Library Resources

&
Technical Services ISSN 0024-2527
July 2008
Volume 52, No. 3

Cataloging and Classification

Magda A. El-Sherbini

Provenance Evidence in Bibliographic Records

M. Winslow Lundy

A Model for Assessing Digital

Image Use and Needs
Stephen Paling, Melissa Miszkiewicz,
June Abbas, and Joseph Zambon

Approaches to Selection, Access, and Collection

Development in the Web World
Karen Schmidt, Wendy Allen Shelburne,
and David Steven Vess

Evaluating and Improving the Presentation of

Serials Information in the Online Catalog
Lori J. Terrill

The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services

52 ❘ 3
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 Library Resources
Library Resources & Technical Services (ISSN
0024-2527) is published quarterly by the American
Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago,

Technical Services &

IL 60611. It is the official publication of the
Association for Library Collections & Technical
Services, a division of the American Library
Association. Subscription price: to members of the
Association for Library Collections & Technical
Services, $27.50 per year, included in the member-
ship dues; to nonmembers, $75 per year in U.S.,
Canada, and Mexico, and $95 per year in other
foreign countries. Single copies, $25. Periodical
ISSN 0024-2527 July 2008 Volume 52, No. 3
postage paid at Chicago, IL, and at additional mail-
ing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes
to Library Resources & Technical Services, 50 E.
Erratum Notice 146
Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Business Manager:
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for Library Collections & Technical Services, a
Editorial 147
division of the American Library Association.
Send manuscripts to the Editorial Office: Peggy
Johnson, Editor, Library Resources & Technical Articles
Services, University of Minnesota Libraries, 499
Wilson Library, 309 19th Ave. So., Minneapolis, Cataloging and Classification 148
MN 55455; (612) 624-2312; fax: (612) 626-9353;
e-mail: [email protected]. Advertising: ALCTS, 50
Review of the Literature 2005–06
E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; 312-280-5038; Magda A. El-Sherbini
fax: 312-280-5032. ALA Production Services: Troy
D. Linker, Karen Sheets, Chris Keech, and Tim Provenance Evidence in Bibliographic Records 164
Clifford. Members: Address changes and inquiries
Demonstrating the Value of Best Practices in Special Collections
should be sent to Membership Department—
Library Resources & Technical Services, 50 E. Cataloging
Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Nonmember sub- M. Winslow Lundy
scribers: Subscriptions, orders, changes of address,
and inquiries should be sent to Library Resources A Model for Assessing Digital Image Use and Needs 173
& Technical Services, Subscription Department,
American Library Association, 50 E. Huron St.,
Report of a Study into Digital Image Use in North American Dental
Chicago, IL 60611; 1-800-545-2433; fax: (312) Education
944-2641; [email protected]. Stephen Paling, Melissa Miszkiewicz, June Abbas, and Joseph Zambon
Library Resources & Technical Services is indexed in
Library Literature, Library & Information Science Approaches to Selection, Access, and Collection 184
Abstracts, Current Index to Journals in Education, Development in the Web World
Science Citation Index, and Information Science A Case Study with Fugitive Literature
Abstracts. Contents are listed in CALL (Current
American—Library Literature). Its reviews are
Karen Schmidt, Wendy Allen Shelburne, and David Steven Vess
included in Book Review Digest, Book Review
Index, and Review of Reviews.

Instructions for authors appear on the Library Notes ON Operations

Resources & Technical Services Web page at www
.ala.org/alcts/lrts. Copies of books for review should
be addressed to Edward Swanson, Book Review Evaluating and Improving the Presentation of Serials
Editor, Library Resources & Technical Services, Information in the Online Catalog 192
1065 Portland Ave., Saint Paul, MN 55104; e-mail:
[email protected].
Lori J. Terrill

©2008 American Library Association Book Reviews 205

All materials in this journal subject to copyright by
the American Library Association may be photo-
copied for the noncommercial purpose of scientific
Index to Advertisers 216
or educational advancement granted by Sections
107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976.
For other reprinting, photocopying, or translating,
address requests to the ALA Office of Rights and
Permissions, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Cover image courtesy of morgueFile (www.morguefile.com).

The paper used in this publication meets the mini-

mum requirements of American National Standard
for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. ∞

Publication in Library Resources & Technical

Services does not imply official endorsement by
the Association for Library Collections & Technical
Association for Library Collections & Technical Services
Services nor by ALA, and the assumption of edito-
rial responsibility is not to be construed as endorse- Visit LRTS online at www.ala.org/alcts/lrts.
ment of the opinions expressed by the editor or For current news and reports on ALCTS activities, see the ALCTS Newsletter Online at
individual contributors. www.ala.org/alcts/alcts_news.
ERRATUM NOTICE: LRTS 52, no. 2 was erroneously foliated to begin with page number 1. This title page reflects the corrected
foliation for that issue. Our apologies to our authors and readers for this mistake.

Library Resources
Library Resources & Technical Services (ISSN
0024-2527) is published quarterly by the American
Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago,

Technical Services &

IL 60611. It is the official publication of the
Association for Library Collections & Technical
Services, a division of the American Library
Association. Subscription price: to members of the
Association for Library Collections & Technical
Services, $27.50 per year, included in the member-
ship dues; to nonmembers, $75 per year in U.S.,
Canada, and Mexico, and $95 per year in other
foreign countries. Single copies, $25. Periodical
ISSN 0024-2527 April 2008 Volume 52, No. 2
postage paid at Chicago, IL, and at additional mail-
ing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes
to Library Resources & Technical Services, 50 E.
Editorial 74
Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Business Manager:
Charles Wilt, Executive Director, Association
for Library Collections & Technical Services, a Articles
division of the American Library Association.
Send manuscripts to the Editorial Office: Peggy
Johnson, Editor, Library Resources & Technical
The Two Markets 75
Services, University of Minnesota Libraries, 499 Libraries in an Attention Economy
Wilson Library, 309 19th Ave. So., Minneapolis, Richard A. Lanham
MN 55455; (612) 624-2312; fax: (612) 626-9353;
e-mail: [email protected]. Advertising: ALCTS, 50 Collecting Conversations in a Massive-Scale World 84
E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; 312-280-5038;
R. David Lankes
fax: 312-280-5032. ALA Production Services: Troy
D. Linker, Karen Sheets, Chris Keech, and Tim
Clifford. Members: Address changes and inquiries Social Libraries: 91
should be sent to Membership Department— The Librarian 2.0 Phenomenon
Library Resources & Technical Services, 50 E. Stephen Abram
Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Nonmember sub-
scribers: Subscriptions, orders, changes of address,
and inquiries should be sent to Library Resources Reflections on Cataloging Leadership 95
& Technical Services, Subscription Department, Beth Picknally Camden, Sheila S. Intner, Janet Swan Hill,
American Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Regina R. Reynolds, and William A. Garrison
Chicago, IL 60611; 1-800-545-2433; fax: (312)
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Subject Access Tools in English for Canadian Topics 101
Library Resources & Technical Services is indexed in Canadian Extensions to U.S. Subject Access Tools
Library Literature, Library & Information Science
Robert P. Holley
Abstracts, Current Index to Journals in Education,
Science Citation Index, and Information Science
Abstracts. Contents are listed in CALL (Current Defining and Achieving Success in the
American—Library Literature). Its reviews are Movement to Change Scholarly Communication 116
included in Book Review Digest, Book Review
Index, and Review of Reviews.
Joyce L. Ogburn

Instructions for authors appear on the Library

Resources & Technical Services Web page at www
.ala.org/alcts/lrts. Copies of books for review should Notes from Operations
be addressed to Edward Swanson, Book Review
Editor, Library Resources & Technical Services,
1065 Portland Ave., Saint Paul, MN 55104; e-mail: Improving the Flow of Materials in a Cataloging
[email protected]. Department 126
©2008 American Library Association Using ADDIE for a Project in the Ohio State University Libraries
Melanie McGurr
All materials in this journal subject to copyright by
the American Library Association may be photo-
copied for the noncommercial purpose of scientific Using Comparative Online Journal Usage Studies
or educational advancement granted by Sections to Assess the Big Deal 133
107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976.
Cecilia Botero, Steven Carrico, and Michele R.Tennant
For other reprinting, photocopying, or translating,
address requests to the ALA Office of Rights and
Permissions, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Book Reviews 141
The paper used in this publication meets the mini-
mum requirements of American National Standard Index to Advertisers 144
for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. ∞

Publication in Library Resources & Technicwal

Services does not imply official endorsement by
the Association for Library Collections & Technical
Services nor by ALA, and the assumption of edito- Association for Library Collections & Technical Services
rial responsibility is not to be construed as endorse- Visit LRTS online at www.ala.org/alcts/lrts.
ment of the opinions expressed by the editor or For current news and reports on ALCTS activities, see the ALCTS Newsletter Online at
individual contributors. www.ala.org/alcts/alcts_news.
 52(3) LRTS Editorial   147

Editorial
EDITORIAL BOARD Peggy Johnson
Editor and Chair
Peggy Johnson
University of Minnesota I have been reflecting, over the last few months, on the
changes in how I conduct research and write. When
I wrote my masters thesis for the University of Chicago
Members Graduate Library School (R.I.P.), I used the trusty note card
system to record my findings, being careful to write the source
Kristen Antelman, North Carolina on each card and the page number if I was quoting from it. I
State University used printed indexes and the card catalog to find sources, and
Stephen Bosch, University of knew by heart the Joseph Regenstein Library stacks that that
Arizona held the library science materials. The worst part of the process was assembling
Yvonne Carignan, Historical Society the information into a coherent whole. I typed, retyped, and retyped some more,
of Washington, D.C. and literally cut and taped it together. I gave up when I was finally at the point of
Mary Casserly, University at Albany typing the final error-free manuscript and hired someone to do it. He had to use
Elisa Coghlan, University of carbon paper to create two copies.
Washington Twenty years later, when I researched and wrote the thesis for my second
Tschera Harkness Connell, Ohio masters, I had a computer. Photocopiers were ubiquitous and I made good use of
State University them. I had access to indexes on CD-ROM and, though they were not necessar-
Magda A. El-Sherbini, Ohio State
ily retrospective, searching them was so much easier than dragging heavy bound
University volumes over to a table and noting possible sources on a piece of paper. Because
I used a computer, turning the thesis into my first book was not too difficult.
Karla L. Hahn, Association of
Research Libraries
Forward fifteen years and I am working on another book. Writing is still
a painful process (though so much easier with electronic cut and paste), but
Dawn Hale, Johns Hopkins
researching is truly a pleasure—and a seductive one, at that. My library has
University
access to an extensive collection of indexes and journals online, with link resolvers
Sara C. Heitshu, University of and other features that make moving from the citations to the articles extremely
Arizona
easy. I use Google Scholar to locate articles that cite my initial sources and to
Judy Jeng, New Jersey City follow paths to more sources. Online journals with live links to the sources cited
University (Intern) in articles take me further down the rabbit hole. The challenge for me is to stop
Shirley J. Lincicum, Western following the paths that lead me to more and more sources and to shift my focus
Oregon University to assembling my notes and thoughts into a lucid whole. I have used and appreci-
Bonnie MacEwan, Auburn ated the advances in information access over the years, of course, but writing my
University current book really brought home how researching and writing have changed.
Carolynne Myall, Eastern As a journal editor, I am benefiting from the ease with which I can verify
Washington University citations and check URLs in the papers submitted to LRTS. I also check to see if
Pat Riva, Bibliothèque et Archives submitting authors have lifted prose from other authors or their own previously
nationales du Québec published works. A simple two- or three-sentence search reveals plagiarism in
Diane Vizine-Goetz, OCLC, Inc. ways not possible just a few years ago. Being able to edit drafts created with word
processing software simplifies the revision process for authors and for me. And
it is getting better—soon LRTS will implement an automated, online manuscript
Ex-Officio Members system, streamlining the submission and peer-review process for authors, review-
Charles Wilt, Executive Director, ers, and me. We will let you know as soon as the new system is active.
ALCTS
Mary Beth Weber, Rutgers
University, Editor, ALCTS
Newsletter Online
Edward Swanson, MINITEX
Library Information Network,
Book Review Editor, LRTS
 148   LRTS  52(3)

Cataloging and
Classification
Review of the Literature 2005–06
By Magda A. El-Sherbini

This paper reviews library literature on cataloging and classification published in

2005–06. It covers pertinent literature in the following areas: the future of catalog-
ing; Functional Requirement for Bibliographic Records (FRBR); metadata and its
applications and relation to Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC); cataloging
tools and standards; authority control; and recruitment, training, and the chang-
ing role of catalogers.

T he literature published in 2005 and 2006 devoted to cataloging and classifica-

tion reveals a profession in transition. The future of the catalog and cataloging
in the Web environment was the focus of several important discussions, presen-
tations, white papers, reports, conferences, and articles. Another topic attract-
ing attention was the emerging new cataloging standard, Resource Description
and Access (RDA). The great importance of the Functional Requirements for
Bibliographic Records (FRBR) was emphasized in a number of scholarly pub-
lications. Classification schemas, such as the Dewey Decimal Classification
(DDC) and the Library of Congress Classification (LCC), continued as a topic in
library literature. Other areas of interest included metadata, Machine-Readable
Cataloging (MARC) and the flexibility of Extensible Markup Language (XML),
authority control, recruitment, training, and the changing role of catalogers.

Research Method

A preliminary review of literature on cataloging and classification published in

2005 and 2006 was conducted in two library online databases: Library Literature
and Information Science Full Text, and Library, Information Science, and
Technology Abstract with Full Text. Other resources, such as the Web-based
resources Google Scholar, Google Print, and Online Computer Library Center
(OCLC) WorldCat, print library journals, and book reviews in library journals
related to cataloging and classification, were also consulted. These resources
were searched by keywords or subject headings, or both. The search strategy was
limited to journal articles and books in English, and to 2005 through 2006 dates
of publication.
Magda A. E-Sherbini (el-sherbini.1@osu The search produced a great number of citations (238 items). To deal with
.edu) is Associate Professor and Head the volume of material and the range of topics covered, the author created a
of Cataloging, The Ohio State University
Libraries, Columbus.
spreadsheet of topics derived from the preliminary literature search and the
author’s knowledge of the current trends in cataloging and classification. The
Submitted March 3, 2007; tentatively
accepted pending revision April 22,
author organized the topics into the following groups: future of cataloging, clas-
2007; revised and resubmitted July 28, sification, Library of Congress (LC) series decision, authority control, FRBR,
2007, and accepted for publication. Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules 2nd ed., 2001 revision (AACR2), RDA,
 52(3) LRTS Cataloging and Classification   149

subject headings, DDC, recruitment, training, education, of modern users.3 The task force analyzed existing literature
cataloging standards, ISBN13, and metadata. and interviewed leading practitioners in the library commu-
Resulting citations were then entered under each head- nity to develop a set of recommendations that would radi-
ing in the spreadsheet. Citations under each topic were cally improve the catalog. The report provided four major
reviewed to determine if the sources of the publication were recommendations to enhance search and retrieval, redesign
scholarly and peer reviewed. In limited cases, the author the online public access cataloging (OPAC), adapt new
included non-peer–reviewed sources because they provided cataloging practices, and support continuous development.
valuable and relevant information. Some topics, such as the An appendix listed examples of systems and prototypes that
LC decision about series and ISBN13, were not included demonstrate some of the improvements that the task force
because of insufficient scholarly literature. recommended.
The author read and analyzed the articles and wrote North Carolina State University was a leader in seek-
brief reviews for each item. Some articles fell outside the ing new approaches to provide catalog information to
scope of this review and were excluded. The focus of this users through the implementation of the Endeca ProFind
paper is on substantive contributions to the literature. In a platform.4 Antelman, Lynema, and Pace described the new
few cases, less significant resources are referenced to pro- functionality enabled through Endeca and the implementa-
vide a context for important themes covered during 2005 tion process and system architecture, assessed the new cata-
and 2006. Some articles may have been omitted uninten- log’s performance, and considered future directions.5 The
tionally, for which the author apologizes. authors provided detailed discussion of the Endeca platform
and its ability to provide access to a variety of formats and
concluded that the software has potential for becoming a
The Future of the Catalog and Cataloging platform for library resource discovery.
Research methods employed by students and research-
The future of libraries in general and of cataloging in par- ers and their preference for Google as a research tool was
ticular has been the focus of much of the research in recent explored in an article by Marcum.6 She addressed the future
years. Speculation about the directions that cataloging is tak- of cataloging in the Internet era and the need for improved
ing, as well as suggestions for ways to revitalize and enhance indexing and retrieval tools. She raised the question of
the catalog and retool the cataloging workforce, filled the whether detailed descriptive cataloging is justifiable in the
pages of many articles and reports in 2005 and 2006. era of massive digitization and in light of the costs involved
One of the more important contributions in this area in the creation of detailed catalog records. This is likely to
was made by Calhoun, who prepared a provocative report be an issue that will be discussed in the future.
for the LC addressing the function of the catalog.1 She Reacting to Marcum’s article, librarians from Indiana
noted that students and researchers seem to bypass the University Libraries wrote a white paper on the future of
library catalog in their quest for information. She provided cataloging at Indiana University.7 They provided an over-
detailed analysis of the current situation, options for revital- view of current trends in libraries and technical services,
izing the catalog, an assessment, and action to be considered. identified possible new roles for cataloging staff, and strate-
The first chapter of the report includes background, project gies aimed at revitalizing cataloging operations at Indiana
objective, and research methodology. Chapter 2 offers ideas University. Their well-researched and coherently organized
about the prospects of the library catalog. The appendixes report adds another dimension to the discussion of the
provide detailed analysis of the current situation, key find- OPAC. The report points to the new Google initiative aimed
ings from the literature, and structured interviews. at digitizing large parts of academic library book collections
Not all of Calhoun’s premises can be accepted at face and the impact this initiative might have on the future of
value or easily defended. When she states that “research the library catalog. This seems to be the key question that
library online catalogs reflect a small portion of the universe future library catalog planners have to take into consider-
of scholarly information,” the reader cannot help but wonder ation. Limitations of the OPAC have been a persistent topic
what that means.2 Although conventional wisdom seems to in library literature. In “My Kingdom for an OPAC,” Pace
suggest that library catalogs now represent a shrinking por- discussed limitations of the current systems and highlighted
tion of the universe of information in general, much of the activities of some companies that are taking innovative
information that is obtainable online cannot be classified as approaches with the OPAC.8
scholarly. Calhoun’s report raised many important questions A series of discussions on the American Library
and is of great value to library planners and managers. Association TechSource blog initiated by Schneider
A report prepared by the University of California addressed obvious limitations of the online catalog and
Libraries Bibliographic Services Task Force also addressed focused on the weaknesses in OPAC searching from the
ways to improve library online catalogs to meet the needs user’s point of view.9 In her first posting, she focused on
 150   El-Sherbini LRTS  52(3)

the absence of relevance ranking in most online catalogs. the potential impact of RDA on OPAC displays; applying
In a subsequent posting, Schneider provided a checklist FRBR to library catalogs; and managing OPACs.14
of some features that would benefit the OPAC. Among In her article on cataloging, Davis concentrated on the
these features were ranking, stemming, field weighting, factors that contributed to the success of online libraries in
spell checking, refining original search, support for popular the United States.15 She suggested that the  “employment
query operators, Boolean, flexible default query process- of experienced and professional librarians can also improve
ing, in-line query limiters, duplicate detection, sort flex- operations in online libraries. Moreover, libraries should
ibility, character sets, faceting, advanced search, human be incorporated with the school organization to enhance
suggestion, search logging and reports, and a well-rounded academic decision making.”16 Mann discussed the limita-
administrative interface. The third posting addressed the tions of Google Print and how these limitations make cata-
literalism of the catalog. loging and classification more important to researchers.17
Numerous changes taking place in the library world in He pointed out that searching the Internet using keywords
the last decade have had a profound effect on the library cat- does not provide scholars with the structured menus for
alog. To address the impact of these changes on the future research options that are available in the OPAC browse
of bibliographic description, the LC established a working display. Mann observed that searching Google is not the
group to examine and discuss the future of bibliographic same as doing research.
control. This working group was charged to Bair provided an important contribution to the profes-
sion of cataloging and to the body of literature on the subject
present findings on how bibliographic control and of cataloging in “Toward a Code of Ethics for Cataloging.”18
other descriptive practices can effectively support Her article should be read by anyone interested in the pro-
management of and access to library materials in fession. Bair provided an overview of publications on this
the evolving information and technology environ- subject and concluded with a proposed set of ten command-
ment, recommend ways in which the library com- ments of cataloging. This set of ethical guideposts sets out
munity can collectively move toward achieving this the responsibilities of each cataloger whose job is to provide
vision, and advise the Library of Congress on its unfettered access to information.
role and priorities.10

The working group organized the issues into three Changes in Cataloging Units and
broad categories: Uses and Users, Structures and Standards, the Role of Catalogers
and Economics and Organization. The group submitted
their report in January 2008. The future of cataloging and catalogers remained a focal
Although some library authors perceive the future of point of discussion. The very purpose of cataloging was
the catalog as radically different from its current form and under scrutiny, as was the question of whether catalogers
question the need for the standards and rules of cataloging, will continue to have a role in the future of information
Tillett pointed out that the future of the catalog is in under- organization, especially in the metadata arena. The number
standing and adapting the FRBR.11 Tillett began her concise of practicing catalogers is predicted to drop significantly in
study with the discussion of the history of FRBR and moved the next few years due to aging and retirement. In 2003,
on to its application in cataloging. She suggested that “this Wilder reported that catalogers in Association of Research
model provides a new perspective on cataloging that should Libraries (ARL) member libraries constitute one of the old-
influence the design of future systems, cataloging codes, and est categories of an aging librarian population and predicted
cataloging practices.”12 She pointed out that libraries will that one third of the catalogers working in ARL libraries in
continue to need codes and the new, revised AACR2, which the year 2000 would retire by 2010.19 Leysen and Boydston
will incorporate FRBR concepts. She described FRBR as built on Wilder’s research and conducted a survey of the
a conceptual model of the bibliographic universe that is heads of cataloging at the ARL libraries to determine the
designed to meet specific user needs. number of professional catalogers employed, their responsi-
Hillmann focused her effort on the usefulness of bilities, projections for demand for catalogers, and thoughts
cataloging and classification for research. She attempted to about their roles.20 Their study revealed that the number
explain how these tools place information within a brows- of professional catalogers remains constant or is decreasing
able hierarchy of subject concepts.13 The National Library of supported Wilder’s projections for retirements. They report-
Australia: Austrian Committee on Cataloging hosted a semi- ed that the role of catalogers in ARL libraries is changing as
nar, “Beyond the OPAC: Future Directions for Web-based catalogers become more involved in management and less
Catalogues,” with presentations and sessions on a variety of focused on cataloging activities. Leysen and Boydston sug-
topics including making RDA the new cataloging standard; gested that a serious depletion in the ranks of catalogers may
 52(3) LRTS Cataloging and Classification   151

pose a threat to the libraries’ ability to continue to provide Several researchers have addressed the inability of
access to scholarly resources, and concluded by calling for a current online catalog interfaces to find and collocate all
better recognition of the value of catalogers. versions and variations of a title and showed how FRBR can
Boydston and Leysen continued their study of catalog- solve this problem. Mimno, Crane, and Jones explored this
ers’ roles in a subsequent article in which they examined issue and showed that some FRBR research focused on the
the issue of catalogers creating metadata in terms of the creation of tools that would experiment with the model, but
cost, supply of catalogers, and the need for further train- no research addressed the implementation of FRBR in the
ing.21 Constant changes in libraries have had great effect on catalog.27 In their research, they used the Perseus Digital
staff morale and productivity. While some library staff could Library catalog to explore implications of hierarchical cata-
adapt to changes very easily, others found it difficult to cope. log records for searching and browsing. Yee addressed the
Curzon’s Managing Change: A How-to-Do-It Manual for problems that users are having when searching the OPAC
Libraries can prove a useful resource in this area.22 The first and how a better understanding of AACR2R/MARC 21
part of this book, “Managing Change Successfully,” provides authority, bibliographic, and holdings records would allow
instructions for conceptualizing the issues, planning, prepar- for FRBR-izing current OPACs using existing records.28 In
ing, making decisions, controlling resistance, implementing her study, Yee described the difficulties with combining the
changes, evolutions, and tips on how to succeed. Part 2 search by author and title because variant name informa-
provides practical guidance for dealing with technology’s tion is isolated in authority records. She also found that the
impact on libraries, applying the latest research in change catalogs cannot display the full range of relevant items that
management, and developing new strategies for coping with the library holds because of the problem of variations in
changes. items. Both problems, she said, could be addressed by mak-
ing the catalog more aware of connections between author
information and work information and between versions of
Functional Requirements for the same work.
Bibliographic Records In “FRBR: Coming Soon to Your Library,” Bowen
pointed to FRBR’s potential to improve access to library
Interest in the concept of FRBR continued to gain momen- materials and reported the intention of the Joint Steering
tum among librarians and researchers.23 Numerous articles Committee for Revision of AACR, that is assisted by the
on the subject have appeared. Gonzales provided a simple work of the Format Variation Working Group, to explore
description of FRBR and its function, and cited major ways of incorporating FRBR into the next edition of
projects that implemented FRBR, such as the Research AACR2.29 She mentioned several vendors of library systems
Libraries Group’s RedLightGreen and the OCLC Fiction that are already adding FRBR-based functionality to their
Finder.24 Tillett presented general background informa- systems. She emphasized that the FRBR concept is not
tion on the development of FRBR from 1992 to 1995 and totally new to the library community, and that most FRBR
explained the model and its impact on cataloging rules and entities and attributes are already present in library catalog
bibliographic structure.25 records. This article received the Best of LRTS Award for
One of the most significant contributions to the FRBR 2005.
literature is Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Carlyle explored the FRBR conceptual models and
Records (FRBR): Hype or Cure-All?, edited by Le Boeuf.26 focused in particular on group 1 entities (work, expression,
This collection of eighteen articles brought together many manifestation, and item), which is the most difficult aspect
debated issues related to FRBR’s concepts, ideas, and prac- of the FRBR model.30 In her discussion, she presented
tical applications. It provided an introduction to the topic definitions of the word model and a variety of examples of
and offered thorough descriptions and analyses of current model types and functions. She described models used prior
FRBR projects. The book included a chronological section to FRBR and compared them to it. The author contrib-
that explained how FRBR was developed and how it will uted an interesting point when she suggested that the most
evolve in the future; a theoretical section that reviewed important changes that FRBR may bring will occur in the
how FRBR analyzes different types of library materials; a consciousness of catalogers and in online catalog displays.
“Practical Aspects” section that examined how some systems Rapid changes, increase in electronic content, and the
actually use FRBR; and a final section that explained the difficulty with managing this content in a way that the user
XML Organic Bibliographic Information Schema project, can find, identify, select, and obtain needed information and
an alternative to FRBR, which shows that other solutions are resources, were addressed by Madison.31 She described four
possible to meet future cataloging challenges. This book is a emerging discovery tools: portals, digital image manage-
valuable source of information on FRBR and can serve as a ment systems, institutional repositories, and instructional
reference tool for various information users. or learning management systems. Madison emphasized
 152   El-Sherbini LRTS  52(3)

