Please Choose One
What's New | Conferences | Newsletters | Useful Websites | Search | Home

OLAC NEWSLETTER
Volume 17, Number 1
March 1997


TABLE OF CONTENTS

FROM THE EDITOR

NEW URL FOR OLAC WEB PAGE

FROM THE PRESIDENT

SECOND QUARTER TREASURER'S REPORT

OLAC EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING MINUTES

OLAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES

CAPC MINUTES

MEET THE CANDIDATES

CONFERENCE REPORTS:

UPDATE FROM OCLC

UPDATE FROM RLIN

UPDATE FROM WLN

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS:

[??QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS??]


FROM THE EDITOR
Kay Johnson

The annual "Meet the Candidates" section is included in this issue of the OLAC Newsletter as well as conference reports from ALA and MOUG. "News from WLN" is our newest regular column, and don't miss "The 'Language' of Videos" by Nancy Olson.

This issue of the OLAC Newsletter features some major staff changes. Nancy Olson has taken the role of Questions and Answers editor, formerly held by Verna Urbanski. We are privileged to have two such noted AV experts associated with this publication. Nancy Olson and I are holding a contest to come up with a new name for the Questions and Answers column. Please see her column for details.

Mary Konkel has taken on the role of conference reports editor. She is seeking Conference Reports contributors.

Most notably, this is my first issue of the OLAC Newsletter as editor-in-chief. Sue Neumeister has gone on to be webmaster (webmistress?) of the OLAC Web site and is vice president/president-elect of OLAC. She has been an invaluable help to me in learning the basics of OLAC Newsletter formatting and the mysteries of bulk mailing.

I regret and apologize that this issue is late. Between a late ALA, my learning curve and interminable hardware and software problems, the Newsletter was delayed for a month. I expect that future issues will be timely and more polished.

DEADLINE FOR THE JUNE ISSUE: MAY 1, 1997

Return to Table of Contents


ANNOUNCING
NEW URL FOR OLAC WEB PAGE

http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/cts/olac/

Return to Table of Contents


FROM THE PRESIDENT
Richard Harwood

A major announcement to come out of the past ALA Midwinter Meeting in Washington, D.C. is the location of the 1998 conference site in Charlotte, North Carolina. Kevin Furniss of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina submitted the proposal that received Board approval. Kevin will be serving as Conference Planning Committee Chair. Sue Neumeister, OLAC Vice President, will be the Board contact for the Conference Committee. There will be opportunities for others to participate in conference planning as time goes on.

Electronic resources, including Internet resources, continued to be a source of much discussion at Midwinter. The Cataloging Policy Committee (CAPC) Agenda reflected this dynamic. There was also discussion at the Sunday night Membership Meeting on how the evolution of electronic resources might influence OLAC's mission and objectives, and perhaps even the name of our organization.

A very pleasant surprise for those attending the Friday night CAPC meeting was an announcement from Nancy Olson on a new LC policy concerning language of videos notes. Videos have been incorporating language enhancements for some years now, that go beyond closed-captioning. For example, there are described videos from Descriptive Video Service, intertitles, and videos that are signed. All of these types of materials will be included in MARC field 546 as language notes. As written in Nancy's handout from the CAPC meeting, "An internal LC statement has been prepared; we can expect this to appear in future MARC documentation."

The topic of language notes and language enhancements of videos is not new to OLAC. CAPC previously submitted a proposal to CC:DA at Midwinter 1995 calling for the expansion of rule 7.7B2 to include such language characteristics as described video. Again, from Nancy Olson's handout, "In June, 1995, JSC approved an example to be added to 7.7B2, deleting the last four words of that given in the LCRI, resulting in the note: Closed-caption. JSC refused, however, to add notes for open signed or audio-enhanced material."

It's election time again, and your vote is important. Ballots will be mailed to personal members in March, with an April 30 postmark as the cutoff date for validation of ballots. Thanks to Mary Konkel, Elections Committee Chair, and to Eric Childress for putting the slate together. And thanks to the candidates, also, for their willingness to serve in an OLAC office.

Return to Table of Contents


SECOND QUARTER TREASURER'S REPORT
October 1, 1996 through December 31, 1996
Johanne LaGrange


          Membership:                532* 
               Institutional    --   318
               Personal         --   214

          ACCOUNT BALANCE: Sept. 30, 1996
     
               Merrill Lynch WCMA Account                    9,785.83

          INCOME
     
               Back Issues                             10.50
               Dividends--WCMA Account                110.77
               Memberships                          3,830.95
               Royalties (Cat.Unp.Nonprint Mat.)      343.01

               TOTAL INCOME                                  4,295.23

          EXPENSES

               Banking Fees 
                 Activity Fee                           1.65
               OLAC Board Dinner                      242.70
               OLAC Conference Scholarship            670.15
               OLAC Newsletter                      1,121.85
               Stipends                               800.00
               TOTAL EXPENSES                              ( 2,836.35)


          ACCOUNT BALANCE: December 31, 1996
                                                                 
                Merrill Lynch WCMA Account                  11,244.71

 -----------------------
 * Renewal Notices were sent out in December--and I'm currently
 receiving large quantities of renewals.

Return to Table of Contents


ONLINE AUDIOVISUAL CATALOGERS (OLAC)
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
ALA MIDWINTER CONFERENCE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
February 15, 1997
Minutes

  1. Call to Order, Announcements (R. Harwood)

    OLAC President Richard Harwood called the meeting to order at 3:40 P.M.

    Board members present: Richard Harwood (President), Sue Neumeister (Vice President/ President-Elect), Pat Thompson (Secretary), Kay Johnson (Newsletter Editor), Heidi Hutchinson (Past president), and Johanne LaGrange (Treasurer).

  2. Secretary's Report (P. Thompson)

    The OLAC Board meeting minutes of July 7, 1996 were approved as printed in the September 1996 issue of the OLAC Newsletter.

    The Secretary agreed to mail complete copies of the updated handbook to Kay Johnson and Verna Urbanski (for the archives) and updated pages to other Board members.

  3. Treasurer's Report (J. LaGrange)

    Membership appears to be down by about 100, but this is because renewal notices were sent out in December and renewals are still coming in. We received $343 in royalties. We had more income than expenses this quarter. The Treasurer has not yet received a check from the 1996 conference. R. Harwood was concerned that the Treasurer's report in the December Newsletter reflected expenses from the conference but no income. J. LaGrange explained that the report is based on cash-flow accounting, and she can only report what has cleared the bank. The conference accounts have traditionally been kept separately. There was some discussion of adding a footnote to the report or including a conference financial report to make it less confusing for the members reading the reports. In the future, there may need to be additional reporting between the Conference Committee and the Treasurer.

    This conference was handled somewhat differently than previous conferences because OLAC had pay for a lot of hotel expenses up front. This was because we didn't have a credit rating, because the hotels we had worked with in the past had not kept their records longer than one year. Sharon Almquist, the Chair of the Denton Conference Committee, has suggested that we get this hotel to write us a letter which we can use in the future as a credit reference. The Treasurer suggested, and the Board agreed, that the comparative quarterly reports were not helpful and caused some confusion, so they will be discontinued. The yearly comparative report is useful, however, and will be retained.

    It was decided that the Treasurer will send a reminder in March to those members who forgot to renew their membership. Changes were made in the handbook to add this and also to reflect the current practice of the Treasurer sending the renewal notices in December.

