WebDewey icons

In case you missed the update from the Dewey Blog (or ignored it because there were no pretty pictures)…There are new icons appearing in the WebDewey search results.

Built numbers are represented by a puzzle piece icon.    

Manual notes are represented by a book icon.     

Both types of icons are included in search results.  For example, the search results for a search on 005.3 include the Manual note 005.3 (identified with the book icon) and the built number 005.3742 (identified with the puzzle piece icon).  The puzzle piece icon also is used to identify built numbers in browse results.  On the individual record display screen, the Manual icon appears next to the number and caption for the Manual note (for example, look at the Manual note for 005.3).   In hierarchical displays for built numbers, the puzzle piece icon can appear anywhere in the hierarchical display for the number.  For example, display the record for 338.47004 Computer industry.  In the hierarchical display, the built number icon appears next to 338.47004, and also next to two built numbers in the downward hierarchy, 338.4700411 and 338.470046.  (If you don’t see the icons associated with the aforementioned examples, it may be because relevant information has been cached in your browser.  If you want to see the icons immediately and do not want to wait until the cache is refreshed, you can press <ctrl> + <F5> inside a WebDewey screen associated with one of the examples, which will cause your browser to reload the cached information.)

Thanks to A Portal to my Cataloging Aids and the Dewey Blog

 

RDA, the next phase

Richard and I were pleased to present a variation of our 2010 ILA program “RDA, the next phase” at the Reaching Forward conference last week. We had a good audience that even asked questions. As requested we are posting the presentation and RDA Resources.

 

End of the RDA test period and LC’s post-test policy

From Judith Kuhagen on the RDA-L list (and others):

End of US RDA Test: LC policy during interim period

The Library of Congress will not create original RDA bibliographic records and generally will not create RDA authority records during the interim period after the US RDA Test ends on December 31, 2010 through the announcement of any implementation decision.

Some US RDA Test participants who are PCC NACO participants will continue to create RDA bibliographic records after Dec. 31, 2010. Other non-US RDA Test participants are creating RDA records now and may/will continue to create RDA records.

RDA records will be used by LC during this interim period in the following categories:

– CIP verification;
– Records created by other libraries, vendors, etc., for materials being added to LC’s collections.

In both categories, the authorized access points may be all RDA forms, all AACR2 forms, or a combination of AACR2 and RDA forms; name authority records may or may not exist in the LC/NACO Authority File.

LC’s internal procedures are posted at http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/existing_RDA_records.pdf

Send questions to LChelp4rda@loc.gov.

(Cross-posted at Flaming Catheads)

 

Record Labels

One of the most vexing problems in cataloging music sound recordings is sorting through all the labels you encounter. We’ve found a few online resources that may be of help in identifying them:

Wikipedia’s article“Record label”

A list of notable record labels linked from the above; and

allrecordlabels.com (disclaimer here: I have recently found this last site and have not yet used it).

 

Chodźmy do kina!

Two more useful sites if you work with Polish films (or, as I did yesterday, with a series of audiobooks featuring Polish film actors as readers): Filmpolski.pl and Filmweb. I have not worked with either site enough to compare their coverage or detail with IMDB, but they were lifesavers (especially Filmpolski) for authority work.

 

Let’s Go to the Movies

Now to be perfectly frank (and earnest), no one hands us programs when we catalog films at Indian Trails, nor to my knowledge have the Rockettes ever made an appearance. However, we do have a number of resources to help us do the work faster and better, even if we don’t have as much fun as Annie and Sandy.

Joy has already posted about the Internet Movie Database — probably the movie cataloger’s most indispensable online resource outside the cataloging tools themselves. But there are some more specialized sites as well that are worth knowing about.

Cataloging a musical or play? The Internet Broadway Database aims to be to Broadway what IMDB is to films. “IBDB (Internet Broadway Database) archive is the official database for Broadway theatre information. IBDB provides records of productions from the beginnings of New York theatre until today.”

