Library Cataloging
A rant. I'm currently cataloging many dissertations from UMI. Our current rules for doing this are just wrong. It violates one on the guiding principles of AACR, Catalog the item in hand. What the current rules have us doing is cataloging the original, which I have no access to, and making notes on the reproduction. My users do not care if the original is 28 or 30 cm. high. When they are searching the shelves they what to know the size of our copy. That information is buried in a note field (533). I get messages on records missing information only to find it is a dissertation and the information is in a note. It is impossible to explain why this is so, since there is no sense to it. That is just the way it is done. When we get AACR3, I hope we go back to principles and catalog what we have in hand, not some item far far away
- When To Create A New Record
News from CC:DA.We are pleased to announce publication of Differences Between, Changes Within: Guidelines on When to Create a New Record (revised edition, 2007). This revised edition is now available as a free, 38-page download (.pdf) and is no longer...
- Typos In Our Catalogs
This morning I corrected two typos in my catalog, Ethiopia had been misspelled. One time it was in a note field, another time in the subject heading. The note field would just make us look bad, but the subject field can decrease access to the title. (I...
- Open Worldcat
OCLC has updated the tutorial about how to establish deep links to your library?s catalog with information for the Endeavor Voyager system in addition to additional details for several other library systems. You may access the updated version of the deep...
- Copy Cataloging Guidelines
A new ALCTS publication entitled Differences Between, Changes Within: Guidelines on When to Create a New Record has just been published. The Task Force on an Appendix of Major and Minor changes authored this document under the direction of the ALCTS Cataloging...
- Marc Field 024
I just don't understand why field 024, Other Standard Identifier, is not used more widely. It takes no time to scan in the barcodes on the item. They are unique identifiers for the item and so can aid in retrieval. Yesterday I downloaded some very...
Library Cataloging
Dissertations
A rant. I'm currently cataloging many dissertations from UMI. Our current rules for doing this are just wrong. It violates one on the guiding principles of AACR, Catalog the item in hand. What the current rules have us doing is cataloging the original, which I have no access to, and making notes on the reproduction. My users do not care if the original is 28 or 30 cm. high. When they are searching the shelves they what to know the size of our copy. That information is buried in a note field (533). I get messages on records missing information only to find it is a dissertation and the information is in a note. It is impossible to explain why this is so, since there is no sense to it. That is just the way it is done. When we get AACR3, I hope we go back to principles and catalog what we have in hand, not some item far far away
- When To Create A New Record
News from CC:DA.We are pleased to announce publication of Differences Between, Changes Within: Guidelines on When to Create a New Record (revised edition, 2007). This revised edition is now available as a free, 38-page download (.pdf) and is no longer...
- Typos In Our Catalogs
This morning I corrected two typos in my catalog, Ethiopia had been misspelled. One time it was in a note field, another time in the subject heading. The note field would just make us look bad, but the subject field can decrease access to the title. (I...
- Open Worldcat
OCLC has updated the tutorial about how to establish deep links to your library?s catalog with information for the Endeavor Voyager system in addition to additional details for several other library systems. You may access the updated version of the deep...
- Copy Cataloging Guidelines
A new ALCTS publication entitled Differences Between, Changes Within: Guidelines on When to Create a New Record has just been published. The Task Force on an Appendix of Major and Minor changes authored this document under the direction of the ALCTS Cataloging...
- Marc Field 024
I just don't understand why field 024, Other Standard Identifier, is not used more widely. It takes no time to scan in the barcodes on the item. They are unique identifiers for the item and so can aid in retrieval. Yesterday I downloaded some very...