Cataloging Futures

New OCLC report: Networking Names

This new report, Networking Names, presents the idea of a "Cooperative Identities Hub." Sort of a Wikipedia for name authority work. Great idea.

The report's author, Karen Smith-Yoshimura, gives more details over at the hangingtogether.org blog.

OCLC symposium on publishing and library metadata

OCLC just held a symposium last month on publishing and library metadata. Interesting stuff. Here's some of the outcomes:

* Libraries and library metadata not necessarily on publisher's radar and vice versa.

* How MARC and ONIX represent misalignment of libraries and publishers.

* Structure of formats is inhibiting mutual understanding and ability to work together.

* Authors and users are important inputs to the metadata debate.

* We need to influence the ILS industry to accommodate data flexibility.

* We should view ONIX and MARC as communication mechanisms not as standards to support systems.

* Look at motivation as a way to understand who will or can do what.

* Leverage intellectual work for everyone—figure out how to use it.

* Proposals are a good way to vet ideas. Keep the conversation moving.

* Identify small chunks of problem areas where we can accomplish change. The CIP process and ISNI are good place to start.

Catalogers and web usability

I'm still studying OCLC's new report: Online Catalogs: What Users and Librarians Want. I don't like their negative take on subject headings (page 52). Especially when the users in the survey ranked "more subject information" above "add summaries/abstracts" and "add table of contents." I would read that to mean that users find controlled subject vocabularies helpful.

But that aside, one of the issue the report highlights that seems to be a neglected area among catalogers is web usability. Usability is discussed on pages 50-51 of the report. Both web usability and information architecture are two new areas of study that we can learn a lot from as we rework how we catalog and create metadata for our users. Glad the report points that out!

Let's mashup MARC metadata before moving to the Cloud!

You young, tech savvy librarians may not remember this article. But back in 1994 Nicholson Baker wrote an essay in The New Yorker titled "Discards." He argued that we were losing valuable data from our card catalogs as we pursued the "holy grail" of efficiency: the online catalog.

I thinks he was right. Well, now we have no excuse. It's not the card catalog this time. The local online catalog is now the dinosaur and we're being encouraged to pursue the next holy grail: the Web, that is, moving our integrated library systems (ILS) to the Cloud. Now we're being offered WorldCat Local.

This time there's no reason we need to lose valuable local cataloging data. We can merge our local records. As long as we put in the effort locally and there is a willingness from OCLC to do this. We will probably learn more from OCLC as time goes on. For now, check out the WorldCat Local FAQs [pdf].

So, before moving your ILS to the Web think about the added value that catalogers put into those local MARC records. You could be abandoning these records for the less-full master records in WorldCat. Think hard about this because if there's one thing we're learning about today's users: they want more information about resources, not less.

OCLC policy: take this survey!

Update: April 8, 2009--today's the last day to take this survey!

If you're concerned about the future of bibliographic records, you'll want to take this survey concerning the proposed OCLC policy on shared data creation and stewardship.

The survey is being conducted by the OCLC Review Board on Shared Data Creation and Stewardship. And the deadline for completing the survey is soon: April 8, 2009.

Note to self: just do it :)

ARL task force weighs in on OCLC policy

Via Thingology Blog: The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has just issued a report from their Ad Hoc Task Force to Review the Proposed OCLC Policy for Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records.

Looks like a must-read.

Obtaining OCLC services directly sans network office?

Is this true? At a meeting yesterday, I learned that all OCLC services can be obtained directly through OCLC--that you don't have to go through a regional network office.

This might be a great way for small libraries to afford OCLC services, since they would not have the added membership fees from the regional network office. These offices do provide excellent added value services--no doubt about that. But in tough economic times, you could save money and still do your cataloging through OCLC (as well as other things).

New, ad hoc blog: OCLC's review board on shared data

Another way to join the OCLC policy conversation: OCLC's newly appointed Review Board of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship now has a blog.

Our purpose is to engage the membership and seek your counsel before the new policy is implemented. OCLC has announced it will hold implementation until the third quarter of 2009. Immediately, we will organize information sharing and feedback opportunities with Members Council delegates and with the full membership as well as with other stakeholders in the global library community. We will seek to understand today's environment as it relates to the creation, use and transfer of data and articulate principles of shared data creation consonant with the values of the OCLC cooperative. We are mindful of the vibrant library community we represent and with your feedback, we will seek ways to strengthen our community. The Review Board of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship will present its findings and recommendations to the President of Members Council, the Chair of the Board of Trustees and to the OCLC President and CEO.

We actively seek feedback in a variety of ways and hope that you will be generous in sharing your thoughts with us. You can do so by sending us an email at [email protected] which is a list set up for the use of the Review Board members, or posting comments to us here.

Jennifer A. Younger, chair, OCLC Review Board
Edward H. Arnold Director of Hesburgh Libraries
University of Notre Dame

OCLC announces new cataloging experiment

Good news from OCLC:

In response to requests from the cataloging community, OCLC is introducing the Expert Community Experiment which enables cataloging members to make more changes to WorldCat records.

During the Experiment, members with full level cataloging authorizations have the ability to improve and upgrade WorldCat master records. The Experiment begins in February 2009, and lasts six months.

Introductory web information sessions will be held throughout February for those interested in participating in the Experiment.

Please see the Expert Community Experiment page for more information or to register to attend a web sessions. [emphasis mine]

Makes me wish I was doing AACR2/MARC cataloging :)

Via OCLC Cataloging and Metadata News

ALCTS forum on shared library data and OCLC policy

Update: Norman Oder at the Library Journal has done a full write-up of this meeting.

Hey, if you're going to the ALA Midwinter Conference, this is THE forum to go to: ALCTS Forum: Creating and Sustaining Communities Around Shared Library Data, January 26th from 8:00-10:00 AM at the Colorado Convention Center, Korbel Ballroom 3C.

Panelists will share a variety of perspectives on community norms, policies, and best practices for accessing, using, and sharing the data that supports the discovery and delivery of library collections. What can libraries and the organizations that serve them learn from the open data movement and sites like Wikipedia? What principles and practices for shared data creation and maintenance will most help and strengthen libraries in the future? Panelists will also be addressing the changes in the OCLC Record Use Policy, particularly in light of the recent announcement from OCLC on the establishment of the Review Board of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship.

Via Disruptive Library Technology Jester