RDA Templates Demo Video - Library of Congress

The cataloging process is evolving. Once upon a time I spent my evenings trying to get a grip on MARC, Dewey and AACR2. To stay in the game you have to be willing to keep up to date with the changes in the field.

Resource Description and Access (RDA) is the next level of library cataloging. This is a video by the Library of Congress by Cataloging educator Deborah Fritz and library software developer Richard Fritz.

This is an opportunity to take a look at a prototype of RDA and to get a sense of where cataloging is going. 



For a transcript of this presentation or to view it in Real Media format, you can visit the Library of Congress RDA Templates web page.

If you would like to get your hands of the software mentioned in the video you can visit the RIMMF wiki and download the software. The software is under a Creative Commons license and is free to use for educational and non-commercial purposes only.

English Short Title Catalogue at the British Library

At this section of the British Library website you can locate titles for books published between 1473 and 1800. If the material was published in the UK or its possessions, Colonial America or any place else on the planet, and it was printed in English, it very well might be listed in this database.

Now short title does not refer to the length of the actual name of the book. As you can see from the example below, titles could be quiet descriptive:


My understanding is that it refers to limited or special publications produced quickly. I'm thinking like pamphlets, broadsheets and the early equivalents of instant publishing.

As you can see, you can view the records in a variety of formats such as a three line summary listing, full MARC tags, or which institution has the actual document.

This is a good resource if you are researching ephemeral publications that give a sense of time and place.

It is also valuable if you want to brush up on your MARC skills if it has been long time since you have sweated a MARC code. Check it out.

More 105 Cataloging Help - Kinda, Sorta

Saturday. Friday is before Saturday and Saturday is the day of the Cataloging Final. To those about to take the test we salute you and are glad we are on the other side of it.

I know I was pitiful. I was mumbling AACR2 left and right. That blankety blank punctuation drove me nuts. I still can see my classmates. Binders full of notes and marked up AACR2. We came prepared but most of us had our doubts of seeing daylight ever again. People shaking their heads in despair, others kept the mantra going, "It is ok, it will be alright."

But I have to tell you, that stuff comes in handy in ways you do not expect. I am very glad that I took the class. But I was sweating bullets each and every week.

The Short Version:

• Review Your Notes, Exam Questions and AACR2
• Tell your loved ones to bug off - this is serious business.
• Get some sleep, eat a great dinner and sleep with your (paper) notebook.
  

Other Resources:

In addition to the other cataloging links that you can find by looking for the word cataloging in the sidebar, I have a few more hopefully helpful study tips.

There is a OSU Power Point presentation that is a review of AACR2 Chapter 12. If you can't view or download PPT's you can look at an HTML generated copy of Chapter 12.

I was thinking that there might be a few resources at Google Books that could be helpful. Like for example the meaning of the word "imprint"? The Dictionary of Library and Information Science might be of interest to you, especially page 351.

This is a partial preview. The whole book is not available. But you might find what you need to help you understand what bibliographic control is which may or may not be on page 69.

I did find some library specific glossaries, AACR2 Definition of Terms, An AACR2 record description list and Abbreviations for Place of Publication

Good luck and deep breaths.

Cataloging SOS - Cataloging Reference Books

AACR2 is many things but easy reading it is not. It is not too late to find more humane help in understanding cataloging and classification.

Libraries Unlimited has a number of books and workbooks on cataloging/classification.

I think this was the one that we flipped through at the California Library Convention in Long Beach.

Closer to home, Cataloging & Classification for Library Technicians is on the third floor of the library - 025.3 K 4, 2001 or if somebody beats you to it you can order at Amazon.com

Descriptive Cataloging, this one will be good for both 105A and 105B You can find it at Amazon.com or Powell's Books

Remember, if you are short on cash don't hesitate to do the WorldCat thing, somebody, somewhere has got these books.

Cataloging SOS - Tag of the Month Club

Yes indeed, it is that time of year when Library 105 students go into a cold sweat. Ten or more weeks of cataloging goodness will do that to you. It is not just learning how to write and understand the concepts of MARC, it is that pesky punctuation that just kills the majority of the class.

I know, one doggone period in the wrong place and boom, there goes your grade. No worries. There is help. Check out Follett Software Company's Tag of the Month.

It goes into a description of what the tag is, the reason for the tag and most important how to punctuate the sucker.

Now if there is a discrepancy between what the Tag of the Month suggests and what Dawn says the punctuation of the tag is don't be a dope, go with Dawn! But at least this will help you to understand the syntax of the tag in question. Don't forget about spacing, that counts too but this will help you remember what goes where and why.

Background Information for Non-Library Folks

For those visiting from other parts of the blogosphere we ask for your sympathy and good wishes for every library cataloging student in the world. There is a whole bunch of technical stuff that happens long before you get your hot little hands on a book or library material.

One of the skills those of us who are interested in library work have to know (or should know) is Machine-Readable Cataloging or MARC. It is a process where the material, let say a book is described by a number of data points such as the name of the author, the type of material, its physical dimensions (if any) the publisher and a bunch of other stuff.

All of this happens in the background so when you step up to the terminal or log on from home you put in what you know about a book and bada-bing, you get results based on your search request.

There is no artificial intelligence at work - this is organic human brain power generated data. Why? Because every book, DVD, CD, Sheet Music, photograph, mp3 file, video or other materials is unique. Way too many variables for a (current) software program to account for automatic entry. The picture above is showing an example of a MARC 300 tag which defines a material by its physical description depending on what kind of object it is. .