  4. Membership Directory Update (H. Hutchinson)

    We had originally planned to update and issue the year-old OLAC Directory on a regular basis. H. Hutchinson pointed out that because of the way the forms were designed, many of the listings have personal addresses and institutional addresses mixed or confused. We need to redesign the forms to correct this for the next time around.

    The Board made the following decisions concerning the Directory: The Treasurer will be responsible for designing and sending out new membership forms that will include directory information, and for collecting and maintaining the directory information as part of the membership records. In addition, an adjunct position of OLAC Directory Producer was created with a stipend of $50 per production. This person will get the information from the Treasurer, format it, and get it ready for printing, and then forward it to the newsletter editor for actual printing. Changes were made to the handbook to reflect these decisions. H. Hutchison will write an advertisement for this position to be printed in the next Newsletter. The target date for the next edition of the directory will be 1998 before the next conference, so that we can distribute them at the conference.

  5. Newsletter Editor Report (K. Johnson)

    The March issue of the Newsletter will be late due to the report deadline of March 1 and to K. Johnson's learning curve in producing her first issue. Kay has purchased PageMaker and is learning it. Some discussion ensued about how the Conference Reports Editor should solicit reporters for various meetings at ALA.

  6. NACO Funnel (A. Caldwell)

    Ann Caldwell submitted a written report of the project to the Board. D. Boehr is willing to be the unofficial backup for A. Caldwell to consult if needed. It was agreed to ask Martha Yee if she would be willing to be the official backup person for A. Caldwell. Although the project is going well, A. Caldwell is not ready to expand the number of participants yet. She would like a year or so to evaluate how it is going before training more people.

  7. Elections Committee (M. Konkel)

    The Board approved the slate of candidates nominated by the Elections Committee which consisted of Mary Konkel (Chair) and Eric Childress.

  8. OLAC Awards Committee (H. Hutchinson)

    No report was given.

  9. Scholarship Committee

    No report was given.

  10. Research Grant (M. Konkel)

    No applications have been received yet. If we don't get any before the deadline, we can try to publicize it more for next year.

  11. Old Business

    1. 1996 OLAC Conference (Harwood, Konkel)

      The Board received a lengthy (approx. 50 pages) report on the Conference from Sharon Almquist, Chair of the Conference Committee. There was little discussion on specific points raised in the report due to lack of time. Pat Thompson pointed out one comment from an attendee that suggested that OLAC sponsor more workshops in addition to the conference every two years. Thompson asked about how OLAC can possibly increase its outreach and provide more opportunities for the continuing education of catalogers. She agreed to pursue some ideas and bring something on this to the next meeting.

  12. CAPC Appointments [closed session]

  13. New Business

    1. 1998 OLAC Conference Location (R. Harwood)

      The Board received two proposals for hosting the next conference. One site was Kansas City, Kansas, proposed by Richard Baumgarten of Johnson County Public Library in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, and the other site was Charlotte, N.C., proposed by Kevin Furniss of Winthrop University. After reviewing the materials that were sent in support of each proposal, the Board chose Charlotte, N.C. as the site of the 1998 OLAC Conference. The next step is to choose a program coordinator. Sue Neumeister, as Vice President, will work with Kevin Furniss and his committee on the local arrangements.

    2. Newsletter Frequency (K. Johnson)

      Kay Johnson asked whether the frequency of the Newsletter (quarterly) was either too frequent or not frequent enough. She was also concerned about how late the March issue will be. The Board wants to keep the quarterly frequency, and is not concerned about the March issue being late this time. It will still be called the March issue, even if it doesn't come out until April.

    3. OLAC Treasury (Harwood, LaGrange)

      R. Harwood was concerned about some comments that our auditor made concerning the amount of loss we took on the 1996 OLAC Conference. R. Harwood reminded the Board that it was following the handbook instructions to, "Set registration fees to remain within a reasonable range," which accounted for some of the loss. J. LaGrange was concerned that the Treasurer was "out of the loop" as to the conference expenses and so was constantly surprised at being asked for more money. R. Harwood recommended that he and the Treasurer come to the next meeting with some proposals concerning the treasury that address these concerns and also such topics as whether we need a minimum balance in the treasury and how much that should be; whether we expect a conference to break even and if not, how much of a loss is acceptable; what source of revenue we are using to pay for what; whether we want to rely on dues or conferences for our income.

  14. Adjournment

    R. Harwood adjourned the meeting at approximately 6:15 PM.

Return to Table of Contents


ONLINE AUDIOVISUAL CATALOGERS (OLAC)
MEMBERSHIP MEETING
ALA MIDWINTER CONFERENCE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
February 16, 1997
Minutes

  1. Call to Order, Introduction of Officers, Announcements (R. Harwood)

    Richard Harwood, OLAC President, called the meeting to order at 8:07 PM and introduced the following officers: Richard Harwood (President), Sue Neumeister (Vice President/President Elect), Johanne LaGrange (Treasurer), Pat Thompson (Secretary), Diane Boehr (CAPC Chair), and Heidi Hutchinson (Past President). Kay Johnson (Newsletter editor) was unable to attend the meeting. There were 20 other members present.

    R. Harwood announced that the new MLA Technical Report, Cataloging Musical Moving Image Materials, edited by Lowell Ashley, is now available from ALA. The MLA (Music Library Association) is also considering doing a preconference workshop on cataloging music moving image materials to be held prior to the MLA Conference in Boston next year.

  2. Secretary's Report (P. Thompson)

    The minutes of the last membership meeting held October 4, 1996 at the OLAC Conference in Denton, Texas were approved as published in the Dec. 1996 OLAC Newsletter.

  3. Treasurer's Report (J. LaGrange)

    J. LaGrange pointed out that the first quarter report that was appeared in the Dec. 1996 OLAC Newsletter, listed the expenditures from the conference only, not the net figure. She has not yet received the income from conference registrations. She has been told that all the Denton bills have been paid, and the local bank account has been closed; this will be reflected the report for the June Newsletter.

    For the current quarter, ending Dec. 31, 1996, we are back on track with income greater than expenses. (See separate Treasurer's report.)

    Membership renewal notices went out late this year (in December) and reminders will be sent in March to those who forgot to renew.

  4. Newsletter Editor's Report (K. Johnson)

    R. Harwood gave the report for K. Johnson. First he thanked Sue Neumeister for her outstanding job as newsletter editor for the past 4 1/2 years, and the membership applauded in agreement. He also thanked Verna Urbanski for her many years of service as the editor of the Q & A column. Nancy Olson is the new Q & A editor. The March Newsletter will be late due to both the lateness of ALA this year and to the transition between editors.

    Any members who attend meetings of interest to AV catalogers are encouraged to send reports for the newsletter to K. Johnson. The deadline for material for the March newsletter is March 1, 1997.

  5. Committee Reports

    1. Cataloging Policy Committee (CAPC) (D. Boehr)

      Please see separately reported minutes of the CAPC meeting in this issue.

    2. Elections (M. Konkel)

      The Nominations Committee, consisting of Mary Konkel and Eric Childress put forth the following slate of candidates: For Vice President/ President-Elect: Virginia Berringer from the University of Akron (Ohio), and Brad Eden from Northwest Harris Montgomery Community College District (Texas). For Treasurer: Richard Baumgarten, Johnson County Library (Kansas), and Sung Ok Kim, Cornell University (New York.) There were no additional nominations from the floor. Biographical statements from the candidates can be found in this issue. Ballots will be printed and sent to the membership in March, with a deadline of April 30 for returns.

