ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program -------------------------------------------------------------------- May 15, 1999 GP 3.16/3-2:20/09 (Vol. 20, no. 09) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Recent Cataloging Branch Activities Remarks by Thomas A. Downing Chief, Cataloging Branch Before the Depository Library Council and Federal Depository Conference April 12, 1999 Bethesda, MD Good morning! It is a pleasure to be here with you today and to provide an overview of recent Cataloging Branch operations. My remarks will include comments on operations, efforts to recruit a serials cataloger, the by now familiar Persistent Uniform Resource Locators, or PURLs, URLs within cataloging records, OCLC's Cooperative Online Resource Cataloging, or CORC project, and information regarding versions of the Monthly Catalog, the Periodicals Supplement, and the Congressional Serial Set Catalog. I will conclude by noting some of the issues that we look forward to discussing with Council's Cataloging and Locator Services Committee. Cataloging Operations The transition to a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program has produced a complex assortment of interrelated works in all media. During the first five months of Fiscal Year 1999, approximately 10,000 works in various media were received for cataloging. Approximately 11,000 of these works were processed, leaving a balance of approximately 10,000 works, mostly serials, to be processed. Most of the approximately 160 Browse Electronic Titles (BET) awaiting cataloging also consist of serials. Given that our backlog is concentrated in serials, we are investigating the feasibility of a contract to procure commercial serials cataloging services to assist in reducing this backlog. We also expect that we will succeed in efforts to recruit a serials cataloger for a recently vacated position. As noted in a recent message to GOVDOC-L, a time lag of six to eight weeks from the date of a shipping list until the appearance of a Monthly Catalog for works in microfiche and CD-ROM is not unusual. Because of a correlation between titles that many people consider "important" and what is distributed in paper or published via Internet sites, most works distributed in paper and those that are made accessible via Browse Electronic Titles (BET) are cataloged within approximately two weeks of shipment or posting. Recruitment of Serials Cataloger A recently advertised vacancy for a serials cataloger closed on March 19. This position was announced on GOVDOC-L, CONSER, and SERIALs discussions lists and on Web sites maintained by the Office of Personnel Management and the Government Printing Office. When hired, the incumbent's efforts will be focused on cataloging Internet related serials. We should see positive effects on reducing this backlog within some months after this person has been selected and trained. Records with PURLs and URLs, and Subfield "u" of the 856 Field During the first week of April, 1999 a new policy concerning the display of PURLs and URLs in Monthly Catalog records went into effect. This policy requires use of one subfield "u" per 856 field for recording a PURL. This policy also stipulates that, when re-establishing links to records that had been accessible via a URL, the URL that was in effect at the time the PURL was assigned is to be recorded either in the 530 field (multiple format record) or the 538 field (electronic only record). As with other Internet related cataloging policies, we expect to make this policy available for review at our Web site. To give a sense of how quickly policies may change in an electronic environment, I would like to add that, based on continuing discussions, we have already modified our URL policy by stipulating that the URL in effect as of the time the work is initially posted at BET with a PURL is recorded in a note. Given the information value that URLs have for some people, they will be recorded in either the 538 or 530 note field, as appropriate. I must emphasize that recording URLs in the 530 or 538 note field is for information purposes only, not access. We will do our best to maintain access via PURLs in the 856 field by maintaining our PURLs server. We are not able, in addition, to maintain access by frequently modifying URLs in note fields. Again, note fields are for information, not access. At the present time, we use PURLs for access because the PURLs server is a more amenable environment for changing URLs than are bibliographic records. These policies are based on consultation with Carol Bednar, Chair, Depository Library Council Locator Services Committee, members of the American Library Association's (ALA) Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) Cataloging Committee, and with the CONSER Coordinator at the Library of Congress. We appreciate the advice of these groups and colleagues and expect that the application of this policy will assist people to identify appropriate access-related data elements in GPO produced Monthly Catalog records. Cataloging Branch and OCLC's CORC Project As members of the Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC), we are actively involved in FLICC sponsored efforts to investigate the potential that OCLC's CORC (Cooperative Online Resource Cataloging) project may have for providing access to works published via the Internet. At present, CORC is a research project launched by OCLC staff to investigate the feasibility of producing brief bibliographic records to provide access to Internet related titles. OCLC personnel have advised us that, to start this project, OCLC has extracted data from several thousand GPO produced OCLC records to "seed" the CORC database. At this time, the direction this project may take is not entirely clear. Various issues of significance have not been defined precisely. One of our catalogers will attend a FEDLINK sponsored CORC training session at the Library of Congress later