Cooperative Cataloging Report for ALC
Spring 1998
Program for Cooperative Cataloging
With the consolidation of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) and CONSER, Program members have adopted a new strategic plan. One of its five goals is to expand membership and encourage active participation. In pursuit of that goal the PCC will strive to develop a diverse membership to ensure broad-based resource coverage. The Library of Congress, acting in its role as secretariat to the PCC, continues to recruit all types of libraries for participation in the Program.
As part of the Library's outreach effort, LC staff participated in a pre-conference program "Library Connections: An International Information Exchange" prior to the National Conference of African American Librarians in July, 1997. A diverse audience listened to presentations on LC's cooperative cataloging activities and the benefits of participation. They received a standing invitation to join the Program.
For more information about the Program for Cooperative Cataloging visit the PCC homepage at: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/pcc.html
Stats at a glance for FY97
In FY97 all programs saw new records for contributions set. NACO participants contributed 137,494 new NARs (an increase of 40% over FY96) and 9,364 new SARs (an increase of 16% over FY96). SACO participants had 2088 subject authority records approved (an increase of 3%) and 685 new classification numbers (a decrease of 12%). The BIBCO libraries contributed almost 30,00 bibliographic records. This represents an increase of more than 100% over FY96.
LC's Cataloging Directorate completed a study of its usage of bibliographic, subject, and name authority records produced by participants in the NCCP/BIBCO, NACO, and SACO programs. LC has used 55% of the bibliographic records contributed by BIBCO participants; 42% of the name authority records contributed by NACO participants; and 42% of the subject headings contributed by SACO participants.
Outreach
LC staff will present three workshops on Thursday, June 25, 1998, in support of SACO, the Subject Authority Cooperative Program of the PCC. The workshops are open at no charge on a first-come-first-served basis to all catalogers interested in proposing new headings and changes to LCSH. Training materials will be provided free of charge at the workshop. At the end of these workshops, participants will be better able to formulate new subject headings and propose changes to existing LCSH headings.
Workshop A: How to Propose Subject Headings for LCSH
Lynn El-Hoshy, Senior Cataloging Policy Specialist, LC
The instructor will cover how to prepare subject heading proposals using SACO forms, including performing authority research, constructing a subject heading, and fitting it into the hierarchy of the subject authority file, based on appropriate instruction sheets from the Subject Cataloging Manual. This basic workshop serves as a good foundation for the more advanced workshops listed below.
Workshop B: Proposing Geographic Name and Historic Event Subject Headings for LCSH
Lynn El-Hoshy, Senior Cataloging Policy Specialist, LC
The instructor will demonstrate how to propose subject headings in the special areas of geographic names and historic events, including wars and time periods, based on appropriate instruction sheets from the Subject Cataloging Manual.
Workshop C: Proposing Names of Languages and Related Literature Subject Headings for LCSH
Milicent Wewerka, Senior Cataloging Policy Specialist, LC
The instructor will demonstrate how to propose subject headings for names of languages and related literature headings, including appropriate reference sources to be consulted and reference hierarchies for headings.
Register via the SACO workshop registration form on the PCC homepage: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc
or
Register via email to: CAST@LOC.GOV, Carolyn Sturtevant, Cooperative Cataloging Team.
The PCC, in conjunction with ALCTS, will sponsor Cataloging Now! workshops in 1998 that will introduce catalog librarians, catalog department and technical services administrators, and public service librarians to the values of the PCC and the rationale behind the core record. The PCC is promoting the "core standard" as a means to more cost-effective copy cataloging and freeing catalog librarians to use their time and expertise for original cataloging In separate breakout sessions catalog librarians will learn about creating core records, administrators will be introduced to the management and training of catalogers in this new environment, and public services librarians will consider the implications of core records in OPACs.
South Africa
A series of decisions made by South African librarians in 1997 will serve as the foundation for collaboration with the Library of Congress. Several major research libraries in South Africa announced that they would adopt USMARC. The State Library (Pretoria) has received a request from its library community to create an LCSH office in South Africa to assist in the creation and development of standardized South African headings. The University of South Africa has indicated its intention to join NACO within the next few years. These actions in the field of technical services combined with a new, united library association (LIASA) will increase the potential for cooperation and sharing of bibliographic data, both domestically and internationally.
Africana Funnel SACO Project
The Africana Funnel Project, coordinated by Northwestern University, proposed 116 new subject headings that were added to LCSH, an almost 400% increase over last year. Twenty headings were changed based on the recommendation of funnel project participants, almost doubling last year's total. Clearly this project has developed and matured into a highly successful endeavor. This was also demonstrated by the positive results of a recent survey of the project participants, as the majority found it useful, not just to themselves as professionals, but to users as well.
LC acknowledges the significant improvements that the members of the Africana Funnel Project have made to LCSH. The Library is grateful for the expertise that participants have shared in this collaborative effort. With the implementation of LC's ILS, the Cooperative Cataloging Team hopes that contributions to SACO will be automated, thereby eliminating some of the stumbling blocks associated with a manual (paper) workflow.