    3. Research Grant (M. Konkel)

      The Committee had not received any research grant proposals as of this meeting date. The deadline is March 1, 1997. Sheila Intner made a suggestion from the floor that we compile a list of possible research topics or problems we are facing in order to stimulate more interest in the research grants.

    4. OCLC User's Council (M. Konkel)

      Separately submitted report will be published in future issue.

    5. OLAC Award (H. Hutchinson)

      The Awards Committee, which consists of Heidi Hutchinson, Virginia Berringer, and Diane Boehr, has received two nominations for the OLAC Award recipient and is still deciding who will get the award, which will be presented at the ALA annual conference.

  6. Liaison/Observer Reports

    1. ALCTS-AV (Brad Eden)

      Please see separately submitted report in this issue.

    2. AMIA (Martha Yee)

      R. Harwood read M. Yee's report, which can be found in this issue.

    3. CC:DA (Virginia Berringer)

      Separately submitted report will be published in future issue.

    4. MARBI (John Attig)

      Please see separately submitted report in this issue.

    5. MOUG (Richard Baumgarten)

      Please see separately submitted report in this issue.

  7. Library of Congress and Utility Reports

    1. LC (Harriet Harrison)

      Computer files: Pat Bernard, the CPSO (Cataloging Policy and Support Office) liaison for computer files, has retired and the new person for the time being is Harriet herself. She encourages everyone to write to her with any questions they have. She cautions that this is not her area of expertise, but LC will soon be hiring a new computer files Specialist. The computer files team has been given authority to experiment with establishing form/genre headings. In addition, work has been done to update documentation related to computer files subject cataloging. The following sections of the Subject Cataloging Manual are of particular interest when cataloging computer files materials: H1520, H1580.5, H2070, H405 (Subject Headings) and F710 (Classification.) Also useful but not specific to computer files are H1095 and H2230. LC has established an in-house committee on cataloging electronic resources. The CPSO person on the committee is Kay Guiles.

      Moving images: The MPBRS Section (Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound) has been reorganized into 2 sections--one for recorded sound and one for moving images. The head of the moving images team is Barbara Humphries. This group is involved in the revision of the publication Moving Image Materials : Genre Terms (commonly referred to as MIM.) They introduced a proposal for form/genre headings at the most recent AMIA (Association of Moving Image Archivists) conference, but the response was not entirely positive and work on the draft is continuing.

      Maps: Map catalogers in the Geography and Map division are in the process of updating their bibliographic records to incorporate information about the availability of digital images for their holdings of maps. Fields to be updated include 510, 530, 752, 852, 856, 007, and 985. The updated bibliographic records will be reverified and distributed once the scanned digital images are available to the public via the Internet. In December, the Cartographic Form/Genre Working Group proposed a list of cartographic terms to be used for form/genre access points. They are in the process of getting feedback on these from map cataloging agencies that use their records.

      Recorded sound: A Music Cataloging Advisory Group has been formed, headed by Geraldine Ostrove. They are focusing on revising the relevant portions of the Subject Cataloging Manual that apply to music and the M classification schedule.

    2. OCLC (Glenn Patton)

      Please see separately submitted report in this issue.

    3. RLG (Ed Glazier)

      Please see separately submitted report in this issue.

  8. Old Business

    1996 OLAC Conference (R. Harwood)

    Richard pointed out that most of the reports from the OLAC Conference in Denton appeared in the December newsletter, and the rest will be in the March issue.

  9. New Business

    1. Executive Board Decisions (R. Harwood)

      R. Harwood reported on the highlights of the Board meeting held the previous evening. The Board would like to issue a new membership directory in 1998 sometime before the next OLAC conference. To that end, they have created a new adjunct position called OLAC Directory Producer which will come with a $50 stipend for each new version of the directory that is issued. The person appointed to this position would use information provided by the Treasurer to compile the directory, to the point where it's ready to be sent to the printer. The President and the Treasurer will be working on some guidelines for the treasury concerning minimum balances, relations with conference organizers, and reporting. Pat Thompson (Secretary) is investigating ways that OLAC can promote continuing education in cataloging beyond our biennial conferences. Ideas on this are welcomed. The Board accepted a proposal from Kevin Furniss of Winthrop University (South Carolina) to hold the 1998 OLAC Conference in Charlotte, N.C. The Vice President/President-Elect (Sue Neumeister) will be working with Kevin and his local arrangements committee to begin working on the arrangements and programming for this conference.

    2. Name Change? (P. Thompson)

      P. Thompson asked the membership present what their thoughts were on OLAC's name and logo and whether they accurately reflect our present focus and mission. This question was brought up in light of a similar discussion taking place in the ALCTS AV Committee. There was little response from the floor, although several people expressed a sentimental attachment to OLAC's name and logo. R. Harwood felt that it was good to think about this question, but that it might be premature to discuss it seriously until we have reexamined our objectives and rationale statements. Brad Eden pointed out that this is not the first time that ALCTS AV has looked at this issue and they might decide as they have in the past not to make any changes.

  10. Adjournment

    R. Harwood adjourned the meeting at approximately 9:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Pat Thompson
OLAC Secretary

Return to Table of Contents


ONLINE AUDIOVISUAL CATALOGERS (OLAC)
CATALOGING POLICY COMMITTEE (CAPC)
ALA MIDWINTER CONFERENCE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
February 14, 1997
Minutes

The meeting was called to order by Diane Boehr, CAPC Chair, at 8:03 PM.

Members present: Diane Boehr (Chair), Ann Caldwell, Marcia Evans, Catherine Gerhart, Marlyn Hackett, Mary Beth Fecko, Mike Essman.

There were 24 guests.

  1. Members and guests introduced themselves.

  2. The minutes of the meeting of Oct. 4, 1996 (OLAC Conference in Denton) were approved as published in the Dec. 1996 OLAC Newsletter.

  3. Old Business

    1. OLAC NACO AV Funnel Project Update (Ann Caldwell)

      Please see separately submitted report in this issue.

      One area of concern for the project is that we still don't have a backup person for Ann as coordinator. This needs to be someone who has had NACO training. If anyone is interested, please contact either Ann or Diane. Ann would also like to have another person with NACO training to just consult with now and then about specific headings.

    2. Audience Characteristics Subcommittee Report (Mary Beth Fecko)

      The Subcommittee plans to finalize their report so that it will be completed for the for the 1997 ALA Annual Conference. In the report, they plan to make specific suggestions to CAPC for actions to be taken, and can later possibly present some in this information in a position paper to MARBI. In finalizing the report they will contact other relevant groups, such as Cataloging of Children's Materials and reference groups who can help them locate lists of appropriate terms and provide them with input on how these terms are used by patrons.

    3. MLA Discussion Paper on the Use of the 028/037 Fields (Karen Little)

      The Subcommittee on MARC Formats of the Music Library Association (MLA) has written a discussion paper that explores the current uses of fields 028 (Publisher Number) and 037 (Source of Acquisition) in the bibliographic format and evaluates the need to modify the field definitions to match those uses. Karen Little of MLA initially brought this topic before CAPC a year ago, at which time OLAC indicated that they were interested in supporting further work on the issue, and now would like some feedback on the options outlined in the paper. Briefly explained, the problem has arisen because some music publishers are assigning publisher numbers to books that are analogous to the numbers they assign to music, and catalogers would like to be able to include these numbers in the 028, but that field is not valid for books. Also, in the case of videorecordings, it is often not clear whether a number on the item is a publisher's number (028) or a stock number (037). Attempts to clarify the difference between a publisher's number and a stock number have not been successful. Generally, catalogers want to use the 028 for any numbers that they think are bibliographically significant.