that the methodology and framework of FRBR are useful sets for the union catalog and sharing the resulting work sets
tools in building expanded access and content systems. She with local libraries.
stressed the need for academic libraries to cooperate with FRBR-related literature of the last two years is moving
the teaching faculty to build a new integrated platform that beyond the descriptive phase and looking at applications of
will access a variety of library resources. the FRBR principles in various environments. Much of the
As the volume of digital materials increases significant- work is centered on digital collections that exist in silos or
ly, identifying and accessing these materials becomes more are harvested from the Internet. Researchers are looking at
difficult. Weng and Mi addressed these issues in “Towards special issues, such as serial collections, foreign-language
Accessibility to Digital Cultural Materials: A FRBRized collections, and others. Most researchers expressed hope
Approach.”32 The authors emphasized the importance of about the effect FRBR will have on providing access to
providing better access to cultural collections in digital form materials, and several pointed out the need to enhance dis-
and expressed hope that applying FRBR principles in cata- plays in library catalogs.
loging these collections will provide improved access. The
National Library of Norway’s Paradigma Project is one of
several projects seeking to preserve its digital cultural heri- Metadata
tage and provide researchers with full-text Internet access.
Van Nuys et al. provided a description of this project and Metadata, though no longer new, continues to attract atten-
explained how the FRBR entity level’s work, expression, tion and to be a topic at library and information science
manifestation, and item are used in the archive design.33 conferences and in professional literature. Two publications
The project systematically harvests Norwegian digital docu- taken together can be viewed as a comprehensive metadata
ments from the Web and archives them for present and reference for catalogers. The first publication, Metadata:
future access. A Cataloger’s Primer, is a collection of articles edited by
Ercegovac reported her findings from an experiment Smiraglia.39 This volume provides a learning resource
that applied FRBR to a science fiction title, Edwin A. about metadata for catalog librarians and students. It first
Abbott’s Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, as addresses the theoretical foundations of metadata structure
represented in the OCLC WorldCat.34 The study revealed and creation, then focuses on specific metadata sche-
that applying the FRBR relationship model improved access ma: Dublin Core, Encoded Archival Description (EAD)
to the item studied here and improved its accessibility in and Encoded Archival Content (EAC), XML, Metadata
networked digital libraries. The FRBR concept has gone Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS), and how a
beyond bibliographic records to authority data. Patton cataloger would apply them. The book includes exercises
reported on the activities of the Functional Requirements that teach catalogers how to mark up a simple document in
and Numbering of Authority Records (FRANAR) working HTML. This volume is an excellent source for catalogers
group that is reviewing all the entities from group 2 and 3 who want to learn about the theory and practice of meta-
to extend the model to the authority data.35 Issues related to data. Chapters that deal with practical applications of the
FRBR and serials were addressed in several articles. Shadle metadata standards provide easily understood and applied
presented an overview of the model he used as the basis of examples. The more theoretical parts of the book offer a
entity-relationship of FRBR to model serial publications.36 framework that can be helpful in planning and manage-
Application of the FRBR model to continuing resources ment. The second publication, Metadata and its Impact on
was discussed by Jones.37 The author identified four broad Libraries, by Intner, Weihs, and Lazinger, is an excellent
areas of concern and proposed tentative solutions that could text that provides guidance to both students and librarians
make the FRBR model more suitable for use with con- for preparing metadata.40 The authors provide an introduc-
tinuing resources. Application of FRBR has found its way tory description of metadata, an overview of some schemas,
into international literature. Cho presented a study on the and information on creating bibliographic records as meta-
application of FRBR to the online public access catalog in data for electronic monographic materials and continuing
Korean libraries.38 She pointed out that a set of algorithms resources. They also explore metadata’s effect on current
to automatically convert a bibliographic database into FRBR developments in online reference, choice of metadata
is already available, but the Korean catalogs have difficulties schemes, archiving and digital preservation, professional
with authority records. This makes automatic conversion education, and future innovations. Samples of bibliographic
impossible. Cho presented a method for extracting work records as metadata and exercises with answer keys for
sets from the Korean union catalog using a semiautomatic practice are included.
mechanism and proposed methods to allow local libraries to Several articles covered general aspects of metadata.
apply FRBR to their own OPAC using work sets that result Coyle’s “Understanding Metadata and its Purpose” defined
from the union catalog. She proposed using the cluster work metadata and discussed XML and Resource Description
 52(3) LRTS Cataloging and Classification   153

Framework.41 The author looked at metadata for document- pros and cons of folksonomies. Her study revealed that
like objects and introduced the Dublin Core, Metadata user-generated metadata offered flexibility, but was too
Object Description Standard (MODS), and METS. She also varied to provide permanent solutions to the challenges
discussed the meaning of metadata for library cataloging. of image indexing. Along with Fox and other authors cited
In her conclusion, Coyle suggested that metadata is devoid here, Matusiak proposed a combined use of informal
of the rigorous standards that characterize cataloging and social tagging with more structured controlled vocabular-
that in time it may evolve into real cataloging. Chopey pre- ies. Cantara introduced Simple Knowledge Organisation
sented an introduction to the purpose of metadata and how System (SKOS) Core, a new encoding standard for devel-
it has developed.42 He discussed a wide variety of elements oping semantically rich controlled vocabularies that will
of the data delivery process from the point of view of their enhance the searching of digital content.48 SKOS is still a
impact on data retrieval. He offered a set of proposals for work in progress but promises to offer searching flexibility
the steps needed to plan and implement metadata strate- for specific user communities. It offers semantic cluster
gies that would lead to effective resource discovery in a searching capability that goes beyond the keyword and con-
local digital repository. Beall provided a different opinion of trolled vocabulary searches.
metadata and its applications in “The Death of Metadata.”43
He expressed his concerns about the number of metadata Metadata Applications
schemes that are being created and implemented, and how
sharing these standards among professional communities Many metadata schemas were created to meet specific
is becoming increasingly difficult. He emphasized that the needs or for a specific community. Several articles and
implementation of the MARC format in libraries has been reports were published in 2005 and 2006 on metadata
the most successful metadata implementation in history. applications. The University of Pennsylvania Library and
He suggested that MARC is the established comprehensive the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit at Cambridge
metadata standard that has withstood the test of time and is University Library in England started a project to digitize
the metadata schema of the future. The theme of enhanced their joint holdings of manuscript fragments from the Cairo
metadata becoming more like traditional cataloging is echoed Genizah. Their goal was to create an online catalog and an
in Gorman’s keynote address to the Canadian Metadata image database for this collection. A report by Lerner and
Forum in 2005.44 Gorman expressed skepticism about the Jerchower described the project, how the staff developed
usefulness of existing metadata schemes and suggested that preliminary guidelines for standardized descriptive meta-
controlled vocabularies and detailed designators will have to data, and why they adopted MARC tagging.49
become part of metadata to make it more effective. Westbrook et al. described the creation of the Union
Rapid growth of electronic resources over the past Catalog for Art Images (UCAI, a centrally managed data-
decade has been accompanied by much development and base of art image metadata) and the ARTstor project (a cen-
application of metadata schemas. Following the release trally managed database of art images), two projects funded
of the draft Guidance on the Structure, Content, and by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and underway at the
Application of Metadata Records for Digital Resources University of California at San Diego.50 The aim of UCAI is
and Collections in 2003 by the International Federation of to automate processes that will facilitate interoperability in
Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Cataloguing the union catalog.
Section Working Group on the Use of Metadata Schemas, Banush, Kurth, and Pajerek described Cornell University
Howarth discussed responses to the draft and outlined next Library’s largely automated method for providing title-level
steps taken by the working group.45 Howarth reported that catalog access to electronic journals made available through
most of the respondents rejected the concept of the “Core aggregator packages.51 This approach to e-journal cataloging
of Cores” that was proposed by the IFLA group. They bypasses the vendor record option in favor of the creation
considered it a watered-down version of Dublin Core and of a separate bibliographic record for each version of the
redundant at best. With the reinstitution of the IFLA group, e-journal. They used externally supplied metadata to cre-
the work of developing core metadata sets will continue. ate a brief bibliographic record. The authors cautioned
Opening Web content to automated classification using that Cornell’s solution may not be a universally acceptable
metadata in the context of library groupware or portals was answer for all libraries.
the thesis of an article by Fox.46 Fox pointed to the emerg- Abe and Greenberg analyzed resource authors’ use of
ing user-developed taxonomies—known as folksonomies— a metadata-creation application at the National Institute for
and their potential usefulness when applied in conjunction Environmental Health Sciences.52 They provided insight
with traditional controlled vocabularies. Matusiak explored into how resource authors approach metadata software
the use of social classification in describing digital collec- and studied how interface design can encourage interest in
tions.47 Citing examples such as Flickr, she studied the metadata creation among resource authors.
 154   El-Sherbini LRTS  52(3)

MARC 21 and XML that the general order of title, edition, and publications have
been stable throughout the period. Physical description has
The MARC standard remains an important tool for encod- undergone many changes, especially in relation to the title
ing bibliographic data. The LC’s Network Development page as a source of information. Bowman pointed out other
and MARC Standards Office is developing a framework for problems related to the copyright date and multiple places
working with MARC 21 data in an XML environment. This of publications that need to be solved, and concluded that
framework is intended to be flexible and extensible to allow knowing what was done in the past is important to avoid
libraries to use MARC data in ways specific to their needs. making the same mistakes.
The LC Web site (www.loc.gov/standards/marcxml) on During 2005 and 2006, suggestions and proposals were
MARC 21 and XML schema provides valuable information introduced to revise parts of the AACR2 to accommodate
about the MARC XML architecture; MARC XML schema certain situations and to eliminate confusion and redundan-
and documentation, examples, tools and utilities; MARC cies in the record-retrieval process. Procházka discussed a
Document Type Definition, presentations; and related 1994 rule interpretation issued by LC that directed catalog-
XML formats. ers how to establish uniform titles for choreographic materi-
Several conferences and workshops addressed using als.57 He explored the value of these rules, their difference
MARC 21 with XML. A major meeting devoted to this topic from prior rules, and the origins of the concept behind the
was held at the World Library and Information Congress in rules. Hider and Turner investigated AACR2’s special rules
Oslo in 2005. Papers from the congress included a detailed that apply to personal name headings in certain foreign lan-
report on the need for MARC/XML to support search and guages (rules 22.21–22.28).58 Their study discussed four of
retrieval protocols presented by Taylor and Didcmeiss; a these rules that pertain to Indonesian, Malay, and Thai name
discussion on the principles of XML and its advantages records contributed to the Australian National Bibliographic
for bibliographic data; a description of a parallel schema Database. Hider and Turner conducted a survey and found
to XML that was developed by the Center for Computer that because of the difficulty of the rules, many of these
Technologies of the Ural State University at Ekaterinburg, headings were generated without consulting them. The
presented by Skvortsov, Pashkova, and Zhlobinskaya; authors recommended that these rules be dropped and that
Carvalho’s presentation on the full power of XML and its rules in this chapter be revised to be even more general.
use of style sheets to convert XML documents to other To eliminate redundant entries in bibliographic records,
formats; and McCallum’s report reviewing the development which will help users find resources by “heads of state (etc.)”
of an XML schema for MARC 21 and the MARC/XML through the authority structure of the catalog, Jin suggested
tool kit of transformations.53 McCallum cited examples of that AACR2 21.4D1 and 21.4D3 rules be revised to allow
the successful implementation of MARC/XML that support entering only one name in the same bibliographic record.59
the notion of MARC/XML being a tool that makes use of Important changes to AACR2 have been suggested and
standards while offering flexibility necessary to deal with the introduced in the last few years. These changes are paving
demands of modern information retrieval mechanisms. the way for the introduction of Resource Description and
Access, which will replace the AACR.

Cataloging Tools and Standards Resource Description and Access

Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules The first edition of AACR2 was published in 1978, and the
review process managed by the Joint Steering Committee
An update of AACR2 was published in 2005.54 The update for the Revision of AACR (JSC) has produced many updates
includes instructions for capitalization of single letters used and revisions. AACR2 was designed for an environment
to represent words, and for multiple-letter prefixes in com- dominated by the card catalog, an environment that has
pound terms; changes arising from the preparation of the changed significantly over the years. The International
new edition of Cartographic Materials and a checklist of Conference on the Principles and Future Development of
changes.55 AACR, held in Toronto in 1997, identified substantive prob-
AACR2 continued as a topic of interest in 2005 and lems with AACR2. Although the updates issued in the years
2006 library literature. Bowman presented a study of the following that conference addressed some of these prob-
development of description in cataloging from a historical lems, a fundamental rethinking of the code was required
development point of view, before International Standard to respond fully to the challenges and opportunities of the
Bibliographic Description (ISBD).56 She compared 150 digital world.
years of Anglo-American cataloguing codes and practices As part of its strategic plan, JSC is working toward a new
for description to the ISBD. The author’s findings suggest edition of AACR (scheduled for publication in the spring of
 52(3) LRTS Cataloging and Classification   155

2009) that will carry the name Resource Description and of the limitation, inflexibility, inadequate syntactic structure,
Access (RDA). In December 2004, a draft of part 1 of currency or bias of the headings, and lack of specificity in
AACR3 (as it was then called) was made available to constit- the subject-headings list.
uencies for review. At the April 2005 meeting, in response Many leaders in the library field have suggested that
to this constituency review, the JSC and Committee of subject keyword searching can be more effective than using
Principals decided to take a different approach to the new controlled vocabulary such as LCSH. Debate continues
edition. As part of this, the decision was made to use a new about the viability of replacing the controlled vocabulary
working title: RDA: Resource Description and Access.60 (LCSH) used in the library catalog by subject keywords.
The library community anxiously awaits the new rules, Gross and Taylor conducted research on what proportion of
and predictions and speculations about the new codes have records retrieved by keyword searching has a keyword only
already begun. Medeiros initiated a discussion about the in a subject heading field and thus would not be retrieved
goals of RDA and described its potential uses by a large com- if no subject headings were present.67 The study found that
munity of information providers.61 The author posed impor- if no LC subject headings were assigned to catalog records
tant questions about the ability of RDA to meet its objectives, and searchers were to rely on keyword searches alone, more
as stated by the JSC. Practical problems that are likely to than one third of the records could not be retrieved. In some
arise with implementation of the RDA were addressed by cases, these numbers would be even higher. Other advantag-
Intner, who pointed out that the main problems with RDA es of using controlled vocabulary, such as cross-referencing
are that its terms are not easily understood (although it is and the reduction of irrelevant hits, would be lost as well.
intended to simplify cataloging practice) and that catalogers Fischer collected and analyzed twelve years of literature
may not be inclined to accept its complexities without some on LCSH published from 1990 to 2001.68 She pointed out
assurance that it can become a successful alternative to cur- that LCSH has been consistently criticized over the last six
rent practice.62 Hillmann also expressed her concerns about decades, and the critics insist that LCSH must become more
RDA, particularly in the areas of transcription and specified flexible and easier to use. But the consensus is that no better
sources of information, reliance on notes, and multiple ver- or more comprehensive controlled vocabulary tool exists.
sions.63 Weiss and Larkin provided a context for this new In 1971, Berman published Prejudices and Antipathies:
standard and explained the work that has been done by the A Tract on the LC Subject Heads Concerning People, in
JSC.64 They covered the rationale behind the new standard, which he focused on the issue of biased subject headings
the process for development of a first draft, reaction to that in LCSH.69 Some of Berman’s recommendations and pro-
draft, and the direction of the JSC’s work. posals for change were implemented while others were
Most of what has been written about RDA falls into rejected. Knowlton’s article sums up Berman’s recommen-
the broad categories of prediction or general information dations and includes a compilation of all of his predecessor’s
and updates. As the official release of the new code draws suggestions, including the resulting changes in LCSH.70 In
near, many more articles on the implementation and various addition, the author included a brief analysis of the remain-
aspects of the RDA can be expected. ing areas of bias.
Ashman took on the topic of LC subject headings and
their use in the online catalog after they were changed.71
Library of Congress Subject Headings He examined bibliographic records from academic librar-
ies’ online catalogs to determine whether old subject
Chan’s Library of Congress Subject Headings: Principles heading were in use after they were changed by LC. His
and Application, 4th ed., was published in 2005 and covered study revealed that the old headings were regularly found
important changes since the previous edition.65 This publica- in library catalogs even after the examined libraries had
tion remains a major tool for teaching LC subject headings. started to use the new replacement headings. According to
The Library of Congress Cataloging Distribution Service the author, libraries do not check and replace superseded
issued two updates: Library of Congress Subject Headings, subject headings in all of their records.
29th ed. Free-floating Subdivisions: An Alphabetical Index, Many studies on LSCH pointed out that the syntax of
18th ed., was issued in 2006.66 the schema is complex and requires highly skilled catalogers
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) remains to assign subject headings. To make the schema easy to use
a standard in academic libraries, and many public and spe- and understand, the OCLC initiated the development of
cial libraries. This is reflected in substantial research that Faceted Application of Subject Terminology (FAST). The
continues to be published on LCSH and other forms of new schema is based on the LSCH vocabulary. Wolfe report-
subject and keyword access. Library practitioners continue ed on the Association for Library Collections and Technical
to apply LSCH subject headings to their materials, but this Services (ALCTS) Cataloging and Classification Section
commitment to the old standard is facing criticism because Forum held to discuss the OCLC FAST initiative.72 ALCTS
 156   El-Sherbini LRTS  52(3)

and its sections continue to play a vital role in the ongoing received formal training perform subject cataloging differ-
discussion of the subject-headings issues. The Cataloging ently from their trained colleagues.
and Classification Section Subject Analysis Committee (SAC)
“has established a subcommittee to evaluate the significance
of FAST subject headings to the library community based on Classification Schema
the users’ perspective.”73 Miller, Olson, and Layne reported
on the important work the Subject Analysis Committee has Dewey Decimal Classification
done on subject access and controlled vocabularies. SAC DDC, the world’s most widely used library classification sys-
subcommittees have worked for nearly ten years on subject tem, received attention in several articles in 2005 and 2006.
access indexing and display issues; their findings and recom- These publications analyzed various aspects of the schema.
mendations were analyzed by the authors.74 Dewey Decimal Classification, 22nd Edition: A Study
Research on issues surrounding LCSH continues and Manual and Number Building Guide is a comprehensive
librarians are identifying solutions to a variety of problems. guide to the 22nd edition changes by Scott.82 This mono-
Denda discussed the increasing number of interdisciplinary graph includes an introductory chapter, a detailed summary
fields in higher education and the need to identify relation- of the DDC’s publication history, controversial editions, and
ships within them.75 The author used the example of women’s popular additions, and can serve as a useful guide for train-
studies to examine the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of
ing students and classifiers.
LCSH in satisfying the needs of an interdisciplinary research-
A 2006 double issue of Cataloging and Classification
er. Denda concluded that libraries would do well to provide
Quarterly, edited by Mitchell and Vizine-Goetz, was devot-
tools that would better match the user and the resources.
ed to DDC.83 Papers in this special issue explored the his-
Anderson and Hofmann argued in favor of implement- tory of DDC, its application internationally, teaching DDC,
ing a fully faceted syntax approach as a solution to the main users’ browsing behavior in a DDC Web service, using
problems facing LSCH.76 The authors demonstrated how DDC to organize Web resources, mapping terminologies to
this might be accomplished and how the new syntax could classification system, Dewey Browser, and other topics. It is
be integrated with existing headings. Jin explored ways an excellent compilation of articles for general readers and
to help users efficiently access works through the OPAC scholars who are exploring current issues and new develop-
when corporate bodies have changed names over time, and ment of DDC.
recommended that catalogers follow the rules outlined in Some authors also considered the use of DDC in Europe
Library of Congress Subject Headings: CSH: Principles of and elsewhere. Landry described the work of three national
Structure and Policies for Application to deal with issues libraries (Switzerland, Germany, and Austria) to adopt and
concerning corporate name changes.77 Assigning subject use DDC to provide access to their national bibliographies
headings to theses and dissertations can be a challenge to and their approach to publish the German language ver-
catalogers because they usually represent a very specific sion of DDC in 2006.84 Dal Porto and Marchitelli analyzed
concept or subject. Hoover presented a guide for beginning three blogs (Biblioatipici, Letture, and Marchitelli’s) to
catalogers with humanities or social sciences backgrounds.78 demonstrate that different contents may be classified using
This guide will help catalogers with assigning subject head- the appropriate scheme.85 The authors determined that
ings to theses and dissertations on the basis of LSCH. DDC is also a suitable classification scheme for Web-based
Applying a form or genre to nonprint media has resources.
attracted attention from scholars. Ho summarized a discus- The question of why libraries still use Dewey was the
sion about applying form or genre headings to foreign films focus of an article by Shorten, Seikel, and Ahrberg.86 The
that occurred on two electronic discussion lists (AUTOCAT authors explained why libraries in the 1960s and 1970s were
and OLAC) and described the local policy at Texas A&M reclassifying their collections from DDC to the LCC. They
University Libraries.79 Miller reported on a workshop, surveyed those academic libraries still using DDC and asked
Improving Access to Audio-Visual Materials by Using if reclassification is something they had considered or were
Genre/Form Terms, held at the 2004 Online Audio-Visual considering. Some of these academic libraries reported that
Catalogers Conference, in Montreal, Quebec.80 they would convert to LCC and that the patrons do not have
Assigning subject headings is not simple. In some cases, any preferences over which classification systems are being
the day-to-day process of subject cataloging does not cor- used by the library.
respond entirely to theoretical descriptions in textbooks and
international standards. Sauperl compared the practice of Library of Congress Classification
assigning subject headings by the Slovenian Public Library
catalogers to the ones assigned by the American catalogers.81 In 2005 and 2006, LC updated several LCC schedules:
She addressed the issue of whether catalogers who have not G Geography, Maps, Anthropology, Recreation (2005); H
 52(3) LRTS Cataloging and Classification   157

Social Science (2005); J Political Science (2006); K Law trol plays in cataloging. His decision to gather current infor-
in general (2005); K Law Tables (2005); KF Law of the mation through the survey was prompted in part by the need
United States (2005); L Education (2005); P–PZ Tables for to update existing scholarship and to fill the gaps in author-
Language and Literature (2006); PB–PH Modern European ity-control research. Wolverton’s “Becoming an Authority
Languages (2005); PJ–PK Oriental Philology and Literature, Control: An Annotated Bibliography of Resources” appeared
Indo-Iranian Philology and Literature (2005); PL–PM in 2006.93 The publication is an annotated bibliography that
Languages of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania, Hyperborean, includes monographs, articles and papers, electronic discus-
India, and Artificial Languages (2006); PR–PS–PZ English sion groups, and Web sites related to professional conferenc-
and American Literature, Juvenile Belles Letters (2005); PT es, training, and a discussion of current trends and expected
German, Dutch, and Scandinavian Literature (2005); and Z future developments in authority control.94 This bibliography
Bibliography (2005).87 is a very useful educational tool for librarians and libraries.
Taylor published the tenth edition of Introduction to Description of authority control processing and mea-
Cataloging and Classification.88 It incorporates revision to suring its successes was another topic of interest. Simpson
AACR2, enhancements to MARC 21, DDC, LCC, LCSH, and Williams described the University of Florida’s experi-
and Series Subject Headings. The glossary, bibliography, ence with the Name Authorities Cooperative (NACO)
and all chapters have been revised. Examples throughout program.94 They reported how their institution increased
the text help illustrate the rules and the concepts. This its contribution to the national authority database by man-
publication remains a classic resource on cataloging and aging and refocusing the objectives of the program. They
classification. concluded with ten useful tips and suggestions for libraries
To determine the level of consistency of LCC class num- to consider as they plan to grow their NACO contributions.
bers within and across American libraries, Subrahmanyam Weber, Steely, and Hinchcliff described the implementa-
examined how they were assigned in fifty-two American tion of a grant-funded authority control project in the
library systems.89 Her study found an unexpectedly high Keystone Library Network, an eighteen-member library
level of consistency, and the author provided some expla- consortium in Pennsylvania.95 The authors described in
nation for the inconsistencies. She concluded her article detail the grant process and the authority control project.
with a recommendation for libraries to use the preferred Topics covered included staffing and staff training as well
class number and an alternate class number for local library as database maintenance.
information. Subrahmanyam asserted that this approach Another contribution to the topic of consortial author-
would provide enriched subject access through local and ity projects was made by Larmore, who reported on a new
union catalogs. Program for Cooperative Cataloging NACO funnel project
Chandler and LeBlanc described the Columbia in four academic libraries and one state library in South
University project aimed at using the LCC data from their Dakota.96 A funnel project is a group of libraries that have
catalog to provide subject access to the library’s electronic joined together to contribute authority records to the nation-
resources using their newly developed Hierarchical Interface al authority file. In a funnel project, one institution serves as
to LC Classification (HILCC).90 They also looked at the pos- coordinator, and LC deals solely with this coordinator, who
sibility of using the Columbia HILCC scheme as developed is then responsible for disseminating information to all the
(or in modified form) to create a virtual undergraduate funnel participants. The desire to start the North Dakota
print collection outside the context of the traditional online project originated from the South Dakota State Library,
catalog. Wartzok and Hernandez explained the complexity where cataloging staff wanted training on authority record
of reclassifying official records of the United Nations in the creation in order to create and update authority records for
Green Library at Florida International University.91 The state agency names. The article details the process of creat-
project’s purpose was to unify the collection under one LC ing a funnel project and the staff-training process.
class (JZ). Hickey, Toves, and O’Neill worked with the NACO
authority files to study the implementations of NACO nor-
malization rules.97 They found numerous inconsistencies
Authority Control that resulted from ambiguities in the rules. After studying
causes of the inconsistencies, the authors created a publicly
Authority control is a challenging aspect of cataloging. available NACO Normalization Testbed that will assist the
Wolverton published two articles on authority control. His community in the consistent implementation of normaliza-
“Authority Control in Academic Libraries in the United tion rules.
States: A Survey” reported on a survey demonstrating that Extending the FRBR concept to authorities was dis-
authority control was valued and used by most respondents.92 cussed in Patton’s update on the work of the IFLA Working
Wolverton recognized the important role that authority con- Group on Functional Requirements and Numbering of
 158   El-Sherbini LRTS  52(3)

