OLAC NEWSLETTER
Volume 10, Number 2
June, 1990

FROM THE CHAIR

FROM THE TREASURER

ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE PROGRAMS

1990 OLAC CONFERENCE

• CLEARINGHOUSE FOR ROOM SHARING
• OUTLINE OF CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS

ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Congratulations to Bo-Gay Tong of UCLA for her ascent to the Vice-Chair position for OLAC and to Ellen Hines of Arlington Heights Memorial Library (Ill.) for continuing as Secretary of OLAC. Many of you will remember Bo-Gay as the chair of the highly successful 1988 Los Angeles OLAC conference. In that role Bo-Gay demonstrated her excellent skills as negotiator, arbiter, planner and leader. All of those skills will, be in action again as she works with the Board over the next few years. You have all enjoyed Ellen's accounts of the minutes of the OLAC ALA meetings and can look forward to two more years of cogent reporting from her. Thanks to both of you for putting your names forward for these important OLAC offices.

Following ALA annual conference Dorian Martyn will assume leadership of OLAC as Chair. Dorian, who works in the corporate library of the Upjohn Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan, has had a long and distinguished career with OLAC. She chaired the OLAC Cataloging Policy Committee for three years and served in a variety of other advisor positions in OLAC. Dorian is known for her quick intelligence and soft voice (speak up, Dorian!!). She also carries the cataloging flag for the special/corporate library community in OLAC, reminding all us academic-public-school library types that the special library also needs to be heard.

J.O. Wallace, the past-past-Chair, will be leaving the Board following ALA. J.O. has been an invaluable resource to OLAC over the years, with wise counsel and innovative ideas. We expect to still see him at our meetings, though. Not being on the Board is no reason to disappear.

And, I will be moving on to the position of past-Chair. It has been a pleasure and honor to serve OLAC as Chair for the past year and I look forward to my responsibilities as past-Chair and past-past-Chair. OLAC chairs never die, they just "past" away!

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Reporting period:
January 12, 1990 through April 23, 1990

Account balance January 12, 1990                                $4,576.36  

INCOME                                               
    Interest                                                        79.45
    Memberships                                                  3,154.00
    Interest on CD                                                  12.33 
    Back issues                                                     66.75 
    Unspent money from v.9 no.4                                     29.00 
                                                             --------------
    TOTAL INCOME                                                 3,450.53

TOTAL                                                           $8,026.89

EXPENSES
     Newsletter v.10, no.1                                         800.00
     Postage for AV Unpublished Materials                           24.00
     ALA Chicago room fees                                          90.00
     ALA Chicago board stipends                                    500.00
     ALA OLAC board dinner                                         139.00
     1990 OLAC Conference bus deposit                               80.00
                                                             --------------
TOTAL EXPENSES                                                   1,826.46

Account balance April 23, 1990                                  $4,576.36 
CD at 8.05% matures 6/90                                         6,000.00

TOTAL OLAC ASSETS                                              $12,200.43

Current membership = 594

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Data are taken from preliminary conference schedules. Please confirm all dates and times in the final conference program.

OLAC

All OLAC meetings are in the PALMER HOUSE

CATALOGING POLICY COMMITTEE
Friday June 22nd, 8-10 pm, PARLOR D

OLAC BUSINESS MEETING
Saturday June 23rd, 8-10 pm, PARLOR F

OLAC EXECUTIVE BOARD
Sunday June 24th, 8-10 pm, SANDBURG 3 (7th floor)

Several topics of interest to AV catalogers will be discussed, including activity cards and kits, changes to the definition of game and toy, final report of "producers" task force, and multiple versions application to nonprint and other materials.
TASK FORCE ON MULTIPLE VERSIONS
Friday June 22nd, 2-4, Midland Hotel, Burnham

MEETING
Saturday June 23rd, 2-5:30, Congress Hotel, Grant Park

MEETING
Monday June 25th, 9:30-12:30, McCormick Place, North Building, L9

PROGRAM: MORE WITH LESS: MINIMAL LEVEL CATALOGING OF AV (co-sponsored by OLAC and PLA AV Committee)
Saturday June 23rd, 9:30-12:30, McCormick Place East, David Mayer Theater

MEETING
Sunday June 24th, 8-9 am, Palmer House, Sandburg 7

MEETING
Tuesday June 26th, 2-5:30, Marriott, Michigan Room

AV STANDARDS SUBCOMMITTEE
Monday June 25th, 2-5:30, McCormick Center Hotel, Conference 13

