CONFERENCE REPORTS
Jan Mayo, Column Editor
** REPORTS FROM THE **
2004 ALA Midwinter Conference
San Diego, California
ALCTS Media Resources Committee (MRC)
Liaison Report
submitted by Maxine Sherman
Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library
composed from minutes taken by MRC Chair, Miriam Palm
The Media Resources Committee has been officially disbanded as a division level committee, but has been given a year to reconstitute itself and apply for a new status within ALCTS. One of the questions facing MRC is whether to pursue this status or simply disband.
One possibility would be for MRC to ally itself with another group, such as the Electronic Resources Discussion Group. Responsibility for polling other groups within ALCTS to inquire about their interest in doing this was divided up between various attendees.
There was a lengthy discussion as to whether the MRC should attempt to become an interest group or function as a discussion group. Discussion groups can meet as infrequently as once a year and have no pre-set agenda other than to discuss topics of current interest. The only structure needed is a Chair, Co-Chairs, or Chair/Vice Chair. However, discussion groups cannot present programs, prepare publications or have liaisons to or from other groups.
Marlena Frackowski (MLA Liaison) and Jay Weitz (OCLC Liaison) spoke in favor of the interest group model. Official liaison relationships and the formal reporting responsibilities they encompass are very important to the groups they represent. A determination was made to apply for interest group status.
Cecilia Tittemore prepared a draft charge, based on the serials cataloging committee in the Serials Section (ALCTS-SS), should those with an interest in cataloging wish to form a distinct group within the Cataloging & Classification Section (ALCTS-CCS). Many media catalogers are members of the non-ALA group, OnLine Audiovisual Catalogers (OLAC), which is well-connected and very active. A reconstituted media group in ALCTS could leave cataloging details and standards to OLAC and focus on continuing education about media cataloging issues, engaging in a fruitful collaboration with OLAC. Continuing education will appeal to new catalogers, people with new assignments to catalog media materials and the entire school library market. In accepting this direction, MRC would recommend that OLAC assume our liaison role to the Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access (CC:DA).
The group will be meeting in June and plans to stage a business meeting and a discussion forum on several media issues. Brian McCafferty agreed to chair the group beginning in June. He will work with Miriam over the next six months to assure that various items are accomplished. These include contacting other groups within and beyond ALCTS to publicize our intentions and network on media matters, planning and advertising discussion topics for the Orlando meeting, drafting the MRC charge as an interest group and compiling a summary of the evaluations of the Toronto program "Digital Audio/Digital Video: Is Your Library/Media Center Digital Ready?"
Machine-Readable Bibliographic Information Committee (MARBI)
Liaison Report
submitted by John Attig
Pennsylvania State University
The Machine-Readable Bibliographic Information (MARBI) Committee and the USMARC Advisory Committee met for two sessions during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Diego, California. The following is a brief summary of the meeting. More information is available on the MARC Advisory Committee Web page at:
<http://www.loc.gov/marc/marcadvz.html>.
Proposal No. 2004-01: Making Subfields $e, $f, and $g Repeatable in Field 260
This proposal came from the Bibliographic Standards Committee of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of ACRL, as a result of revisions to be made to Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Books. With the application of these rules for more complete transcription to books of the machine-press era, examples were found that required repeating the place, name, and date of manufacture.
MARBI approved the proposal.
Proposal No. 2004-02: Defining New Field Link Type Codes for Subfield $8 (Field link and sequence number)
Since 1997, subfield $8 has been defined to link fields within a record and, optionally, to indicate the sequence in which the linked fields should be displayed. Each subfield $8 is expected to contain a code indicating the type of link; existing codes include "constituent item" and "reproduction" (indicating the fields linked apply to a constituent item or to a reproduction). In this proposal, RLG suggests adding new codes for "action" (used primarily to link actions involved with acquisition in field 583 with the source of acquisition in fields 541 and 561) and for "general sequencing" (the example here is a 505 field split into two or more parts because of length).
MARBI approved the proposal, but removed the language limiting the linked fields to 583, 541 and 561.
Proposal No. 2004-03: Designating the Privacy of Fields 541, 561 and 583
The information in certain fields may be recorded for internal use within a system, but may not be appropriate for display or for export. While this can be controlled at the field tag level, it is often necessary to indicate that a field in a particular record is private although the same field in another record may not be private. The proposal calls for using an indicator value to indicate the public/private nature of the data. After discussion, it was decided that this should be explicitly coded (0 for public and 1 for private) and that blank would mean "no information provided"--i.e., there is no information about the privacy of the data in the field. The revised proposal was approved.
