October 1996
Praise for the FEDLINK Institute on Descriptive Cataloging
PURLs: Persistent Uniform Resource Locators
Staff Profile: FEDLINK Network Librarian Georgette Harris
Now Available: Background Document On Librarian Qualification
Library Technicians' Training Committee Established
FEDLIB-L Listserv Has New Role and Name
Web Site Evolves to Serve Member Needs
Upcoming Additions to the FLICC/FEDLINK Web Site:
Electronic Resources for Passport for WIndows
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| Students compare notes at the FEDLINK Institute on Descriptive Cataloging |
Sixty-three FEDLINK members flashed orange "early access" passes to enter the Madison Building of the Library of Congress on July 29 at 8:00 am--30 minutes before the Library of Congress opens its doors to the public.
By 8:30, participants were settled into the Mumford Room for the week-long FLICC/FEDLINK Institute on Descriptive Cataloging, an experiment which brought a course called Cataloging Concepts: Descriptive Cataloging, previously taught only to Library of Congress staff, to FEDLINK members.
The Institute was designed to provide a basic understanding of the principles underlying AACR2 (the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd ed.) and MARC (MAchine Readable Cataloging) to beginning catalogers in federal libraries. It was conceived and organized by Patti Fields, FEDLINK Network Program Specialist, and presented under the direction of Judith P. Canaan, Chief of the Technical Processing and Automation Instruction Office (TPAIO), Library Services, at the Library of Congress.
Prior to this premier Institute, TPAIO had offered the course only to LC staff, and the usual class size was 12 students, so the instructors worried that the large group of 63 and the formal setting would discourage group discussion. A participant later confided, "I was wondering how you could possibly make subject matter this detailed interesting for 30 hours."
However, by the first break of the first day, instructors and students alike discovered that their concerns were unfounded. The course was very well received (see "Praise for the FEDLINK Institute on Descriptive Cataloging"--next), and members have asked FEDLINK to present it (and similar courses) again.
During the morning sessions of the Institute, TPAIO instructors Matthew Gildea and Linda S. Geisler presented sessions on the history, structure, and application of AACR2. Cataloging training ended each day at noon. Each afternoon, students returned to apply OCLC MARC content designation (tags, indicators, and subfield codes) to the morning's cataloging under Fields's guidance.
Gildea has worked at the Library of Congress since 1976, and in TPAIO since 1990. He teaches the course on which the Institute was based, as well as AACR2 & RI Basics; MARC Content Designation; MUMs, OCLC, and RLIN searching; and other automation courses. Previously, Gildea worked in the English Language Section 3 of the LC Descriptive Cataloging Division and spent a number of years as Head Cataloger at the Catholic University Library. Before joining TPAIO, Geisler worked as a serials cataloger at the Library of Congress, a cataloger of technical reports for the US Army Corps of Engineers, and a Maryland high school teacher. For TPAIO, Geisler teaches OCLC, RLIN, and MUMs searching; foreign languages; and WordPerfect and other PC applications. Fields instructs in FEDLINK's OCLC and Internet training programs.
Gildea described the historical roles of the Library of Congress in both cataloging and MARC. First, he furnished a chronological history of the current cataloging code, AACR2, 1988 Revision (amended in 1993). Participants heard about the first cataloging system, Panizzi s 91 rules for the British Museum Catalog, and later systems--such as Charles A. Cutter s 1876 Rules for a Dictionary Catalog and the 1949 ALA "Red Book"--which led to the current standards.
The instructors described the basic cataloging tools used at LC, such as: AACR2, 1988 Revision; the Library of Congress Rule Interpretations (LCRI); and the Library of Congress Descriptive Cataloging Manual. They also described MARC tools, such as the USMARC Format for Bibliographic Data, used to code content for computer transmission and manipulation.
Videotapes of the entire 30-hour Institute will be available in the future via the OCLC ILL system through an agreement between FLICC/FEDLINK and the National Library of Education. The course manual, Cataloging Concepts: Descriptive Cataloging, can be purchased from the LC Cataloging Distribution Service, (202) 707-6100.
"Absolutely wonderful!! I have needed a refresher on descriptive cataloging and AACR2/MARC for 10 years--This class answered my needs. The best thing was that the information was not too elementary and could be used by practicing librarians working in non-cataloging jobs such as systems, reference, and management."
"Thank you for offering this high caliber course at a price library budgets can afford."
"The trainers were especially well prepared; clear, concise, and examples were readily referenced."