PRODUCER/DISTRIBUTOR LIBRARY RELATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE
Tuesday June 26th, 8-9 am, McCormick Center Hotel, Conference 9

MEETING
Sunday June 24th, 9:30-12:30, Hilton, Williford C

ALL MEETINGS ARE IN THE SHERATON PLAZA - SALON C

MEETING,
Saturday June 23rd, 9:30-12:30

MEETING,
Sunday June 24th, 2-4

MEETING,
Monday June 25th, 2-5:30

MEETING,
Tuesday June 26th, 8-11 am

MEETING
Saturday June 23rd, 2-4, Hilton, Lake Erie

MEETING
Monday June 25th, 2-4, Hilton, Astoria

MEETING
Tuesday June 26th, 8:30-11, McCormick Place North, M 1A

SAC TASK FORCE TO REVIEW AV SUBJECT HEADING GUIDELINES

MEETING
Friday June 22nd, 11:30-12:30, Bismarck, Medill

MEETING
Sunday June 24th, 9:30-12:30, Holiday Inn City Center, Mars

AD HOC UPDATE AND OPEN HEARING ON MARC LICENSING
Tuesday June 26th, 9:30-11, Hilton, Continental

Saturday June 23rd, 2-4, McCormick Place East, John Evers Theater

SUBJECT HEADING CODE: DO WE HAVE ONE? DO WE NEED ONE?
Sunday June 24th, 2-5:30, McCormick Place East, Earl McMahon

AUDIO: SELECTION, STORAGE, SECURITY
Monday June 25th, 2-4, Midland Hotel, Presidential Board Room

The 1990 OLAC Conference "Technology: Friend or Foe?" will be held in Rochester, New York on October 17, 18, and 19.

Conference registration forms are included in the center of this issue of the Newsletter.

Registration fees include the cost of lunch for the three days of the conference. Food choices for the lunches are on the registration form.

Registrants are asked to state their preferences among the seven workshops being offered. In order to facilitate selection, workshop descriptions, which appeared in the last OLAC Newsletter, are reprinted on the following pages.

We hope you can join us in Rochester.

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1. Informed Processing Decisions: Controlling the Technology Once It Arrives
   Presenter: Karen Driessen, University of Montana
   A hands-on practical session that will provide a variety of packaging and labeling options for today's audiovisual collections, and help you make the best processing decisions for your library.

2. Cataloging Videorecordings
   Presenter: Glenn Patton, OCLC
   A presentation focusing on cataloging rules and MARC format problems for video recordings, including videodiscs and music videos. A packet of examples will be provided and there will be opportunities for questions.

3. Retrospective Conversion and the AV Cataloger
   Presenters: Bobby Ferguson, State Library of Louisiana
   
   Cynthia Whitacre, OCLC

   This discussion of non-print retrospective conversion will cover the use of technology-based applications in the planning, preparation, and activities of retrospective conversion and clean-up of non-print items. It will include information on staffing, time, and costs for both in-house and vendor-contracted projects. The pros and cons of each approach will be considered, and non-print conversion projects will be contrasted and compared with print conversion projects. All non-print formats will be included.

   Audio Recordings and AV Cataloging
   Presenters: Joan Swanekamp, Eastman School of Music
   

   Jennifer Bowen Eastman School of Music

   A presentation and discussion on the cataloging of sound recordings including LP's, CD's and digital audio tapes and the vagaries in the MARC format for each of these media. A review of LC practice and rule interpretations and options will be given. The issue of access to similar works in different formats will be examined.

   Workflow, Technology, and AV Catalogers
   Presenters: Liz Bishoff, OCLC
   

   Dorian Martyn, The Upjohn Company

   The interaction between technology and workflow from an administrative and practical perspective will be discussed. The interdependence of these will be explored as well as the need for procedural change necessitated for cost effective and efficient use of the new technology in AV cataloging.

   Cataloging Computer Software
   Presenter: Ann Fox, Library of Congress

   This presentation will identify how technology affects the cataloging of computer software, what problems/solutions are created and will discuss some shortcuts.

   Authority Work and Audiovisual Cataloging
   Presenter: Laurel Jizba, Michigan State University

   This workshop will consider the importance of authority work when cataloging for an online system as well as a manual system. Discussion will be designed to aid those preparing for online automated authority files.