this month. We look forward to continued involvement with CORC, especially as it may assist us in identifying opportunities to improve the scope or timeliness of our cataloging and locator services. PURLs, URLs and the Web Edition of the Monthly Catalog The Web edition of the Catalog consists of approximately 115,900 records. Approximately 8,500 of these records contain PURLs and/or URLs. At present, approximately 2,500 Monthly Catalog records contain PURLs. Approximately 6,000 additional older Monthly Catalog records contain URLs in the 856 field. As broken links in records with URLs are re-established, these works are made accessible via PURLs in the 856 field. At the time these PURLs are assigned, the URL that was most current at the time the resource was made accessible via PURLs is recorded in either a 530 or 538 note field. Library Programs Service staff devote increasing amounts of time to restoring electronic access to electronic works. When our PURLs checking routines identify a broken link in a bibliographic record with a PURL, we restore access by updating the PURL lookup table on the GPO PURL server with the active URL. Maintaining access through PURLs resolver software is intended to eliminate the need for most librarians to maintain access by updating address data in GPO produced records in their OPACs. Improvements to the Web Edition of the Catalog of United States Government Publications I would like to call your attention to a handout that is available at the back of the room. This handout represents a significant re-design of the search page and related pages of the Web edition of the Catalog of United States Government Publications www.gpo.gov/catalog. We have given the catalog application a new look and, in doing so, we believe we have significantly improved the quality of information about the catalog and how to use it in the most effective and efficient manner. Information includes the history of the catalog, what it is, and advice on basic, advanced, and specialized searching. In keeping with our objective of making this resource into a National Online Public Access Catalog for United States Government publications, we have sought to provide a search screen, information about the catalog, hot links to relevant cataloging policies, and search strategies in an intuitive and "user-friendly" presentation. Speaking of "user-friendly" displays, we are pleased to announce that we now have a "user-friendly" display of records. We are grateful to our Production Department for its efforts to create new display options that offer users the opportunity to display "user-friendly" records with named data elements for the most significant elements of potential interest to most catalog users and an option for a complete USMARC numeric tagged record. The "user-friendly" display, as you will see from the handout, should facilitate use and understanding of bibliographic information by public users. CD-ROM Edition of the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications The complete CD-ROM edition of the Monthly Catalog, which consists of two CDs, contains approximately 55,000 records. The combined 1996 and 1997 CD-ROM (with their respective Periodicals Supplements) should be retained for the near future. We expect that the January 1999 issue of the CD-ROM Monthly Catalog edition, which will include all records for 1998 and 1999 to date, will contain the Periodicals Supplements for 1998 and 1999. A contract for producing the CD-ROM edition was recently re-awarded to American Multimedia, of Burlington, NC. New contract specifications requiring the contractor to receive information for jewel case inserts via electronic means should assist in more rapid product availability than is presently possible. 1999 Edition of the Periodicals Supplement The 1999 paper edition of the Periodicals Supplement was distributed in March of this year. These Periodicals Supplement records will be included in the January 1999 and subsequent issues of the CD-ROM edition of the Monthly Catalog. Congressional Serial Set Catalog We estimate that the Congressional Serial Set Catalog for the 103d Congress will be published sometime during the summer of 1999. Approximately 1,200 records are expected to be included in the Serial Set Catalog. Consultations with the Cataloging and Locator Services Committee One of the most important aspects of Council is the opportunity to consult with colleagues from throughout the United States. I would like to conclude remarks by noting how much we value the opportunity to meet with members of the Cataloging and Locator Services Committee to discuss a range of issues associated with locating and providing bibliographic control of important works published in all media, including those that are made available via the Internet. This committee is chaired by Carol Bednar. Committee members include Maggie Farrell, Diane Eidelman, Andrea Sevetson, and Julie Wallace. We will be meeting in the Maryland Room tomorrow afternoon from 3:45 p.m. until approximately 5:00 p.m. Topics include cataloging and locator services, the mix of current services, the potential benefits of eliminating the distinctions between serials and periodicals, re-examining the need for availability records, and possible enhancements to the Periodicals Supplement. Because many of these topics could affect the distribution of cataloging records, we have invited representatives from Marcive, Auto-Graphics, and the Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress. We look forward to worthwhile discussions and invite those of you with interests in these topics to attend this meeting. I would like to conclude remarks by thanking you for this opportunity to share information. This is an exciting time to work together to create an electronic collection and a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program. I look forward to many useful discussions during the next few days. Thank you.