      The discussion paper puts forth three options: a. Leave things the way they are; b. Keep both fields, but make the 028 valid in all formats; and c. Combine the 028 and 037 into a single field. A concern with option b is that retaining both fields without a good definition between the two would result in catalogers agonizing over where to put the number. A concern with option c is that lumping all numbers together with no regard for their significance might create a cluttered, unusable index. After some discussion, CAPC members came out generally in favor of option b. An informal show of hands among all of those present indicated a close split between options b and c, with a slight edge for option b. One person was in favor of option a. CAPC is willing to co-sponsor a discussion paper with MLA on this topic to be submitted to MARBI.

    4. Guidelines for Bibliographic Description of Interactive Multimedia--an Update on the Practice of LC and NLM (D. Boehr)

      D. Boehr discovered recently that the Library of Congress (LC) had made an internal decision not to follow the Guidelines for cataloging interactive multimedia. D. Boehr had distributed copies of a letter sent to Laurel Jizba, Chair of the CC:DA subcommittee looking at revising the Guidelines, from the LC's Cataloging Policy and Support Office. The most problematic area the LC catalogers had identified was not being able to decide whether the work being cataloged fit the Guidelines definition of interactive multimedia. This problem was magnified by the fact that the LC catalogers did not have the option of mounting the files and trying them out to determine the "degree of user control." They had found the Guidelines most helpful in providing guidance for handling multiple physical carriers, but changes in technology have resulted in most works being issued on a single physical carrier (an optical disc.) For these reasons they had recommended that all computer files be cataloged using Chapter 9 of AACR2. They did outline several areas where recommendations from the Guidelines should be incorporated into Chapter 9 or into LCRIs.

      D. Boehr explained further that when NLM (National Library of Medicine) heard about LC's decision, they thought it was a good idea and decided to follow the same policy as of January 1997. None of this was publicized or made known to the general cataloging community. LC never really cataloged much of this type of material anyway, but NLM has cataloged a lot of it and still does. There isn't very much difference in the records, except for the general material designation (gmd) [interactive multimedia] vs. [computer file].

      There was some discussion about whether NLM records cataloged as computer files in OCLC would overlay records already present that were cataloged as interactive multimedia, or whether duplicate records would result. Eric Childress, of OCLC, was not sure about this, but he brought up the additional fact that the new ISBD for computer files, which is working its way through the international bodies that have to approve it, has changed its name to ISBD for Electronic Resources. As a result, Laurel Jizba is bringing a proposal to CC:DA (tomorrow) to abandon the gmd [interactive multimedia] in favor of [electronic resource]. (See CC:DA report in a future OLAC Newsletter issue for more information on this topic.)

    5. Draft Rewrite of OLAC's Statement of Rationale for Cataloging Nonprint Collections (D. Boehr)

      D. Boehr explained that she was not completely sure what R. Harwood wanted in terms of a rewrite. R. Harwood explained that he wanted CAPC to determine whether the statement was worded broadly enough to incorporate electronic resources and, possibly, information sources that might not be physically housed in the library, but that if CAPC felt it was premature to change the statement then that was their decision.

      The statement of Rationale is dated 6/95 and was originally distributed to administrators and managers to be a philosophical and practical explanation of why it's just as important to catalog non-print materials as it is to catalog materials in traditional book form.

      D. Boehr will appoint a subcommittee to work on this and have a draft version to discuss at the next meeting.

    6. Core Categories for Visual Resources (D. Boehr)

      The Data Standards Committee of the Visual Resources Association asked OLAC for comments on their draft document Core Categories for Visual Resources, which defines needed descriptive elements in records for art objects. This was submitted to CAPC after the October meeting but the comments were needed before this meeting, so CAPC was unable to discuss it. CAPC members commented on it via Email and D. Boehr composed a letter which was sent to that association.

  4. New Business

    1. MARBI Proposals and Discussion Papers (J. Attig)

      John Attig reported on selected proposals and discussion papers that MARBI would be deciding on at this conference. (His complete report with an explanation of the documents and MARBI results can be found in this issue.) CAPC supported Proposal 97-1 which makes some changes to the 856 field to facilitate the practice of using this field to describe the electronic location of related resources. CAPC did not come to any consensus on Proposal 97-3, a redefinition of code "m" in Leader/06 (Type of material.) This controversial proposal has at its heart the larger concept of whether we should be cataloging a work based on its content vs. its carrier.

    2. Using the MARC 310 Field in Non-serial Material (Meredith Horan)

      Meredith Horan from the National Library of Medicine , described a problem with cataloging entities such as databases, electronic lists and web sites, which are not considered to be serials according to current rules. The closest thing like these in the print world are loose-leaf publications. M. Horan cited the recent publications of Crystal Graham of UC San Diego and Jean Hirons of CONSER that point out the problems in describing these types of works because they don't really fit as either serials or monographs.

      In cataloging their own databases, the catalogers at NLM would like to be able to use the 310 field to record information about update frequency. They think that with format integration, it is appropriate to use this field in a record not coded as a serial. However, OCLC has not validated this field for such use. When they contacted OCLC, they were told by Robert Bremer that there is some debate as to what fields belong in a monograph record, and they would like more direction from LC.

      The broader question here is that we may need to either change the definition of a serial, or provide for a different bibliographic level for something in between a monograph and a serial. John Attig pointed out that Graham and Hirons will be presenting a paper on this at the Toronto conference next fall. (This is the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR, being convened by the Joint Steering Committee of AACR.)

      Meanwhile, catalogers are making do by using a 500 note for update frequency information, and one institution is adding an 006 to the record to reflect seriality even though that may not be a strict interpretation of how that field is supposed to be used.

      CAPC will look at this issue more closely and discuss it again at the next meeting.

    3. Necessity of 538 and Source of Title Notes When Cataloging Internet Resources (Krista Hoffman)

      Krista Hoffman, Cataloging Director of NLM, expressed her concerns about having the 538 and the source of title being required for cataloging Internet resources. She thinks that this is a waste of time, and cannot justify the extra time it takes to do this in a production environment. She thinks we need to trust the cataloger more.

      Concerning the source of title note: There was a heated discussion about why this note is important. D. Boehr explained that copy catalogers need to know whether they have the same thing as what is described in a record, and titles can vary depending on where you take them from. John Attig pointed out that Chapter 9 is the only chapter that allows the cataloger to choose the chief source, and this makes it important to note where the title was taken from. The general consensus of the group was that the minuscule amount of time that it would save to leave off this note may cause the users of these records to waste a great deal of time determining if they have a match.

      Concerning the 538, the group agreed with K. Hoffman that a very generic note such as "Available through the Internet" was sufficient because system requirements for viewing Internet resources change frequently. Nancy Olson noted that the forthcoming new version of the OCLC Internet Cataloging Manual has a very general statement such as this in the 538, with more specific URL information in the 856.