Aversa, Elizabeth Smith, Mancall, Jacqueline C., and Oesau, Diane. Online Information Services for Secondary School Students. 2nd ed. Chicago, Ill.: American Library Association; Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University, ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources, 1989. ISBN 0-8389-0524-2 $8.95

Reviewed by Sharon Almquist, University of North Texas Media Library

Online Information Services for Secondary School Students is the second edition of the ERIC monograph published in 1987 as Online Secondary School Students: A Current Assessment (IR-75; ED 295 682). According to the authors' introduction, the second edition differs from the first most notably in that references have been brought up-to-date through Spring 1989. In addition, the original literature review has been transformed into a guide which constitutes Part One of the edition under review. (I was unable to locate a copy of the first edition to make my own comparisons.) The authors acknowledge the help of ERIC Clearinghouse staff members Barbara Minor and Michael Eisenberg in making these changes.

The publication is more or less three books in one, all tied together by the common theme of introducing high school students to the pleasures and perils of searching for information online in databases such as ERIC, UPI News, PsycINFO, Dow Jones News Service, and Books in Print. The fairly recent technological advance known as CD-ROM is also mentioned as an alternative to hourly online charges.

Based on actual experiences in school library media centers as reported in the literature, the first part, "The Online World: A School View," gives step-by-step guidelines for planning and implementing online services in high schools. These steps are geared with the student, not the teacher, in mind. The guidelines take their lead from computer manuals with a "Getting Started" section. Frequent citations are made to a bibliography of 44 references appearing at the end of this section. (As an aside, six of the articles listed in the ... [text missing] ... The Part Two, "The Online Student in 1986: A Survey of Current Practice", is a summary of a 1986 survey sent to state level school media supervisors in all states to determine if or how online searching is used in high schools. No new data have been collected since 1986; nonetheless, the authors feel that online services in schools are growing based on personal observation and contact in the field. Six tables clearly summarize some the findings.

The third and final part, "The Online Guide: A Path to Published Resources," is essentially an annotated bibliography with citations ranging from 1981 to 1988.

No index is provided, but a complete table of contents allows access. The typeface is clear and easy to read. Generally the writing is straightforward with only an occasional lapse into obscurity.

For secondary school librarians/media specialists thinking about setting up online services for students, this publication may serve as food for thought and a source of further exploration. It is more a guide than a how-to manual. For example, instead of making specific recommendations for equipment (hardware), the authors ask the user to think about his or her needs while generalizing, as on page 17: "Costs are, of course, a major factor in all hardware and software decisions." Software discussions are, on the other hand, geared toward specific vendors (such as DIALOG and BRS) and databases (such as ERIC). Considering that online searching has been around for about two decades and has only moved below the college level in recent years, a study of this type is welcome.

Schuller, Nancy Shelby. Management for Visual Resources Collections. 2nd ed. Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1989. ISBN 0-87287-612-8 $25.00

Reviewed by Anne A. Salter, Atlanta Historical Society

With her first edition of this work, Nancy Shelby Schuller has written the most comprehensive management guide to visual resources. Now she has taken the challenge of updating and improving what was already excellent.

Additions of job descriptions, floor plans, and forms make the second edition of her work even more essential.

Managers and curators of visual resources will find her work the reference source to turn to for information on staffing, budgeting, planning, reports, computer utilization, and circulation. Especially helpful are the floor plans showing various arrangements of equipment and work areas.

Forms used by other institutions are always intriguing. The ones chosen to fill Appendix F are useful, inspiring, and for the most part very well produced and readable.

Librarians, archivists, and curators who work with visual resources should consult her work. It is recommended for academic libraries for reference, and for public libraries for visual resources collections. All archives/libraries need a copy.

Anyone who has catalogued oral history tapes and feels that they can recommend standards, etc. for input, especially subject headings and limitations thereof, please contact me. I am interested in cataloging an upcoming project and need advice.

The following question and answer appeared in the last issue. Glenn Patton has written to suggest a different way of thinking about the issue. Thanks to Glenn for this further information.

QUESTION: I have been cataloging CD-ROM reference sources, most of which appear serially, that is, with cumulative, usually quarterly, updates. When you subscribe to, say, ERIC on Silverplatter, or AGRICOLA, you commit yourself to sending back an outdated CD-ROM each time a new one is sent to you from the vendor. Defini tely a serial, right? I am finding instances on OCLC where the cataloging agency has cataloged only the archival disks, not the updates and has done them as monographs. On the MRDF format, it takes only a keystroke to change the Fixed Field Bib lvl: from m to s. Does this warrant a new record for different treatment?