Authority Records.98 Patton provided an updated descrip- trol systems to clean up existing databases, provide ongoing
tion of the entity-relationship model being developed by authority control for current cataloging, and keep databases
the working group to extend the FRBR model to cover synchronized with changes in headings. As libraries make
authority data. Miller explored the use of XML Organic the decision to rely on vendor services for authority con-
Bibliographic Information Schema (XOBIS), which falls trol, they must be aware of the limits of vendor-provided
somewhere between the complexities of MARC and the service and the responsibility of the library itself. Zhu and
simplicity of the Dublin Core.99 XOBIS is designed to Seggern discussed both realistic and unrealistic expectations
reorganize bibliographic and authority data elements into a for vendor-supplied authority control.104 Van Pulis reported
single, integrated structure. findings regarding authority records for name headings in
relation to vendor processing of bibliographic records and
Authority Control and Multiscripts subsequent catalog.105 She examined the “first time use”
of name headings in the context of outsourced authorities
Library users have experienced difficulties with searching processing and NACO participation.
the online catalog for materials written in nonroman scripts.
Catalogs with only romanized access points are not adequate Subject Authority Control
for those users. The development of the Unicode Standard
allowed users to search by the original script rather than the Subject authority headings are becoming more important
romanization. The Unicode Standard is a global character in the Internet environment. Subject authority control is
set for worldwide computing covering the major modern intended to help users browse easily and more efficiently
scripts of the world as well as the classical forms of Greek, using their terminology to the controlled vocabulary used
Sanskrit, and Pali. Aliprand discussed the use of Unicode in the system. The consistency and maintenance of the sub-
in developing library systems with multiscript capability.100 ject authority file is a concern. After analyzing key aspects
This development would then offer the prospect of multi- of FRBR and FRANAR models, Delsey suggested ways of
script authority records. She addressed restrictions on the approaching the refinement and extension of the models.106
structure and content of a MARC 21 authority record and Lei Zeng discussed global sharing of subject access and sub-
described alternative structures containing languages writ- ject authority data that have been used in information orga-
ten in nonroman scripts. nization, storage, and access in libraries and archives.107
Other studies addressed the issues of using the lan- The Subject Authority Cooperative (SACO) program
guage scripts in the LC NACO authority file and enhanc- is a component of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging
ing authority records with nonoman scripts. In her article (PCC). Cristan reported on SACO activities in Latin
on the use of other scripts in LC’s Name Authority File America and provided a brief history and background of the
(NAF), Lerner examined the options of using Hebrew PCC and the SACO program and participation in SACO.108
script in MARC 21 authority records, and considered the She concluded with an update on the current activities
prospect for cooperative work between American and taking place in Mexico in the development of a bilingual
Israeli libraries.101 subject headings list based on LCSH.
Khairy described the Bibliotheca Alexandrina meth-
ods of authority control of Arabic old names and creating
a bi-script Arabic–roman file using the VTLS/VIRTUA Recruitment and Training of Catalogers
integrated library system as a first step toward cooperative
projects involving union catalogs and authority files.102 The Recruiting and training of cataloging staff remains a topic
topic of authority control for foreign corporate authors was of interest. Anderson and Shelton provided a sample test
addressed by Jin, who conducted a study that compared to help the employers with successfully screening and hir-
forms of corporate entries in LC NAF and the Web.103 The ing support staff for cataloging positions.109 Anthony and
study showed that more than 70 percent of names in LC Garbs studied the results of recruiting efforts of academic
NAF created between 1998 and 2002 exactly matched cor- libraries to fill cataloger positions.110 The authors created
porate names as they appeared on the Web. and distributed a survey to college and research libraries
that advertised for full-time cataloging positions between
Vendor-supplied Authority Records July 2000 and July 2002 to determine outcomes of the hir-
ing efforts. The survey revealed that libraries continued to
Authority control is a time consuming and labor intensive experience difficulties recruiting catalogers for academic
process for libraries. Several studies have shown that out- libraries. To determine common aspects of employer’s
sourcing authority work is less expensive than doing the expectations, Hall-Ellis conducted two studies related to
work in house. Libraries are using automated authority con- recruiting and hiring. In her first paper, she studied 150
 52(3) LRTS Cataloging and Classification   159

entry-level cataloger-position announcements published challenges of training newly hired catalogers: library and
in American Libraries and posted by AutoCat and the information science programs, the increased complexity of
Colorado State Library during a three-year period.113 cataloging, and the capacity of libraries to carry out train-
She identified employers’ expectations and requirements ing.118 She described possible approaches to a solution. In
among all types of libraries. The second study looks at another article, Hill discussed the characteristics and skills
employer expectations of filling technical service manage- that catalogers will need in the area of acquiring and orga-
rial positions.112 The study revealed that employers expect nizing electronic resources and applying metadata stan-
prospective managers to have experience in cataloging, dards, and how the catalogers will acquire these skills.119
classification, authority control, acquisitions, supervisory Hider studied how the catalogers and metadata specialists
and training abilities, bibliographic control tasks, technical acquire their continuing professional education.120 His
understandings, and familiarities with a theoretical basis for study showed that catalogers are undertaking a broad range
organization technical skills (bibliographic utilities, tools) of activities. They indicate a preference for short cataloging
and nonlibrary specific competencies. courses, but also are looking for more formal and long-term
In another survey, Hristov investigated current trends programs to upgrade their skills and knowledge in both
among the ARL member libraries in cross-training catalog- traditional and nontraditional cataloging. Many catalogers
ers to provide reference services.115 Her research revealed expect their employers to provide support for advancing
that approximately one third of ARL libraries are engaging their careers.
in cross-training. She reported perceptions that cross-train-
ing can enhance the services libraries provide; but thought-
ful planning and coordination between technical services Summary
and reference were recommended to ensure the success of
the program. Analysis of the cataloging and classification literature of
DeZelar-Tiedman, Camden, and Uhl reported on a 2005 and 2006 showed the future of catalog and cataloging
project to address concerns regarding recruiting catalog- standards to be a persistent topic. Dissatisfaction with the
ers into professional librarian positions.114 They traced the current OPAC systems and their functionality was clearly
development of a mentoring program for aspiring catalogers, expressed. The potential of the FRBR model to improve
sponsored and administered by the ALCTS Cataloging and bibliographic access and OPAC’s display continue to be a
Classification Section Committee on Education, Training, hope and libraries are experimenting with the model. Issues
and Recruitment for Cataloging. The authors provided about applying current cataloging tools and standards were
background information on the program as well as results raised, and this continues to be an area of concern. The role
and an assessment on the pilot programs. of catalogers is still in transition, and research in this area
Many libraries use non-MLS professionals to perform demonstrated a definite shift from performing cataloging to
cataloging. Developing materials to help train new catalog- a greater focus on management and creating metadata.
ers, whether they are librarians, paraprofessional, or student The review of authority control literature reveals impor-
assistants, is increasingly important. The second edition tant recent contributions to the field. Case studies and
of Ferguson’s MARC/AACR2/Authority Control Tagging: survey-based articles provide valuable data on current prac-
A Blitz Cataloging Workbook can be used when teaching tice. Authority control for multiple scripts and subject head-
and training new catalogers.115 This book offers a simplified ings and the development of the Unicode Standard were
presentation of cataloging rules with practical examples in the theme of several works. Ability to browse in nonroman
a workbook format. Unlocking the Mysteries of Cataloging: scripts continued to be important issue for Internet users.
A Workbook of Examples, by Haynes and Fountain, can be More studies are needed to better determine how authority
used in teaching and training new catalogers on description, records perform in the Web-based environment. Library
classification, subject analysis, and MARC 21.116 It includes scholarship also needs to address the relative importance of
a discussion of problems that arise during cataloging and authority control in general.
presents examples and exercises in a workbook format. Libraries and the cataloging community will be facing
Education for Library Cataloging: International a series of challenges in the next few years. Development
Perspectives, edited by Sun and Carter, is a collection of of RDA and changing the cataloging rules to include the
articles that examine cataloging and classification training FRBR are likely to have a profound effect on library opera-
programs around the world. 117 Library school faculty and tions. Misgivings about the functionality of RDA and the
professional librarians from Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, timing of its implementation find expression in the current
Latin America, and the Middle East presented case studies library literature.
and overviews of library and information-school programs. Library literature dealing with cataloging issues is
Hill identified three factors that contribute to the diverse and exciting to follow. The volume and qual-
 160   El-Sherbini LRTS  52(3)

ity of research encountered suggest that the community 10. Library of Congress, Working Group on the Future of
is responding quickly to the changes that are on the hori- Bibliographic Control, www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future
zon. Librarians are more critical of some of the decisions (accessed July 23, 2007).
being made, even when those decisions come from LC. 11. Barbara B. Tillett, “FRBR and Cataloging for the Future,”
Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 39, no. 3/4 (2005):
Simultaneously, case studies and surveys are examining cur-
197–205.
rent trends in libraries and seeking new and better ways to
12. Ibid., 1.
provide the library user with quality cataloging that contin- 13. Diane I. Hillmann, “Is There a Future for Cataloging?”
ues to be the backbone of effective research, be it via the Technicalities 26, no. 4 (2006): 9–10.
library catalog or the Internet. 14. National Library of Australia, Beyond the OPAC: Future
More studies on the future of the online catalog and its Directions for Web-based Catalogues, conference of the
accessibility can be expected. The library community will Australia Committee on Cataloging (Sept. 16, 2006), www.nla
continue researching cataloging and classification standards .gov.au/lis/stndrds/grps/acoc/papers2006.html (accessed July
and their applications in the current Web environment. As 23, 2007).
the cataloging community declines in numbers and catalog- 15. Jinnie Y. Davis, “How Online Libraries Can Succeed,”
ing and classification training remains in short supply, some Library Issues 27, no. 2 (Nov. 2006): 4.
16. Ibid.
thought should be given to the future of the discipline of
17. Thomas Mann, “Will Google’s Keyword Searching Eliminate
cataloging and its role in the organization of information.
the Need for LC Cataloging and Classification?” online post-
ing, Library of Congress Professional Guild—The Future of
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www.collectionscanada.ca/jsc/rda.html (accessed July 21, Mai Chan, Library of Congress Subject Headings: Principles
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63. Diane I. Hillmann, “RDA for Who?” Technicalities 26, no. 3 Discussions,” Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 40, no. 2
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64. Paul J. Weiss and Molly R. T. Larkin, “AACR3 Is Coming— 80. David Miller, “Improving Access to Audio-Visual Materials
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69. Sanford Berman, Prejudices and Antipathies: A Tract on and Flexibility of Traditional Classification Schemes Applied
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 52(3) LRTS Cataloging and Classification   163

94. Betsy Simpson and Priscilla Williams, “Growing a NACO 109. David G. Anderson and Judith M. Shelton, “Use of Work
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a NACO Funnel Project and What Is Needed to Start Your 111. Sylvia D. Hall-Ellis, “Descriptive Impressions of Entry-Level
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75–81. AutoCAT, and the Colorado State Library Jobline, 2000–2003,”
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Control,” Library Resources & Technical Services 49, no. 4 A Survey-Based Study,” Technical Services Quarterly 23, no.
(2005): 243–49. 1 (2005): 35.
101. Heidi Lerner, “Anticipating the Use of Hebrew Script in the 114. Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Beth Picknally Camden, and
LC/NACO Authority File,” Library Resources & Technical Rebecca Uhl, “Growing Our Own: Mentoring the Next
Services 50, no. 4 (2006): 252–63. Generation of Catalog Librarians,” Cataloging & Classification
102. Iman Khairy, “Authority Control of Arabic Personal Names Quarterly 43, no. 2 (2006): 19–35.
from the Classical Period at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina,” 115. Bobby Ferguson, MARC/AACR2/Authority Control Tagging:
International Cataloging & Bibliographic Control 35, no. 2 A Blitz Cataloging Workbook, 2nd ed. (Westport, Conn.:
(2006): 36–40. Libraries Unlimited, 2005).
103. Qiang Jin, “Is the Current Way of Constructing Corporate 116. Elizabeth Haynes and Joanna F. Fountain, Unlocking the
Authority Records Still Useful?” Information Technology & Mysteries of Cataloging: A Workbook of Examples (Westport,
Libraries 24, no. 2 (2005): 68–76. Conn.: Libraries Unlimited, 2005).
104. Lihong Zhu and Marilyn von Seggern, “Vendor-Supplied 117. Dajin D. Sun and Ruth C. Carter, ed., Education for Library
Authority Control: Some Realistic Expectations,” Technical Cataloging: International Perspectives (Binghamton, N.Y.:
Services Quarterly 23, no. 2 (2005): 49–65. Haworth, 2006).
105. Noelle Van Pulis, “‘First Time Use’ (FTU) Name Headings, 118. Janet Swan Hill, “Cataloging Boot Camp: The Training Issue
Authority Control, and NACO,” Library Management 27, no. for Catalogers,” paper presented at ACRL Twelfth National
8 (2006): 562–74. Conference, Apr. 7–10, 2005 Minneapolis, Minn., www.ala
106. Tom Delsey, “Modeling Subject Access: Extending the .org/ala/acrl/acrlevents/hill05.pdf (accessed July 23, 2007).
FRBR and FRANAR Conceptual Models,” Cataloging & 119. Janet Swan Hill, “Analog People for Digital Dreams: Staffing
Classification Quarterly 39, no. 3/4 (2005): 49–61. and Educational Considerations for Cataloging and Metadata
107. Marcia Lei Zeng, “Sharing and Use of Subject Authority Professionals,” Library Resources & Technical Services 49,
Data,” International Cataloging & Bibliographic Control 35, no. 1 (2005): 14–18.
no. 3 (2006): 52–54. 120. Philip Hider, “A Survey of Continuing Professional
108. Ana Lupe Cristan, “The SACO Program in Latin America,” Development Activities and Attitudes Amongst Catalogers,”
International Cataloguing and Bibliographic Control 34, no. Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 42, no. 2 (2006):
3 (2005): 54–58. 35–58.
 164   LRTS  52(3)

Provenance Evidence
in Bibliographic Records
Demonstrating the Value of Best
Practices in Special Collections
Cataloging
By M. Winslow Lundy

Noting and tracing former ownership of rare materials has been a common
cataloging practice for many years. This paper explores the value of examining
special collections materials that may not be old and rare for evidence of prov-
enance in order to provide notes and added entries pointing to former owners in
bibliographic records. This case study of a small group of mid-twentieth century
books, formerly owned by a Swiss family, demonstrates the significance of the
cataloging process in revealing information about the original owners. Building
on the bibliographic work of catalogers working with a collection of books on
mountaineering topics, the author uses the case study to show how cataloging
books as objects with a history can enable users to find new topics of research in
special collections materials.

F or special collections librarians and users of their collections, provenance is

an important aspect of the materials. In the exhibitions they mount and in the
classes they teach, many special collections librarians often highlight evidence of
previous ownership of materials in their collections. In addition to research inter-
ests in the content of rare books, scholars working in special collections also may
focus on the materials as objects and the evidences of provenance they reveal.
While the Oxford English Dictionary’s first general definition of provenance is
“the fact of coming from some particular source or quarter; origin; derivation,”
the second is more specific to materials in library or museum collections: “The
history or pedigree of a work of art, manuscript, rare book, etc.; concr., a record
of the ultimate derivation and passage of an item through its various owners.”1
Carter likewise defines provenance as “the pedigree of a book’s previous own-
ership” and notes that “the evidences of [a book’s] earlier history are always of
interest (documentary or sentimental) and sometimes of importance.”2 The prov-
enance of a particular work of art or printed work can be verified in several ways:
authenticating documentation may accompany the object, catalogs or lists may
include entries confirming the names of former owners, or the work itself may
M. Winslow Lundy (windy.lundy@
colorado.edu) is Assistant Professor and contain the evidence of former ownership.
Head of Monographic Cataloging, Provenance has significance for special collections and the users of special
University of Colorado at Boulder
collections for a number of reasons: (1) former ownership may make the book
Libraries.
or object more valuable or important to users and to the holding institution; (2)
Submitted March 9, 2007; tentatively
knowledge of the content of a former owner’s collection may bring insight to
accepted pending revision June 19,
2007; revised and resubmitted November the intellectual interests and pursuits of a particular person; and (3) historians
9, 2007, and accepted for publication. of the book and bibliographers often have a keen interest in the personal librar-
 52(3) LRTS Provenance Evidence in Bibliographic Records   165

ies of persons well known in their fields—for example, als found subsequent adoption in the MARC bibliographic
authors, politicians, or scientists, particularly those who format. The IRLA report provided significant evidence
lived in an earlier age. In his comprehensive reference work, that, while many libraries were adopting the new edition of
Provenance Research in Book History, Pearson categorized the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules and were availing
and discussed the various types of provenance evidence themselves of the online shared-cataloging opportunities
and presented the bibliographical resources and indexes of the bibliographic databases, special-collections librarians
that support scholarly research on private libraries from the were aware of the need to establish MARC standards that
fifteenth to the early nineteenth century.3 would accommodate their special cataloging needs. They
To keep a record of the characteristics denoting value desired a way to describe and provide access not only to
and significance and to facilitate the study of former owner- the content of their materials but also to the materials as
ship, catalogers of rare materials routinely note the prov- exemplars of various genres and types of objects and to
enance evidence in books they catalog and many provide the physical history of an individual copy subsequent to
added entries for the previous owners of the materials. The its publication. Several years after the IRLA report, the
physical evidence of former ownership includes autographs Library of Congress issued a specialized cataloging manual
or annotations, stamped names, bookplates, book labels, and for rare materials, Bibliographic Description of Rare Books
presentation inscriptions, among others. The uniqueness of (BDRB).7 A second edition was published in 1991 under
provenance evidence makes it paramount for catalogers to the title Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Books (DCRB).8
note the names of former owners to establish the relation- Both included rules for noting copy-specific information:
ship of other materials belonging to the same person or fam- BDRB 7C18 and DCRB 7C18.
ily. A recent posting to the rare books list Exlibris-L asked The current cataloging standards for description and
for information concerning any books libraries currently access for both general and rare materials are Anglo-American
hold with provenance indicating that the books belonged Cataloguing Rules, 2nd edition, 2002 revision (AACR2),
to the Sidney family of Penshurst Place, Kent, beginning in ISBD(A): International Standard Bibliographic Description
the sixteenth century.4 For librarians to be able to respond to of Older Monographic Publications (Antiquarian), and the
such a message, provenance information must be searchable recently published Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials
in their catalogs, whether legacy files or online catalogs. (Books) (DCRM(B)).9 Specific rules in the three standards
Over time, cataloging manuals and standards have that instruct in the description of copy-specific information
developed provisions for the treatment of provenance in are found in AACR2 1.7B20, 2.7B20, and 2.18F1; ISBD(A)
the cataloging record. In the final chapter of his manual 7.9; and DCRM(B) 7B19.2. AACR2 chapters 22 and 24 give
on cataloging rare books, Dunkin included a section on the provisions for creating headings for personal and corporate
condition and history of a book and mentioned that “the his- names. AACR2 is in the process of being revised; DCRM(B)
tory of a book may be important if a noted former owner is replaces its predecessor, DCRB. Although the revision
involved.”5 Dunkin’s manual was written in the days when process is not complete, RDA: Resource Description and
library catalogs were still in card form. In addition to bib- Access, the successor to AACR2, will include instructions for
liographic files in their card catalogs, rare book and special noting provenance information. At the time of the writing
collections departments maintained many separate files—for of this paper, RDA part A, rule 2.15, labeled “Custodial his-
example, files for former owners, donors, bookplates, bind- tory,” is slated for making those provisions.10 DCRM(B) rule
ers, signatures, or authors’ presentation copies. Many of 7B19.2 includes provisions for noting provenance.
those legacy paper files that indexed local or copy-specific The MARC bibliographic format defines several stan-
information are still the only form of access to former owner- dard fields for use by catalogers in recording data relevant to
ship of materials that have been held by institutions for many provenance information.11 Fields 541 and 561 are note fields
years. Such is the case in the libraries in which the author of that contain information concerning the most recent source
this paper has worked. Even if the materials represented in of acquisition and provenance history. In addition, MARC
card catalogs have enjoyed retrospective conversion and are field 590 is reserved as a note field for local and copy-
represented in the online environment, the legacy files in specific information, which may include provenance informa-
special catalogs may not have been given the same treatment tion—for example, “Author’s presentation copy” or “Special
as the bibliographic elements of the paper files. Collections copy, signed by Benjamin Franklin.” For librar-
In 1979, an ad hoc committee of the Independent ies that use the MARC holdings format, field 852—which
Research Libraries Association (IRLA) submitted a report can be embedded in the bibliographic record—provides
proposing a number of new Machine-Readable Cataloging an alternative for recording provenance information. Field
(MARC) fields to enable catalogers to record information of 852 contains information that identifies the holding library,
significance for rare and special materials, including copy- location, and copy-specific information for individual copies.
specific and provenance information.6 Most of the propos- The public note subfield z ($z) may contain a free text state-
 166   Lundy LRTS  52(3)

ment such as “Signed by the author” or “With signature of local practice worked for individual libraries as it had done
[former owner]” to indicate provenance.12 in special card files, local definitions were ultimately not
Added entries for personal and corporate names occur sharable among many libraries in the online environment.
in bibliographic fields 700 and 710, respectively. A relator He concluded his article with a discussion of the standards
term or code explaining the relationship of the person or that were developed for rare-book cataloging—(ISBD(A),
corporate body to the material may be used at the end of cataloging rules developed for the English Short-Title
the heading in $e (relator term) or $4 (relator code), for Catalogue project, and BDRB)—and the proposals in the
example: IRLA report that addressed the need for more specialized
MARC fields for special-collections cataloging.
700 1_ Dickens, Charles, $d 1812–1870, $e In two articles in the 1980s, Davis discussed the develop-
former owner ment of rare book cataloging standards.16 In his 1987 paper,
700 1_ Dickens, Charles, $d 1812–1870, $4 fmo he noted the difficulties of sharing copy-specific informa-
tion in the large bibliographic databases, Online Computer
Both relator terms and relator codes are defined in the Library Center (OCLC) catalog, and the union catalog of the
MARC bibliographic format for use with main entry fields Research Libraries Group (RLIN). OCLC uses a “master
for personal and corporate names (100 and 110), although, record” approach that prohibits seeing any local data and
in the author’s experience, the relators are used much less allows access only to the record first entered into the system.
frequently in the main entry fields than in the added entry RLIN libraries, he said, have created copy-specific access
fields (7XX). points but with a lack of standardization. In the twenty years
MARC field 655 is defined for genre and form index since he published the article, his points are still valid about
terms specified by standard thesauri. The Bibliographic the structure of the two bibliographic databases and the local
Standards Committee, Rare Books and Manuscripts Section fields many libraries use, but Davis could not have known
(RBMS), Association of College and Research Libraries that the Internet would bring rare book libraries and their
maintains the authorized list of relator terms and six thesauri collections into the view of all other librarians and research-
of form and genre terms appropriate to various aspects of ers. With the recent merger of OCLC and RLG (formerly
special-collections materials. Provenance Evidence, first named Research Libraries Group) and the loading of RLIN
published in paper form in 1988, is now also available online records into OCLC WorldCat (OCLC’s bibliographic data-
with the other RBMS thesauri.13 Examples of terms in the base), members of both groups will have the ability to view
thesaurus are “Autographs,” “Bookplates,” and “Presentation individual libraries’ bibliographic records.17 What remains to
copies” and all of the terms may be subdivided by place be seen is how quickly such capability will enable access to
(subfield z [$z], period [$y], or other subdivision [$x]). local bibliographic information among all libraries. Building
on the work of Flannery and Thomas, Adkins investigated
progress by 1992 in the area of rare book cataloging stan-
Literature Review dards development.18 She stressed the need for copy-specific
information in rare-book cataloging records because so many
A review of the literature revealed that a number of articles researchers are interested in not only the content of the
have been written about rare book cataloging standards books but also in the materials as artifacts, and suggested that
and their application in the transition to online catalogs, the solution to providing such access is to use the standard
along with the specific needs for provision of access to more fields that have been defined for special rare book files and
than bibliographic details in cataloging rare books. In 1986, descriptions. In a report on the 2003 meeting in the United
Flannery treated the development of standards to address Kingdom concerning the cataloging of early children’s books,
the concerns many rare book catalog librarians had about Attar noted that the long-time function of the bibliographic
ways to incorporate their long standing practice of describ- record is to catalog the book in hand.19 She reported that
ing and giving access to the publication details, physical the librarians and scholars who were the constituents of the
characteristics, and provenance of the materials in their meeting of the Rare Books Group of the Chartered Institute
collections.14 Flannery, in 1986, and Thomas, in 1987, both of Library and Information Professionals and the Children’s
noted the seminal 1979 IRLA report as the real beginning of Book History Society came to an agreement about the
the focus on developing standards for rare book cataloging importance of provenance and other copy-specific informa-
in the online environment.15 Thomas emphasized the neces- tion in the bibliographic record. She concluded her narrative
sity of standards and illustrated how local practice in online by indicating that a detailed catalog record may be a substi-
catalogs was instituted because of the limitations of MARC tute for examination of a copy of a book, thus making it more
with regard to the needs of catalogers to continue to give useful and convenient for the researcher and promoting
access to more detailed aspects of their materials. While the preservation of the item itself.
 52(3) LRTS Provenance Evidence in Bibliographic Records   167