"The program was more informative than the cataloging class at library school."
"Good idea for technicians and new librarians/catalogers."
"Thanks! I regret that others in my library did not attend."
The unpredictable mobility of Internet resources is an inconvenience at best. For librarians, it is a serious problem which compromises their service to patrons and imposes an unacceptably large burden on catalog maintenance.
URNs are intended to provide names for Internet resources that are:
Standardization is necessarily slow and deliberate. Putting all the pieces in place will require consensus in the IETF, developments in the community of Web browser implementors, and deployment of new code by the community of network system managers who administer the Domain Name System (DNS) for the Internet. The concerns and problems of the library community may not be fully appreciated or adequately addressed by these groups in a timely manner. Libraries can and should provide leadership in the solution of these problems.
The goal of global uiqueness is easily met through the central administration of names. The issue of location independence is, with PURLS, met through the consolidation of naming under a stable resolution host with reliable service levels. OCLC is well established as a provider of such reliable service, and will recruit partners to support distributed resolution capability.
The persistence requirement of URN schemes is not a technological issue so much as an outcome of the social structures that evolve to meet a common community need. OCLC s origin is deeply rooted in precisely this shared commitment to providing reliable, long-term access to information.
PURLs will also be assigned to NetFirst records, providing added reliability and value for this rapidly growing database of general interest Internet records.
Since the initial introduction of the PURLs model to the Internet community, a number of institutions have expressed an interest in formal participation, and in running PURL servers of their own. OCLC will be working with early adopters to distribute the technology rapidly. Although the service will be run and maintained at OCLC initially, the PURL model lends itself to distribution across the net, with servers run by organizations with a commitment to maintaining persistent naming schemes (libraries, government organizations, publishers and others).
For more information on PURLs, see http://purl.oclc.org/docs/purl_faq.html.
FEDLINK Network Operations is pleased to welcome a new Network Librarian, Georgette Harris, to the OCLC team. Initially, Harris will be providing administrative and technical support for OCLC systems, services, and products, as well as teaching OCLC classes on searching, ILL, and cataloging.
Harris comes to FEDLINK from the Library of Congress Cataloging Distribution Service, where she worked from 1991-1996. As a Senior Library Systems Information Research Analyst, Harris helped to develop automated library products and services based on ANSI, ISO, NISO, USMARC, and other information standards. Her duties included cost and time analyses of projects, the production of product documentation, and product training.
Prior to her term at CDS, Harris worked as a Senior Systems Librarian at RMS Associates, developing requirement specifications for the implementation of the NASA Aerospace Research Information Network (ARIN) automated integrated library and retrieval system. In addition, she conducted in-house and on-site training to ARIN end users.
Harris received her MLS from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a BS from Loyola College, Baltimore with a concentration in computer science.
As directed by the FLICC Executive Board, the FLICC Personnel Working Group (PWG) collaborated with the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in the early '90s to revise both the 1966 Federal Librarian Series position classification standards and the corresponding 1968 qualification standards with emphasis on the establishment of the master's degree in library science (or its equivalent) as the minimum requirement for entry level positions.
The background paper written by the PWG to justify the standards is now available to the membership.
Although this paper was writen in 1993 and does not represent new technological and other advancements which have occurred since then, FLICC hopes that it will provide useful information for you in working with your own agencies on personnel matters.
If you are interested in obtaining a copy, call the Federal Library and Information Center Committee at 202-707-4800.
If you didn't have time to explore FEDLINK s new Technical Processing and Copyright Clearance Center BOAs at the end of FY96, we encourage you to consider these options for FY97.
As noted in the August and September issues of Tech Notes, FEDLINK now has basic ordering agreements with five vendors to provide original cataloging services, as well as copy cataloging, retrospective conversion, and/or physical processing services. FEDLINK's Technical Processing vendors are: CAPCON Library Network, Costabile Associates, Library Systems and Services, OCLC TechPro, and Telesec Library Services. The services package describing BOA terms and contracting procedures will be issued early in FY97. Contact Network Program Specialist Patti Fields at (202) 707-4800 or pfie@loc.gov for more information.
Also during the summer, FEDLINK concluded negotiations on a sole source agreement with the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), an organization that can provide your agency with an annual license to photocopy from the works of more than 9,000 publishers. For more information on this BOA, see Information Alert 96-8, or contact Network Program Specialist Meg Williams at (202) 707-4800 or mwil@loc.gov.