    4. Proper Use of the 546 Field (Nancy Olson)

      Nancy Olson had planned to discuss this problem at the meeting, but it was solved the day before she left to come to the conference. Many people had been asking her for help with tagging of notes for videos with captions (both open and closed), described videos, intertitles, videos that are signed, etc. She appealed to Glenn Patton of OCLC about this, and after some discussion with others at OCLC and at LC, he formulated a rationale that explains that all of these enhancements are a part of Ra continuum of the language aspects of moving image materials that moves from title cards and intertitles... in silent films, to dubbing in another language, to subtitles in another language, to subtitles in the same language (which is really what traditional closed captioning is), to signing in the same or another language, to audio description, etc.S This reasoning persuaded LC to change their policy to include all these types of notes in MARC field 546 as language notes. An internal LC statement has been prepared, and we can expect this to appear in future MARC documentation.

      Nancy's paper pointed out that CAPC could still help clarify this area by drawing up a list of notes as examples that could be used by catalogers of videos, as well as proposals for subject headings and fixed field codes. There may also be uses for such notes, headings and codes when cataloging materials other than video. (See Language Code for Sign Language and "Language" of Videos this issue.)

  5. Adjournment

    D. Boehr adjourned the meeting at approximately 10:00 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Pat Thompson
OLAC Secretary

Return to Table of Contents


MEET THE CANDIDATES

CANDIDATES FOR VICE-PRESIDENT/PRESIDENT-ELECT

Virginia M. Berringer
Cataloger/Assistant Professor of Bibliography
University Libraries, University of Akron (Akron, Ohio)

Dr. Brad Eden
Coordinator of Technical Services/Automated Services
North Harris Montgomery Community College District (Houston, Texas)


CANDIDATES FOR TREASURER

Richard Baumgarten
Cataloger
Johnson County Library (Shawnee Mission, Kansas)

Sung Ok Kim
Social Sciences/AV Cataloging Librarian
Central Technical Services, Cornell University Library (Ithaca, NY)

Ballots for the upcoming election should have been mailed first class to all personal members
of OLAC by the time you receive this Newsletter.
Watch your mailbox!

Return to Table of Contents


CONFERENCE REPORTS
Mary Konkel, Column editor

OLAC CONFERENCE
October 3-5, 1996
Denton, Texas

OUTSOURCING OF AV CATALOGING AT UNT LIBRARIES
Workshop

Doina Farkas, Head of Technical Services
University of North Texas

Outsourcing

Professional Media Services Corp.

Pilot Program at The University of North Texas

Return to Table of Contents


FROM DISHWASHER TO CHEF IN THE AV COMMONS:
SERVING UP UNCOMMON FARE
Final Keynote Address
Sheila Intner, Simmons College

Reported by Mary S. Konkel, University of Akron

With her usual flair and style, Professor Sheila Intner, Simmons College, Graduate School of Library and Information Science delivered the final keynote address and conference summary. It makes this body tired just THINKING that in order to give her remarks, Professor Intner had to attend a segment of each and every one of the sessions at this Conference from the keynotes and hands-on workshops to the poster sessions and one hour lectures.

After a plethora of well deserved "thank yous" were bestowed upon conference committee members, presenters, sponsors, hotel management, and attendees, Professor Intner directed her comments to the future of cataloging. Threats of downsizing, outsourcing, and deprofessionalization are real. It's evolution and evolution isn't just natural, it's inevitable.

Cataloging Departments are getting leaner and meaner. Paraprofessionals are handling more complex cataloging and vendors are supplying copy cataloging for the "easy stuff". What's left? The "off off Broadway" books which are raising catalogers from their 2nd class citizenry. Professional cataloging expertise is needed for the "hard stuff", including archival and rare materials, locally-produced or unpublished materials, audiovisual, and now, more than ever, electronic resources.

What about audiovisual catalogers? Professor Intner paints our future bright. We're the chefs in the cataloging arena and must step out of the kitchen and embrace our role as the designer of bibliographic products which must meet the needs of sophisticated users. We should be the menu designers and planners. We should shop for only the freshest and best ingredients. We should train the scullery and mold the teams. Then after we make our presentation, we should enjoy the reward.

Professor Intner challenges us to shoot for 5 STARS!

Return to Table of Contents


ALA MIDWINTER MEETING
Washington, D.C.
February 14-20, 1997


ALCTS AUDIOVISUAL COMMITTEE
Liaison Report

Submitted by Dr. Brad Eden
North Harris Montgomery Community College District
Houston, Texas

The ALCTS-AV committee had its first meeting on Sunday, Feb. 16, 1997 in the Washington Vista Ballroom A, from 8-9 a.m. A report on the Saturday afternoon CC:DA meeting, as well as a discussion of the "Are You Media Savvy?" brochure, were the main topics of discussions.

The ALCTS-AV committee had its second meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 1997, in the Grand Hyatt Independence F room from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. A number of liaison reports were given on OLAC, CC:DA, CFDG, MARBI, VRT, and DRC. The PDLR subcommittee passed the final draft of the "Are You Media Savvy?" brochure for sound recordings and for film and video. The Standards subcommittee is working a draft of the Packaging, Labeling, and Marketing of Interactive Multimedia standard, which has been renamed the Packaging, Labeling, and Marketing of User-Mounted Electronic Resources standard. The 1997 tour to the San Francisco Chronicle and Cartoon Art Museum was discussed. It will be given on Friday, June 27th, at 2 p.m., and will cost $2.00 per person. A Name Change Task Force was set up to look at whether a name change is in order for this committee. So far, the 1998 program will probably be: Inquiring Minds Want to Know Part II: The Acquisitions of Videorecordings and CD-ROMs.

Return to Table of Contents


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 Group met for three working sessions during the ALA Midwinter Conference in Washington, D.C. The following items will be of interest to OLAC members:

Proposal No. 96-8: CAN/MARC Changes for MARC Format Alignment

Proposal No. 97-1: Definition of Second Indicator (Relationship to resource described) in Field 856 (Electronic Location and Access)

Proposal 97-3: Redefinition of code "m" (Computer file) in LDR/06 (Type of Record)

Discussion Paper No. 99: Metadata, Dublin Core and USMARC: a review of current efforts

Other USMARC Information:

The changes approved at this meeting will be published this spring and will be implemented no sooner than six months after publication. Watch for announcements from your bibliographic utility and/or vendor.

A version of the Concise USMARC Formats is available online from the Library of Congress. This version includes a list all the fields and subfields and indicators, plus most of the examples from the full version. The online formats are available from the USMARC home page: http://lcweb.loc.gov/marc/. See "MARC Concise Format" under "MARC Documentation."

Return to Table of Contents


OLAC NACO-AV FUNNEL PROJECT
Ann Caldwell, Project Coordinator

This past year has seen the conception, gestation, birth, and early childhood of the NACO Audio-Visual Funnel Project. Following a call for volunteers, 9 individuals from 6 institutions were chosen to participate. They are: Virginia Berringer and Mary Konkel (University of Akron, Ohio), Heidi Hutchinson (University of California, Riverside), Richard Baumgarten (Johnson County Public Library, Shawnee Mission, Kansas), Jo Davidson and Paula Moehle (University of Georgia), David Prochazka (Rush University, Chicago), and Jane Johnson and Martha Yee (UCLA Film and Television Archive).

Seven of these individuals graciously sacrificed their last day at the OLAC Conference in Denton, Texas, October 5, 1996 to be trained in NACO procedures and heading construction. This was a whirlwind tour through chapters 22-26 in AACR2, as well as more in-depth coverage of NACO procedures. Fortunately, these were experienced catalogers, some coming from NACO libraries, and the lack of formal training time did not slow the project down. After the conference, there were a number of housekeeping types of things to tend to, such as NUC symbols and OCLC authorizations and permissions; once those were in place, participants began contributing headings almost immediately. I'm pleased to report that as of February 12th, nearly 500 headings have been contributed.