The scholarly uses of provenance information have locally defined fields and indexing them separately is to dis-
been treated by several authors from different perspectives. tinguish the entries for personal or corporate former owners
Discovering the historical importance of provenance infor- from the entries for persons or corporate bodies as authors.
mation for identifying who former owners were and what Practices of other institutions include indexing the relator
such information can tell us about the history of a particular term or relator code in the author index, indexing the rela-
copy of a book is one such perspective. Bryan recounted her tor term or relator code in the keyword index, and recording
examination and cataloging of a scrapbook that she identi- provenance information not in the bibliographic record but
fied as the compilation of John Charles Brooke (1748–94) of in the holdings record and making it searchable.27
Yorkshire.20 She described the process by which she discov-
ered who he was, emphasizing the significance of provenance
for a collection. Other scholars have investigated provenance Case Study of Cataloging the
and its evidences (marginalia and other annotations, simple Mountaineering Collection
markings of passages, and even signatures and inscriptions on
the endpapers) to discover not only who former owners were Among the specialized collections in the University of
but also to gain an understanding of what previous owners Colorado at Boulder (UCB) Special Collections Department,
as readers thought about the content of their books. Such is the Mountaineering Collection includes materials about
one aspect of the interests of members of the Society for the mountaineering topics from around the world as well as sig-
History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing.21 In 2000, nificant holdings concerning climbing and hiking in North
Jackson studied readers’ marginalia and annotations and America. The collection began with the 1977 gift of approx-
assessed their value to scholarly research on attitudes toward imately 400 volumes from John L. Jerome Hart, a Denver
books and reading by surveying more than 2,000 books in attorney and mountaineer. Since that time, the collection
the British Library and other libraries.22 She discovered has grown by both gift and purchase to approximately 8,000
books that had belonged to well-known literary figures, such volumes. The dates of publication of the books range from
as William Blake and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, but she also the seventeenth to the twenty-first century, but the bulk of
encountered numerous books that had been in the personal the materials are from the twentieth century. Most of the
libraries of relatively obscure owners. For her study, Jackson twentieth century imprints are not rare or would not be
used Alston’s 1994 short title catalog of books in the British rare without the associations of famous mountaineers. A
Library that contained manuscript notes and marginalia.23 number of the books, for example, are signed by or have
Without Alston’s work, Jackson’s survey would have been presentation inscriptions from Sir Edmund Hillary, one of
much more difficult to undertake. Ronald and Mary Zboray the first two men to reach the summit of Mount Everest
discussed the many elements in the study of book history in on May 29, 1953.28 Other books in the collection contain
the United States.24 Among the topics they addressed was the signatures or bookplates of less well-known persons or
what the physical evidence in books (marginalia, inscriptions, corporate bodies.
bookplates, and labels) can reveal about the history of books Before a cataloging project began in 2002 involving
subsequent to their publication. They cautioned that what catalogers from the UCB Cataloging Department, most of
researchers can discover may be limited by that physical the Mountaineering Collection was accessible chiefly by
evidence, for not every reader and previous owner will have author or title in a small card file in the Special Collections
left behind some mark. reading room.29 The books were arranged on the shelves by
Pearson devoted a chapter of just over ninety pages to author and title. Approximately 300 titles in the collection
descriptions of provenance indexes in libraries in British, were accessible in the libraries’ online catalog at the time
Irish, and North American libraries.25 In an appendix, he the project began. The provenance evidence in the books
noted that even though cataloging standards as they have was largely unknown, with the exception of a few special
developed have provision for treatment of provenance examples known to Special Collections personnel. From the
information, many libraries still have paid “scant attention to beginning of the project, Cataloging Department catalog-
copy-specific data when creating new catalogue entries for ers followed the established Special Collections practice
antiquarian materials.”26 Recording and using provenance of examining the materials for provenance evidence. They
information in bibliographic records was a topic of discus- routinely noted and provided added access points for donors
sion at the RBMS MARC for Special Collections Discussion as well as for those who had intellectual responsibility for
Group at the American Library Association 2007 Midwinter the materials (for example, authors, illustrators, or photog-
Meeting. Several participants noted that, even though the raphers) and whose signatures or presentation inscriptions
standards exist for recording and providing access to prov- were in the books. For other evidence of former ownership,
enance information, many institutions employ local fields however, the lead cataloger and Special Collections per-
for added entries for former owners. The rationale for using sonnel decided that the efficiency of the project would be
 168   Lundy LRTS  52(3)

enhanced if the decisions concerning whether to note and discovered that other books were authors’ presentation cop-
trace previous owners were left to the discretion of Special ies to Philippa and occasionally to Félix or Claire.
Collections personnel. To facilitate the decision process, The decipherment and recurrence of the three distinc-
the catalogers left queries for Special Collections personnel tive names fit the project’s criteria for including provenance
concerning the provenance evidence they encountered that information in bibliographic records. As they encountered
had no connection to the production of the book. other books that contained the names of the Courtens, the
In many instances in which the catalogers asked wheth- catalogers created copy-specific notes (in field 590) concern-
er they should include notes and added entries for former ing the provenance information and added entries (in field
owners, Special Collections personnel were conservative 700) for each person who had placed evidence of ownership
in asking catalogers to go back and augment the biblio- in the book. UCB’s practice is to use relator codes instead
graphic records. Some evidence of former ownership may of relator terms. The added entries for Philippa include the
be too vague for inclusion, for example, the signature of an realtor codes “fmo” (former owner), “ins” (inscriber), or
unknown Bill Smith in a book published in 1960. As the proj- “sgn” (signer):
ect progressed, however, the catalogers encountered names
of former owners they had already seen in other books in the 700 1_ Courten, Philippa de, $4 fmo
collection. In consultation with other catalogers and Special 700 1_ Courten, Philippa de, $4 ins
Collections personnel, they developed several criteria for 700 1_ Courten, Philippa de, $4 sgn
noting and tracing provenance they had seen previously
in Mountaineering Collection books: (1) the names of the Similarly, the added entries for Félix and Claire include
former owners were distinctive; (2) the inscriptions in the appropriate relator codes in $4. All are retrievable in the
books revealed something intriguing or significant about author index of UCB’s online catalog.
those who had written them; and (3) the names were known The discovery of a disheartening inscription prompted
to be those with connections to mountaineering, whether the author, the lead cataloger on the project, to investigate
local Colorado residents or world-class mountaineers. more about the books with provenance of Philippa, Félix,
One name in particular, Philippa de Courten, recurred and Claire de Courten. The inscription appeared on the
often among the books. Her signature was initially difficult half title of Albert Gos’s Souvenirs d’un peintre de montagne
to decipher, but the inscription always included the sig- (figure 2):
nature, a date, and several other words, now known to be
place names in Switzerland. Figure 1 illustrates Philippa In memory of our
de Courten’s signature, dated 1945.30 As more examples beloved
became known, the catalogers were able to identify her Philippa!
forename with certainty, but only when they encountered Villars, [illegible abbreviation] 1947
the neatly printed name Félix de Courten were they able
to confirm the form of Philippa’s surname. A third name, her Mummy31
Claire de Courten, also appeared. Over time, the catalogers

Figure 1. Signature of Philippa de Courten Figure 2. Inscription in the hand of Claire de Courten
 52(3) LRTS Provenance Evidence in Bibliographic Records   169

Until one of the catalogers encountered this inscrip- Gute Genesung

tion, little could be inferred with certainty about the rela- 26. III. 45.
tionship of Philippa, Félix, and Claire. Even though the A. Wyrsch.
Mountaineering Collection cataloging project was still in
process, a sufficient number of books had been cataloged Sent by Mme. Wyrsch
with the Courten provenance notes and added entries that to the “Hospital Cantonal”
the author was able to confirm that this startling inscription of Lausanne, where
was clearly in the hand of Claire de Courten. Other books Philippa was laid up with
included author’s presentation inscriptions to one or more a leg fracture since March 13, 194534
of the three Courtens. From the presentation inscriptions
addressed to Félix and Claire and from inscriptions in The first line of the first inscription is a greeting, lit-
Félix’s hand on the flyleaves of three books, their relation- erally “Good recovery.” The book contains a number of
ship became clear. Philippa was the daughter of Félix and biographical narratives about Swiss mountaineering guides.
Claire. The cause of Philippa’s accident is unknown, but less than
Three inscriptions written by Félix in Philippa’s books a year later an inscription in a third book indicates that she
reveal the family’s serious interest in mountaineering. Two anticipated traveling to the Himalayas. On the flyleaf of
were written on special occasions. The first inscription, on André Roch’s Karakoram Himalaya: sommets des 7000 m,
the flyleaf of Luis Trenker’s Meine Berge, denoted Félix which Félix gave to Philippa, he wrote
and Claire’s present to Philippa on her fourteenth birthday
(figure 3): To Philippa
Wishing her many happy
Philippa returns from the Himalaya
von Papi und Mami Villars s/Ollon
zu ihrem 14. Geburts- Christmas 1945
tage.
Brixen. den 6. April Papi35
1 9 x 4 032
Villars-sur-Ollon is a town in Switzerland.36
Brixen, the place named in Félix’s inscription, is an alternate Fifty books bear a signature or inscription, often dated,
name for Brixen im Thalen, Austria, and is the German form in the hand of one of the three members of the Courten
of the Italian city, Bressanone.33 Trenker’s book is about the family. Claire’s signature or its surrogate (“Mummy”)
Alps and is illustrated with many photographs of the Alps. appears in four books, Félix signed or inscribed twelve
Almost five years later, Schweizer Bergführer erzählen, books, and Philippa signed her name, date, and place in
sent to Philippa on March 26, 1945, while she convalesced thirty-four books. In addition to her signature, Philippa
in a hospital, contained two inscriptions on the flyleaf, the often quoted from English, French, and German authors
first in the hand of A. Wyrsch and the second written by and poets below her signature; some are extensive quota-
Félix: tions and fill most of the recto of the flyleaf. Because her
handwriting is difficult to decipher, the quotations are
often difficult to read. The names of several authors of
the texts of the quotations are discernible: Martin Schmid,
René Duinton, and William Shakespeare. The language of
her own inscriptions and the form of the dates she used
in them indicate that Philippa was tri-lingual in English,
French, and German. The languages of the text of books
from the Courten library suggest that she and her family
may also have been fluent in Italian. Many of the books
include brief marginalia, primarily in the form of under-
lined words or sentences and passages marked in the
margins. Often the marginalia are written in pencil or blue
pencil. Seven other books from the Courten library are
authors’ presentation copies from five different authors
Figure 3. Presentation inscription in the hand of Félix de Courten
to one or more of the family members. One book bears a
note in Félix’s hand (quoted above) concerning Philippa’s
 170   Lundy LRTS  52(3)

convalescence in a Lausanne hospital and is clearly from Another report in the Chicago Daily Tribune on March
the Courten library. 21, 1955, mentioned the visit to Chicago of Count Félix René
Evidence for other books from the library appeared by de Courten and his wife, the former Clara Bartholomay,
chance when one of the Mountaineering Collection cata- who was born in Chicago. The Courtens had traveled from
logers noticed that an accompanying order slip included Villars-sur-Ollon near Lausanne, Switzerland.42 Although
the name of the dealer from whom the book was acquired there is a discrepancy in the names of Clara and Claire, the
in 1987.37 A search in the Special Collections files produced names are very close, and Claire’s inscription, quoted above,
a copy of the typed list of titles that were purchased from is in English. The internal and external evidence lead to the
the dealer, with a total of ninety-two entries for both mono- conclusion that Philippa’s mother, Claire, was American.
graphic and serial publications. Not all of the books on the A Google search on Philippa’s name retrieved an entry in
list can be identified as belonging to the Courten family. a database of Swiss artists. The brief entry gives her birth
Those that do bear some identified Courten provenance date as April 6, 1926, in Munich, and her death date as
evidence contain similar marginalia, underlined words, September 5, 1946, in Meiringen, and the media in which
or passages marked in pencil. Many of the books with she worked as painting and watercolor.43 The discovery that
Philippa’s name in them have a penciled number followed Philippa was an artist makes even more poignant the title
by a right parenthesis, for example, “34).”38 Only three of the book that Claire inscribed in memory of Philippa (as
books (two of which are copies of the same title) contain- quoted above)—Gos’s Souvenirs d’un peintre de montagne.
ing penciled numbers on the front endpaper lack Philippa’s Conducting further research into the intriguing topic of the
signature or a presentation statement to her. From the history of the Courten family is left for others to pursue,
evidence of the distinctive penciled numbers, the cata- but the catalogers of the books have created the first step to
loger safely concluded that the books were from her library identifying the owners of the books.
and added the note and added entry to the bibliographic The provenance added entries in Chinook, the UCB
records.39 The penciled numbers range from 1 to 90, but online catalog, have given a means of accessing this small
only thirty-two of the books in the collection contain those but collectively remarkable group of books from a family
numbers. A total of fifty-nine books have been identified living in Switzerland in the mid-twentieth century whose
in the UCB Special Collections Mountaineering Collection lives were intimately involved with mountaineering and
as formerly belonging to the Courten family and are repre- who knew a number of authors of mountaineering books,
sented by copy-specific notes and added entries for one or particularly about the Alps. The Courten books revealed
more of the family members. Searches in the UCB online something of their history and that of the family who owned
catalog for each of the three names retrieve eleven entries them. The evidence in the books could be recognized and
for Claire, sixteen for Félix, and forty-one for Philippa. included in the bibliographic records for several reasons:
Because some bibliographic records have associations for
more than one person, the total number of entries is greater • Special Ccollections personnel decided to acknowl-
than the fifty-nine titles from the Courten family. edge former ownership in its bibliographic records
Although the purpose of this paper is not to present even for materials that are not especially rare.
historical research on the Courten family, the temptation • The procedures for the project instructed catalogers
has been great to seek more information about them. The to notify Special Collections personnel when they
internal provenance evidence in the books themselves, in encountered autographs or inscriptions of former
the inscriptions quoted above, indicates that Philippa was owners.
born on April 6, 1926, and her death occurred sometime • Special Collections personnel initially decided on a
in 1947 or before. Her last dated signature in one of her case-by-case basis whether to note and trace prov-
books is June 1946.40 The book is in its original wrappers enance, but when evidence recurred, criteria were
(that is, it is paper bound) and has not been read past page established to allow the catalogers to include notes
44, for the remaining pages are uncut. Philippa must have and add entries into their cataloging records.
been only twenty or twenty-one when she died. A search • Through careful attention, the catalogers recognized
in some of the historical newspapers online revealed a a recurring, difficult-to-decipher signature.
brief notice concerning Philippa’s death in the Times. The
notice, written by a correspondent in Zermatt and dated If, by chance, the books had been destined for the UCB
September 8, 1946, reported that Philippa and her guide general stacks, the provenance for the Courten family would
had fallen to their deaths as they attempted a new route on almost certainly have received no attention in the cataloging
the Engelhorn in the Bernese Oberland Alps. The reporter records. Inclusion of such copy-specific information is not
mentioned that Philippa was an accomplished Alpinist and expected of catalogers for the general collections. In such a
a ski champion.41 case, the Courten provenance would have been lost.
 52(3) LRTS Provenance Evidence in Bibliographic Records   171

Conclusion under AACR 2 and ISBD(A) for the Descriptive Cataloging of

Rare Books and Other Special Printed Materials (Washington,
More than twenty years ago, the forethoughtful efforts of D.C.: Library of Congress, 1981).
8. Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Books, 2nd ed. (Washington,
rare book librarians and catalogers to recommend standards
D.C.: Library of Congress, 1991).
to encompass treatment of the special characteristics of rare
9. Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd ed., 2002 revi-
books led to the development and revision of those stan- sion, 2005 update (Chicago: ALA, 2005); ISBD(A):
dards. Many catalogers have adhered to both national stan- International Standard Bibliographic Description for Older
dards and local interpretations of the standards to develop Monographic Publications (Antiquarian), 2nd rev. ed. (The
best practices to inform users of information about materials Hague: International Federation of Library Associations
in special collections beyond the published content of the and Institutions, 2001), www.ifla.org/VII/s13/pubs/isbda.
materials. Provenance and other physical characteristics of htm (accessed Sept. 28, 2007); Association of College and
books in special collections often prove to be the reasons Research Libraries, Rare Books and Manuscripts Section,
the books are held in a special collections department. Bibliographic Standards Committee, Descriptive Cataloging
The significance of provenance in other cases may only be of Rare Materials (Books) (Washington, D.C.: Library of
Congress, 2007).
discovered when the books are cataloged. The foregoing
10. Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA, RDA:
account of the discovery of information about the former
Resource Description and Access: Prospectus (Sept. 28, 2007),
owners of a small group of books illustrates that neither the www.collectionscanada.ca/jsc/rdaprospectus.html (accessed
books nor the former owners have to be rare or famous to Sept. 28, 2007); Joint Steering Committee for Revision of
make worthwhile the effort of catalogers to record prov- AACR, Minutes of October 2006 Meeting, www.collections
enance information and make it searchable in bibliographic canada.gc.ca/jsc/docs/5m100-128.pdf (accessed Sept. 28,
records. As much as their other physical characteristics, 2007).
such as bindings, provenance information can open a new 11. Library of Congress, Network Development and MARC
area of interest and research. As Oram and Bishop note in Standards Office, MARC 21 Concise Format for Bibliographic
their discussion of investigating and relating to books with Data, 2006 Concise ed. (Washington, D.C.: Library of
all our senses, “Most books in special collections have their Congress, 2006), www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic (accessed
Sept. 28, 2007); OCLC Online Computer Library Center,
tales to tell, their sweet smell of provenance.”44 Only by pro-
Bibliographic Standards and Formats, 3rd ed. (Dublin, Ohio:
viding an indication of former ownership, even in books that
OCLC, 2007), www.oclc.org/bibformats/en/default.shtm
have ordinary texts, can catalogers provide users a means (accessed Sept. 28, 2007).
to discover the aspect of provenance in special-collections 12. Library of Congress, Network Development and MARC
materials. Standards Office, MARC 21 Concise Format for Holdings
Data, 2006 Concise ed. (Washington, D.C.: Library of
Congress, 2006), www.loc.gov/marc/holdings (accessed Sept.
References and Notes
28, 2007).
1. OED Online, 2nd ed., 1989, http://dictionary.oed.com 13. Association of College and Research Libraries, Standards
(accessed Sept. 28, 2007). Committee of Rare Books and Manuscripts Section,
2. John Carter, ABC for Book-Collectors, 5th ed., rev. (New Provenance Evidence: Thesaurus for Use in Rare Book and
York: Knopf, 1972), 160. Special Collections Cataloguing (Chicago: Association of
3. David Pearson, Provenance Research in Book History: A College and Research Libraries, 1988); Provenance Evidence
Handbook (London: British Library, 1998). Terms (2007), http://library.osu.edu/sites/users/russell.363/
4. Germaine Warkentin, “Sidney Family Library Books,” online RBMS%20Thesauri/provenance/alphabetical_list.htm
posting, Exlibris-L, Feb. 20, 2007, http://palimpsest.stanford (accessed Sept. 28, 2007).
.edu/byform/mailing-lists/exlibris/2007/02/msg00253.html 14. Melissa C. Flannery, “A Review of Recent Developments
(accessed Sept. 28, 2007). in Rare Books Cataloging,” Cataloging & Classification
5. Paul Shaner Dunkin, How to Catalog a Rare Book, 2nd ed., Quarterly 7, no. 1 (1986): 55–62.
rev. (Chicago: ALA, 1973), 100. 15. John B. Thomas III, “The Necessity of Standards in an
6. Independent Research Libraries Association, Ad Hoc Automated Environment,” Library Trends 36, no. 1 (1987):
Committee on Standards for Rare Book Cataloguing in 125–39.
Machine-Readable Form, Proposals for Establishing Standards 16. Stephen Paul Davis, “Computer Technology as Applied to
for the Cataloguing of Rare Books and Specialized Research Rare Book Cataloguing,” IFLA Journal 10, no. 2 (1984):
Materials in Machine-Readable Form (Worcester, Mass.: 158–69; Stephen Paul Davis, “Bibliographic Control of
Independent Research Libraries Association, 1979), www Special Collections: Issues and Trends,” Library Trends 36,
.rbms.info/committees/bibliographic_standards/committee no. 1 (1987): 109–24.
-docs/irla-1979.html (accessed Sept. 28, 2007). 17. OCLC Online Computer Library Center, “Status of the
7. Library of Congress, Office of Descriptive Cataloging Policy, Integration of the RLG Union Catalog into WorldCat,”
Bibliographic Description of Rare Books: Rules Formulated www.oclc.org/services/cataloging/rlg/integration_status.htm
 172   Lundy LRTS  52(3)

(accessed Oct. 3, 2007). 1939), front free endpaper.