In addition, nearly all FY96 FEDLINK vendors for database retrieval services, publication acquisitions and library support services renewed and updated their BOA terms for FY97. Many database retrieval vendors initiated subscription pricing options (see Information Alert 96-7), and four database vendors were added during the annual "open season": CISTI (Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information), Database Technologies, Inc., Manning & Napier Information Services, and TRO Learning, Inc. For complete information on FY97 FEDLINK vendors, watch for the Services Directory to be distributed in November, or view the Member Services section of the FLICC web site (http://www.loc.gov/flicc). Many of the web site listings include hot links to the vendor's Home Page and/or email address.
There will be no increase in FEDLINK program fees for FY97. They remain at 8% for transfer pay service, and $850 per account (plus one-half percent on amounts over $100,000) for direct pay service. In a late-breaking development, the FEDLINK Contracts staff secured authorization to raise the simplified procurement threshold to $100,000. This means that simplified acquisitions procedures may be used for all FEDLINK procurements at $100,000 or less, i.e., a 15-day waiting period after CBD synopsis, rather than 30 days, and a simpler competition procedure.
Also in FY97, FEDLINK is attempting to simplify registration and IAG amendment procedures to improve response time. For example, if you are simply moving forward no-year or multiple-year funds from your FY96 FEDLINK account, your agency's funds certification officer does not have to sign your FY97 IAG; your IAG Contact can provide the necessary authorization. And during the year, when you want to move money from established FEDLINK accounts to fund new services, you will no longer need to sign an updated IAG. If you have any questions about these simplified procedures, please contact the FEDLINK Fiscal Hotline at (202) 707-4900 or fliccffo@loc.gov.
Finally, you should have received the binder for your FEDLINK Member Handbook, as well as the new edition for FY97. The binder provides the tool for collating all of your FEDLINK program documents: The Member Handbook, FEDLINK Registration Booklet, information alerts, and Services Directory, as well as individual services packages.
If you have comments or suggestions on ways we can further improve FEDLINK services, don't hesitate to call, or email the Hotline at fliccffo@loc.gov, or a Network Program Specialist at fliccfno@loc.gov, or Executive Director Susan Tarr at suta@loc.gov.
The FLICC Education Working Group is sponsring a December 10 program to promote library advocacy and highlight the contributions of federal libraries to the fulfillment of their agencies' missions.
Proposed topics include:
Watch your mail for more news on this exciting and vital event.
The FLICC Education Working Group has established a Committee on Library Technicians' Training to expand the educational opportunities for federal library staff members.
The Committee is chartered to develop a series of training opportunities or courses in the technical aspects of library operations classified in the GS-1411 (Library Technician) series. These courses will supplement the offerings of educational institutions, and will serve both developmental and supplemental training needs. In preparation for this effort, a number of FY96 programs--such as the Soaring to Excellence teleconference series--were designed to address the needs of library technicians.
To date, this Committee has reviewed training opportunities and degree programs at a wide range of schools and other training organizations; reviewed the program of FEDLINK training in order to tailor some of its programs to the specific needs of our library technicians; and conducted focus groups with technicians from a variety of federal agencies to determine training priorities from their point of view.
Technicians suggested that FEDLINK develop training in several areas:
FEDLINK Network Program Specialist Steve Kerchoff, who has helped to spearhead the Committee, noted that technicians are anxious to pursue training which will enhance their career opportunities. He suggested that FEDLINK could present an overview of various federal career opportunities for library technicians, such as the GS-1412 (Technical Information Specialist) series.
Focus group meetings with library supervisors have been scheduled. The Committee has also scheduled a planning session for representatives from all sectors of the library community to establish a course of study which would lead to a certificate of completion issued by FLICC.
Library technicians, their supervisors, and library directors are encouraged to communicate their training needs and priorities to the FLICC Education Working Group. Please contact: Fred Rettenmaier, Ruth H. Hooker Research Library, Naval Research Laboratory, phone (202) 767-5363, email fredr@library.nrl.navy.mil or Steve Kerchoff, FEDLINK Network Operations, phone (202) 707-4848, email sker@loc.gov.
On October 1, 1996, FEDLIB-L changed from "announcements-only" to a moderated, interactive list, supporting discussion on issues of interest to federal librarians and information professionals. The name of the list has been changed to FEDLIB.