A niche in which we have collected, not heavily, but significantly at our library is Mexican film, particularly of the so-called “Golden Age” (1939-1945) through the 1950s and early 1960s. A surprising amount of the information needed for these films can be found in IMDB, but I have used several other sources as well.

Más de Cien Años de Cine Mexicano, while by no means encyclopedic, is a good source of information on the more prominent films, directors, and stars of Mexican film — and, if you read Spanish, an enjoyable read and a good introduction to the subject.

The Mexican Film Resource Page has a great many useful links categorized under General and Organizational Sites, Online Newspapers and Magazines, Production and Distribution Companies (and TV networks), Research Sites and Lists, Pages I Have Created (“I” being the site’s author, David Wilt), and Sites Dedicated to Individual Films, Specific Genres, or People. Of particular interest if you really want to get deeply into this, PDFs of current issues of The Mexican Film Bulletin are also available here (January 2008 through September-October 2010 at this writing; a CD of volumes 1-14 is also available for purchase).

Terminology is always an issue when cataloging films, the more so when credits are in a language other than English. You won’t find entries for the equivalents of “gaffer,” “best boy,” and “key grip” in a standard Spanish-English dictionary! Ask me how I know this! There is an online Spanish to English Glossary of Translations–Cinema, Film, TV, Drama Terms (a KudoZ open glossary) that I have often found useful. You can search terms or, alternatively (and sometimes amusingly) browse. Altera un poco el ánimo (it changes one’s mood a little) while cataloging. A drop-down menu lets you choose from a large array of languages; I have not tried any of the others, but the Russian-English and Polish-English lists look promising.

Finally, for those who catalog anime, the Anime News Network Encyclopedia — “The Internet’s most trusted anime news source.” I have not consulted this very much, but my colleague who catalogs our anime collection and is an expert in the field uses it extensively.

 

RDA, the Next Phase

Joy Anhalt, Marjorie Bloss (of Dominican University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science), Nancy Johnson (of the Joliet Public Library, moderating), and I presented a program on RDA at the Illinois Library Association 2010 Annual Conference in Chicago last Wednesday.

Our presentations, and documentation of some of the resources we consulted, are attached below.

RDA, the Next Phase (.ppt): Joy summarizes the development of RDA from FRBR and FRAD, introduces some key terms and concepts, and takes us through a timeline of what has been done and what is planned:

RDA, the Next Phase

Cataloging with RDA (.ppt): I expand on some of the terminology, explore the structure of RDA a little, and examine some selected examples of cataloging under AACR2 compared with RDA:

Cataloging with RDA

Getting Around in the RDA Toolkit (.ppt): Marjorie takes us on a tour of the Toolkit, looking at its layout and demonstrating key features (Marjorie’s demonstration was live online, but these screen captures illustrate her points):

Getting Around in the RDA Toolkit

Resources (.doc): A list of mostly online resources on various aspects of FRBR, RDA, and related metadata issues:

Resources

RDA Resources

 

Seeing Standards: A Visualization of the Metadata Universe

Does it seem to you that there’s a bewildering array of metadata standards out there?

Here’s a vivid illustration of how right you are:

http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/~jenlrile/metadatamap/

“This visual map of the metadata landscape is intended to assist planners with the selection and implementation of metadata standards.

“Each of the 105 standards listed here is evaluated on its strength of application to defined categories in each of four axes: community, domain, function, and purpose. The strength of a standard in a given category is determined by a mixture of its adoption in that category, its design intent, and its overall appropriateness for use in that category.”

From the linked page you can access three PDF files: A HUGE poster of the visualization (36 in. x 108 in.!), a metadata standard glossary in poster form (a more manageable 36 x 41 inches), and a metadata standard glossary in pamphlet form.

 

Promoting cataloging

A thought provoking new blog about how cataloguers need to promote themselves and their work. Thanks to Heather at the Catologue & Index Blog  for the link.

 

Genre headings

Joel Hahn has gathered a good list of genre headings and the correct MARC tagging over on his site. The list includes LCSH and gsafd.