18. Susan A. Adkins, “Automated Cataloging of Rare Books: A 33. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, “GEOnet Names
Time for Implementation,” Collection Management 16, no. 1 Server (GNS): GNS Search,” http://gnswww.nga.mil/
(1992): 89–102. geonames/GNS/index.jsp (accessed Sept. 28, 2007).
19. Karen A. Attar, “Cataloguing Early Children’s Books: Demand, 34. Schweizer Bergführer erzählen, 3. Aufl. (Zürich: Orell Füssli,
Supply and a Seminar,” Catalogue & Index no. 151 (2004): 1938), front free endpaper.
8–12. 35. André Roch, Karakoram Himalaya: sommets de 7000 m
20. Anna R. Bryan, “Bibliographical Note: Provenance, the (Neuchâtel: V. Attinger, 1945), front free endpaper.
Case of the Yorkshire, England Collection,” Rare Books and 36. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, “GEOnet Names
Manuscripts Librarianship 13, no. 2 (1999): 129–32. Server (GNS): GNS Search.”
21. Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing, 37. University of Colorado at Boulder, University Libraries,
“SHARP Web,” www.sharpweb.org (accessed Sept. 28, Special Collections Department, Mountaineering Collection
2007). acquisition files.
22. H. J. Jackson, Marginalia: Readers Writing in Books (New 38. Sir Alfred Henry Moore Lunn, Les montagnes de ma jeunesse,
Haven: Yale Univ. Pr., 2001). Jackson followed up on her 2000 trad. par Claire-Eliane Engel (Neuchâtel: Victor Attinger,
study in “‘Marginal Frivolities’: Readers’ Notes as Evidence 1943), front pastedown endpaper.
for the History of Reading,” Owners, Annotators, and the 39. Luis Trenker, Berge und Heimat (Berlin: T. Knaur, 1939),
Signs of Reading, Robin Myers, Michael Harris, and Giles front pastedown endpaper; Hans Franz, Der Mensch am Berg
Mandelbrote, eds. (New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll; London: (München: F. Bruckmann, 1935), front pastedown endpaper
British Library, 2005), 137–51. of each of two copies.
23. R. C. Alston, Books with Manuscript: A Short Title Catalogue 40. Jacques Boell, Oisans (Paris: J. Susse, 1945), front free
of Books with Manuscript Notes in the British Library, endpaper.
Including Books with Manuscript Additions, Proofsheets, 41. “Woman Killed on Engelhorn,” Times (London), Sept. 9, 1946.
Illustrations, Corrections (London: British Library, 1994). Times Digital Archive, 1785–1985 [proprietary database],
24. Ronald J. Zboray and Mary Saracino Zboray, A Handbook for http://web7.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/informark (accessed
the Study of Book History in the United States (Washington, Sept. 28, 2007).
D.C.: Library of Congress, 2000). 42. Judith Cass, “Two Benefits in May Planned in Suburbs: Here
25. Pearson, Provenance Research in Book History, 182–273. and There,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Mar. 21, 1955. ProQuest
26. Ibid., 317. Historical Newspapers Chicago Tribune (1849–1985) [propri-
27. John Overholt, “MARC for Special Collections Discussion etary database], http://proquest.umi.com (accessed Nov. 28,
Group minutes—Midwinter 2007,” online posting, RBMS 2005).
mailing list, Feb. 16, 2007, http://lists.ala.org/wws/arc/ 43. Schweizerisches Institut für Kunstwissenschaft, “SIKART
rbms/2007-02/msg00027.html (accessed Sept. 28, 2007). Lexikon und Datenbank” (Zürich: Schweizerisches
28. John Hunt, The Conquest of Everest, 1st American ed. (New Institut für Kunstwissenschaft, 2006), www.sikart.ch/page
York: Dutton, 1954). .php?pid=4&recnr=4024565 (accessed Sept. 28, 2007). The
29. M. Winslow Lundy and Deborah R. Hollis, “Creating print version of the entry can be found in Biografisches Lexikon
Access to Invisible Special Collections: Using Participatory der Schweizer Kunst: unter Einschluss des Fürstentums
Management to Reduce a Backlog,” The Journal of Academic Liechtenstein, herausgeber, Schweizerisches Institut für
Librarianship 30, no. 6 (2004): 466–75. Kunstwissenschaft Zürich und Lausanne (Zürich: Verlag
30. Guido Rey, Le Mont Cervin, nouv. éd. (Lausanne: Éditions Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 1998), 1:238.
Spes, 1937), front free endpaper. 44. Richard W. Oram and Edward L. Bishop, “The Sweet Smell
31. Albert Gos, Souvenirs d’un peintre de montagne (Genève: of Provenance,” Chronicle of Higher Education 52, no. 6
Jeheber, 1942?), half-title page. (2005): B18, http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i06/06b01801
32. Luis Trenker, Meine Berge: das Bergbuch (Berlin: T. Knaur, .htm (accessed Sept. 28, 2007).
 52(3) LRTS    173

A Model for Assessing

Digital Image Use and
Needs
Report of a Study into Digital
Stephen W. Paling ([email protected])
is Assistant Professor, School of Library
Image Use in North American
and Information Studies, University of
Wisconsin–Madison; Melissa Miszkiewicz Dental Education
([email protected]) is Director of
Academic Computing and Technology
Services, Buffalo (N.Y.) State College;
June Abbas ([email protected])
By Stephen W. Paling, Melissa Miszkiewicz, June Abbas,
is Associate Professor, Department of and Joseph Zambon
Library and Information Studies, University
at Buffalo N.Y.; and Joseph Zambon
([email protected]) is Professor, This study is presented as one possible model for assessing image use and needs
Periodontics and Endodontics, School
of Dental Medicine, University at Buffalo that can inform planning for and creation of a digital image repository. The
N.Y. study described here specifically sought to provide basic knowledge about the
This paper brings together in finalized current use of digital images in North American dental schools, as well as what
form preliminary results reported in sev- future needs might occur among digital image users. It was conducted as part
eral conference papers: Stephen W. of an ongoing needs assessment for possible construction of an online repository
Paling, Melissa Miszkiewicz, and June
Abbas, “Digital Images in American and of digitized dental images. The research team conducted semistructured inter-
Canadian Dentistry Education: Second- views with a purposive sample of dental faculty members at a representative
Stage Needs Assessment,” presented at dental school, as well as a brief survey of academic deans. Findings indicated
Joining Research and Practice: Social
Computing and Information Science, use of digital dental images is nearly ubiquitous among faculty members, but
the annual meeting of the American that not all of their needs are being met. The faculty members would benefit
Society for Information Science and from access to an online repository of high-quality digital dental images with
Technology held in Milwaukee, Wisc.,
October 19–24, 2007; Stephen W. Paling, accompanying metadata.
Melissa Miszkiewicz, and June Abbas,
“Digital Images in Dentistry Education:
The Role of Delivery Medium and
Metadata,” presented at Information
Realities: Shaping the Digital Future for
M any institutions and disciplines are exploring the creation of digital image
repositories. The research project described here investigates questions
pertinent to most types of digital image repositories—namely, the needs that
All, the annual meeting of the American
Society for Information Science and drive image use, whether these needs can be met through an online repository,
Technology held in Austin, Texas, the functional elements that image users would be most helpful, and whether
November 3–8, 2006; and Stephen W.
Paling and Melissa Miszkiewicz, “Digital individuals would be willing to contribute images to a shared repository. The pro-
Resources for Dentistry Database: cess followed in conducting the research reported in this paper can be applied to
A Needs Assessment,” presented at research into other types of discipline-based image repositories.
Sparking Synergies: Bringing Research
and Practice Together, the annual The needs assessment described in this paper was prompted by the presence
meeting of the American Society for at the University at Buffalo’s (UB) School of Dental Medicine of a collection of
Information Science and Technology high-quality dental slides donated by a retired faculty member to be made avail-
held in Charlotte, N.C., October
28–November 2, 2005 [CD-ROM], ed. able to the educational community. The extensive collection includes slides that
Andrew Grove, Silver Spring, Md. could be professionally digitized and made available online as the core of a reposi-
Submitted July 13, 2007; returned to tory of digital dental images. The collection is currently in physical form.
authors with suggestions for revision Rather than simply making the images available within the school, the research
August 31, 2007; revised and resubmit- team decided to assess the feasibility of making the images available to the broader
ted November 13, 2007; reviewed and
accepted for publication December community of dental faculty members and researchers. This needs assessment was
3, 2007. designed to determine the image-related needs of dental faculty members and to
 174   Paling, Miszkiewicz, Abbas, and Zambon LRTS  52(3)

determine whether an online repository of digitized dental over their years in the field. These images exist in many
images could meet any needs discovered during the study. forms: digital, plastic and glass slides, and video tape, for
To provide basic knowledge about dental-image use example. While most faculty use their own collections daily,
by faculty members at North American dental schools, and many do not have an easy way to share their collections with
how efforts to provide an online repository of digitized den- others, or to make use of the collections of others. Dental
tal images might help the work of those faculty members, practitioners are also using computers extensively in their
this study asked the following research questions: offices. According to Schleyer and his colleagues, only 1
percent of dentists used computers in their offices in 1976,
RQ1: What needs drive digital image use by dental but this had changed by 2000, when “85.1% of all dentists in
faculty members? the United States used a computer in the office.”4 While dis-
RQ2: Can the respondents’ needs be met by the cussing the patient-dentist experience in a technologically
creation of an online repository of digitized dental equipped office, Feuerstein pointed to digital photography
images? and radiology as tools to enhance the visual clinical examina-
RQ3: What functional elements of the proposed online tion and patient consultation.5 In an article exploring the role
repository of digitized dental images would be most of IT in the dentist-patient relationship, Kirshner noted that
helpful to users? “digital imaging may have the most profound effect on the
RQ4: Would members of the larger dental community dentist-patient relationship, due to its immediacy and ease
be willing to contribute further material to the pro- of understanding through recognizable visualizations.”6
posed online repository of digitized dental images? Casual sharing of images is unlikely to have the effect
that an organized repository could have. Fortunately, the
The research team conducted the needs assessment infrastructure already exists for the delivery of high-quality
in three stages. In the first stage, members of the research medical images and appropriate metadata in the form of the
team conducted semistructured interviews with dental fac- Health Education Assets Library (HEAL, www.healcentral
ulty members at the UB School of Dental Medicine. The .org). The research team has been in contact with staff
second stage involved a brief national survey of academic members at HEAL, and the inclusion in HEAL of the
deans from North American dental schools. The third stage images from the UB School of Dental Medicine donated
involved a longer national survey of dental faculty members collection is feasible, pending funding. Part of the planning
from North American dental schools. process includes producing standards-compliant metadata
that can be cross-referenced with HEAL metadata. This
paper, however, focuses on establishing basic needs on the
Background part of dental faculty members and researchers.

While several articles have addressed the use, or potential

use, of images in dental practice, little is documented about Research Method
the content and types of images needed or how they are col-
lected, stored, and retrieved by dental professionals, faculty, The semistructured interviews in the first stage were meant
researchers, and students.1 This basic knowledge is neces- to elicit detailed information about the use of images in the
sary for establishing the context into which a repository of working lives of dental faculty members. The sample for this
digitized dental images might be introduced. part of the study was a purposive sample for heterogeneity.
As use of computing and imaging technology continues The interview respondents worked in a variety of dental spe-
to move forward, dental schools continue to train faculty cialties, including several respondents who worked in allied
and students to use computing technology. According to health specialties and taught within the School of Dental of
a 2002 literature review performed by Hendricson of the Medicine. The questions that were used to guide the inter-
San Antonio Health Sciences Center, 558 English-language views are presented in appendix A.
articles from 1996 through 2002 were published addressing Semistructured interviews were appropriate for the
some aspect of computer-assisted instruction in the health first stage of the needs assessment because they allow an
professions.2 A companion piece published by Hendricson interviewer to cover a list of important topics, but also allow
and colleagues found that 86 percent of North American for exploration of unanticipated themes during the inter-
dental schools have already expanded their use of informa- views.7 Thus the interviewers could cover planned questions
tion technology as part of their curricula, with 82 percent such as whether interview respondents preferred digital or
hoping to increase IT use further.3 nondigital images, as well as unanticipated questions about
Many dental faculty and practicing dentists throughout reasons the interview respondents had for using particular
North America have amassed large collections of images types of images. This was an appropriate approach for a
 52(3) LRTS A Model for Assessing Digital Image Use and Needs   175

study designed in part to establish baseline knowledge in an American dental schools to provide at least a preliminary
area where there is considerable anecdotal knowledge but determination about whether the experiences described
a relative paucity of empirical studies. A total of 16 semi- by the respondents at the UB School of Dental Medicine
structured interviews were conducted as part of the study. validly reflected the experience of dental faculty members
The respondents were numbered R01–R16 to protect their elsewhere. Respondents for the e-mail survey of academic
confidentiality. deans in the current study were recruited through an elec-
Members of the research team used content analysis tronic discussion group that reached the academic deans
to sort the interview respondents’ statements on the basis of North American dental schools. In the survey, 18 of
of whether the statements referred to one of three types of 56 academic deans responded, for a response rate of 32
image use: percent.
The longer survey (appendix C) for the third stage of
1. General image use; that is, the form of the image the needs analysis was meant to provide additional valida-
(digital or nondigital) was not specified tion for the basic needs found in the first two stages and to
2. Use of digital images begin determining the suitability of potential metadata ele-
3. Use of nondigital images ments for use in the proposed online repository of digitized
dental images. The third-stage survey also sought to begin
Within each category, the coders further grouped the determining whether members of the larger dental commu-
statements on the basis of whether each statement referred nity would be willing to contribute material to the proposed
to a prompt (a positive factor that motivated use of a par- repository.
ticular type of image—for example, the ability to manipulate Two rounds of e-mail invitations were sent to potential
digitized images), or a hindrance (a negative factor that respondents. The first round of invitations went out to 536
provided motivation to not use a particular image type—for potential respondents from the American Dental Education
example, the need to develop film for physical slides). A Association’s list of department chairs. A total of 78 mes-
Description category was used for statements that named sages failed for various reasons, for a total of 458 successful
an image type without elaboration. But the Prompt and messages. In the second round, a slightly smaller number
Hindrance categories will remain the focus here. of messages (528) were sent. The smaller number resulted
Because multiple members of the research team par- from the removal of known incorrect addresses. A total of
ticipated in the content analytic coding of the interview 43 messages failed for various reasons, for a total of 485 suc-
statements, chance agreement represented a threat to cessful messages.
the validity of the results of that analysis. For example, in Sixty-seven individuals responded to the survey. Basing
deciding whether each statement should be grouped under the response rate conservatively on the larger group of
Prompt or Hindrance within each image type, random messages (485) yields a response rate of 14 percent. This is
chance could lead to a deceptively high level of agreement. somewhat lower than average, but not completely out of line
To counter this possibility, the results of the content analysis with a reported response rate to Web surveys of just under
were checked using Cohen’s Kappa, a statistical measure of 21 percent when all invitations are sent by e-mail.10
inter-rater reliability and a commonly used check against
chance agreement.8 An accepted set of criteria for interpret-
ing Cohen’s Kappa sets greater than .67 as the threshold Results
for allowing preliminary conclusions, and greater than .80 RQ1: What Needs Drive Digital image Use
as the threshold for indicating good reliability.9 In all cases, by Dental Faculty Members?
the scores for Cohen’s Kappa exceeded the .80 thresh-
old, establishing good reliability for both content-analysis Virtually all of the interview respondents (15 of 16) used
schemes (sorting the statements by the resource type to dental images in their work. The one respondent who did
which each statement referred, and by Prompt, Hindrance, not use dental images made use of nondental images. The
or Description). interview respondents showed a strong overall preference for
The survey of academic deans performed for the sec- digital images. Table 1 shows a breakdown by resource type
ond stage of the needs assessment was meant to provide of how many statements the respondents made that referred
context and validation for the semistructured interviews. to Prompts or Hindrances in their use of each resource. For
Along with the risks to validity mentioned above, there example, the respondents made 92 statements that referred
was additional risk inherent in drawing all of the inter- to prompts for image use and 31 statements that referred
view respondents from a single dental faculty. To reduce to hindrances to image use, for a ratio of 2.97 statements
this risk, the team members decided to conduct a brief that referred to a prompt to each statement that referred
e-mail survey (see appendix B) of academic deans at North to a hindrance. Statements that contained simple descrip-
 176   Paling, Miszkiewicz, Abbas, and Zambon LRTS  52(3)

tions of resources used (coded under Description) were not The patterns of prompts and hindrances in the use of
included here because, by definition, those statements did digital images followed a similar pattern. But there were dif-
not tell anything about the prompts or hindrances encoun- ferences. Some of the respondents pointed to purely practi-
tered by the respondents in their use of each resource type. cal problems. R02 mentioned that digital images were “much
The descriptive statements were used to establish context [more] convenient, because then you don’t worry about
during the course of the study, and constituted less than 11 carrying slides.” The ability to edit digital slides also played
percent of the total statements. a role in the respondents’ use of digital images. R03 pointed
out that “you can revise them,” and “you can add text.” Such
operations would be more difficult, or impractical, with non-
Table 1. Frequency and ratio of prompts and hindrances for
digital slides. Variety also played a role with digital image use.
image use
R07 indicated that “If you look at any one atlas there may be
Resource Prompt Hindrance P:H one or two pictures of a certain condition, so it may be help-
ful to be able to look at more pictures of a condition to then
Image 92 31 2.97
to try to match it to something that you’re looking at.”
Digital Image 186 83 2.24 The hindrances with digital images also mirrored the
Nondigital Image 9 10 0.90 prompts. A comment by R06 summed up one of the prob-
Total 614 319 1.92 lems well:

We need more [images]. Because a lot [of] times

what I’ll get, is for example, if I want to show them
The relatively high number of statements referring a gum disease, I’ll go the textbook on the DVD
to digital images, along with the strong preponderance of and a lot of them, the images are not in color in
prompts to hindrances in using those images, demonstrate the textbooks. You’ll find some textbooks have all
the relatively high regard the respondents had for digital color plates and you can use those but usually you
images compared to nondigital images. Nondigital images can only get one example of the disease so you can’t
constituted the only resource type with a negative ratio of show students the range of what the disease could
statements about prompts to statements about hindrances. look like. So if we had more appropriate images it
References to image use that did not specify the type of would be better because we could show students
image (digital or nondigital) also contained a strong prepon- the range of what how diseases look.
derance of references to prompts over hindrances, reinforc-
ing the idea that general image use is very common among General image quality was also an issue. R02 indi-
dental faculty members. cated that, “With the imaging, I think some of it is, we lose
The images met a number of needs on the part of the this kind of quality in terms of the depth of the picture.”
faculty members. Classroom use of images accounted for a Currency could also affect the perceived quality of the pic-
very significant portion of the prompts mentioned. Other ture, with R01 pointing out that, “If I showed a picture and
prompts included the comparison of healthy and diseased they have a 1950s hairdo, I’d get an eye roll from the stu-
tissue, and the illustration of how a condition might develop. dents.” The respondents also expressed various technology-
R02 indicated that image use can allow an instructor to show related concerns about factors such as the reliability of the
“the etiology, the root cause of the problem.” Other prompts technology, and occasional difficulty with image manipula-
for image use included “patient education” and use in jour- tion. For example, R01 indicated that image quality some-
nal articles and book chapters (R15). Image quality was also times suffered when the image was projected for a group of
a concern for the respondents. They were concerned with students: “The only shortcoming when I move it [a digital
factors such as “true representation of colors and contrast” image] to PowerPoint is that it may look good on my screen,
because, for example, “you want it to be an accurate repre- but it doesn’t always project the same way.”
sentation of what the students may encounter in the clinic As mentioned earlier, nondigital images constituted the
in the live state” (R01). only resource category in which the respondents made more
The hindrances described by the respondents substan- statements that mentioned hindrances than statements that
tially mirrored the prompts. For example, the respondents mentioned prompts. The respondents also made fewer
expressed concern with the availability of a full range of statements grouped into this category, by far, than the other
images. R05 indicated that “If we’re trying to illustrate categories. Only 19 total statements addressed prompts
a type of cancer or something, and we want to see the and hindrances to the use of nondigital images. In contrast,
microscopy of it or the histology of it, it may not readily be the interview respondents made 123 statements referring
available.” to prompts and hindrances to general image use, and 269
 52(3) LRTS A Model for Assessing Digital Image Use and Needs   177

statements referring to prompts and hindrances to digital to dental images. Table 2 shows that among the respondents
image use (see table 1). who indicated their level of satisfaction with the current
Image quality was one prompt to the use of nondigital access to dental images, none indicated complete satisfac-
images mentioned during the interviews. R09 possessed an tion. A significant minority expressed an outright lack of
intra-oral camera that yielded images that were superior access to all the images they needed.
in quality to images taken with a digital camera: “With the
intra-oral camera, it’s designed for close shots, and I think
. . . the lens is far superior.” Purely practical considerations
also played a role. R01 indicated that nondigital slides acted
as a substitute: “Only when I’m caught really short, or I need
to [find] something quickly, would I show the [non-digital]
slides.”
Lack of physical slide projectors presented one of the
main hindrances to the use of nondigital images. R02, for
example, retained nondigital slides but did not use them:
“Now it is inconvenient to use it [nondigital slides], because
there is no more machines, but I have physical [slides].” The
traditional film cameras, despite better image quality when
compared to digital cameras, also brought inconveniences.
R09 pointed to the inconvenience of having to develop film:
“But then it’s [the nondigital camera] always a ways away
between getting the film developed, and then getting it on
to the computer.” The difficulty of altering or editing non-
digital slides was also mentioned.
In general, the number of statements regarding digital
and nondigital images and the proportions of Prompts and
Hindrances described by respondents in those statements,
indicated a strong preference of the faculty members for
digital over nondigital images. The preference was so strong
that at least one respondent was willing to sacrifice a reason- Figure 1. Sources of images
able amount of desired quality to gain other conveniences
afforded by digital images.
The results from the survey of academic deans tended to
reinforce the results from the semistructured interviews. All To summarize, the needs expressed by the respondents
18 of the survey respondents indicated that faculty members fell into three basic groups, all of which could be at least
at their institutions used digital images. The academic deans partially addressed by creation of a repository of digitized
indicated that their faculty members gathered images from dental images:
the Internet, personal collections, digital journal articles and
textbooks, and from commercial products on CD and DVD 1. Image Quality
(see figure 1). (No respondents chose digital journal articles 2. Variety of Images
as a source for images, so that choice was omitted from figure 3. Image Cost and Intellectual Property
1.) This pattern of use clearly demonstrates the desirability
of digital delivery of images. For example, even though all
but one of the deans indicated that faculty members at his Table 2. Access to images
or her institution used images from personal collections, two
Please choose the item which best describes N %
thirds (12 of 18) also indicated that faculty members looked your use of images similar to the samples
for free images on the Internet, and slightly more (13 of 18) you saw on the previous page (N=50)
looked for images on commercial DVDs or CDs. The use of
I have access to all the images I need 0 0
commercial products, and the problems with image quality
and variety that accompany that use, underlines the need for I have access to all the images I need, but having 30 60
access to more images would be useful
royalty-free images.
The respondents in the longer national survey also I do not have access to all the images I need 20 40
demonstrated a lack of satisfaction with their current access
 178   Paling, Miszkiewicz, Abbas, and Zambon LRTS  52(3)

RQ2: Can The Respondents’ Needs Be Met by the Multiple images, if there were some color atlases
Creation of an Online Repository of Digitized available that one could maybe draw some out. But
Dental Images? there are only so many atlases, many times you do
a search and you find that there is an atlas . . . at a
Despite already having access to dental images, the faculty
web site or someone is selling and maybe it’s $250
members still experienced the needs listed in the previous
and they may have one or two pictures but you
section. The creation of a repository of digital dental images
can’t copy the pictures often from the web site. I
could at least partially meet those needs.
mean sometimes you can but often you really can’t
and even if you’re copying it is that really legal?
Image Quality
In addition to copyright issues, the interview respon-
A number of the interview respondents indicated a need
dents also pointed to concerns about gaining permission to
for higher-quality images. For example, R15 indicated
use the images they already possessed. For example, R01
that, “Sometimes the pixel range is such that you can’t
indicated that “I have quite a few images that I don’t have
enlarge them as you’d like,” and that at times “color qual-
the patients’ permission that would now be required.”
ity” also hindered the use of digital images. R14 pointed
The school’s collection would be made available through a
to a similar problem: “If you take a low-resolution image
Creative Commons license (http://creativecommons.org)
off of one of these web sites, and I then I take it to where
that would allow royalty-free image use for educational
I give the lecture, . . . that lack of resolution is magnified.”
purposes. The license would also allow alteration of the
The respondents also confessed to lack of technical exper-
pictures. HEAL currently makes its contents available
tise in some cases. For example, R08 said, “I’m not really
through a Creative Commons license, so there would
well-versed in say, Adobe Photoshop, or things like that.”
be no intellectual property barriers to inclusion of the
Professional digitization of the images in the school’s col-
school’s collection.
lection could address this need directly. Professionally
The results from the larger national survey also indi-
digitized images based on the physical slides could be pro-
cated that dental faculty members would make use of an
duced at high resolution and color quality, reducing the
online repository of digitized dental images. As indicated
need to alter the images and making the alterations less
in table 3, when asked whether they would be likely to use
significant when they are needed—for example, simple
such a repository, a very large majority of the respondents
cropping rather than color adjustment.
to the question indicated that they would.
The longer national survey also demonstrated that the
Variety of Images digitized dental images would be used for a variety of pur-
poses. Table 4 lists the purposes for which the respondents
Another set of problems that could be addressed through
the construction of an online repository of digitized dental
images have to do with a desire on the part of some of the Table 3. Likelihood of repository use
dental faculty members for a greater variety of images. Likelihood of Use (N=47) N %
When asked about the variety of available images, R08
answered, “There is a lot out there, I could be satisfied Very likely 28 59.6
but I would like to see more diversity.” The images in Somewhat likely 17 36.2
the school’s collection depict a range of tissue from the Somewhat unlikely 2 4.3
maxillofacial region, in healthy condition as well as in
Very unlikely 0 0
diseased or damaged condition. The conditions depicted
are commonly addressed in dental education, and would
add to the variety of images available to dental educators
and researchers. In addition, all eighteen of the deans Table 4. Purposes for which respondents used images
indicated that their faculty members would benefit from
(N=52) N %
access to high-quality digital images available royalty-free
on the Internet. Teaching 50 96.2
Diagnosis 13 25
Image Cost and Intellectual Property Research 7 13.5

R16 pointed to difficulties with image ownership and intel- Clinical consultations with patients 17 32.5
lectual property:
 52(3) LRTS A Model for Assessing Digital Image Use and Needs   179

used dental images. The respondent could choose more

Table 6. Ratings of potential metadata elements
than one purpose, so the percentages add to more than
one hundred. Teaching predominated among the types of 5=most useful, 1=least useful N Mean
image use, but substantial minorities of respondents also
Textual description of the location in the maxillofacial
used dental images for other purposes. 47 4.09
region depicted in the picture
Clickable map or maps in the maxillofacial region to
RQ3: What Functional Elements of the Proposed 47 3.72
indicate the anatomical area depicted in the image
Online Repository of Digitized Dental Images
Would Be Most Helpful to Users? Textual description of tissue depicted in the image
47 3.87
(e.g., lips, gums)
The longer national survey included questions that asked Textual description of the color of diseased tissue
46 3.63
respondents to rate, on a five-point Likert scale, the useful- depicted in the image (e.g., color of lesion)
ness of potential image characteristics and accompanying Clickable color palette to indicate the color of
material, and potential metadata elements. Table 5 shows diseased tissue depicted in the image (e.g., color of 47 3.34
the respondents’ rating of particular image characteristics lesion)
and accompanying material. The list was built inductively Textual description of a disease depicted in the image 47 4.13
on the basis of the earlier semistructured interviews and
Textual description of the disease stage depicted in
discussions with colleagues in the BA School of Dental the image
47 4.17
Medicine. All of the items received a score of at least four,
Textual description of damage to the tissue depicted
with the images of diseased or damaged tissues receiving the 47 4.09
in the image
highest scores. But the scores for the potential accompany-
ing materials were nearly as high, lagging by small fractions SNODENT descriptor 28 3.14
of a point. MeSH descriptor 32 3.25