Current subscribers do NOT need to resubscribe to the list. If you are interested in subscribing, send an email message to listerv@loc.gov. In the text of the message, type:
SUBSCRIBE FEDLIB
yourfirstname yourlastname
Topics to be covered in the new list will include:
FEDLIB will be moderated, on a rotating basis, by the members of the FEDLINK Advisory Council (FAC). The FAC members are federal librarians and information professionals elected by their peers to represent the concerns of federal libraries to the FLICC/FEDLINK organization. A list of the current FAC members is available on the FLICC/FEDLINK Web Site at http://www.loc.gov/flicc.
The FAC hopes that the new FEDLIB will facilitate communication among federal librarians, and between federal librarians, the FAC itself, and the staff of FLICC/FEDLINK.
For the past year, staff and working group members have been brainstorming, charting, coding, scanning, and linking to create the FLICC/FEDLINK WWW site at http://www.loc.gov/flicc.
Online since July, the site offers links to FEDLINK vendors, information about upcoming courses and events, member services and publications, OCLC information, and federal libraries. Links to email addresses allow members to contact staff and vendors directly from the site. The FEDLINK Advisory Council asked that their email addresses also be included, so FEDLINK members can easily pass on their concerns and questions.
The development of the FLICC/FEDLINK web site was prompted both by the 1995 formation of the FLICC Information Technology Working Group (ITWG) and by staff awareness of the increasing use of the World Wide Web by libraries and vendors.
Staff members were trained in HTML coding by the Library of Congress. The LC Network Development Office had established style and coding guidelines for all LC Home Pages which helped this FLICC/FEDLINK web team to conceptualize the web site.
"LC has historically had an active grassroots Internet user community that has helped management wrestle with these issues," expained Network Program Specialist Erik Delfino who has worked extensively on the web site. "By the time we started, guidelines were already in place. Because the people we were working with were very supportive, we had a lot of assistance. This amount of support is unusual but it's very important. If an agency is going to help its subunits develop web pages, they need experts, guidelines, training, support groups, and supportive management."
In addition to agency and systems team support, Delfino noted that libraries planning to set up a web page also need to commit either staff time or money to maintaining the site.
The FLICC/FEDLINK site, which made its debut on the newly redesigned LC Home Page at the July ALA conference, is already in line for a reorganization. Network Program Specialist Meg Williams and other staff members have been expanding content and creating a more user-friendly structure of internal links.
"Web sites will always change," said Williams. "They seem to be created in phases. The first thing is to figure out a basic structure and get the web site up. Then, after you get some feedback from users and learn more about what's possible, you can focus on what's useful. In phase two, you flesh out the content and improve the ways you lead people to it. That's what we're working on now."
For more information about web site development, see the Library of Congress Brief Guides to the Internet at http://www.loc.gov/loc/guides.
The OCLC CatME for Windows price for a new user will be $395.00 for a single use or $1,395.00 for a site license. The price for current CAT ME Plus users upgrading to the Windows product will be $99.00 for a single use or $349.00 for a site license.
OCLC expects to release the new product mid-1997.
CatME for Windows will enhance functionality currently available to users of the DOS product CAT ME Plus. Users will be required to have either Windows 95 or Windows NT; CatME will not be compatible with Windows 3.1 or Windows for Workgroups. OCLC will continue to support the DOS product CAT ME Plus, although most users will prefer to migrate to the Windows product to take advantage of the new enhancements. To determine the support end date of CAT ME Plus, OCLC will continually evaluate the number of users still on the DOS product and the need for and scope of maintenance changes needed to the DOS product to remain compatible with PRISM.
ILL ME for Windows is beginning field tests now so that release is likely by the end of the year. Prices are comparable to Cat ME for Windows.
As previously announced, the DOS version of ILL ME is no longer sold and users will need to migrate to the Windows version over the course of the next year or 18 months. ILL ME will be compatible with Windows 3.1 as well as Windows 95 and Windows NT. (The difference in compatibility between ILL and Cataloging MicroEnhancers is due to changes in Microsoft's support of applications development over the course of time.)
OCLC is evaluating when to end support of both ILL ME and Passport in the DOS environment. Libraries still using machines that cannot support Windows should now be making serious plans to replace their equipment.
"Dewey for Windows was developed by OCLC's Office of Research and field tested by members of the library community," said Peter J. Paulson, executive director of OCLC Forest Press. "The resulting product uses state-of-the-art techniques to provide new ways to search and display the Dewey Decimal Classification. Dewey for Windows also offers multiple users the ability to share a single CD-ROM on a local area network."