Unlike many of the existing funnel projects, this one is format, not subject driven. OLAC is fortunate to have a rich and varied membership from which to chose participants for NACO. The project includes a public library, several university libraries with quite different missions, a medical library, and a film archive. As a result, the headings contributed range from rock groups to silent film stars to departments within medical schools. At the end of the year, the project will be evaluated with an eye toward expansion.

Return to Table of Contents


OLAC CONFERENCE REPORTERS NEEDED


ASSOCIATION OF MOVING IMAGE ARCHIVISTS (AMIA)
CATALOGING AND DOCUMENTATION COMMITTEE
Liaison Report

Submitted by Martha Yee
UCLA Film and Television Archive

The Cataloging and Documentation Committee met twice in December at the AMIA Annual Meeting in Atlanta. Linda Tadic relinquished the chair to Barbara Humphrys of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound (M/B/RS) Division of the Library of Congress (202-707-0162; humphrys@mail.loc.gov).

A major issue again this year was the revision of Archival Moving Image Materials: a Cataloging Manual. The Library of Congress has not been able to commit staff to this project in 1996 as was hoped, so it was decided that an AMIA subcommittee will take the initiative and work on a draft to submit to LC. Attending members of the previous subcommittee that conducted the 1995 survey of AMIM users agreed to form the nucleus of this revision subcommittee.

A new project, a compendium of existing cataloging practice, proposed by Linda Tadic, will both support and complement AMIM revision. The Committee welcomed Linda's proposal and discussed possible approaches and organization of information.

The Genre/Form Guide developed by staff in the Library of Congress M/B/RS Division was presented to the Cataloging and Documentation Committee. Few Committee members had had sufficient time to study the Guide closely, so no "official" reaction was recommended. Members of the Cataloging and Documentation Committee saw the Guide for the first time in Atlanta, where it was announced that M/B/RS staff were planning to implement the Guide in the week after their return from Atlanta. The Guide does not follow ANSI standards nor does it resemble in any way either LCSH or Moving Image Materials: Genre Terms. In other words, it is sui generis.

The Committee sponsored a conference session comparing cataloging practice at a variety of institutions. It played to a packed house, suggesting that a similar session would be welcomed at the 1997 meeting. Interest also was expressed in working with the Access Committee in some way, perhaps by a joint meeting in the future.

Return to Table of Contents


MUSIC OCLC USERS GROUP REPORT
Richard Baumgarten, MOUG Liaison

The Music OCLC Users Group (MOUG) held its annual meeting January 28-29, 1997 at the Inter-Continental Hotel in New Orleans. The meeting was held prior to the Music Library Association's (MLA) annual meeting.

On January 28th, MOUG and MLA jointly sponsored a series authority workshop conducted by Phillip De Sellem of the Library of Congress and Alice LaSota of the University of Maryland. Workshop attendees registered separately as there was limited capacity. The workshop represented the first time MLA and MOUG jointly presented a program. The opening reception followed the workshop.

On January 29th, Rebecca Dean and Susan Westberg of OCLC and Deta Davis of LC reported on their uniform titles correction project in "Authority Control in Sonata Form". The project helped LC eliminate some of their backlog in sound recordings. The MOUG business meeting followed this opening session.

In keeping with their mission to deal with reference as well as cataloging issues, MOUG had two concurrent "Ask MOUG" sessions, one for public and one for technical services audiences. Grace Fitzgerald moderated the cataloging session which included a report by Sue Weiland on the PRISM Review Task Force. Ruthann McTyre moderated the reference session. Rick Noble, Vice President of Marketing and Reference Services at OCLC, spoke on the growth of OCLC's reference section. They have changed from an organization almost exclusively concerned with cataloging and inter-library loan to one whose mission focuses even stronger on the end user.

Many thanks go to Neil Hughes, MOUG's Continuing Education Coordinator and his program committee for this excellent conference. He is now planning next year's 20th anniversary conference in Boston.

Return to Table of Contents


UPDATE FROM OCLC
Submitted by Glenn Patton, OCLC

NAMES:
On Jan. 1, 1997, OCLC began to implement a variety of name changes in its documentation and product literature. The OCLC bibliographic database is now called "WorldCat, the OCLC Online Union Catalog," on first reference and "WorldCat" on second reference. OCLC will also discontinue use of "PRISM service" and "PRISM" in conjunction with its system, products and services in Collections and Technical Services, Resource Sharing and Access Services. The word "OCLC" will replace "PRISM." Changes to system/product names in OCLC software and screen displays will be made on a gradual basis throughout 1997. These changes are intended to simplify and clarify OCLC's product names and their relationships with other OCLC products and services.

DATABASE:
As of January 1, 1997, there were about 943,000 Visual Materials records, 1,127,000 sound recordings and 84,000 computer files records. There are nearly 620 million holdings attached to bibliographic records.

We continue to add, as we can identify them, records from a variety of sources that can be used in support of selection and acquisition activities. We have also begun to process CIP records upgraded by Yankee Book Peddler staff. We've nearly completed development for input and output of records in UNIMARC. We are also in the process of shifting from tape to FTP for delivery of NLM AVLINE records, thus speeding up the loading process as we already have for several of the Library of Congress files.

DATABASE QUALITY:
Progress continues on database scans that result from Format Integration, Phases 1 and 2. We've also completed another run of the Duplicate Detection and Resolution software that, since 1991, has identified and merged about 973,000 monograph records. OCLC and the Library of Congress are cooperating on development of software to clean up uniform title. The first phase of project is concentrated on clean up of music-related uniform titles.

DOCUMENTATION:
A new manual, Searching for Bibliographic Records (which supersedes the Guide to Searching the Online Union Catalog), will begin distribution in late February along with a revised searching reference card. Electronic versions of both documents will also be available on the OCLC Web site.

ACCESS:
OCLC is beginning the process of migrating users from our proprietary dedicated-line network to a set of TCP/IP-based access methods. Later this year, we will offer dial-up TCP/IP or PPP services to be followed by dedicated access later. Moving in this direction will require hardware and software migrations for member libraries. Part of this is the recent announcement that OCLC will no longer support Passport for DOS after January 1, 1998. The November/December 1996 issue of the OCLC Newsletter contains more information about these changes (the feature article is also available at http://www.oclc.org/oclc/new/n224/feat.htm) and the regional networks are beginning to distribute planning information that will help you and your institutions make appropriate decisions about your access options. Also watch the OCLC Web site (http://www.oclc.org) for more information.

CATALOGING:
Development continues on the Cataloging Micro Enhancer for Windows. Plans call for the software to be available this fall. It will join CatCD for Windows and the ILL Micro Enhancer for Windows released during the past year. Current users should be aware that this software will require either Windows 95 or NT. Support for the DOS product will continue so that users can make a smoother transition.

INTERNET RESOURCES:
The InterCat database continues to grow. In early February, it surpassed 10,000 records with 429 libraries having created at least one record. The OCLC Office of Research is testing an alternative interface that combines browsing and searching and uses subheadings information to create hierarchical views of the database. Take a look at (http://purl.org/Second/). A revised version of the Internet Cataloging Guidelines should be available later this spring.

USER SUPPORT:
OCLC's regional networks continue to provide the front line of support and training for libraries using OCLC products and services. To provide additional support options, particularly for questions outside of regular business hours, OCLC's User and Network Support staff have implemented electronic inquiry and support forms. These are available via the OCLC Web site at (http://www.oclc.org/oclc/menu/suite/support.htm).