Table 5. Ratings of potential image characteristics

scores. It is worth noting, though, that the subject descriptors
5=most useful, 1=least useful N Mean received scores in the middle of the scale, suggesting that
Images of healthy tissue 49 4 they might have some positive value to the respondents.
Images of diseased tissue 50 4.72
RQ4: Would Members of the Larger Dental Community
Images of injured or damaged tissue 50 4.54 Be Willing to Contribute Further Material to the Proposed
Before, during, and after sequences to depict healthy Online Repository of Digitized Dental Images?
tissue, diseased or damaged tissue, and healed tissue 50 4.62
The longer national survey included a question about wheth-
Case studies, when available, to accompany images 49 4.67 er respondents would be willing to contribute images and
Case information (patient age, gender, race/ethnicity, accompanying material to the proposed online repository of
etc.) when available, to accompany images 49 4.51 digitized dental images. Table 6 shows the results. Very few
Annotations, when available, to provide information respondents indicated a complete unwillingness to contrib-
such as the area of the maxillofacial region or the ute to the proposed repository. A very large majority indi-
name of a disease or injury depicted in the image 50 4.52 cated either a current willingness to contribute or a potential
Image files of sufficient quality and size so that they willingness to contribute material given further information.
can be manipulated by cropping, color adjustment,
etc. 49 4.57
Multiple images to depict various views of Conclusions
manifestations of the same tissue, disease, or injury,
rather than a single image 50 4.36 The results from both the interviews and the survey make it
clear that use of dental images is nearly ubiquitous among
dental faculty members. This reinforces anecdotal impres-
sions of teaching activity in the field, and makes it clear that
The respondents were asked a similar set of questions image use by dental faculty members should be considered a
about potential metadata elements. Table 6 shows the key element in planning for dental education. The interview
results. Various forms of textual descriptions garnered the respondents strongly preferred digital to nondigital images.
highest scores, and subject descriptors garnered the lowest Digital images were more convenient to use and custom-
 180   Paling, Miszkiewicz, Abbas, and Zambon LRTS  52(3)

ize, and minor compromises in image quality did not affect tion of resources to an online repository of digitized dental
the interview respondents’ overall use of, or preference for, images could provide a significant aid to those faculty mem-
digital images. But not all of the faculty members’ current bers and researchers by providing a wider variety of high-
needs are being met. The unmet needs fell into three basic quality, manipulable, legal-to-use images that could enhance
areas: image quality, variety of images, and image cost and their established teaching efforts. The infrastructure for
intellectual property. the delivery of the images already exists at HEAL, and the
The faculty members expressed a desire for higher images from the school’s collection can be effectively incor-
quality images that would allow for easier and more effec- porated into that existing infrastructure.
tive manipulation of the images (for example, by increasing The needs assessment also helped determine a prelimi-
their size for projection or viewing small sections of an nary set of potential metadata elements and accompanying
image close up), for a greater variety in the images available, material to go with the images. The donated collection at the
and for images that were freely available for educational UB School of Dentistry currently includes images only, but
and research use. All of these needs can be met at least external funding would make annotations feasible, and even
partially by professionally digitizing the school’s slides and without funding simple annotations could also be added as
making them available online under a Creative Commons part of the digitization process through brief labels for the
license. The academic deans who responded to the survey digitized images.
also indicated that an online repository of digitized dental The research team also hoped that the university’s col-
images would be useful for faculty members at their institu- lection could act as a kernel for a larger collection. The pre-
tions. Fortunately, the infrastructure for accomplishing this liminary indications are positive, and provide evidence that
already exists at HEAL, and HEAL has shown preliminary a pool of faculty and researcher contributors exists.
willingness to include the school’s collection. The multistage needs assessment described in this
The respondents indicated a strong desire for a collec- paper was subject to several limitations. The sample size,
tion of diverse, high-quality images accompanied by sup- even for the longer survey, was relatively small. In addition,
porting material such as annotations or case studies. Those there was attrition on individual questions. But it is unlikely
needs could be at least partially met by an online repository that the needs expressed were unique to the respondents.
of digitized images accompanied by relevant supporting Image quality, rights to use images, and image variety are
materials such as annotations or case studies. The donated likely to be common problems in dental education, and
collection at the UB School of Dentistry currently contains other professions as well.
only slides without annotations or case studies, but the The current lack of annotations in the donated collec-
information about potential metadata elements would be tion is a negative factor, but the simple presence of high-
useful in planning the addition of annotations as part of the quality images of diseased, injured, and healthy tissue was
digitization project. also important to the respondents. External funding for
The respondents indicated a willingness to contribute extensive annotation would be extremely helpful, but simple
both images and accompanying material, although the labels provided during the digitization process would suffice
willingness was tempered by a desire for more information. to start the collection.
Only a very small number of respondents gave an outright At a minimum, this needs assessment established that
negative response. Providing clear rights based on a Creative there is an appreciable body of dental faculty members and
Commons license may address at least some of the concerns researchers whose image-related needs could be at least
expressed by respondents who wanted more information. partially met through the establishment of an online reposi-
This needs assessment found a variety of unmet, image- tory of digitized dental images.
related needs on the part of dental faculty members and While the research project described in this paper had a
researchers at North American dental schools. The alloca- very specific focus—assessing digital image use and needs in

Table 7. Willingness to contribute to repository

47 responses to each question Images Annotations Case Studies

N % N % N %

Yes 24 51.1 18 38.3 18 38.3

No 0 0 2 4.3 1 2.1
Maybe, but I would need more information before deciding 23 48.9 27 57.4 28 59.6
 52(3) LRTS A Model for Assessing Digital Image Use and Needs   181

dental education, the process can be applied to understand- Office,” 30.

ing digital image use and needs in other fields. Gathering 5. Feuerstein, “Can Technology Help Dentists Deliver Better
data through a similar process can inform planning for digi- Patient Care?”
tal repositories of all types. 6. Michael Kirshner, “The Role of Information Technology and
Informatics Research in the Dentist-Patient Relationship,”
Advances in Dental Research 17 (2003), http://adr.iadrjournals
References
.org/cgi/content/full/17/1/77 (accessed Oct. 1, 2007).
1. Titus K. L. Schleyer et al., “The Technologically Well Equipped 7. Steinar Kvale, Interviews: An Introduction to Qualitative
Dental Office,” Journal of the American Dental Association Research Interviewing (Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 1996).
134, no. 1 (2003): 30–41; Paul Feuerstein, “Can Technology 8. Jacob Cohen, “A Coefficient of Agreement for Nominal
Help Dentists Deliver Better Patient Care?” Journal of the Scales,” Educational and Psychological Measurement 20
American Dental Association 135, suppl. 1 (2004): 11S–16S. (1960): 37–46.
2. William D. Hendricson et al., “Electronic Curriculum 9. Jean Carletta, “Assessing Agreement on Classification Tasks:
Implementation at North American Dental Schools,” Journal The Kappa Statistic,” Computational Linguistics 22, no. 2
of Dental Education 68 (2004): 1042. (1996): 249–54.
3. William D. Hendricson et al., “What Do Dental Students 10. Michael D. Kaplowitz, Timothy D. Hadlock, and Ralph
Think About Mandatory Laptop Programs?” Journal of Levine, “A Comparison of Web and Mail Survey Response
Dental Education 70, no. 5 (2006): 481. Rates,” Public Opinion Quarterly 68, no. 1 (2004): 94–101.
4. Schleyer et al., “The Technologically Well Equipped Dental

Appendix A. Instrument for Semistructured Interviews

Part 1: General Use of Digital Resources

1. Please indicate whether you use each of the following resources as part of your professional work:
_____ Internet search engines, e.g., Google.
_____ Online dentistry resources owned or maintained by the university.
_____ Online dentistry resources NOT owned or maintained by the university.
_____ Online databases, e.g., MedLine.
_____ Information on CD-ROM or DVD.
_____ Other, e.g., information delivered to a personal digital assistant (PDA) or other electronic device.
1a. [For each resource used] Under what circumstance or circumstances do you typically use [resource]?
1a1. [For each circumstance] Why do you use [resource under circumstance]?
1a2. Are there any other circumstances under which you use [resource]?
1a3. Have you experienced any problems or shortcomings with [resource] that hinder your use of [resource] in any
way?
1a3b. [If YES] Can you describe those problems or shortcomings, and how they hinder your use of [resource]?
1b. [If no resources used] Can you tell me why you choose not to use any of the resources I listed?

Part 2: Use of Dental Images

2. Do you currently make use of the kinds of dental images that I have shown you?
2a. [If YES] What types of images do you use?
2a1. [For each type] Under what circumstances do you typically use [type]?
2a1a. In what form do you usually use [type]?
2a1b. [For each form] Why do you use [type] in [form]?
2a2. [For each type and form] Have you experienced any problems or shortcomings with [resource in form x] that
hinder your use of [resource] in that form any way?
2a2a. [If YES] Can you describe those problems or shortcomings, and how they hinder your use of [resource in
form x]?
2a3. Do you have access to the full range of dental images that you would like to use as part of your professional
work?
2a3a. [If NO] Can you tell me what images or kinds of images you currently do not have access to, but would like
to have access to?
2b. [If NO] Can you tell me why you choose not to use the kind of dental images I showed you?
 182   Paling, Miszkiewicz, Abbas, and Zambon LRTS  52(3)

Part 3: General Follow-up

3. Are there other ways in which you use digital resources as part of your professional work that we haven’t talked about?
3a. [If YES] Can you explain what those other way of using digital resources are?
4. Are there other ways in which you use dental images as part of your professional work that we haven’t talked about?
3a. [If YES] Can you explain what those other way of using dental images are?

Appendix B. Survey Sent to Academic Deans

Q1: Do your faculty use digital images to teach dentistry?

Yes ______ No_______
Q2: If so, what resources provide images for faculty use? Please check all that apply
A: Internet (free)
B: Personal Faculty Collections
C: Subscriptions such as DERWeb
D: Digital Textbooks
E: Digital Journal Articles
F: Commercial DVD/CD (Supplied by companies)
Q3: Do you believe that your faculty would benefit from and utilize a copyright free source of digital images in oral
pathology/oral medicine and histology available for desktop delivery via the Internet?
Yes ______ No_______

Appendix C. Second Survey Instrument

Note: On the list of answers an open circle indicates a radio button, a hollow square indicates a checkbox, and a solid square
indicates an item on a list.

I. General Background
[Note: Sample images placed here on Web instrument.]
A. Do you make use of images of healthy, diseased, or damaged tissue in the maxillofacial region like the ones shown
here?
m YES
m NO [Send user straight to Thank You screen if answer is No.]
B. Please choose the item which best describes your use of images similar to the samples you saw on the previous
page:
m I have access to all the images I need, and I don’t want more.
m I have access to all the images I need, but having access to additional images would be useful.
m I do not have access to all the images I need.
C. I use images for the following purposes (choose all that apply):
1. Teaching
2. Diagnosis
3. Research
4. Clinical consultations with patients
5. Other: ________________________________________
D. Please choose the option that best describes your professional situation:
m I am a full-time tenure track/tenured faculty member at a dental school.
m I am a full-time clinical faculty member at a dental school.
m I am a part-time clinical faculty member at a dental school.
m Other: ______________________________________
II. Image Characteristics
A. Please indicate, on a scale of 1–5, how useful each of the following elements would be in your use of the proposed
 52(3) LRTS A Model for Assessing Digital Image Use and Needs   183

repository, with 5 being most useful and 1 being least useful. [Radio buttons 5–1 for response]
n Images of healthy tissue. Images of diseased tissue.
n Images of injured or damaged tissue.
n Before, during, and after sequences of images to depict healthy tissue, a disease or injury to that tissue, and
healed tissue.
n Case studies, when available, to accompany images in the collection.
n Case information (patient age, gender, race/ethnicity, etc.), when available, to accompany images in the
collection.
n Annotations, when available, to provide information such as the area of the maxillofacial region or the name
of a disease or injury depicted in an image.
n Image files of sufficient quality and size so that they can be manipulated by cropping, color adjustment, etc.
n Multiple images to depict various views or manifestations of the same tissue, disease, or injury, rather than a
single image.
n Other: [Text box for description]
B. The next set of questions asks about access points that might be used in the proposed repository of digitized dental
images. An access point is any path that you might use to find an image. For example, pointing and clicking on a
map of the maxillofacial region to find images depicting tissue in that region, or performing a text search based on
annotations accompanying the images, could serve as examples of potential access points.
Please indicate, on a scale of 1–5, how useful each of the following access points would be in your use of the pro-
posed online repository of digitized dental images, with 5 being most useful and 1 being least useful. [Radio buttons
5–1 for response]
n Textual description of the location in the maxillofacial region depicted in the image. Clickable map or maps
in the maxillofacial region to indicate the anatomical area depicted in the image.
n Textual description of tissue depicted in the image (e.g., lip, gums).
n Textual description of the color of diseased tissue depicted in the image (e.g., color of lesion).
n Clickable color palette to indicate the color of diseased tissue depicted in the image (e.g., color of lesion).
n Textual description of a disease depicted in the image.
n Textual description of the disease stage depicted in the image.
n Textual description of damage to the tissue depicted in the image.
n SNODENT [Systematized Nomenclature of Dentistry] descriptor.
n MeSH subject heading.
n Other: [Text box for description]
III. Final Questions
A. How likely would you be to make use of an online repository of digitized dental images that would be freely avail-
able under a Creative Commons license for research, teaching, and diagnosis?
m Very likely
m Somewhat likely
m Somewhat unlikely
m Very unlikely
B. Would you be willing to contribute images to an online repository of digitized dental images that would be freely
available under a Creative Commons license for research, teaching, and diagnosis?
m Yes
m No
m Maybe, but I would need more information before deciding.
C. Would you be willing to contribute annotations to an online repository of digitized dental images that would be
freely available under a Creative Commons license for research, teaching, and diagnosis?
m Yes
m No
m Maybe, but I would need more information before deciding.
D. Would you be willing to contribute case studies to an online repository of digitized dental images that would be
freely available under a Creative Commons license for research, teaching, and diagnosis?
m Yes
m No
m Maybe, but I would need more information before deciding.
 184   LRTS  52(3)

Approaches to
Selection, Access, and
Collection Development
in the Web World
A Case Study with
Fugitive Literature
By Karen Schmidt, Wendy Allen Shelburne,
and David Steven Vess

Academic and research libraries are well-versed in collecting material from the
print world. The present and future collections that are being produced on the
Web require urgent attention to acquire, preserve, and provide access to them
for future research. Many of the skills that librarians have honed through years
of collecting in the print-based world are applicable to digital collection develop-
ment, but will require ramping up technical skills and actively embracing digital
content in current and future collection-development work. This paper reports on
an exploratory project that aims to apply existing skills and knowledge to collect
materials from the Internet and lay the groundwork for collection development
in the future.

I n the print world, the acquisition and selection of materials for libraries is a
well-defined and well-known system, developed over decades of work in the
profession. The bibliographic output is generally controlled, and librarians can
rely on their agents or vendors to obtain the books and journals that are required.
This system of identifying and procuring known items also translates well into
the controlled digital domain of electronic resources—databases, e-books, and
e-journals. Likewise, archivists have developed a refined way of identifying and
Karen Schmidt ([email protected]) is
acquiring specialized collections of letters and diaries, memorabilia, and primary
University Librarian, Illinois Wesleyan literature that form the basis for social and historic research.
University, Bloomington, Illinois; Wendy A significant and growing shadow world of material of equal importance is
Allen Shelburne ([email protected]) is
Electronic Resources Librarian, University
exploding on the Internet and now deserves attention. This fugitive literature
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library; contains important manifestations of present day social and political history, art,
and David S. Vess ([email protected]) is and literature, and primary cultural output. In every way, this literature is con-
Visiting IMLS Portal Librarian, Grainger
Engineering Library Information
temporary primary source material upon which research in the future will rely.
Center, University of Illinois at Urbana- Its existence begs the question of how subject specialists and collection develop-
Champaign. ment librarians take the selection and procurement skills already mastered and
Submitted November 13, 2007; ten- refine or expand them to address the new and growing population of material on
tatively accepted pending revisions the Web.
September 26, 2007; revised and resub-
mitted February 30, 2008, and accepted
The research presented here reflects efforts to understand the challenges of
for publication. collecting from the Web. The questions this project sought to answer are
 52(3) LRTS Approaches to Selection, Access, and Collection Development in the Web World   185

• How can we discover and locate this material? Archive Wayback Machine (www.archive.org) has provided
• How can we associate it with known published mate- a noteworthy program for universal crawling and gather-
rial (either in print or electronically) where it might ing the content of the Web. Libraries can subscribe to the
enrich an existing collection? service entitled Archive-It, “to build, manage and search
• How can we modify and transfer the bibliographic their own Web archive through a user friendly Web applica-
principles already existing in the profession to the tion, without requiring any technical expertise or hosting
work of gathering more transitory documents from facilities. Subscribers can capture, catalog, and archive their
the Web? institution’s own Web site or build collections from the Web,
and then search and browse the collection when complete.”5
The issues of long-term archiving creating a potentially The service allows a library to drill down to specified levels
massive collection, and the provision of adequate metadata of Web pages and specify different time periods for crawls.
to provide access, are corollary questions of equal signifi- Some problems are associated with this service, as reported
cance, but are not the primary focus of this research. later in this study, but should not diminish the value of this
effort, particularly at this moment in time when so few pro-
cedures for handling Web content have been established
Literature Review and codified.
Likewise, individual exploratory programs to capture
A review of literature in collection development includes the parts of the Internet are occurring in research libraries
standard collection development texts that detail how items and archives, but thus far no generalized approach that
are identified, selected, obtained, and processed (cataloged). has been incorporated into regular collection-development
Bonk and Magrill’s Building Library Collections, Gorman’s work. This area of collection building is largely undefined,
Collection Management for the 21st Century, and Johnson’s full of technical challenges, and of substantial import to our
Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management research collections in the future. The existing literature
provide the rubric for acquisition and collection-develop- suggests several fruitful avenues are being explored and
ment activities in most libraries.1 This historic professional developed. Findings from expansive programs such as
framework enabled a subject-based approach, matching the NDIIPP will provide excellent procedural guidelines in
goals of this project to the standards in our profession. While the future, as will individual efforts in targeted areas, such
this traditional library literature helped set the stage, the lit- as the one represented here. The research laid forth here
erature of archives, especially recent research with archiving is yet another building block of this important venture
Web documents, helped us understand current efforts to into gathering research material for future generations of
capture collections on the Web. While not yet a widely scholars.
embraced area of research, some seminal writings have
been produced. Pearce-Moses and Kaczmarek examine the
challenges of a state library managing its mandate to collect Research Method
and provide access to official reports and documents.2 This
article is particularly helpful with highlighting the steps for To launch the collecting of fugitive literature, the project
identifying Web sites, handling acquisition, and addressing team focused on the topic of hate literature primarily ema-
metadata and access issues. Other government-centered nating from individuals and groups in the Midwest. Any
projects are reflected in articles that describe the work of theme might have been chosen to understand how to
The National Library of Australia, as well as the collabora- develop a Web collection; hate literature was selected on the
tive work of many other countries.3 These articles allude to assumption that there might be more unstructured linking
the challenges of crawling Web pages, suggest specific tools, among individuals and groups and thus more of a challenge
and address the problems found in saving highly dynamic to understanding of the variety of communications, and
Web pages, though without offering much procedural detail. because the topic has some relevance to special collections
Certainly the work that the Library of Congress is undertak- already at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ing through the National Digital Information Infrastructure Library. The library includes the papers of Ewing C.
and Preservation Program (NDIIPP, www.digitalpreser Baskette, a lawyer, librarian, and bibliographer. The focus of
vation.gov/index.html) is of great importance to describing this special collection is letters and manuscripts dealing with
the technical dimensions of capturing and preserving our anarchism, freedom of expression, and censorship, among
digital culture and developing a methodology on which sub- other items. The library also holds a related book collection
stantial aggregations of digital produce can be curated.4 on censorship and intellectual freedom. The project team
With regard to current efforts to capture the litera- reasoned that the hate literature that was gathered could
ture emerging on the Internet, Brewster Kahle’s Internet link to and enhance the Baskette collection.
 186   Schmidt, Shelburne, and Vess LRTS  52(3)

The project team approached collecting in the area of the opportunities and challenges in Internet-collection
of Internet hate literature in the Midwest by developing a development. Additionally, we recognized that specific,
bibliographic strategy, much as a subject specialist would do themed collection building of online materials might inspire
when building a collection in the print world. Searching for collaborative collection-building initiatives with other librar-
and defining hate groups was a complex matter. The focus ies and organizations.
was on groups that espouse bias, hatred, or violence toward An early challenge that we had to address was the
members of a race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orienta- lack of a controlled vocabulary for exploring Web sites.
tion, or other designated sector. The scope was narrowed fur- This seems like an obvious issue with which to grapple
ther geographically by focusing on Web sites that appeared at the beginning of our work, but given the area—hate
to emanate from Illinois or other surrounding Midwestern literature—we chose to explore, we discovered that lan-
states (Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, and Indiana). guage was a bigger hurdle to overcome than we originally
Knowing that some organizations track and publish lists assumed. For example, we began to stumble on the number
of hate groups, we decided to use a list of groups maintained “88.” Nothing in our individual backgrounds or education
by a third party. This might be likened to using a checklist helped us readily decipher the meaning of this, but some
from a publisher, vendor, or library to identify a core col- research revealed that the letter H is the eighth letter
lection in print. The most comprehensive list was found in in the alphabet, and “88” stands for “Heil Hitler” on the
the Intelligence Report published by the Southern Poverty sites we were visiting. Lexicon questions are not likely to
Law Center (SPLC.) SPLC is known for its extensive work pose a problem in more mainstream subject areas, but it is
in identifying and following hate and fringe political and advisable to approach this with no preconceived ideas, as
social groups in the United States, and this gave us an excel- collections of digital materials can evolve new semantics.
lent platform from which to begin our work. The original Obviously it is also significant for developing some aspects
list of groups for this project was derived from the SPLC’s of the metadata for these collections.
Intelligence Report online resource, “Hate Groups Map,” Methods used to collect these Web sites recognized a
which is updated annually.6 number of overlapping issues, including researchers’ antici-
In addition to using the SPLC list, we experimented pated future expectations, the technology and technical skills
with using search engines such as Google to identify these needed to gather in these sites, and the time required to col-
Web sites and groups, but the search engines did not pro- lect and preserve them. To have a manageable initial list of
duce an entirely credible list. While many rely on Google as Web sites for the project, as previously noted, our focus was
a finding aid, it was not successful as a bibliographic identi- originally limited to groups operating within Illinois and sur-
fication tool for this topic, even when the filter was changed rounding Midwestern states. Using the list of groups from
from “moderate filtering” to “do not filter.” We had more SPLC, in-depth, organized searches were performed in a
success with blog aggregators such as technorati (http:// systematic way using a set of different search engines.
technorati.com) to find related sites of interest. The goal was to locate Web sites that would fall within
Our review of Web crawling projects being conducted our parameters, with the hope that an aggregate Web site
by libraries and archives demonstrated that each project might be found that would link the groups. Finding the
uses different combinations of technology and collect- main organizational Web sites was not difficult, but a few
ing practices. Most current collecting practices for mate- had to be uncovered using complex searches involving
rial on the Web can be categorized in one of three general references found on Web site bulletin boards or e-mail
approaches listed below: discussion lists. The Search Engine Watch Web site (http://
searchenginewatch.com) was useful in guiding us to the best
• Web site-specific collecting search engines as well as helping us explore advanced search
• Domain-specific collecting (for example, uiuc.edu techniques offered by different search engines.
domain) The general fugitive literature-collection protocol that
• Topic- or subject-specific collecting the project team adopted included the following:

We quickly decided that our project must adopt the 1. Begin with the Web sites of groups listed by the SPLC.
approach that a deep, comprehensive capture of Web sites 2. Capture Illinois and surrounding state-based groups,
created for and used by hate groups was more valuable than but be open to expand these geographic limits.
a broad shallow capture. We reasoned that a deep collection 3. Capture a Web site as deeply as possible on a weekly
of Web resources around a common theme would be more basis.
valuable to researchers than a broad but shallow collection. 4. Use open-source tools available online at no cost.
Because we were trying to understand and describe a pro- 5. Use open-source tools that are user-friendly and
cess, we also felt the deeper approach would reveal more require minimum technical skill.
 52(3) LRTS Approaches to Selection, Access, and Collection Development in the Web World   187

6. Spend approximately ten hours per week in the follow- • American Renaissance (www.chicagoamren.com)
ing activities: • National Socialist Movement (www.nsm88.com/
l Administering crawls index2.html)
l Exploring and describing crawls in a log book of • Brotherhood of Klans Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
crawling activity that helped keep track of Web (www.knightskkk.com)
sites and interrelated groups • Imperial Klans of America Knights of the Ku Klux
l Linking identifiable collection-development prac- Klan (www.k-k-k.com/illinois.htm)
tices to the Web crawling and discovery activities
(The URLs listed were valid when we conducted our
We evaluated a number of different Web crawlers in research.)
preparation for this project, including Heritrix (http://source
forge.net/projects/archive-crawler), HTTrack (www.httrack
.com), and WebGrabber (www.epicware.com/Webgrabber.
html). These tools were evaluated on the following criteria:

• Operating system requirements

• Memory requirements
• Ease of installation
• Ease of use
• Works automatically on schedule
• Original site structure faithfully downloaded

We chose EpicWare’s WebGrabber, mainly because we

were crawling using a private Mac, and neither Heritrix or
HTTrack worked well with the Mac system. We relied on a
private computer, as opposed to one owned by the University
of Illinois Library, because of limitations in crawling ability
on campus computers and concerns about viruses and spam.
This did not turn out to be a problem, but because of the
subject matter of our collection topic, we erred on the side
of caution. WebGrabber is easy for the novice user to use Figure 1. First WebGrabber interface search screen
and offers a number of complex functionalities for more
experienced users such as downloading limitations, complex
filtering capabilities, and the creation of a crawl log for each
download preformed. The application’s interface (shown in
figures 1–3) is a study in simplicity and usability, which we
found lacking in other such applications.
We found a disturbing plethora of sites from which to
choose. We settled on sites that seemed to have been estab-
lished for a least a few months; that had some linkage to
Illinois, the Midwest, or both; and that offered different chal-
lenges through their links, including blogs, bulletins, online
games, and printed material. Reflecting the power of the
Web to reach across geography, we were challenged to keep
a regional scope, but used geography to help us cull through
Web sites when the number threatened to overwhelm us.
The final selected list of Web site groups consisted of