ANSWER: I would be probably put in a new serial record rather than recoding a monographic record. If you input a serial record the numerous notes that are needed to explain the life of a serial will be there permanently so that each new user of the record will not need to do the m to s fixed field conversion plus keying in the needed serial notes. This treatment will be true to the nature of the item, more efficient for the numerous libraries using the record in a national utility and can be essential for libraries with automated acquisitions systems.
---VU

Glenn Patron: Jay Weitz and I have discussed your answer to CD-ROM serials question in the most recent issue of the OLAC NEWSLETTER. If we understand correctly what kind of computer file is being described, we agree that these are indeed serials and that, if records have been input with "Bib lvl: m", those records are incorrectly coded.

We would not, however, agree with your suggestion to the questioner that they should input a new serial record. It is true that, for many years, OCLC input standards have put this case into the "allowable duplicates" category. There were at least a couple of reasons for this: first, there are circumstances in which there are legitimate disagreements about whether a publication is a serial or not; second, we had no ability in the OCLC Online System to correct the "Bib lvl:" value in existing records and, thus, could not change a Books format record into a Serials format record.

The first reason seems not to apply here. The cataloger who created the original monographic record may not have recognized that such CD-ROM databases should be considered serials but I think there is general agreement in the Computer Files community that they are. The second reason also does not apply since it has always been possible to change "Bib lvl:" values in the Computer Files format (and, indeed, it would no longer apply for the books/serials case described above since OCLC staff can now correct "Bib lvl:" values in existing records).

A preferable answer to this question, from OCLC's view, would be to advise the questioner to report the problem records to OCLC for correction. That way, we can provide a "correct" record for all OCLC users and avoid an unnecessary proliferation of "duplicate" records.
--- Glen Patton

ANSWER: Code it "z" for "others." The OCLC format indicates that "z" is used for techniques other than liveaction or animation. Periodically I space out and puzzle over whether science videos with computer animation sequences should be coded only for liveaction (1) or for animation and liveaction (c). Usually, I end up coding for liveaction on the theory that the quantity of animation is small and isn't "art" animation like a cartoon or Disney film.
--- VU

Below are questions and answers from the Midwinter OLAC Business Meeting Q&A session. Thanks to Bobby Ferguson for notes from the session. Present to answer questions were: Glenn Patton (OCLC), Ed Glazier, (RLIN), Sheila Intner (Simmons College), and Verna Urbanski (University of North Florida).

QUESTION: What code is used for a computer file in the fixed field 006 for cataloging Dialog on CD?

ANSWER: Code it as textual.
--- GP and EG

QUESTION: How do you treat a data base on CD which consists of two pieces, a CD and a floppy? Do you catalog as a data file with accompanying program, or, as two disks?

ANSWER: If you look at the intellectual content rather than the physical description, you would catalog it as a CD data disk with accompanying floppy. If you look at its physical aspects, you would have to catalog it as two disks, or, even as a kit. I would catalog it as a data file with accompanying software program.
--- SI

Treat it the same as a single CD with data and program all on the CD. It would not be a kit.
--- EG

QUESTION: I need advice on cataloging interactive videodisk. It usually has three pieces of media: a video disk, a CD, and a floppy disk.

ANSWER: You could catalog it as a videodisk and treat the CD and floppy as accompanying material, but I think it is more accurate to treat the set of materials as a kit. Though two pieces of the set could be used together, the full benefit of the interactive aspect can only be achieved by using all together.
--- SI

QUESTION: I have several times run into the problem of cataloging foreign language videos when I don't know the language and have to get it translated or even transliterated -- such as with Persian films. Properly transcribing the statements of responsibility is a problem. I usually get the translator to write out the information needed for credits and/or cast notes. Is it totally against the rules not to give statements of responsibility if you can't tell what it says?

ANSWER: This is the same situation as cataloging a book printed in Chinese when no one can read Chinese. It is not standard catalog procedure to exclude a statement of responsibility, but you can do it if the information is there but can't be read. You could input a level "K" record and perhaps someone with reading knowledge of the language can upgrade it later.
--- EG

The prominence of the display is also a consideration. You don't have to transcribe it if it doesn't appear prominently on the item. If the name is separate -- if, for instance, there is a different script or font used -- you must make a judgment on whether it is appropriate information to transcribe.
--- SI

QUESTION: If you have a video interview with one person talking to an interviewer, should it be entered under title, or under the interviewee as the main entry? The interviewer may not be named.

ANSWER: These are always a mixture of responsibility because there is intellectual responsibility and technical responsibility. By cataloging tradition we have chosen to recognize the technical responsibility in creating a video in a way we have not for other materials. I would probably enter the video under title, and provide subject access for the interviewee.
--- SI

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