Return to Table of Contents


UPDATE FROM RLIN
Submitted by Ed Glazier, RLG

RLG wishes to thank Ellie Riley of the Getty Center for delivering the RLIN report at the OLAC Conference in Denton, Texas.

  1. In early January, RLG installed Eureka on the Web, the World Wide Web version of RLIN's patron access interface. Users with subscriptions to the RLIN bibliographic files or CitaDel citation files or those interested in Web access can contact the RLIN Information Center. Eureka on the Web is available for demonstration. Go to the RLG Home Page (http://www.rlg.org/welcome.html) and under the WHAT'S NEW heading, click on "Eureka on the Web". (Or go directly to the Eureka on the Web page: http://www.rlg.org/eurekaweb.html). On this page, click on "Demonstration Access..."

  2. A number of enhancements have been announced to DIOGENES, the automated searching and record retrieval service operated in conjunction with Retro Link Associates. Among these enhancements are the use of 024 or 028 fields in initial searches to improve the usefulness of DIOGENES for music materials. Several additional options to specify acceptable matching criteria have also been added, as well as the ability to separate results into groups of exact matches and matches that should be examined before deciding to use a record.

  3. Ariel for Windows, version 2.0 was introduced in February. Among other changes, this version provides the capability to send and receive scanned documents via e-mail with MIME-compliant systems.

  4. RLG has announced a contract with Blackwell for the loading of enhanced CIP records in the RLIN bibliographic files, as well as the addition of a file of records with complete table of contents information recorded in 505 fields.

  5. RLG announced a new alliance with CARL which will make over 300 Dialog citation and full-text databases, RLIN and CitaDel, available through a single Web-Z39.50 gateway. This service will offer a single-decision, single pricing package that can considerably simplify obtaining a large body of information resources.

For more information about any of the topics in this report, please send e-mail to bl.sal@rlg.stanford.edu. Information is also available at RLG's home page on the World Wide Web, at: http://www.rlg.org/welcome.html

Return to Table of Contents


UPDATE FROM WLN
Submitted by Anne Lobe and Christine Zuger, WLN

LINC VERSION 1.5:
Library Internet Network Connection (LINC) is WLN's Windows TCP/IP terminal emulation software. It allows anyone with Internet access to take advantage of all the features of the WLN online system, including the ability to download MARC records and display and input diacritics and special characters. WLN released a free update to its LINC software package earlier this year. Version 1.5 has a number of enhancements, such as improvements to macros, an automatic insert line for input and edit, mass downloading and printing of ILL records with one command, and a streamlined sign on.

PROFESSIONAL MEDIA SERVICE CORPORATION DATA:
WLN recently signed an agreement with Professional Media Service Corporation (PMSC) that permits WLN to make PMSC's original media cataloging data available to libraries online and through CD-ROM products produced by WLN. PMSC is a leading wholesale distributor to libraries of audio-visual materials including video (VHS and laserdisc) recordings and compact disc and cassette sound recordings (music, audiobooks, children's, and spoken). PMSC, which represents more than 6,700 producers, provides cataloging for all the materials it distributes. All media materials are originally cataloged using AACR2 rules and LC name and subject authorities. The company currently catalogs new items at the rate of 2,000-3,000 each month. WLN adds these records to its online database on a weekly basis.

YANKEE BOOK PEDDLER AGREEMENT:
WLN and Yankee Book Peddler (YBP), an international full-service bookseller specializing in U.S. academic book approval plans and library technical processing, have agreed to share cataloging information. YBP has provided WLN with an unrestricted license to use its upgrades to LC monograph records and Tables of Contents. WLN adds these upgraded CIP records to its database weekly. In return, WLN has allowed YBP unrestricted access to its database.

SPANISH LANGUAGE CATALOGING:
WLN has formed a partnership with Libros Sin Fronteras, a Northwest distributor of Spanish language books, to provide cataloging for distribution with the books. Libros Sin Fronteras concentrates on materials from Spanish-speaking, Latin American countries. The books deal with a variety of subject including literature, health, parenting, biographies, history, and culture as well as translations of popular U.S. titles. WLN catalogs materials in accordance with AACR2 and LC name and subject authorities. Records are created on and will reside in WLN's online database. WLN delivers the bibliographic records in USMARC format on diskette or electronically via FTP over the Internet to customers. Records can be customized to meet local system specifications.

More information on WLN and these topics is available at WLN's home page on the World Wide Web: http://www.wln.com/

Return to Table of Contents


NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

*** CALLING ALL REPORTERS ***
(Notice from Mary Konkel)

As the newly appointed Conference Reports Editor it is my responsibility to solicit reports from conferences, meetings, workshops, etc. which may be of interest to the audiovisual cataloging community and you, the OLAC membership. Conference reports editors, I am told, cannot live on observer and liaison reports alone (though we are EXTREMELY grateful to our OLAC liaisons and observers who volunteer oodles of their time to keep us informed).

If you have attended a conference, meeting, discussion group, workshop, etc., which you feel may be of interest to your OLAC colleagues, please consider submitting a report for the OLAC Newsletter. Not only will you get a chance to see your name in print, but you'll also be contributing to the exchange of ideas and information that keeps OLAC's grassroots growing.

Reports can be submitted to me via e-mail, fax, or computer disk. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions and be gentle, I'm a bit mouse-impaired, but have aspirations of being a computer mouseketeer some day.

Mary S. Konkel
Bierce Library 176A
University of Akron
Akron, OH 44325-1712
330/972-6257 voice
330/972-6383 fax
marykonkel@uakron.edu

Return to Table of Contents


CAPCON LIBRARY NETWORK IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE FOLLOWING WORKSHOP:

CATALOGING INTERNET RESOURCES

This full-day workshop will prepare participants to create OCLC-MARC bibliographic records for electronic resources that are available on the Internet. Electronic resources include remote computer programs and data files in a wide range of subject areas and formats. Instruction will include: complete application of AACR2R Chapter 9 (Computer Files) with reference to OCLC's guidelines "Cataloging Internet Resources" and relevant application of Chapter 21 (Access Points), LCSH headings, and MARC Field 856. There will also be an opportunity to create a catalog record from surrogate material for an actual Internet resource.

To request a registration form and/or a complete catalog of CAPCON's training and education opportunities, please send e-mail to CAPCON at workshop@capcon.net or call 202-331-4366.

(Posted to the Autocat list in Feb., 1997 by Anne Harrison, CAPCON Library Network.
There were about 5 spaces still open as of April 1.)

Return to Table of Contents


USMARC CODE LIST FOR LANGUAGES GUIDELINES FOR APPLYING
THE LANGUAGE CODE FOR SIGN LANGUAGES

In November 1995 the Library of Congress announced new language codes to be incorporated into the 1996 edition of the USMARC Code List for Languages. Among the new codes is a newly established one for Sign languages: sgn. The code is a general one used to indicate "sign language" in a generic sense. Use of this code in bibliographic records indicates materials containing a sign language or the representation of a sign language. The particular sign system present is stated in a 546 field (Language Note).

If the sole medium of communication is a sign language, e.g., a book containing pictures of the handshape of each letter of a particular sign system, or a videorecording that is signed, use the code for Sign languages in the fixed field.