Proposal No. 2004-04: Definition of Field 258 (Philatelic Issue Data)
This proposal from the National Archives of Canada asked for a field in which to record the material-specific data required in descriptions of stamps: the jurisdiction issuing the stamp and the denomination.
After attempting to guess how such a field might be used for other material, such as coins, it was eventually decided to approve the proposal in its current form and not to try to anticipate needs that have not yet been expressed.
Discussion Paper No. 2004-DP01: Changes Needed to Accommodate RISM Data--Music Incipits
This paper came from an international project that is (among other things) trying to record incipit information about musical works as a means of identifying them precisely. As with Proposal no. 2004-04, this is a highly specific proposal; most of the discussion aimed to clarify the intent of the proposal and revealed the need for further consultation within the RISM group. A proposal will be prepared.
Discussion Paper No. 2004-DP02: Applying Field 752 (Added Entry – Hierarchical Place Name) for different purposes
This paper came from the Map and Geography Round Table (MAGERT) and related to the use of this field to record the geographic area covered by a cartographic resource. Field 752 has been used until now primarily for place of coverage access for newspapers and place of publication access for rare materials. The paper asked whether it was necessary to distinguish these uses of the field (for differences in displays or indexing) and how to do this. There was considerable discussion about whether the use of the field for cartographic material belonged in a subject field (6XX); a straw poll was about equally divided. A proposal will be prepared with two options: use of 752 with an indicator value to distinguish uses of the field; and a new 6XX field. Additional issues to be considered are whether the existing list of subfields is adequate and how each should be defined, and whether corresponding fields in the authorities format are needed.
Discussion Paper No. 2004-DP03: Changing the Mapping for the Double-Wide Diacritics
The "double-wide" diacritics (the Cyrillic ligatures and the tilde over two characters) present particular problems in Unicode. The paper suggested abandoning the practice of treating each half of such characters separately and using non-spacing diacritics--as opposed to defining pre-composed characters for each combination. The discussion seems to be favorable to the latter practice, and a proposal will be prepared.
Report No. 2004-Report01: Assessment of Options for Handling Full Unicode Character Encodings
This is the first of several papers by Jack Cain discussing issues involved in the implementation of Unicode. Full discussion will wait for the appearance of additional papers.
Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access (CC:DA)
Liaison Report
submitted by John Attig
Pennsylvania State University
This report covers (a) the content of the 2004 amendments to AACR, (b) the Strategic Plan for AACR issued by the Joint Steering Committee, (c) plans for the new edition of AACR, and (d) significant actions and discussions since the ALA/CLA Annual Conference in June 2003.
The 2004 Amendments Package
The 2004 Amendments will be more extensive than the 2003 Amendments. There are significant changes involving electronic resources and multiparts, as well as a variety of less important changes. The following is a brief description of the revisions:
- Multipart items. The revision of Chapter 12 introduced a distinction between the basis of the description (from which issue, part, or iteration of a serial or integrating resource the bibliographic information was transcribed) and the chief source of information (from which source within that issue, part, or iteration the information was transcribed). There was no comparable rule for multipart items, for which the same decisions must be made. It was decided that the description of multipart items should be based on the first or earliest part. This revision includes a reorganization of Rule 21.2, Changes in titles proper, as well as some changes to 21.3A2, 21.6A1, and 21.30J1. Further work on the rules for describing multiparts will be done and published in the new edition of AACR.
- Basis of the description. It was felt that there should be a preliminary rule within Chapter 1 dealing with the basis of the description for serials, integrating resources, and multipart items. Rule 1.0A has been significantly rewritten to include these provisions. This rule will now consist of the following subrules: 1.0A1, Aspect being catalogued (this refers to the analysis decisions made according to the rules in Chapter 13); 1.0A2, Basis of the description; 1.0A3, Chief source of information; and 1.0A4, Prescribed sources. Rule 1.0H, Items with several chief sources of information, has been merged into the revised Rule 1.0A3.
- Electronic resources: Type and extent of resource. The 9.3 rules have been deleted. Area 3 will no longer be used for electronic resources. The type and extent of the resource will be given, in some instances, in the physical description, or in notes.
- Electronic resources: Physical description of remote resources. An option has been added in Rule 9.5B3 to allow a physical description for remote access resources. Examples include "6 remote-sensing images"; "1 sound file"; "Web site".
