In a partnership between two U.S. national libraries, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) now participates in the Library of Congress's Electronic Cataloging in Publication (ECIP) program. Under the ECIP program, publishers' galleys are received for cataloging at the Library of Congress or NLM prior to publication and resulting cataloging data are returned electronically to the publisher. The publisher then includes the cataloging data in the published book, thereby facilitating book processing for libraries and book dealers.
As the U.S. national library for clinical medicine, the National Library of Medicine collects and catalogs materials in all areas of biomedicine and health care, as well as works on biomedical aspects of technology, the humanities, and the physical, life and social sciences. The NLM Cataloging Section has long been responsible for descriptive cataloging and assignment of MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) and NLM Classification for conventional Cataloging in Publication titles in the area of clinical medicine. Participating in the ECIP program was a natural next step for NLM, which is a member of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC), a consortium organized to expand access to library collections by increasing the availability of standard bibliographic records that can be shared by all member institutions. The Library of Congress serves as the Secretariat of the PCC.
Catalogers from NLM received ECIP training at the Library of Congress in August, and the National Library of Medicine Cataloging Section received its first electronic galley for cataloging on Sept. 15. The galley was cataloged and assigned NLM subject headings (MeSH) and classification. The galley was forwarded electronically to the Library of Congress for assignment of Library of Congress Subject Headings and Library of Congress and Dewey classification. Staff in the Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication (CIP) Division then e-mailed the complete cataloging data to the publisher so that the data could be printed in the published book.
The Library of Congress is attempting to attract as many biomedical publishers as possible to be ECIP participants, and NLM will publicize the ECIP program among its various constituencies and publisher contacts. The Library of Congress is now routing electronic galleys in a fairly broad range of biomedical subjects to NLM, although NLM will receive CIP copies of the published books only in clinical medicine, with the Library of Congress continuing to receive CIP copies in other biomedical subject areas.
The CIP Program was established in the Library of Congress Cataloging Directorate in 1971. Publishers submit applications for CIP data, along with a galley and front matter, prior to publication of a title. CIP Division staff, catalogers, technicians and Decimal classifiers create a catalog record for the title according to the same standards used for cataloging of published materials, and the completed cataloging information is mailed to the publisher so that it can be printed in the published book. Upon publication of the book, the publisher submits a copy to the Cataloging in Publication Division to ensure that the data in the catalog record match the book as published. The Library's Cataloging Distribution Service distributes these catalog records as part of its MARC Distribution Service, making them available to libraries and library service vendors worldwide.
Established in March 1998, the ECIP program improves on conventional CIP processing by dramatically reducing turnaround time and eliminating paper handling and mailing costs. As of Sept. 30, 2000, 598 publishers had joined the ECIP program. During fiscal year 2000, a total of 3,804 ECIP galleys in all subject areas were cataloged. The Library of Congress hopes to recruit 1,000 participating publishers by the end of the calendar year.
For more information about the ECIP program, contact Oxana Horodecka, coordinator of electronic programs, Cataloging in Publication Division, Library of Congress, (202) 707-8665; fax: (202) 707-9798; e-mail: [email protected]
