The second part of a day-long presentation made on November 3, 2009, covering various aspects of library cataloging, MARC records, FRBR, RDA, authority control, etc.

1. Library Cataloging Boot Camp,
Part 2
Sullivan BOCES, Liberty, NY
November 3, 2009
Denise A. Garofalo

2. Topics for this afternoon
— Searching and exporting MARC records
— Discussion of editing exported MARC records
— DDC basics
— Future of MARC, RDA, FRBR
— “Real life” questions and examples
— Wrap-up

3. Objectives for this afternoon
— Discuss searching library catalogs and
locating desired MARC record
— Exporting MARC records
— Become more comfortable with
Dewey
— Discuss future of MARC and RDA and
FRBR
— “Real life” questions/examples

4. Searching for MARC

5. Finding MARC records
— You may locate MARC records from:
◦ Your book vendors (may involve a fee)
◦ A bibliographic utility (an organization that
provides MARC records for a fee, such as
OCLC)
◦ The Library of Congress (free)
◦ Other libraries’ catalogs (free)

6. Some MARC record sources
— URSUS (Maine State Union Catalog)
http://ursus.maine.edu/search~S14
— OhioLink Library Catalog
http://olc1.ohiolink.edu/search
— Minuteman Library Network
http://library.minlib.net/search/

7. Exporting records, or,
How do the records get from
their catalog into mine?

8. Using LC as a source
1. Create a folder to store the records on
your PC (marc_records)
2. Search LC’s catalog
(http://catalog.loc.gov/)
3. Once you locate the record you want,
scroll to bottom of the screen.

9. Using LC, continued
4. Select MARC format (usually MARC
(nonUnicode/MARC8), and then click
“Press to save or print”
5. A screen will display a line of nonsense.
Disregard. At the top of the browser
screen click on “File” and then “Save
As”.

10. Using LC, continued
6. Select the folder you created in Step 1.
7. Make sure to change Save as Type to
Text File (.txt)
8. Give the file a name that is useful to you
(perhaps a date string, 11032009)
9. Click on “Save.”
10. You have exported a MARC record.

11. Sample online resources
— Download and import unedited MARC
records from Library of Congress
http://www.bsd405.org/Portals/0/libtexttech
support/medialibrary/documents/mllc.pdf
— Copying/Loading records from LC
http://www.infohio.org/Documents/UC/LO
Cdownloads.pdf [steps 1-7 are generic]

12. Editing records, or, How do I make
the MARC record I found my own?

13. Editing MARC
— Editing can occur
◦ before you export the records into your
automation system, using software such as
MarcEdit (free)
◦ after you export the records into your
automation system, using your automation
system software

14. MarcEdit
— MarcEdit homepage
◦ http://oregonstate.edu/~reeset/marcedit/html/
index.php
— Using MarcEdit to Edit Large Numbers of
Bib Records
◦ http://www.lib.ksu.edu/depts/techserv/manual/
general/marcedit.html

15. Any questions?

16. Getting to know MARC
personally

17. Exporting a MARC record
— Search a library catalog for the item in
question
— Locate the MARC record for the item
— Locate the MARC record download
button
— Export the record (to the C drive or
floppy drive or jump drive)

18. Can’t find the right MARC?
— Try another catalog (or two or three)
— Locate a record for an earlier edition and
download that record (you will have to
edit it to match the item in question)
— Still no luck? You may have to create a
MARC record from scratch within your
library automation system

19. MARC records info
— Free MARC records listserv
◦ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free_MARC_
Records/messages/
— MARC info websites
◦ http://dmoz.org/Reference/Libraries/Library_a
nd_Information_Science/Technical_Services/C
ataloguing/Metadata/MARC/

21. Classification in libraries
— A system of arranging the collection on
the shelves which provides formal and
orderly access to the materials
— A means of bringing together related
items in a useful sequence from general
to specific
— A way to lead the user to the needed
items