With Dewey for Windows software, users can search for DDC numbers and terms quickly and efficiently. They can choose a specific index for searching from among nine different options, pick a separate approach to number building from four different displays, click the mouse to drag and drop information between simultaneous window displays, and create a work area to store Dewey numbers temporarily while building and moving between schedules and tables. It is also possible to cut and paste Dewey numbers into OCLC bibliographic records using PRISM and Passport for Windows.
The Dewey for Windows CD provides access to over 4,000 new entries in the electronic index. These records include index terms and the nearest matching DDC schedule number with its caption, as well as built numbers from the Dewey Relative Index. Dewey for Windows also allows notes to be added to the schedules to reflect local classification decisions. Users can call up the Help screen or the edition 21 introduction and glossary, and let the Tour Guide walk them through typical classification scenarios.
Dewey for Windows requires a microcomputer with Windows software (version 3.1 or higher). A minimum of a 486-based machine is strongly recommended for satisfactory performance. A color monitor, CD-ROM drive and a minimum of 8MB of memory are also required.
Dewey for Windows costs $400.00 for the first time of purchase, and $150.00 for the annual replacement disc. A LAN or multiple-copy site license is $500 per year, with additional compact discs available for $20. The print edition can be added to the purchase of the CD version for another $200. Order forms and a kit of additional information are available from FEDLINK.
Visit the Dewey Home Page at http://www.oclc.org/fp/.
OCLC Forest Press, a division of OCLC since 1988, publishes the Dewey Decimal Classification.
The guide, first publshed in 1994 to provide an introduction to edition 20, has been popular with both students and experienced users of the DDC. The new, revised edition, published in 1996, is designed to accompany edition 21.
"The present guide to the Dewey Decimal Classification was written with both formats of edition 21 in mind: the traditional four-volume print edition and the new Microsoft Windows-based version, Dewey for Windows," said Peter J. Paulson, executive director of OCLC Forest Press. "It is ideal for use in a classroom setting or as reference and back-up for the professional classifier."
The guide begins with a brief history of the DDC and a discussion of the theoretical basis underlying the classification. Its aim is to explain the proper methods of applying the DDC schedules, of locating and assigning the appropriate class numbers, and of synthesizing a class number when it is necessary to do so. Each of the chapters dealing with the practical application of Dewey includes exercises designed to reinforce, through practice, the examples and explanations given in the text. Examples and exercises are based on edition 21.
The second edition of Dewey Decimal Classification: A Practical Guide is the work of four widely-published professionals: Joan S. Mitchell, editor, the Dewey Decimal Classification; Margaret Mann Award winner Lois Mai Chan, Professor of Library Science at the University of Kentucky; the late John P. Comaromi, editor of the Dewey Decimal Classification from 1980 to 1991; and Mohinder P. Satija, senior lecturer in library and information science at Guru Nanak Dev University, Armistrar, India.
Dewey Decimal Classification: A Practical Guide, edited by Lois Mai Chan, John P. Comaromi, Joan S. Mitchell, Mohinder P. Satija, OCLC Forest Press, 1996, ISBN 0-910608-55-5, $40.00.
Membership incurs only a one-time $25 profiling fee for most FEDLINK OCLC libraries. Forms are available from FEDLINK or CAPCON.
There have been a number of new electronic resources introduced for Passport for Windows lately which Bill Carney, the Product Support Specialist at OCLC, has shared with FEDLINK:
Most of these sites are user provided. OCLC will continue to develop electronic resources as well. Watch their home page at http://www.oclc.org.
for the following FLICC/FEDLINK materials:
Mailed:
Forthcoming:
FEDLINK Technical Notes
Federal Library and Information Center Committee
Library of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540-4935
FLICC/FEDLINK:
Phone (202) 707-4800
Fax (202) 707-4818
FEDLINK Fiscal Operations:
Phone (202) 707-4900
Fax (202) 707-4999
Executive Director: Susan Tarr
Writer/Editor: Jessica Clark
Editorial Assistant: Mitchell Harrison
FLICC was established in 1965 (as the Federal Library Committee) by the Library of Congress and the Bureau of the Budget for the purpose of concentrating the intellectual resources of the federal library and related information community. FLICC's goals are: To achieve better utilization of library and information center resources and facilities; to provide more effective planning, development, and operation of federal libraries and information centers; to promote an optimum exchange of experience, skill, and resources; to promote more effective service to the nation at large and to foster relevant educational opportunities.
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