- Electronic resources: Nature of content. An option has been added to Rule 9.5B1 to allow the identification of the type of content as well as the type of carrier; such statements would take the form "555 maps on 3 CD-ROMs".
- Specific material designations. An option has been added to Chapters 6 and 7 to allow use of "terms in common usage" as specific material designations. This option already exists in Chapter 9. The option would allow the use of terms such as "CD-ROM," "CD-audio," or "DVD-video".
- Series statements. The reference to 12.1B1 in the rule for series statements (1.6B1) has been removed. This means that series statements are transcribed from the individual item, and some of the rules in Chapter 12 for silent correction of obvious error will not be applicable to series statements. Clarifying language has also been added to Rule 1.0F1, Inaccuracies. Further work on Chapter 25 will address the question of normalizing headings for serials (which would apply to series added entries for monographic series); these revisions will be included in the new edition of AACR.
The Strategic Plan for AACR
In 2001/2002, the Joint Steering Committee drafted a Strategic Plan for AACR. This plan has now been posted on the JSC Website at <http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/jsc/stratplan.html>. Some of the features of this plan include:
- A vision of AACR as "a multinational content standard for providing bibliographic description and access for all media … independent of the format used to communicate information."
- A set of goals committed to rules based on clear principles, easy to use and interpret, applicable to an online Web-based environment, and compatible with other standards for resource description and retrieval used in the library community and beyond.
- A new edition of AACR. See below for more details.
- Outreach to other resource description communities, such as the ISBD Review Group.
- An online version of the rules, distributed via the Web.
The New Edition of AACR
The Joint Steering Committee has embarked on an ambitious program leading to a new edition of AACR. Among the most significant features are:
- Incorporating FRBR terminology and concepts: JSC and its constituent groups have been analyzing the terminology in AACR2 in light of some of the terms and concepts in the IFLA Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR). Specifically, the FRBR terms work, expression, manifestation, and item will be used in AACR in a manner consistent with their definitions in FRBR.
- Revised, conceptual introductions to the rules: JSC has determined that the General Introduction to the code, as well as the Introductions to Parts I and II, will be significantly expanded to provide a conceptual background for the application of the rules. One of the goals of the Strategic Plan is that the rules be based on principles and that they be easy to use and interpret. Making the conceptual basis of the rules more apparent will serve both of these goals, as cataloger’s judgment is informed by a better understanding of the principles underlying the rules.
- Reconsidering the organization of Part I of the rules: Following recommendations from Tom Delsey and the JSC constituencies to reconsider the organization of Part I, JSC asked ALA to undertake a project to examine the consistency of rules across Part I, propose revisions to eliminate unnecessary inconsistencies and move general rules from Chapters 2-12 into Chapter 1. The class of materials concept that has been the foundation of Part I is being reconsidered in light of the instruction in the revised Rule 0.24 to deal with all aspects of the resource being described. The impact of this approach on the organization of the rules for description--as well as on specifics such as the rules for sources of information, the General and Specific Material Designations, and the need for specific rules for describing particular types of content, particular physical formats, and various modes of issuance--are the subject of ongoing discussions.
- Revision of Chapter 21: Chapter 21 will be revised to address issues associated with the concept of "authorship" as it is currently reflected in the rules (including the restrictions imposed by the "rule of three") and to incorporate the concepts of relationships stated in FRBR.
- Creating a new Part III on authority control: The Library of Congress has proposed that the current Chapters 22-25 on form of heading become the core of a new Part III of AACR, which would contain explicit instruction on providing authority control for headings in catalogs. Part III would include rules for form of heading and for providing references from variant forms and related headings. In a related activity, JSC’s Format Variation Working Group has prepared revisions to Chapter 25 (Uniform titles) which would include instruction for creating identifiers for not only works, but also for expressions.
Work on most of these initiatives is already under way. However, the various tasks are closely interrelated and require considerable coordination. JSC feels that this time it is appropriate to bring in an editor to oversee the preparation of the new edition, draft the conceptual introductions, and guide further work on such issues as the organization of Part I, the revision of Chapter 21, and the application of FRBR terminology and concepts to the revised rules.