• New Black Panthers (www.newblackpanther.com)

• Nation of Islam (www.noi.org)
• Jewish Defense League (www.jdl.org)
• Council of Conservative Citizens (www.galilei.com/ Figure 2. Second WebGrabber interface search screen
stl/cofcc)
 188   Schmidt, Shelburne, and Vess LRTS  52(3)

could not be crawled with WebGrabber. Blogs and bulletin

boards written in PHP remained mostly elusive for our
entire project, other than basic top-level crawls, because
the content is created dynamically in a scripting language
and does not easily allow the kind of crawling that typical
HTML-coded pages will allow.
A continually fascinating, but completely disorienting,
side effect of our crawls was the discovery of additional related
resources that included new technical challenges. We found
links to more Web sites, links to online stores (with addi-
tional collections materials), and links to bulletin boards, blogs,
games, and podcasts. These connectors helped us discover
material, such as blogs, that were important embellishments
to the content of the initial site. In a few cases, we were led
to primary-source printed collections that we were able to
acquire. For example, the Council of Concerned Citizens Web
site connected us to a man who still lived in the St. Louis area.
Some decades ago, he and his wife had self-published a con-
servative neighborhood newsletter. He still held the collection
Figure 3. Third WebGrabber interface search screen
and the University of Illinois Library was able to negotiate with
him to acquire this. We also found private press publications
We kept a journal of all crawling activity to document that could only be purchased by direct contact via the Web
what we found, how we found it, and what avenues we site. In another situation, a Web site led to a comprehensive
chose to pursue or disband as we progressed. When we bibliography on a specific topic that enabled us to check our
found related print collections that we wanted to pursue to holdings and find missing titles.
associate with the Web collections, we also described the Ethical issues became another significant topic in our
corresponding library and WorldCat searches in our log. work. Our initial crawls deferred to the standard that robots.
This Web-crawl log (see the examples in appendix A) served txt files should not be launched on Web sites because of
an invaluable function as we worked to trace our paths the high demands on bandwidth and because some Web
forward and backward, and it allowed an opportunity for sites have established a principle of not being crawled, but
building a family tree for this collection as each new path we later decided to experiment to see if we found different
became another branch of the collection tree. It also helped content by ignoring this standard. With the Web sites we
record essential metadata for the curation of the collection. were using, we found no difference in what we captured;
Additionally, the log helped in comparing our work to docu- that is, none of the sites had established a prohibition against
ments available on the Internet Archive, specifically the crawling. Nevertheless, we had to discuss this issue before
Wayback Machine, enabling us to make some comparisons moving forward with the crawl.
about automated crawling versus the more labor-intensive We were confronted by other ethical dilemmas within
crawling in which we engaged. sites when we found material that may not have been meant
In an attempt to be inclusive in understanding various for public consumption. In most of these cases, no visible
components of Web-based organizations, we also joined a links could be seen, but a look at the root directories often
few online discussion groups, but because of inactivity on revealed material of interest that would not readily display
our part for the account, we unfortunately were not able on the Web. This only became clear as we looked further
to build on much of the information that we did get. This into the structure of some of our identified sites. In a few
further impressed upon us the labor-intensive nature of the situations, we realized that we were reading personal diaries
work in building a sustained collection of primary-source (blogs) that we did not believe the writer intended that oth-
materials from the Web. ers would see, and likely would not expect to have captured
and archived. In the print archival world, this issue would be
resolved by negotiation with the author or the author’s fam-
Findings ily through a deed of gift, with the age of the material often
putting the contents clearly in the realm of public domain
The eight Web sites we selected afforded the opportunity to material. In the case of Internet diaries, and especially when
consider a number of unanticipated issues. We decided to dealing with difficult social issues related to hatred of other
crawl to the third level of each page, but found pages that groups and individuals in our culture, the resolution is far
 52(3) LRTS Approaches to Selection, Access, and Collection Development in the Web World   189

from clear cut. In this case, while we captured the output of a desire for their documents not to be included in
these blogs, we lacked any contract-conveying rights to this the Collections (by tagging a file for robot exclu-
“digital diary” and therefore chose not to allow access to this sion or by contacting us or the original crawler
material at this time. It is our belief that standards of practice group). If the author or publisher of some part of
will evolve as the library and archival professions continue to the Archive does not want his or her work in our
explore this area of collection development. Until that time, Collections, then we may remove that portion of
the blogs can serve as experimental records to be refreshed the Collections without notice.7
in a protected sector of our digital collection as we continue
to understand the issues surrounding long-term access. Acknowledging that Archive-It and the Internet Archive
We also discovered an abundance of collection material Wayback Machine are not the same, and that Archive-It has
in many formats that emphasized the magnitude of collect- taken additional steps to assure the long-term preservation
ing from the digital world. These included recordings, post- of its content, we noted instances where sites on Wayback
ers, clothing, and bookmarks that reflect the culture that had a number of problems ranging from broken links to
has grown up around hate groups on the Internet. One case ghost text that overrode the initial content that was cap-
exemplifies the potential impact for collections in research tured. One example can be found on a page from the New
libraries: the National Socialist Movement Web site pro- Black Panthers Web site (figure 4) that displays none of the
vides a link to PDFs of leaflets and posters that the group original text when initially viewed on the Wayback Machine,
encourages supporters to print and put in bathroom stalls, but highlighting the text on the page allows the viewer to
transportation centers, and other busy places. Because they see the original text. This emphasizes the importance of
succinctly summarize the philosophy of the organization addressing the archiving issues attendant with building digi-
with excellent visual images, the posters are an excellent pri- tal collections.
mary source material that could be downloaded and kept in
a print collection without any further work on the Web site
and the digital aspects of this organization. This reinforces
the important idea that current collection development
practices must include active interaction with the Internet,
if only to find print (or printable) materials that are signifi-
cant to primary-source research.
Online games also posed a series of unanticipated chal-
lenges. The games are remarkable examples of how specific
cultural perspectives can be reflected and incorporated into
the online environment, providing a hands-on teaching and
learning opportunity for whatever point of view is being
expressed. The Web site www.resist.com, for example, has
links to a number of games that can be downloaded. The
archival challenges to preserving games are substantive and
will require focused research to address.
Finally, as noted earlier, we took the opportunity to look Figure 4. Wayback Machine result for a New Black
closely at the work of Archive-It.org. This program offers Panthers search
the potential for libraries to harvest digital collections in
much the same way one might set up a book-approval plan:
by specifying specific sites to crawl, the frequency of the Lessons Learned
crawls, and the number of levels to be captured. The con-
cept is of great merit and lays the groundwork for moving The principles upon which Internet-collection develop-
collection development more easily into the digital domain. ment can be based—identifying the subject thoroughly and
The Archive-It project allows libraries to curate collections, thoughtfully, understanding the publishing habits of the
tailoring the gathering of Web sites to the rest of a library’s subject area, committing to collecting for a period of time,
collection. One concern that we noted with Archive-It is its understanding how it fits with the rest of the collection,
policy of removing items from the archive at the request of describing it and making it accessible, and preserving it—
the site owner: make this work accessible to the subject bibliographer and
the research library. A powerful symmetry exists between
While we collect publicly available Internet docu- the process of developing print collections and that of devel-
ments, sometimes authors and publishers express oping digital collections from the Internet. Subject special-
 190   Schmidt, Shelburne, and Vess LRTS  52(3)

ists and bibliographers have the skills at hand, but many lack output, and it was necessary to adjust our thinking to col-
the technical skills to understand how to capture what we lect under this rubric. The parameters for developing this
find and how to make undeniably labor-intensive and often collection established depths of crawls, timelines, and strat-
repetitive work less so. The lessons learned are simple and egies to acquire print material that was discovered along
straightforward: the way. Technological challenges required consultations
with other library and information technology specialists. In
• This work cannot be automated; it requires excellent short, many collection development principles and practices
subject specialist skills and the willingness to continu- were readily adapted to this project, but new techniques and
ally evaluate for content and follow up on new sites technologies needed to be brought in.
and organizations on a regular basis. For today’s users, this collection provides an opportuni-
• The work of projects such as the Internet Archive ty to examine the activities of a core set of hate groups from
Wayback Machine is useful but requires professional the area in the early twenty-first century, and it will continue
oversight; this is an excellent finding aid but requires to serve that need well into the future. For the library pro-
the oversight of a bibliographer. The Archive-It fession, this case study provides an opportunity to consider
subscription program takes this to a higher level of one way in which our collecting processes should change
oversight and control that is moving in the right direc- and how we might build a framework around this new kind
tion, although numerous technical issues related to of process. The next challenges lie in making this and other
curation, many of which are noted here, will continue gatherings of Web-based collections searchable and acces-
to arise in the next few years. sible using current search and retrieval technologies and
• The Internet world is highly compatible with and metadata coding schemas, and ensuring its preservation.
complementary to our print world; as we discover
and harvest Internet material, we are able to dig more
deeply into print. The resulting collection is poten- Future Implications
tially very deep and rich for our present and future
research community. Why does collection development and management of
• Archivists and copyright experts have much to teach Internet material matter? We know that the first e-mail mes-
librarians about collecting in this domain, including sage was sent in 1964 from Cambridge, or perhaps Carnegie-
issues of identifying and describing item-level (site- Mellon, or MIT—we cannot be certain because no record of
level) material preservation, and ethical issues. this momentous occasion exists, unlike our careful recording
of the first moments of the call between Alexander Graham
Just as librarians have always needed to think about how Bell and his assistant. Our digital heritage is fragile and the
much shelf space is needed for print collections, so too must challenges to identifying and preserving it are enormous. As
server space for housing these collections be considered. librarians, it is incumbent upon us to collect and preserve this
The eight Web sites that were crawled produced a collection as part of our cultural and literary heritage, as we have done
of 6.49 gigabytes, with 56,453 files in 3,110 folders. Thus for millennia with other types of material.
even a targeted crawling system launched over a period of a Research libraries have achieved significance in schol-
few months creates storage challenges that cannot be over- arship because of the extraordinary special collections
looked. Likewise, it is essential to consider the preservation amassed over centuries. The commitment to finding and
of these data and assure that there are adequate procedures preserving the record of human experience is the role of
in place for backing up what has been captured. the library and librarian. The challenges faced by those
Setting forth the metadata terminology, and building on who built our print-based specialized collections provide
it from the beginning, is important in bringing structure to inspiration and guidance in continuing that same com-
the collection, and also to the subsequent ongoing collection mitment for the future: specialized digital collections of
development work. It provides a template against which the online diaries, Web sites, games, and ephemera. Research
subject specialist can gauge how well a new site, blog, or libraries need only look to the printed items in their collec-
PHP fits into the existing collection. The metadata descrip- tions that might well have seemed frivolous at the time of
tion is imperative both as a finding aid to the archive and to acquisition—the Collyer’s Eye streetwise sporting weekly
establishing rhetoric upon which to base future search and or the penny novels of the 1800s—to understand the rich
crawl work. research value today of the publications that existed on the
As a case study, this research centered upon focused fringe at the time of publication.
identification of a subject-based topic: hate groups in the For any number of reasons (lack of funding, lack of staff-
Midwestern states. The focus was on producers of content ing, lack of training, etc.), our research libraries currently
and material outside the standard realms of publishing are challenged by missed collection opportunities from the
 52(3) LRTS Approaches to Selection, Access, and Collection Development in the Web World   191

Internet. Collection development librarians tend to focus development and management quickly and fully into the
energy on gathering the canon, and making certain that col- environment of the Internet.
lections house the best of published materials. Developing
a collection of future value rests on collecting well beyond References
that scope, building new types of collections that incorpo-
rate materials with related Web output, and venturing into 1. Wallace John Bonk and Rose Mary Magrill, Building Library
areas that have often been cast as the province of the public Collections, 5th ed. (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1979); G.
E. Gorman and Ruth H. Miller, Collection Management for
library. Video-gaming strategy guides and political punditry
the 21st Century: A Handbook for Librarians (Westport,
newsletters serve as examples. While collections of electron- Conn: Greenwood, 1997); Peggy Johnson, Fundamentals
ic games are being built and studied at Stanford University, of Collection Development & Management (Chicago: ALA,
more collection development endeavors such as capturing 2004).
gaming blogs and other gaming Web sites have their place in 2. Richard Pearce-Moses and Joanne Kaczmarek, “An Arizona
many libraries. The explosion of social networking sites may Model for Preservation and Access of Web Documents,” DttP
well provide yet another avenue of output for collecting in 33, no. 1 (2005): 17.
future years as more and more users publish original materi- 3. Margaret E. Phillips, “What Should We Preserve? The
als of all types there. Our project team noted with interest Question for Heritage Libraries in a Digital World,” Library
and dismay that most of the printed materials created and Trends 54, no. 1 (2005): 57–71; Neil Beagrie, National Digital
distributed by organizations considered to be hate groups Preservation Initiatives: An Overview of Developments in
Australia, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom
are not found in our nation’s libraries. Even more intrigu-
and of Related International Activity (Washington, D.C.:
ing was the discovery that these groups currently sell their Council on Library and Information Resources, 2003).
printed materials online, as well as disseminate their ideas 4. Library of Congress, “Digital Preservation: What the Library
through Web sites, blogs, and links to like-minded groups. is Doing,” www.digitalpreservation.gov/library (accessed Jan.
While many Web preservation projects are underway 17, 2008).
throughout the world, they do not appear to be building 5. Archive-It, “Welcome to Archive-It,” www.archive-it.org
their work on libraries’ rich collection development practical (accessed Jan. 17, 2008).
history; few are exploring a topic or subject-based collection 6. Southern Poverty Law Center, “The Year in Hate,” Intelligence
development approach. Still fewer are exploring in-depth, Report: A Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center 125
high-quality Web crawling projects that seek for depth of (Spring 2007): 48–70.
a topic, not breadth. None are considering how these yet- 7. Internet Archive, “Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Copyright
Policy: Terms of Use,” www.archive.org/about/terms.php
to-be-codified processes are ideally suited for collecting
(accessed Jan. 17, 2008).
nontraditional materials from people and organizations 8. Seamus Ross, “Digital Preservation, Archival Science and
that fall outside not only mainstream culture but outside of Methodological Foundations for Digital Libraries,” paper
traditional library collection development policies. Ross has presented at the 11th European Conference on Research
stated that “the actual theories, methods, and technologies and Advanced Technology for Digital Libraries, Budapest,
that can either foster or ensure digital longevity remain star- Hungary (Sept. 16–21, 2007), www.ecdl2007.org/Keynote_
tling limited.”8 The transitory nature of the Web is a clear ECDL2007_SROSS.pdf (accessed Jan. 17, 2008).
signal to libraries to extend what we know about collection
 192   LRTS  52(3)

Notes on Operations
Evaluating and Improving the
Presentation of Serials Information
in the Online Catalog
By Lori J. Terrill
Many factors should be considered when evaluating how serial publications are
presented in online library catalogs. Both patrons and library employees utilize
the catalog to locate serial titles and then must be able to determine which formats
are available, as well as which issues are available in each format. Consideration of
both the recording and display of serials data should be part of a thorough evalu-
ation. This paper presents an outline for an evaluation focusing on meeting user
needs. It also provides advice based on the experience of undertaking a successful
project at the University of Wyoming Libraries.

S erial publications, including

scholarly journals, are an essen-
tial part of any academic library’s col-
serials displays in the online catalog,
referring to relevant literature, and
provides advice based on the expe-
lections. The library’s online catalog rience of undertaking a successful
works in tandem with indexes, article project at the University of Wyoming
databases, and OpenURL resolvers (UW) Libraries. The UW Libraries
to provide access to serials informa- serve a population of approximately
tion. Discussions about the role of 13,000 students and support under-
the catalog and cataloging rules have graduate, graduate, and faculty
been common in the library commu- research. Holdings include approxi-
nity within the past few years. Most mately 41,000 serials in print and
people will agree that any feasible other physically held formats and
effort to improve upon library cata- access to more than 42,000 online
logs must build on the bibliograph- serials.
ic and holdings data libraries have An evaluation of how serials are
been creating and maintaining for presented in the online catalog can be
decades. While library catalogs and guided by these key questions:
cataloging evolve, librarians should
be proactive in making their online • How should a library represent
catalogs as user-friendly as possible, serials owned or licensed at the
using the integrated library system title level?
(ILS) technology and functionality • How should a library repre-
currently available to them. They sent the specific volumes and
should also try to position themselves issues owned or licensed for
Lori J. Terrill ([email protected]) is Principal to take advantage of future enhance- each title?
Serials Cataloger, University of Wyoming ments to library system technology • What is the role of the catalog?
Libraries, Laramie. by thinking about data recording and
Submitted August 23, 2007; returned data display as separate but comple- To address these issues, one must
to author with suggestions for revision mentary entities. look at what data should be includ-
October 7, 2007; revised and resubmit-
ted Nov. 7, 2007; reviewed and accept- The goal of this paper is two-fold: ed, the source of the data, how it is
ed for publication December 3, 2007. it provides an outline for evaluating recorded, and how it is displayed.
 52(3) LRTS Evaluating & Improving the Presentation of Serials Information in the Online Catalog   193

Literature Review to journal contents through the online brief records as the default display,
catalog,” “broadened search capabili- although she did not define which
Literature on the subject of the pre- ties,” and “remote user access and fields should be included in this brief
sentation of serials information in the document delivery service.”4 display. A link to detailed records
online catalog ranges from general In 1996, Snavely and Clark out- would be provided for librarians and
works on the problems users face in lined five steps a user takes from find- experienced users. She questioned the
finding and interpreting serials infor- ing an article in an index to physically use of lengthy holdings statements,
mation to papers addressing specific locating it in the library. According to suggesting instead “a compact list with
aspects, including holdings informa- their analysis of online catalog displays, missing issues noted.”7 Displaying the
tion, information on volumes involved “screen design may be more important call number prominently and in the
in internal workflows, online catalog for serials records than for any other early part of the record was another of
displays, and issues related to online type of material in the online catalog.”5 her recommendations.
serials. They agreed with previous research
that recommended open displays Holdings Information
The Serials Maze rather than dense text, and suggested
the use of brief records fulfills this Despite the fact that holdings records
Serials are a particular area for confu- recommendation. Deciphering hold- function as the nerve center for local
sion in online catalogs, as they were ings information was one of the steps serials information in the catalog, they
in their paper-based predecessors. A identified as a point for user confusion. have not received much attention in
quarter century ago, Pinzelik described The authors indicated that the word published display guidelines beyond
the confusion caused by the “serials holdings itself may be meaningless the holdings statements themselves.
maze,” saying, “Patrons want to know if to the user and complained that this The International Federation of
the library subscribes to a specific title, information is often buried beyond Library Associations and Institutions
if the library’s holdings include a cer- the first screen displayed. Other prob- (IFLA) online catalog display guide-
tain volume and issue, where the issue lems noted were lack of differentiation lines did not address the information
is located, if the pages are intact, and between publication information ver- found in a holdings record.8 Cherry’s
if they can photocopy it, check it out, sus information on the volumes owned, evaluation checklist addressed the
or sit down and read it.”1 She adopted lack of understanding that a hyphen topic in a limited way, asking if the call
a user perspective in outlining the denotes open and ongoing holdings, number is located near the top of the
process of finding information about and confusion caused by vague state- display, if holdings and location infor-
serials, identifying up to twenty-four ments such as “current issues.” Finally, mation are displayed, and if circula
decision points for a user. Her solu- Snavely and Clark addressed confusion tion status information is displayed.9
tion was a serials information desk to over where to look for an issue when a She further asked if holdings, location,
help patrons navigate the complexities library has multiple shelving locations. and circulation status information are
of serials. Additionally, she suggested They made three broad recommen- displayed adjacent to each other and
reducing special locations, using shelf dations for change: link holdings in separated from bibliographic informa-
dummies, creating better signage, and periodical databases to serials holdings tion. She did not mention aspects of
creating clearer serials records. records; use brief, easy to understand interest to those specifically looking at
Cipolla addressed the same topic records; and change some cataloging serials displays, such as the display of
in “Finding a Way Out of the Serials rules and practice. checked-in issues, treatment of mul-
Maze.”2 Possibilities for the use of Fescemyer’s “Serials Clutter in tiple locations for a run (for example,
technology in libraries were blossom- Online Catalogs” in 2005 dealt with if bound volumes and unbound issues
ing in 1988, and Cipolla identified both the search process and the dis- are shelved in different areas), or
seven ideas for how “the power of the play of the serials records themselves.6 issues involved in internal processes,
computer could be harnessed to find In her study, record complexity was such as bindery or repairs.
a way out of the serials maze.”3 These measured by assessing three factors: The aspect of holdings data that
were “integrated public access cata- number of lines in the bibliographic has received the most attention in the
logs that include location and holdings record portion of the display, number professional literature is the record-
data for serials,” “natural language of lines of holdings information, and ing and display of holdings state-
display,” “networked access to area the sum of the two. Fescemyer argued ments using the Machine Readable
union lists,” “automatic links between for one bibliographic record for all Cataloging (MARC) Format for
indexing and location tools,” “access formats of a title and less cluttered Holdings Data. The history of stan-
 194   Terrill LRTS  52(3)

dards development and overviews of experiences of an early adopter of the Volumes in Internal Workflows
them have been discussed by many USMARC Format for Holdings and
in the literature.10 Others have chron- Locations. He briefly discussed the Issues or volumes may be temporarily
icled experiences with implementa- decision to record holdings as level 3 unavailable because they are involved
tion of holdings standards.11 Within (summary) or level 4 (detailed). Baker in internal workflows, such as the
these discussions, commonly men- argued that the primary advantage of binding of issues or repair of dam-
tioned reasons for following the hold- level 4 is the “greater support for pub- aged volumes. Tracking these issues,
ings standards included consistency in lic access, ILL, check-in and bindery as well as those known to be missing
the recording and display of holdings functions” it provides.15 He recom- or lost, is a common concern for librar-
data, ease of data migration, ability mended useing level 4 for current ies, although it is receiving almost no
to share data on publication patterns serials holdings and at least level 3 for attention in the literature.
and holdings, facilitation of automated ceased or canceled titles. For maxi- Goldberg and Neagle looked at
or predictive check-in, and support mum flexibility, he argued for using tracking serials in the online catalog.18
of metasearching. Drawbacks noted paired 85X/86X fields when inputting The model they outlined involved
included limitations due to ILS func- data. sharing responsibility between public
tionality and the initial investment in Moeller and Lu presented the and technical services to keep serials
training and staff time. Overall, most results of a survey on libraries’ imple- information in the online catalog cur-
articles have supported the use of mentations of the MARC 21 Format rent. This included steps to document
holdings standards. For example, Alan for Holdings Data (MFHD).16 They volumes in the bindery workflow and
argued, “The use of holdings stan- collected information on ILS func- issues not available in current periodi-
dards can provide for more accurate, tionality, where and how holdings cals (such as missing issues or issues
detailed, and consistent retrieval and data is recorded, practices for physi- that are not available without staff
display of holdings information.”12 cally held versus remotely accessed assistance). They argued that “patrons
One article took a more skepti- serials, and the use of paired fields. expect to find up-to-the-minute infor-
cal look at the standard. In 1997, Respondents cited future ILS migra- mation on serials, and serials mod-
Wallace asked the question, “Serials tions and expected ease of migrating ules of automated systems should be
Holdings Statements: A Necessity or data most often as factors in choosing equipped to handle it.”19
a Nuisance?”13 She believed the key to use paired 85X/86X fields to record
advantage of holdings statements was holdings. Other common reasons Online Catalog Displays
as “a quick and dirty summary of vol- included consistency of display, use of
umes the library should own.”14 She patterns and holdings to expedite pre- Some observations about online cat-
saw serious limitations such as lack dictive check-in, the hope to be able to alog displays remain little changed
of availability information, difficulty take advantage of future ILS enhance- over time. In 1995, Hildreth wrote,
of maintenance, and detraction from ments to check in functions and dis- “Effective bibliographic displays are
item level searching in online catalogs play functions (such as compression influenced by both content and pre-
that include that feature. Wallace con- and expansion), and future sharing of sentation factors. The design goal is
ducted a survey of eighty online cata- patterns and holdings among librar- to facilitate user comprehension and
logs for academic and special libraries ies. Among the reasons for not using decision making.”29 Online catalog dis-
to look for the use of summary hold- paired fields were satisfaction with plays have been addressed regularly in
ings statements, the availability of the functionality and look of the cur- the literature, and the following repre-
item-level information via check-in rent system, difficulties of converting sents only a limited review, including
information or item records for bound existing holdings, the expectation that two articles addressing the contents
volumes, and the availability of status they would be harder to maintain, lack of brief displays and two examples of
information and circulation policy. She of ILS functionality to support them, display guidelines.
found significant gaps among various and cost. Moeller and Lu stressed that Thomas looked at the content
systems’ capabilities and a continued a library should do its homework as a and layout of bibliographic displays
reliance upon holdings statements, but part of the decision-making process: in 2001.21 He pointed out that “it is
looked toward a future possibility of “A thorough knowledge of MFHD not enough for the system merely to
item-level displays replacing them. and an understanding of the needs store and retrieve information; to be
Two other articles warrant dis- and limitations of one’s own library useful, this information must be pre-
cussion, as they describe more fully provide the foundation for making sented to the user in a manner that
the decisions addressed in following well-informed decisions about the use the individual can interpret meaning-
the standard. Baker looked at the of MFHD.”17 fully.”22 His review of the literature on
 52(3) LRTS Evaluating & Improving the Presentation of Serials Information in the Online Catalog   195