22. Call number
— Contains the information about where the
item is shelved
◦ May have a location or collection prefix—DVD or
REF or j
◦ Next element is the classification number—736 or
917.3 or PZ4
◦ Next is the Cutter number, an alpha-numeric
related to the main entry or author—H74 or Q14
◦ May include a date or a copy or accession number
as final element

23. Indicates the subject
matter of the item
“cutter
number”

25. DDC is broad
— System groups works under main
divisions and subdivisions

26. Basic general Dewey rules
— Class first according to subject, then by form
— Class where it will be most useful
— Place it in the most specific subject division
that will contain it, rather than with the
general topic
— If it deals with 2 or 3 subjects, place it with
the predominant subject or the one treated
first. More than 3 subjects? Place it in the
general class which combines all of the
subjects

27. Refining principles
— Work discussing Spanish influence on Portuguese
literature should be classed with Portuguese
literature—class works dealing with 2 subjects
where one influences another are placed with
the subject acted upon or influenced
— Monographic sets—class either all together
under a broad number for the set or class
separately under each individual volume’s subject

28. Nothing is perfect
— Any classification scheme is limited
◦ DDC places language separate from literature
◦ History is classed separate from social
sciences in DDC
— Reorganization causes problems
◦ New numbers for new concepts
◦ Moving concepts to more logical locations
— Purchased cataloging is only as good as
the vendor’s catalogers

29. DDC
— Oldest and most widely used classification
system in America
— Allows for expansion to cover aspects of
general subjects
— The more specific the item being
classified the longer the number grows
— Long numbers may be more accurate but
can be unwieldy and impractical

30. DDC
— Incorporates mnemonic devices
transferred from one class to another
(-03 at the end of a class number of any
length indicates a dictionary of the subject
at hand)
— Arranges subjects from the general to the
specific

31. DDC basic premises
— Under Dewey there is no one class for
any given subject
— Primary arrangement is by discipline
— Any specific topic may appear in any
number of disciplines
— Aspects of a topic are brought together in
the relative index

32. DDC basic concepts
— Notes are very helpful
◦ Tell what is found at a class number
◦ Tell what is found at other class numbers
◦ ID topics in “standing room” (topics that don’t
have enough works about them to justify a
separate number—computers were like this for
awhile, 001.6 then 004-006)
◦ Explain changes in tables and schedules
◦ Instruct in number building
◦ Prescibe precedence order
◦ Explain options

33. Number-
Number-building
— Way to expand existing numbers in the
schedule
— In tables these numbers are preceded by
a “-” to indicate they cannot stand alone
(omit the dash when attaching a number)

34. Standard subdivisions
— Originally “Form divisions”
— Some treat format
— Others represent ways to handle aspects
of a subject (philosophy, theory, history,
etc.)
— Unless specific instructions bar it, can use
with any number if application is
meaningful
— More info available in DDC

36. Take a short break….

37. Geographic areas
— When a given subject can be subdivided
geographically and the library has many
books dealing with the subject use Table 2
(area table)
— The number can be expanded by region
or site
— The bulkiest table

38. Individual literatures
— Table 3 is actually three tables
— They are never used alone but under the
instructions given at 808-809 and 810-890

39. Individual languages
— Table 4 is used with the base numbers for
the individual languages
— See 420-490 for explanation
— Does provide mnemonic form divisions
◦ -1 for writing systems
◦ -2 for etymology
◦ -3 for dictionaries

40. Racial, ethnic groups
— Table 5 is used according to specific
instructions in the schedules or other
tables
— May also be used through -89
interposition
— Use is parallel to that of Table 2

41. Languages
— Table 6 is the basic mnemonic table to
indicate the particular language of the
work of the language which is the subject

42. Groups of persons
— Table 7 is used as instructed in the
schedules or other tables
— Deals with various characteristics of
persons (social groups)

43. Adding other parts
— There are many places in the DDC
schedules where the classer is directed to
find a number elsewhere in the schedule
and add it whole to the number at hand
— Check the DDC itself for examples

