The Cataloging Distribution Service (CDS) kicked off its 100th anniversary celebration with two events on Nov. 13, a morning miniexposition of CDS products and services and an afternoon Cataloging Forum.
The special Cataloging Forum, "Reshaping Cataloging Distribution for the 21st Century," looked briefly at CDS history and challenged the organization to expand services and make them free.
Director for Cataloging Beacher Wiggins cuts the Cataloging Distribution Service anniversary celebration cake. - Helen Hester-Ossa
Participating on the forum panel were Beacher Wiggins, director for cataloging; Sally McCallum, chief of the Network Development and MARC Standards Office (NetDev/MSO); John Byrum, chief of the Regional and Cooperative Cataloging Division (RCCD); Barbara Tillett, chief of the Cataloging Policy and Support Office (CPSO); and Jean Hirons, CONSER Operations coordinator. Kathryn Mendenhall, acting CDS chief, moderated the forum.
Congratulating CDS on its 100th birthday, John Celli, chief of the Cataloging in Publication (CIP) Division, presented Ms. Mendenhall with an oversize birthday card.
In her introductory remarks, she summarized CDS history and the technological changes that shifted the way CDS does business. On Oct. 28, 1901, the Library announced to some 500 libraries its intention to distribute printed catalog cards, and on June 28, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the law authorizing the sale of cards and other publications.
By the 1960s, CDS had become the Library's largest division, with a staff of some 600 people who shipped more than 78 million cataloging cards each year. This operation occupied floor space larger than a football field "including the end zones," said Ms. Mendenhall. "It was a monster that gave way to the miracle of MARC."
The Machine Readable Cataloging (MARC) standard made it possible for libraries to exchange cataloging data, which CDS distributed on tapes. New information technologies, such as CD-ROMs and the Internet, took over the labor-intensive job of making printed cards. CDS published its last cataloging card in 1997.
Ms. Mendenhall asked panelists, in light of cataloging changes taking place, how CDS should reshape its services for the future.
Mr. Wiggins discussed the longstanding symbiotic relationship between the Cataloging Directorate and CDS. He said CDS should serve as a source of expanded cooperative cataloging.
Mr. Byrum pointed out that the modes and methods of distributing cataloging data have changed to meet the needs of libraries and that in the future users will want more information about books than is currently available in cataloging data. These "bibliographic enrichments" might include an image of a book's jacket, information about the author, keyword table of contents on the CIP record and book summaries.
Ms. McCallum emphasized that MARC standards are the key to the interchange of bibliographic data, which eventually should be available at no cost to users. She said CDS will have to refine its mission to meet the need to respond in alternative syntaxes to MARC; transfer records, which now are part of huge databases, in smaller quantities tailored to the needs of individual users; provide Web access to metadata at no cost to users; and provide cataloging data on journal articles. These services, offered on a value-added basis, will allow open access to users and at the same time ensure the continued viability of CDS.
Ms. Tillett returned to one of Ms. McCallum's points, that CDS should begin planning to make authority records available in new formats and at no cost to users. She suggested that CDS take the lead in creating a virtual international authority file to ensure there is consistent application of cataloging rules.
Ms. Hirons examined the question of cataloging distribution from the perspective of the Serials Cataloging Cooperative Training Program. CDS provides training materials to ensure that Program for Cooperative Cataloging members will consistently apply cataloging rules for serials. Ms. Hirons challenged CDS to provide a platform for Web-based training.
Following panel presentations, this writer presented copies of the CDS publication Proceedings of the Bicentennial Conference on Bibliographic Control for the New Millennium to five winners.
The morning miniexposition of CDS products and services was also a celebration of the cooperation between CDS and the divisions that have provided the bibliographic and cataloging information that CDS publishes.
A display of historical materials drawn from the files of CDS included an 1895 version of the Library of Congress Subject Headings complete with handwritten notations for the Library's Rare Book Room.
CDS will continue the celebration into 2002 with the publication of a special commemorative poster. The culmination will be a reception at the American Library Association annual meeting next June in Atlanta.
