwinter Conference, Washington, D.C.
January 14, 2001

The BIBCO-At-Large ALA Midwinter Meeting took place on Sunday, January 16, 2001 from 2:00 P.M. to 3:30 P.M. in the Senate Room of the Mayflower Hotel, in Washington, D.C. The guests were welcomed by Ruta Penkiunas, Cooperative Cataloging Team Leader, and Marjorie Bloss, Chair of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC). Bloss expressed the PCC Policy Committee (PoCo) interest in hearing what BIBCO participants might offer about the quantity vs. quality issue, opinions on philosophical concerns about the PCC and BIBCO, and why there is an apparent reluctance to join the BIBCO program relating to the use of the core record. Penkiunas drew attention to the recent BIBCO parameters document approved by the PoCo; in particular, she mentioned parameter #7 that pertains to assignment of subject headings on BIBCO records and parameter #14 which supports communication among participants to improve bibliographic file maintenance. Updates on the BIBCO Task/Working Groups given by the respective chairs then followed.

PCC 042 Task Force

Jennifer Bowen, Chair of the PCC 042 Task Force, reported on the results of their survey and the recommendations in their final report. The Task Group was created under the aegis of the Standing Committee on Standards (SCS) at the request of the BIBCO Operations Committee to explore the usefulness of developing a code for inclusion in the 042 field of a bibliographic record which would indicate that access points for names on pre-AACR2 records have been evaluated and established to current rules and which are represented by records in the national authority file. Bowen reported that now is not the right time for such a project; the priorities of the utilities at this time were focused on other items. The Task Group recommended that no further action be taken on the 042 field at this time. The final report has been posted to the SCS Home Page

BIBCO Working Group on Series Numbering

Andrea Stamm (Northwestern University), Chair of the BIBCO Working Group on Series Numbering, gave a brief update of the four recommendations from their final report.

• Recommendation 4 which suggested that MARBI and vendors work together towards developing a mechanism which supports disregarding the designation in the series $v in its sort of the series is leading the group to draft a discussion paper that will be submitted to MARBI by ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco.
• Recommendation 2: LC has requested that the Joint Steering Committee of AACR2 authorize LC to begin early implementation of a rule revision that adds "v." as the abbreviation for "vol." Following confirmation of authorization, the Cataloging Policy and Support Office will prepare the LCRI to AACR2r Appendix B.5. Adam Schiff, Chair of CC:DA, announced from the floor that the issue was discussed and approved at their meeting at this conference.
• The only result of Recommendation 3 has come in the form of a thank-you acknowledgment from one of the solicited vendors.

BIBCO Documentation

Carol Hixson (University of Oregon),Chair of the Standing Committee on Training (SCT), reported on the four SCT Task Groups. Indepth information on the current status and findings of each group is available on the SCT Home Page.

Hixson's report centered on the outline of the BIBCO Participants' Manual. Participants expressed interest in having the BIBCO Manual mirror the CONSER documentation with the same level of specificity; the decision was made to follow the CONSER model, but not include the detail. This manual is designed to be an inclusive effort; as sections are finished, they will be posted on the PCC website for comment.

A new joint SCS/SCT Task Group has been created named the Task Group on Implementation of Integrating Resources. Jean Hirons, Ann Caldwell, and Carol Hixson worked together to write the charge. Several issues remain to be resolved, including who will maintain the integrating resources in a cooperative environment. Individuals interested in working on the group are being recruited and should contact Hirons, Caldwell, or Hixson.

Membership/Meeting expansion survey results

The meeting was turned over to Ana Cristán who reported on the membership meeting expansion survey results and the PCC Steering Committee recommendations. Cristán provided the attendees with an in-depth report on the 3 survey questions and announced the decision made by the Policy Committee to revisit the question of the number of BIBCO OpCo representatives when the number of BIBCO institutions has increased to sixty. At that time the Policy Committee will also be interested in reevaluating the funding for BIBCO OpCo membership.

Cataloger Attitude research proposal

David Banush, Cornell University, gave the attendees a brief overview of his proposal to conduct a research study on cataloger attitudes on the core record. His study is to be funded completely by Cornell University, (Thank you Sarah!) and will begin the week of January 22, 2001. The study is to run for 23 weeks and will be qualitative in nature. The goals of the proposed study are

1. to explore working catalogers' attitudes toward the core record;
2. to explore cataloging managers' attitudes toward the core record;
3. to examine both groups' understanding of the issue of cataloging quality;
4. to help identify strengths and weaknesses in the current PCC strategies for promoting BIBCO membership and core record creation; and
5. to provide the PCC Policy Committee a list of specific recommendations to address perceived weaknesses in the marketing of, and planning and training for the BIBCO program.