44. Relative index is very useful
— Contains terms found in the schedules and tables and
synonyms for those terms
— Also has names of states, provinces, cities, geographic
features, some personal names
— Does not contain phrases that begin with adjectival
phrases (Portuguese plays)
— Enumerates alphabetically all the main headings in the
class schedules
— Contains certain specific entries not listed in the
schedules
— Index terminology varies from that found in the
schedule (Perspiration)

45. But it isn’t a substitute
for the schedules

46. Final DDC tidbits
— Segments
◦ 636.6/01
– Smaller libraries may just use 636.6
– Larger libraries may use 636.601
— Updated every 8 years or so
— Abridged editions are available for the
very small libraries (they can “grow” into
the full edition)

50. FRBR
— Functional Requirements for Bibliographic
Records
— Conceptual model
— “provide a clearly defined, structured
framework for relating the data that are
recorded in bibliographic records to the needs
of the users of those records”

51. How will FRBR fit in?
— Great potential
— Search results can be grouped to demonstrate
relationships among
– all expressions of a Work
– Works about it
– Works related to it
— Easier to record relationships between entities
— Catalogs and databases no longer limited to
role as finding lists but become true research
systems

52. FRBR is not….
—a standard
— a metadata scheme
— a concrete data model

53. FRBR basics
— Group 1 – products that are named or
described in the bibliographic record
– work, expression, manifestation, item
— Group 2 – entities responsible for physical
production and dissemination, or the
custodianship of such products
– person, families, corporate bodies
— Group 3 – entities that serve as the
subjects of intellectual or artistic endeavor
– concept, object, event, place

54. FRBR has relationship issues
— between
– Equivalents
– Conceptually related entities
– Components of a whole
– Physical formats

55. Group 1 entity example

56. Work
— a distinct intellectual or artistic creation

57. Expression
— the intellectual or artistic realization of a
Work
novel, comic, feature film, poster

58. Manifestation
— the physical embodiment of an Expression
of a Work
hardcover, paperback, 35 mm. film, DVD, VHS

59. Item
— a single exemplar of a Manifestation
autographed copy of the 1998 edition

62. What is RDA?
— “Cataloging rules for the 21st century”
— Working title for a new cataloging code,
or standard
— Essentially, cataloging rules that would
supersede the Anglo-American Cataloging
Rules, 2nd ed. (AACR2)
— Originally thought it would be AACR3
— Supports FRBR

63. How will this affect libraries?
— Not everyone is supportive of RDA
— Will take time
— Eventually will become the standard
— Goal
◦ new code
◦ Puts stronger emphasis on helping users
– "find, identify, select and obtain" the information
they are looking for, chiefly through the use of
clustering of bibliographic records

64. RDA has no limits
— Transcribe the entire statement of
responsibility, no matter how many
persons or bodies it contains
— Include “other title” information
— Number of added entries for collections
of works by different persons or bodies
— Added entries for all parties on each side
of a Treaty

65. Future…..
— No timeline for when OPAC and ILS
vendors will begin incorporating RDA and
FRBR
— It's also not clear how soon the Library of
Congress and OCLC will adopt the new
standards
— 26 testing partners have been selected to
participate formally in LC’s planned test
of the content and functionality of RDA

66. So now what?
— There is a new Specific Material
Designation of “online resource” to be
used in the MARC 300 field
— Just remember, whatever form RDA takes
it is being designed to be simpler

68. Real-
Real-life questions and examples

69. Wrap-
Wrap-up

70. Overview of points covered
— The relationship between access points
and MARC records
— The basic structure of MARC records
— Achieved a comfort level with MARC
— Discussed searching and exporting MARC
records
— Introduced to FRBR and RDA
— Dewey and you
— Real-life examples and questions

71. Review of today’s objectives
— Do you feel comfortable with basic
MARC record information?
— Are you confidant you can search library
catalogs and locate a desired MARC
record?
— Did you successfully export a MARC
record to a jump drive or a floppy disk?

72. Any questions?

73. Good luck!