When the medium of communication includes a sign language or its representation as well as one or more other languages, judge whether the sign language or its representation is substantial. If so, assign language codes in an 041 field for all the languages, including the one for Sign languages. The important thing is to indicate whether sign language is present or not, rather than to worry about predominance or other discriminations more easily determined for other languages. If predominance is apparent, code for the predominant language in the fixed field and as the first code in 041 $a. If such discriminations are not readily apparent, assign codes in English alphabetical order, using the first code in the fixed field.

Use the 546 Language Note to state the particular sign system, e.g., American Sign language, British Sign language. Formulate the note to reflect the situation, i.e., use terminology to distinguish between cases in which the content of the whole work is signed, whether as the sole medium of communication or in conjunction with one or more others, and those in which sign language is present but the whole work is not signed (or it is not clear whether it is). For example, if the sole medium of communication in a videorecording is a sign language, then it would be appropriate to express that in the note as "Signed in [name of sign system]." If a videorecording includes open signing (i.e., a sign language interpreter appears in a separate frame), record the note as "Open signed in [name of sign system]." For those situations that are less straight forward, for example a book in which both a language and a sign language occur, possibly a dictionary or a manual, use in the 546 field the more general statement "Includes sign language; the sign system represented is [name of sign system]." If it cannot be determined what sign system has been used, record an appropriate note indicating that the item is signed but not specifying the sign system (i.e., "Includes sign language."; "Open signed.").

Questions about these guidelines for applying the sign language code should be addressed to:

Cataloging Policy and Support Office
Library of Congress
Washington, DC 20540-4305
(202) 707-4380
INTERNET: cpso@mail.loc.gov

(Posted on the Autocat List in Feb. 1997 by Rebecca S. Guenther, LC)

Return to Table of Contents


"LANGUAGE" OF VIDEOS
Nancy B. Olson, Mankato State University

There have been many discussions on Autocat and elsewhere about videos with captions (both closed and open), videos described by Descriptive Video Service, intertitles, videos that are signed, etc., and I have received letters and email requests for help with these kinds of material. I in turn appealed on 7 Jan. 1997 to Glenn Patton at OCLC.

After some discussion with me, with Jay Weitz, Eric Childress, and others at OCLC, and with Harriet Harrison and Kay Guiles at LC, Glenn clarified the problem as follows: "What I think we're looking at here is a continuum of the language aspects of moving image materials that moves from title cards and intertitles ... in silent films, to dubbing in another language, to subtitles in another language, to subtitles in the same language (which is really what traditional closed captioning is), to signing in the same or another language, to audio description, etc." He goes on to include videos with sound track in English but closed captions in Spanish (e-mail dated 7 Feb. 1997).

His reasoning has persuaded LC to change their policy so that all these kinds of materials are to be included in MARC field 546 as language notes. An internal LC statement has been prepared [an external statement will follow] that adds to the existing directives on field 546: "... or that state any special aspects of an item related to communicating its content, such as captioning or signing, whether the specific name of a language is given or not; ..."

This information was communicated to the AV cataloging community at OLAC meetings held Feb. 14-15, 1997, in Washington, D.C. in conjunction with ALA Midwinter. [Thanks to all involved for such a speedy solution]

A message on Autocat from LC CPSO (12 Feb 1997) contains guidelines for applying the language code for sign language. It states "Use the 546 language note to state the particular sign system ... Formulate the note to reflect the situation ..." (See From CPSO memo dated 12 Feb 1997)

From CPSO memo dated 12 Feb 1997

Return to Table of Contents


NAME THIS COLUMN -- WIN PRIZE

Suggest a new title for the Questions and Answers column. Please! Send your suggestion(s) to the column editor or the newsletter editor by May 1. The editors will make the final decision and will award a book by Nancy B. Olson to the winner. If there are multiple winning entries, the prize will be awarded to one randomly drawn winner.

Return to Table of Contents


[??QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS??] COLUMN
Nancy B. Olson
nbolson@msus1.msus.edu

It seems strange to be preparing to write this column for OLAC instead of reading eagerly the material prepared so carefully all these years by Verna Urbanski. We all owe her our thanks for resolving so many cataloging problems, and wish her patience and courage in the coming deliberations at Toronto.

Feel free to send or email me your questions, with as much background information, photocopies of information, and/or whatever documentation you have. I'll answer each question that comes to me, either in the column and/or directly back to you. I will use questions from the sessions that follow each of the OLAC business meetings. I also monitor Autocat, Emedia, Intercat and the music library list and will use questions from those lists as appropriate.

While OLAC includes the words "audiovisual cataloging" in its name, we have always interpreted "audiovisual" broadly; sometimes very broadly. As an example, of the four questions directed at the panel in Washington, D.C., 1 was on maps, 1 on serial holdings, and 1 on computer databases. The remaining question was related to videos.

I will have the help of a number of others in answering your questions. Edward Swanson (Minnesota Historical Society) has explained cataloging rules to me with great patience for many years. Glenn Patton has answered OCLC-related questions since the AV format began in 1976, or has found someone who would do so. Jay Weitz and now Eric Childress are other OCLC friends of OLAC. And Harriet Harrison and Kay Guiles at LC helped us -- in a matter of days early in February! -- solve a problem of language notes for videos, and have expressed their willingness to continue to be of service.

Send your questions and documentation to me at the email address given above, or to Nancy B. Olson, Library Services and Information Technology, PO Box 8419 -- MSU 19, Mankato MN 56002-8419 (or phone 507-389-2155). The panel at Midwinter included Sheila Intner, Ann Sandberg-Fox, John Attig, Ed Glazier, Glenn Patton, Nancy B. Olson, and moderator Bobby Ferguson. I have brief notes, with no indication of who said what, but will try to indicate the substance of the questions and answers.

The first question related to serial holdings when one has the title in paper and on CD-ROM; the questioner's users wanted the holdings all on the same bib record. It was pointed out that the CONSER interim guidelines, as an option, permit computer file holdings on the record for a paper serial. At that point the discussion opened up to further questions about adding holdings for different kinds of microforms, and what about the disc that includes back issues of several titles on one CD-ROM? There were comments about how different systems could or could not handle holdings for multiple versions, patron access, and "friendly" systems/cataloging. The general feeling seemed to be to go ahead and put all holdings, whether for paper, microform, CD-ROM, or online access, on one record following the CONSER interim guidelines, if your system could handle it.

The next question was about cataloging of databases or any electronic resources that are updated. Feeling was strong that these be cataloged as monographs with notes explaining that the title is updated along with any information on frequency (use 500, not 310 in OCLC) and extent of updating. These would be cataloged as computer files, and any serial-like characteristics could be coded in an 006.

A questioner is being asked to catalog copies of programs in the video series Discovery. They have permission to copy these programs and retain them for two years after the program was broadcast. The question is how to keep track of this. Glenn pointed out the 583 note for action would be the logical place for this information, and would allow easy retrieval of those bib records involved.

A library has two sets of blue line prints of old Sanborn maps for their town. Each set shows one map on several sheets (one part of the map on each of the sheets). One of the sets was cut up and assembled into the map. The questioner wanted to know how to handle this cut-and-pasted map. After some discussion, it was agreed the simplest method was to catalog the first set as purchased, and treat the other as copy 2 with a note that it has been assembled into one map.

Because of time limitations we were unable to discuss the current LC treatment of interactive multimedia, or possible topics for research grants -- to be continued?

Return to Table of Contents
Top


Last modified: December 1997
URL: http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/cts/olac/newsletters/...
HTML version created by OLAC Web Manager
Return to OLAC Newsletter index