To achieve these ends, the study proposes the following objectives:

1. identify an appropriate pool of candidates for interviews;
2. engage the services of a consultant to assist in the design of the interview scripts;
3. conduct in-depth telephone interviews with approximately 20 catalogers and 20 cataloging managers from BIBCO institutions;
4. collect and analyze the resulting data and write a report of the findings. The consultant will assist in the data analysis and preliminary report writing;
5. present the findings and a list of specific action items to the PCC Policy Committee;
6. disseminate the findings through publication in the professional literature; and
7. prepare the groundwork for further qualitative or quantitative investigation of cataloger attitudes and core records.

The full text of the Banush proposal will also be posted to the BIBCO Home Page.

Future Planning/Wish list

The final portion of the At-Large meeting was set aside as a visioning exercise for BIBCO and the future challenges that the Program faces in maintaining its viability. This exercise was led by Jennifer Bowen, Eastman School of Music. The impetus for the exercise came from both the PCC Policy Committee as well as from OCLC. In its move to a relational database, OCLC is querying users about features they would like to see included in programming enhancements. The SWOT (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats) methodology was used to gather the information.

Bowen had prepared a handout designed to initiate discussion. She began by soliciting the achievements of BIBCO and the successes that the Program has enjoyed.

• BIBCO has produced tangible, quality bibliographic records demonstrated by the statistical output;
• it has enhanced and improved skills of catalogers and support staff;
• it has focused attention on access to materials;
• BIBCO has fostered an environment in which differences in catalogers' judgment are accepted and the emphasis is no longer on the pursuit of the perfect record;
• it has increased communication with Public Services colleagues;
• and the Program has been successful at moving away from complete reliance on LC, instead, viewing LC as one of the cooperative partners.

Bowen continued by posing what challenges the BIBCO Program has encountered in the pursuit of its goals. Attendees responded to this question by mentioning weaknesses of the Program as well as suggested improvements to implement.

• BIBCO has been unable to get the utilities to share records;
• BIBCO continues to deal with the bibliographic file maintenance issue;
• the core record has not been universally accepted and catalogers feel that the core standards are unpredictable; i.e., core requirements vary across formats.
• It was reported that BIBCO membership at some institutions has actually increased the amount of time required to catalog an item and that there is a lack of consistency in some practices within each institution (cataloger's judgement issue).
• Ongoing training seems to have been an issue for many Program participants as there appears to be an ever-present need for NACO refresher training, additional SACO training, and updates on online authority record creation.
• Stable funding was also a concern expressed by several participants and needs for additional staffing to support the BIBCO Program.

Bowen inquired of participants if the PCC had maintained its original operating principles. The consensus among participants was that the Program has done well, particularly as it expanded beyond what was originally expected. Questions focused on how proactive the PCC has been in marketing the Program and how willing is the PCC to cooperate with other programs. Another concern is the apparent conflict which still exists at some level with cataloger's judgement which often pits the cataloger and the rule-bound reviewer. It was pointed out that the basis of judgement is experience, expertise, and professional awareness and that while cataloging rules themselves encourage judgement, this should not exclude adherence to the rules or institutional practices when these prescribe certain procedures. This last point is expected to be addressed in the BIBCO Participants' Manual and emphasized more in all BIBCO documentation.

The final step in the visioning exercise was designed to create the "wish list" that the PCC would like to see utilities provide. The following list is given in order of priority, #1 being on top.

1. Authority validation (Linked authorities)
2. Record distribution, i.e., record sharing, between utilities
3. Batch overlay, i.e., tape loading ability that will overlay lower level records
4. Online SACO record contribution to parallel NACO workflow including the ability to save SACO records in the utilities
5. BFM (Bibliographic file maintenance) to be performed programmatically as much as possible
6. Numerical file sorting of series numbering
7. Import capabilities directly into the utility from remote databases
8. Online classification record contribution

This list will be posted to the BIBCOlist so that those not attending the meeting will be able to comment, add, expand, etc. to this list before being forwarded to the utilities.