ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES NEWSLETTER OF THE FEDERAL DEPOSITORY LIBRARY PROGRAM Vol. 20, no. 04 GP 3.16/3-2:20/04 February 15, 1999 CATALOGING BRANCH UPDATE [HANDOUT ( ALA ( 1/30/99] CATALOGING OPERATIONS The transition to a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program has produced a complex assortment of interrelated works in all media. During calendar year 1998, 42,992 pieces in all media were received and 37,176 pieces were processed. As of January 12, 1999, the cataloging backlog includes approximately 11,000 pieces, most of which consists of serials in microfiche. Most works in paper and CD-ROM and those available via the Internet are cataloged within one or two weeks of receipt. A backlog of approximately 400 Browse Electronic Titles (BET) entries remain to be cataloged. Most of the backlog in BET and physical forms consists of serials. PURLS The Library Programs Service (LPS) has produced more than 2,200 PURLs (Persistent Uniform Resource Locators). PURLs provide electronic access to hundreds of works associated with records in the online version of the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications (MOCATWeb) and most of their Browse Electronic Titles equivalents. While PURLs depend upon human intervention and decision-making to maintain, they provide a favorable seamless environment for maintaining hot-linked access to Internet resources. RECORDS WITH URLS AND PURLS, AND REPEATABILITY OF SUBFIELD "U" OF THE 856 FIELD Readers of GOVDOC-L may be aware of recent discussions concerning the presence of both URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) and PURLs in many of our cataloging records and of our occasional use of two, rather than one, subfield "u" in the 856 field. Current practices reflect advice received from OCLC in April of 1998. We have consulted with representatives of OCLC, with Arlene Weible, Chair, GODORT Cataloging Committee, and with Carol Bednar of the Depository Library Council to the Public Printer concerning these issues. We also have corresponded with officials of CONSER and MARBI (Machine Readable Bibliographic Information) to seek advice on preferred methods for providing online access to Internet related works. We look forward to hearing the views of colleagues during this ALA meeting. We also value the opportunity presented to us to participate in the jointly sponsored FDTF (Federal Documents Task Force) and GODORT Cataloging Committee program on Sunday, January 31, 1999, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., in Room 103C in the Philadelphia Convention Center. We actively seek the advice of the Cataloging Committee and other organizations and expect to implement an approach to providing electronic access to Internet resources that meets the needs of as many libraries as possible. MOCATWEB MOCATWeb, the online version of the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, now contains more than 115,000 records from January 1994 through the present. With more than 2,200 records with PURLs and an estimated 4,000 or more older resources with URLs, an ever increasing number of records represent remotely accessible electronic resources. As many broken links to older electronic resources are restored, links are updated and maintained via the assignment of PURLs. MONTHLY CATALOG CD-ROM EDITION LPS issued a final cumulation of the first disc of the Monthly Catalog CD-ROM edition in late 1998 (GP 3.8/7:996-97/1-12/SPEC.ED, shipping list 99-0010-E, dated 12/01/98). This red disc, which contains 35,158 Monthly Catalog records from January 1996 through December 1997, as well as the Periodicals Supplement for 1996 and 1997, supersedes previously-issued CDs for that time span. Since this disc is not superseded, it must be retained for 5 years, and subsequent disposal must be in accordance with the Instructions to Depository Libraries. During 1998, regular monthly discs had been issued containing new 1998 cataloging records as well as the cumulations from 1996 and 1997. However, when it became apparent that the disc would not accommodate the complete set of records for 1998, the decision was taken to cut off the first disc with 1997 and start a second disc with the 1998 records. A new cumulative blue disc, containing records from January 1998 on, was first issued in November 1998 (GP 3.8/7:998/1-7, shipping list no. 99-0008-E, dated 11/18/98). This cumulation, which is updated monthly, contains the Periodicals Supplement for 1998 and Monthly Catalog records from January 1998 through the most recent month. When it is complete, we expect that this new cumulative disc will include all Monthly Catalog records for 1998 and 1999 issues and the Periodicals Supplement for 1998 and 1999. PERIODICALS SUPPLEMENT FOR 1999 The Periodicals Supplement paper edition is expected to be distributed in February 1999. The 1999 edition has 1,042 entries of which 512 are electronic documents with PURLs.