CC:DA Actions and Discussions since June 2003
The main discussion item at the June 2003 CC:DA meeting was conventional terminology. JSC has determined that specific material designations (SMDs) should consist of "terms in common use." Various cataloging communities, including OLAC, were skeptical about the extent to which this should be done, and provided a long list of objections. CC:DA eventually accepted this position, and rejected the proposals to revise the lists of SMDs in Chapters 6 (sound recordings) and 7 (motion pictures and videorecordings). At its meeting in September 2003, JSC accepted this argument. As noted above, the 2004 amendments will add to Chapters 6 and 7 the option to use terms in common use that already appear in Chapter 9. ALA was also asked to prepare a discussion paper on the functions of the SMD. A CC:DA Task Force has been formed, and OLAC Vice President Robert Freeborn is a member.
At the ALA Midwinter Meeting in January 2004, CC:DA actions included:
- Approval of a proposal to revise the definition of “coloured illustration” in the Glossary.
- Further discussion of FRBR terminology, particularly in the Glossary.
- Approval of a proposal to revise Rule 21.0D, Designations of function, in order to provide additional guidance about the utility of relator terms.
- Approval of a proposal to revise the rules for German capitalization in Appendix A.
- Approval of a proposal to delete the Turkish word “bir” from the list of initial articles in Appendix E.
- Approval of revised proposals from the Consistency Task Force for Areas 2 (edition), 3 (material-specific details), 4 (publication, etc.), and 6 (series). Work on Area 7 (notes) was reviewed, but is not yet complete. In addition, CC:DA approved a draft prototype for a revised Part I based on the work of the Task Force to date; this prototype was requested by JSC.
- Discussed a number of internal issues: the future of the CC:DA Website; maintenance of the document “Differences Between, Changes Within: When to Create a New Record”; and the CCS policy governing representation on CC:DA.
- As usual, reports from the ALA Representative to the JSC, the Library of Congress Representative, the NISO Representative, and ALA Publishing Services.
For further information, please consult the CC:DA Website at: <http://www.libraries.psu.edu/tas/jca/ccda/index.html>.
Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA)
Cataloging Committee
Liaison Report
submitted by Sueyoung Park-Primiano
New York University Libraries
AMIA’s 2003 Annual Conference was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from November 18-22. Members of the Cataloging Committee gave a successful cataloging workshop, which was expanded to a full day program in an effort to integrate feedback received from attendees in the past. The longer program will require cost analysis and there was discussion to offer this workshop every other year.
The Standards Review Subcommittee continued its work on drafting a report on the second draft of a proposed revision to LCRI 25.5B on Uniform Titles for Motion Pictures, Television Programs, and Radio Programs. A report will be submitted to CPSO by January 15, 2004.
The Cataloging Committee is looking to coordinate more cooperation with the newly established Digital Initiatives Committee (DIC). DIC is primarily engaged in setting up digital audio standards, especially around DAS 006, DAS 007 (sampling and bitrate discussion) and DAS 008 (audio for moving images). A liaison was appointed and a possible joint committee on metadata will be investigated.
It was agreed that the Cataloging Committee’s Website requires a wealth of updated information. Given the ongoing development of the MIC: Moving Image Collections Website and the large sharing of membership with MIC, it was decided that the extant Website will be modified to serve the Committee’s internal use with links to the MIC Website.
The Cataloging Committee will explore other ways to contribute to MIC’s Education and Outreach Committee, such as establishing a tutorial for guiding users through the resources found on the MIC Website, adding hypertext links to the "Lay of the Land" document, and creating a cataloging utility, in particular for smaller collections.
Possible future programs and projects were also discussed. They include mining the MIC directory to identify the various in-house cataloging utilities, holding a session about how different archives are cataloging their collections, and working on genre/form lists that might lead to revising the MIGFG and MIM lists.
Former chair of the Cataloging Committee Jane D. Johnson has been hired under a contract to work as MIC Project Manager, providing technical expertise and serving as administrator and outreach coordinator for MIC. Jane has been actively involved with the MIC project since 1998, when she was appointed to the Cataloging Task Force of AMIA's Committee on U.S. National Moving Image Preservation Plans. She will be working initially with Grace Agnew and the MIC development team at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, before relocating to the Washington, D.C., area in 2004.
For more information on the conference, Committee projects, or general questions relating to AMIA, please feel free to contact me by email <syp3@nyu.edu> and/or visit the AMIA Website <http://www.amianet.org>.
Return to Table of Contents | Previous Section | Next Section
Last updated: March 8, 2004
http://www.olacinc.org/newsletters/mar04/conrpts.html
neumeist@buffalo.edu