Standing Committee on Automation: Annual Report 2003

October 1, 2002-Sept. 30, 2003
(including quarterly report for July-Sept. 2003)

Most of the work of the Standing Committee on Automation during 2002-2003 was carried on by its two currently active task groups: the Third Task Group on Journals in Aggregator Databases, and the Task Group on Linking Entry Displays.
Third Task Group on Journals in Aggregator Databases

This task group is chaired by Adolfo Tarango of the University of California, San Diego. The nature of the task group's charge was considerably altered. The original charge involved encouraging vendors of aggregator packages to supply high quality bibliographic records as part of the packages. This charge had obviously become outmoded by developments in the field - specifically, by the rise of serials management companies, which assist libraries in keeping track of the various aggregations to which they subscribe, and provide the libraries with various types of related products such as "A to Z lists" of electronic journal subscriptions that can be loaded to library Web sites.

One of the most useful products that a serials management company can sell is a suite of full MARC records that cover the serials in all the aggregations to which a library subscribes. The best guarantee that such records will be of high quality is to have CONSER provide them. Once CONSER adopted the "aggregator neutral single record" approach to serials in aggregator databases, this became a feasible option. Consequently, the Third Task Group on Journals in Aggregator Databases was issued a revised charge to assist CONSER in meeting this goal. Specifically, the task group has worked on identifying the various data elements that would need to be added to, modified, or removed from a CONSER record for a non-electronic journal in order to create an aggregator neutral record for the electronic version of that same journal. A draft document outlining those data elements was discussed at the May CONSER Operations Meeting. A final version of the document is still due from the task group. Subsequently, the task group has been working with OCLC to apply the recommendations in the draft on a test bed of titles available from Lexis-Nexis.

Task Group on Linking Entry Displays

This task group is chaired by Mechael Charbonneau of Indiana University. It has examined the way linking entries are handled in the integrated library systems of several different major vendors (DRA Classic, VTLS Classis, Ex Libris, Endeavor, Sirsi, and Innovative Interfaces). It has begun to establish criteria for assessing the effectiveness with which the various systems handle linking entries and to consider the types of functionality needed for getting the most use out of linking entries.

Meetings

Standing Committee on Automation held only one face-to-face meeting in 2002-2003, at ALA Midwinter. No meeting was held at the Annual Meeting in Toronto because of the absence of a number of members. The committee instead held a virtual meeting via e-mail to conduct the business that otherwise would have been transacted in Toronto. Discussion during the virtual meeting focused on assignments made to the committee in the PCC Strategic Plan. Specifically:

1.2.1 Encourage ILS vendors to develop automated authority generators and the means for their real-time upload to utilities. Ed Glazier of RLG suggested that this might be an ill-formed or premature charge. He felt that "before going down this road ... there should be conversations with the utilities as to the feasibility of accepting uploaded authority records from multiple local system vendors for multiple institutions." Specifically, he was concerned about the practical problem that would be faced by the utilities in detecting and dealing with duplicate authority records. He went on to say, "The only real way to reduce the number of duplicates would be for these records to be uploaded in real time to LC [instead of to the utilities]." With this in mind, an alternative charge was suggested: "Encourage ILS vendors to develop automated authority generators and the means for their real-time upload to LC." SCA will work back with PCC to re-examine the charge and consider alternatives prior to undertaking any work on it.

1.2.2 Streamline notification to LC of bibliographic file maintenance resulting from NACO heading changes. David Williamson reported that he was working with Glenn Patton of OCLC on this, and suggested that SCA might lobby RLIN to "jump on the bandwagon to get the JACKPHY records updated, if affected by a heading change."

1.3.1 Develop specifications for bibliographic and pattern notification services such that they could be implemented by bibliographic utilities, subscription agencies, consortia, or other service bureaus in a cost-effective manner, and effectively utilized by libraries. Helen Gbala reported that the NISO/EDItEUR Joint Working Party for the Exchange of Serials Subscription Information, on which she serves, was working on this already, and promised to keep SCA informed of that group's activities. Since any work that SCA might do in this arena could be duplicative of the work of the Joint Working Party, it was suggested that SCA go back to PCC and request that this charge be amended or dropped.

3.6.1 Contact ILS vendors to encourage development of automated tools for enhancing bibliographic access (e.g., TOC etc. or interoperability with other information sources (in cooperation with Operations Committee); 3.6.2 Contact ILS vendors to encourage research to facilitate use and usefulness of records in a global context (e.g., multilingual mapping of subject headings) (in cooperation with Operations Committee). Since both of these charges call for SCA to do something "in cooperation with Operations Committee," the SCA chair has contacted the chair and chair-elect of PCC for advice about the respective roles of SCA and the Operations Committee.

3.6.4 Contact ILS vendors to seek development of automated tools for classification and cuttering; 3.6.5 Contact ILS vendors to encourage compliance with levels 1, 2, 3 and/or 4 of the series heading normalization algorithms identified in the Final Report of the Task Group on Series Numbering. The SCA chair has officially communicated the reports of the SCA Task Group on Automated Classification (2001) and the Task Group on Series Numbering to the following system vendors: Ex Libris, Geac, Innovative Interfaces, Sirsi, and Endeavor. With Dynix, those are the vendors of the systems used by the PCC member libraries. It can be anticipated that SCA will continue to receive assignments to "contact ILS vendors to...." Channels of communication between SCA and the major ILS vendors will accordingly be established and maintained.

Membership

Thanks go to SCA members Ruth Bogan, Katherine Kott, John Riemer, and Gary Strawn, and to liaisons Robert Bremer (OCLC), Helen Gbala (vendors), Ed Glazier (RLG), John Levy (CONSER), and David Williamson (LC) for their participation and involvement. The terms of Ruth Bogan and Gary Strawn are expiring; it will be necessary for SCA to identify and bring on board two additional members as replacements.

Report respectfully submitted by Gary Charbonneau, chair 09/17/2003