screen design included system-orient- ignations, subject headings, call num- different user groups. Suggestions
ed research, human factors research, bers, and publisher information. Fields for content and arrangement includ-
and cognitive research. Participants associated with continuing resources, ed using full displays as the default
in his study performed subject-ori- frequency (310 field only), and dates single-record display (with a shorter
ented tasks using different interfaces: of publication and volume designa- display option), providing an option to
with and without labels and also with tion (362 field), were found in default view fully encoded records (for exam-
variation in the content of the fields displays at rates of 73 percent and 67 ple, MARC records), and providing
displayed. He found that adding sub- percent, respectively. Electronic loca- links to information external to the
ject-oriented data (subject headings tion and access (856 field) were dis- catalog.
and summary notes) to brief displays played in only 88 percent of catalogs.
resulted in less need for participants Most catalogs (90 percent) displayed Online Serials
to look at full displays. He also found twenty-seven or more fields, with only
that layout—labeled displays versus around 8 percent displaying sixteen or Many researchers have tackled issues
International Standard Bibliographic fewer fields. They concluded that “the relating to online serials and library
Description (ISBD) punctuation and elements users identify as important catalogs, beginning in the mid-1990s.
no labels—did not significantly affect are missing in a significant number of The following represents a selective
the time it took participants to com- catalogs’ default record displays,” thus review of the literature on this topic.
plete tasks. His study concurred with concerning them that some displays Cole examined online serial access
earlier studies in finding that users may be so brief as to be incomplete or in “Impacts of the Abandonment
(particularly novice library users) con- misleading.24 of Catalog Records for Electronic
sider only a few fields in the bib- In 1998, Cherry published a Serials.”27 He listed a number of
liographic record to be important. detailed checklist for online catalog things that an alphabetical list can-
These were title, subject headings, displays consisting of 133 questions.25 not do as well as an online catalog.
and summary notes, although previous While a few of her guidelines seem Shortfalls of alphabetical lists included
research he cited also mentioned pub- highly subjective (for example, insis- an inability to search by the name of
lication date, author, and call number tence that labels be in all upper- an issuing body, an inability to record
as important. Thomas did not specifi- case), most are useful to consider. variant titles, an inability to provide
cally examine serials displays. The guidelines are presented in four access to an earlier title when all issues
Carlyle and Timmons looked at sections covering labels, text, instruc- have been amalgamated under a later
the contents of default displays in tional information, and page layout. title, a lack of detailed subject access
online catalogs.23 They provided a lit- IFLA’s display guidelines were (beyond title keywords), and no trac-
erature review that included similar grounded on a three-point framework: ing of relationships between serials.
studies, mainly from the 1990s. All “The overriding primacy of users’ needs Cole summarizes his argument thus:
studies showed title, author, subject . . . the importance of the content and “The abandonment of catalog records
headings, and date of publication to arrangement of records to finding, for electronic serials, while viewed as
be the most important elements; call identifying, selecting, and obtaining a cost-saving measure, would severely
number, URL, summary, publisher, resources . . . [and] the requirement hinder the patron’s ability to locate the
and other authors were also com- to follow accepted international stan- publications, and thus would come
monly mentioned as top elements. dards for information content and with a cost of its own.”28
Their study looked at which of thirty- structure.”26 Recommendations were McCracken, Serials Solutions
eight MARC fields were included in further broken down under each of cofounder, also discussed the issue of
the default displays (assumed to be these principles, although a library’s title lists versus the online catalog.29
the briefest display) in a random sam- ability to meet the guidelines may He asserted that the online catalog
ple of 122 Web-based catalogs. They be limited by the functionality of the is the primary source for information
found a rate of display for the fields particular online catalog it is using. In about a library’s holdings and, because
ranged from 100 to 56 percent. Those the category of users’ needs, some sug- of its rich access points, it should not
fields displayed by 100 percent of the gestions included providing context- only be maintained, but expanded.
catalogs surveyed included: personal sensitive help, avoiding library jargon, He observed, “Adding records to the
author main entry and title/subtitle. displaying all information necessary for OPAC for electronic journals confirms
More than 90 percent of catalogs dis- the user to obtain the resource, giving that the OPAC is the single source
played corporate body and conference information on access requirements for locating information about all of a
main entries, uniform titles, statements and restrictions, and using different library’s journal subscriptions, regard-
of responsibility, general material des- “views” or interfaces to accommodate less of format.”30
 196   Terrill LRTS  52(3)

The single versus separate record respondents, those using separate for the user to be able to find, identify
question has been addressed several records were more likely to have most and select.”41
times in the library science litera- (76–100 percent) of their online seri- A 2007 article by Allgood also
ture. Morris and Thomas considered als represented in the catalog. Also addressed multiple manifestations of
the question from a user perspec- notable was the similar perception of serials in online catalogs.42 Allgood
tive.31 They noted the advantage of patron satisfaction between libraries looked at three approaches to improv-
the “computer file” (now “electronic using the single record approach ver- ing online catalog displays: revision
resource”) general material designa- sus separate records. Bordeaux con- of cataloging rules; imple-mentation
tion as a way to flag electronic content cluded, “The close division between of the FRBR model; and utilization
for users. Separate records also have the use of single records and the use of MARC 21 authority, bibliographic,
the advantage of being pulled out into of separate records suggests that, at and holdings formats. Some exceptions
subcatalogs, which benefits users who least among academic libraries in the to manifestation-level cataloging prac-
prefer online versions. Management United States, there is no consensus tice include CONSER’s single-record
issues, such as more accurate statistics regarding the best approach to take approach (URLs for electronic ver-
for collection additions and withdraw- when cataloging electronic serials.”36 sions are added to print versions) and
als, consistency, and the ability to Growing interest in the practi- aggregator-neutral records (multiple
use records created by others, were cal application of the Functional online manifestations are described
cited as other points in favor of sepa- Requirements for Bibliographic by a single record). The multiple
rate records. “We consider separate Records (FRBR) model ties into the version (MulVer) problem was not
records to offer more clarity to users separate versus single record debate. definitively resolved with either of
than single records. Users may well Oliver examined this issue in her paper these practices. He mentioned the
be presented with a choice of records, on content versus carrier in FRBR.37 work of the Joint Steering Committee
but at least when a record is selected She pointed out that the single record for the Revision of AACR’s Format
all the information available is clear approach, also referred to as the non- Variation Working Group, which
and concise. . . . In our view, single cataloging approach, “responds to the concluded that expression-level col-
records can at times overwhelm users need for collocation, a fundamental location was a more realistic solu-
with too much detail.”32 principle underlying the catalogue. tion than expression-level cataloging.
In 2003, Giles presented an out- However, it aims to ensure colloca- Allgood saw two options for solving
line of the arguments for single and tion, not by the grouping together of the MulVer problem—“change cata-
separate records.33 This concise over- records, but by adding a pointer to loging practices or improve OPAC
view of the topic cited reasons for the electronic version on the print displays”—but admitted that the for-
using separate records as tracking record.”38 The downside is that single mer seems unlikely due to the mil-
differences between online versions records describe the print, not the lions of existing manifestation-level
and print versions, unique ISSN, less online, and therefore the online ver- records in current catalogs and the
confusion if one always uses a separate sion “is not clearly visible in the cata- need to track manifestations for inter-
record to describe the online version, logue as a separate manifestation.”39 nal processes.43 He concluded that
user preference for online versions In the separate record approach, each “improving OPAC display capabilities
(and a desire to limit searches to manifestation has its own description holds the greater promise for helping
online only), and the ability to utilize on its own record, including aspects librarians resolve the MulVer problem.
copy cataloging. Giles also presented such as notes, linking fields, and uni- Two specific initiatives, the FRBR
arguments for using single records, form titles. But current online catalog conceptual model and the MARC 21
which included the perceived higher functionality may not achieve sufficient communications formats, may bring
cost of cataloging when using separate collocation. Oliver wrote, “A FRBR- us even closer to this goal.”44 The
records and that public-services staff based display in the next generation MARC 21 authority format could be
view single records as simpler. She of OPACs could overcome some of expanded to include the communica-
argued that “users want simplicity and the drawbacks in each approach and tion of work and expression identifiers
consistency,” but there is no agree- allow for a grouped display of records that would facilitate better colloca-
ment among librarians which method clearly indicating that the print and tion in online catalogs, according to
of cataloging best achieves that goal.34 electronic versions are different mani- Allgood. Looking to the future, he
Bordeaux used a survey to exam- festations of the same expression of argued for a distinction between data
ine the question of single versus sepa- the same work.”40 She argued that storage and display: “The necessity for
rate records.35 While she found no each manifestation has unique attri- libraries to store and exchange data as
clear preference in practice among butes, so describing each is “important cohesive manifestations-level descrip-
 52(3) LRTS Evaluating & Improving the Presentation of Serials Information in the Online Catalog   197

tions though in no way forces OPACs Finally, members must be com- grates into a whole; quick
to display data in the same way.”45 mitted to the task. We devoted seven information seeking is largely
months of intensive work to this proj- judged by whether it provides
ect. Team members normally met once a “right” answer or puts out
The Project a week (sometimes more) and put in an immediate informational
numerous hours outside of meetings. “brush fire.”46
The project to evaluate the presenta- Many details require consideration, so
tion of serials information in the online members must be able to devote the He argued that scholars are the
catalog at UW Libraries was done at time and attention to the process that real niche audience of research librar-
the request of the library dean, who is required. ies, so those libraries have “a par-
formed a task force for that purpose. ticular responsibility to serve the needs
On the basis of task force’s experi- Adopting the User Perspective of scholars—especially because the
ences, the following sections outline alternatives of Google, Amazon, Alta
guidelines for approaching the evalua- The evaluation should be approached Vista, while being excellent sources
tion process from the formation of an with a focus on user needs. Users for ‘something’ on a subject provided
evaluation team to report preparation include both internal users (library ‘quickly,’ nonetheless fail to support
and follow-up. employees) and external users (stu- scholarship in several specific (and
dents, staff, and faculty), but one very important) ways.”47
Creating an Evaluation Team should try to adopt the perspective While Mann’s quick information
of external users as much as possible. seekers may bypass the library catalog
The composition of the team is vital Procedural issues may be kept in mind, entirely, those who do use the catalog
to its success, not only because of but creating new procedures is usually vary in both diligence and abilities.
the knowledge the members bring, best left to the departments doing the Some searchers may not understand
but also due to their attitudes toward work. By not worrying about proce- the online catalog’s capabilities or
the project. First, having various per- dures, one can keep user service as the do not put much thought into their
spectives represented is important. In primary concern. searching techniques. They may want
our case, the group was composed of Adopting the perspective of users only the most basic information about
two technical-services librarians, two in the evaluation process is compli- the title plus a call number or URL.
reference librarians, and a paraprofes- cated because no typical user exists. Others develop greater expertise with
sional staff member with both tech- Libraries serve a population that falls the online catalog to create more
nical and public-services experience. along a continuum of user types. finely tuned searches. They may be
Four to five members is a good size Mann, a reference librarian at the more likely to read more of the bib-
for a group—large enough to have var- Library of Congress, described two liographic records to determine if the
ied opinions and expertise, yet small types of users: scholars and quick- item is truly what they want. Libraries
enough to still function efficiently. information seekers. should strive to meet the expectations
Any expertise lacking in the evaluation of these diverse searchers and must
team can be remedied by interview- Obviously there is a spectrum keep their varied needs in mind.
ing internal or external experts and by of continuities between the
searching the library-science literature two—no one disputes that— Collecting Background Information
and other information sources. but there are also big differ-
Second, team members must be ences that are too often swept In the early stages of the evaluation
open-minded. For the evaluation to be under the rug. Scholarship team’s work, committee members may
successful, members must be willing to requires linkages, connec- need to be educated on some aspects
question the status quo, think creative- tions, contexts, and over- of current practices and problems.
ly to explore a variety of options for any views of relationships; quick Public services members may need an
given problem, and be open to input information seeking is largely overview on current cataloging poli-
from outside the group. Any individual satisfied by discrete informa- cies or information on how the ILS
who is simply there to defend the sta- tion or facts without the need works behind the scenes to create
tus quo will only hamper the work that to also establish the contexts the online catalog displays. Technical
needs to be done. This is not to say and relationships surround- services members can benefit from
that change in every area evaluated is ing them. Scholarship is understanding what some of the pri-
inevitable, but the group must at least judged by the range, extent, mary confusions about the online cata-
be open to that possibility. and depth of elements it inte- log are from the questions users often
 198   Terrill LRTS  52(3)

ask public services personnel. Other members served as a moderator, guid- volumes in internal workflows, online
relevant areas for gathering informa- ing participants through the various catalog displays, and online serials.
tion may relate to federated search screens (for example, search screen,
tools, OpenURL resolvers, involve- results list, bibliographic record dis- Holdings Information
ment in a union catalog, interlibrary plays) to get feedback. One should
loan, holdings standards, the FRBR show examples of records for both “How should a library represent the
model, institutional history of online print and electronic formats. Guided specific volumes and issues owned or
serials access, and online catalog fea- questioning can be used to focus the licensed for each title?” was one of
tures and functionality. Conducting participants on various aspects of the our key questions. When examining
a literature review for relevant areas displays. Whenever someone does not holdings information in the catalog
of interest should be a part of this like some aspect of the display, ask for (including the range of data that may
information-gathering process. suggestions on how to improve it. After be stored in the holdings record), a
Looking at the online catalogs of reviewing your own catalog, show the number of other more specific ques-
other libraries, in particular those using group examples of other library catalogs tions emerge:
the same ILS, is one of the most valu- to get their reaction to different dis-
able steps one can take early in the play options. In our case, we received • Are holdings statements com-
project. It provides a good overview valuable input and found that face-to- plete and in a form easily
of the features that can be customized face meetings offered the advantage understood?
in the online catalog and options for of promoting discussion. The forums • How are multiple locations han-
those customizations. Look for exam- identified not only problems but also dled? Unbound versus bound
ples of alternate terminology to use for possible ways to make improvements, issues? Issues held in storage?
labels, wording for public notes, vari- as well as input on what is already good • Are issues held on reserve for
ous record display contents (i.e., which about the online catalog. courses or other purposes?
MARC fields display), and different The evaluation team should dis- • Is subscription information
ways to display holdings statements. cuss the potential role for user studies explicit and helpful?
Because the online catalog is a visual with students, staff, and faculty outside • Are the locations spelled out
and interactive medium, looking at live of the library. Also consider examining fully, with directional informa-
examples is preferable to only reading user data that has already been collect- tion as needed?
about features in the ILS’s manuals. ed—for example, comments from sur- • Is the call number prominently
veys such as LibQual+. If you have a placed in the record?
Gathering Input from the Users good grasp of the major points of con- • Are the data elements entered
fusion in your catalog, you may want and displayed consistently?
Nearly every library employee has to wait and employ user studies as an
an opinion about the online catalog. evaluation tool after recommendations Holdings statements (the listing of
One finds some of the most frequent are implemented, to see if they solve the volumes held in a library’s collec-
and sophisticated users of the catalog the current problems and to identify tion) are a key element to be evaluated.
among library employees; they also further areas to fine-tune. If current This data may be recorded in coded
answer questions from an array of problems are not clear, a library may statements using the MARC Format
people, from novice catalog users to want to undertake user studies early in for Holdings Data or as free text,
experts. This makes them an ideal the evaluation process. which may follow recognized stan-
group from which to collect feedback. dards or be based on a locally created
Face-to-face meetings are a good Focus Areas system. In looking at a library’s current
mechanism for gathering employee practices, one must ask if the informa-
input. Offering two or more session Evaluating the presentation of serials tion is presented in a way that is easy
choices will encourage maximum par- information in the online catalog neces- for users to interpret and if the infor-
ticipation without inconveniencing sitates consideration of data record- mation provided is complete enough
departments with public service points ing and data display issues in several for users who may be lacking a full
to staff. If meetings are not possible, a areas. Organizing the evaluation into citation. Completeness should also be
survey instrument is another tool that logical units, or focus areas, is useful balanced with readability. If the data
could be used to collect feedback. in a broad evaluation for the work to display is not readily understandable or
We used the following model for proceed more efficiently. The follow- is long and complex, alternate methods
our forums to gather input from library ing sections outline the evaluation of of data recording and display should
employees: One of the evaluation team four focus areas: holdings information, be considered. Even if data display is
 52(3) LRTS Evaluating & Improving the Presentation of Serials Information in the Online Catalog   199

clear, assessing how data is recorded ing. Level 3 holdings statements are communicated to your users, consider
may be advantageous. simpler to create than level 4, and a using public notes for that purpose.
For those libraries that need to retrospective conversion project could Some other aspects of holdings
improve data displays or how data be done much more quickly. Another information are not unique to serials,
is recorded, the two primary issues point for consideration is the ability of but are worth evaluating. One impor-
to consider are whether to use free the ILS to display lists of item records tant factor to consider is the display
text versus coded paired fields and or receipt histories, as this information text for location information. Watch for
which level of holdings to record. can supplement holdings statements shorthand descriptions like “Geology”
The previous literature review out- in helping the user to determine what instead of “Geology Library” or “Ref”
lines the advantages of using paired is owned. Our recommendation rec- instead of “Reference Collection.” If
85X/86X fields for recording holdings ognized a place for both level 3 and character limits allow, one can also
data. While converting holdings is a level 4 holdings statements. Most peri- incorporate directional information,
time-intensive proposition, it should odicals would receive level 3 holdings such as specific floors within a build-
not be rejected outright based on statements, but we would use level 4 ing, or service points, if the public
time alone. Limited conversion proj- holdings in certain situations, primar- must ask for the title at the circulation
ects (for example, focusing on current ily for titles issued annually or less fre- or reference desk. Also consider how
subscriptions) or those done gradually quently, or for locations with limited the library handles titles that have
as time allows may be an option for or scattered holdings. not yet been cataloged if they are dis-
libraries with satisfactory data displays. Another important facyor to con- played in the online catalog. In these
Those with unsatisfactory displays are sider is how the physical locations of cases, location text could direct users
faced with a more pressing need to the issues are communicated to the to a service point or online form to
make improvements. They should give user. For example, unbound peri- initiate expedited cataloging.
paired fields serious consideration, odical issues may be shelved in a The call number is generally cited
even if their current ILS does not fully different area than bound periodical as one of the most important pieces of
take advantage of them. volumes. Titles also may be kept in information in the record for physically
The library science literature offers multiple collections within the library held items, and placing it prominently
limited guidance on deciding the level system. Common scenarios include in the record is a common suggestion.
of holdings to record, but leans toward having the newest edition of a title While some may advocate for moving
using level 4. While level 4 holdings in reference and older editions in a it to the top of the record display, in the
are attractive because of the detailed circulating location, paper issues that case of serials, one should be cautious
information they provide, there may are replaced by microformats, and about separating the call number from
be two obstacles to their implementa- having certain core titles available in other holdings information, since the
tion for libraries to consider. From the multiple branches. Options for han- holdings statement, check-in display,
patron perspective, journals with mul- dling these cases will vary because circulation status, and public notes are
tiple missing issues may have displays of ILS functionality, but may include also important points of information
that are long, complex, and not readily creating a unique holdings record for for locating the desired volume.
scanned. This may be a barrier to get- each location, using public notes, or As a final consideration, ensuring
ting users to read the holdings state- utilizing the display of item-specific that information is entered and dis-
ment. Second, if check-in histories for information (such as check-in dis- played consistently is good practice.
titles are incomplete or inaccurate, play, item records, or item statuses). Using international standards for hold-
staff may need to physically check the Whatever method is used, the clarity ings statements is one way to achieve
volumes to obtain accurate data for the and conciseness of the presentation of this. If international standards are not
holdings record. This scenario would location information is important to followed, make sure local practice is
significantly slow down a conversion users readily interpreting it. well defined and consistently applied,
project. Level 3 holdings may require Subscription status for a publi- and to establish clear, consistent word-
users to check the shelves to verify cation is of interest to users, par- ing for commonly used public notes.
that a particular issue is present, but ticularly when the status involves a
the statements tend to be shorter and cancellation or a change from print to Volumes in Internal Workflows
less complicated to read. The addition online format. The convention of leav-
of a public note listing those volumes ing holdings open-ended for current Looking at how volumes involved in
known to be incomplete would allevi- subscriptions is not the clearest way to internal workflows are tracked in the
ate, to some extent, the problem of convey that information to the user. If online catalog is another aspect of
not knowing which issues are miss- subscription information is not clearly representing the issues and volumes
 200   Terrill LRTS  52(3)

owned. We found that public services • Is help available at the point of online catalogs can provide useful
personnel were experiencing frus- need? examples.
tration in locating these volumes, so • Are related records linked? Point-of-need help is an area
external users likely were equally con- where many online catalogs could be
fused. After identifying the different Determining if your ILS will allow improved. One common way to pro-
categories of these workflows that exist customization unique to each format is vide this is through help screens via
in your library (for example, “bindery” important. If not, you will need to links in the Web page’s header or
or “repairs”), assess how well the items keep in mind how decisions will affect footer. Our perusal of other catalogs
for each are being tracked in the online the display of other formats, such as using the same ILS showed that labels
catalog, including whether users are books, videos, and maps. in the online catalog can display as
directed to alternate means of obtain- If your ILS offers the option of hyperlinks to help screens. In addition
ing the item, when applicable. If there creating different displays or views, to addressing frequently asked ques-
are problems, you may need to consult consider utilizing both a brief display tions, links to library floor plans, circu-
with technical services personnel to and a full display. In our evaluation, lation policies, or contact information
determine their processes, if and how we got a strong sense from reference for reference services may be useful.
the items are tracked in the ILS, and if personnel that the full display of the In evaluating this area, think about
alternative processes may work better bibliographic record contained infor- what questions users might have and
for getting information to users. It may mation that was not of interest to how it is to find answers.
also be helpful to consult user manuals most patrons. We also knew our more A final area for consideration is
to learn about ILS functionality or to advanced users would likely miss cer- linking related records, particularly
contact other libraries using the same tain pieces of information if they were direct links between different formats
ILS to learn how they handle similar removed from the display. Offering of a title (if cataloged on separate
processes. a brief display option, in addition to records) or direct links to earlier or
How missing or lost issues and a full display, can be a good com- later titles. If your catalog currently
volumes are documented should also promise in handling this dilemma. does not provide these types of links,
be evaluated. As with internal work- We decided to make the brief record consult your ILS’s manual or other
flows, looking at procedures, consult- the default display (contrary to IFLA catalogs utilizing the same ILS to
ing ILS manuals, and seeking advice guidelines) since it would be best suit- determine possible options to improve
from other libraries may be in order. In ed to less sophisticated catalog users. links between related records. If it is
tracking these volumes, it is also good More advanced users would have the not being done already, maintaining
to direct users to alternative means of option to select a fuller display, and the data that can support these links,
obtaining the item, if possible. they would probably be more likely such as control numbers in linking
than other types of users to make the fields (MARC fields 76X–78X), should
Online Catalog Displays effort to switch display types. A library be considered.
should take into account their own
Some presentation issues may not be collections and unique needs when Online Serials
exclusive to serials, but nonetheless deciding what fields to include in their
are an important part of an evaluation displays. With respect to serials, con- How to provide access to online seri-
of serials information in the online cat- sider omitting the dates of publication als has been a matter of debate within
alog. The following are several ques- and sequential-designation informa- libraries for more than a decade, as
tions to guide the evaluation: tion from MARC field 362 from the the earlier literature review demon-
brief display, since they are often con- strates. Issues with online serials are
• Which display options should be fused with holdings information. integral to the key questions of how to
offered? Which display should After deciding what display types represent serials owned or licensed at
be the default display? to offer, the next step is to evaluate the the title level, as well as what the role
• Which fields are essential in order in which the fields display and, of the catalog is. A number of specific
a brief display? Which fields if using a labeled display, the wording questions emerge:
should be included in a full of those labels. You should strive to
display? remove library jargon in favor of natu- • Should online serials be includ-
• In what order should the fields ral language and avoid abbreviations ed in the online catalog or in
display? (although with character limits this is a separate alphabetical list or
• Are labels meaningful and do not always possible). As mentioned both? What about aggregator
they avoid jargon? previously, looking at other libraries’ titles?
 52(3) LRTS Evaluating & Improving the Presentation of Serials Information in the Online Catalog   201

• Should online serials go on sep- efficient option when outsourcing the a good idea to share recommenda-
arate records from their print cataloging. Other points for consider- tions with the organization as a whole.
counterparts, or should both ation have been outlined above. Face-to-face meetings are a good way
formats go on a single record? Access issues are a key area to be to answer questions and get feedback
• Which approach to cataloging evaluated. Many libraries have imple- on the recommendations from the
is feasible for a library in terms mented a proxy server to authenticate organization. You may want to con-
of staff time or costs of vendor- patrons. For online catalog users, two sider meeting with public services and
provided services? common approaches to authentication technical services personnel separately,
• How does the library ensure are requiring log-in at the point of since their interests may be somewhat
users are seamlessly authenti- entering the catalog or adding a proxy different. Technical services person-
cated? prefix to the URLs of subscription- nel may express concerns about the
• How and where should access based resources. Consider which amount of work required to implement
data be recorded and dis- approach will work best with your some of the recommendations. If that
played? online catalog to ensure smooth user is the case, when meeting with public
• How and where should hold- authentication. A decision also must be services personnel, review any recom-
ings data be recorded and dis- made about displaying a raw URL ver- mendations that involve large mainte-
played? sus display text for the link. The evalu- nance projects or workflow changes to
ation team should consider if the link find out how important those recom-
When considering issues related is prominent in the record and if any mendations are to them. If the changes
to online serials, internal management other links in the display may be mis- are rated as important, it will justify the
issues often play as big of a role in taken for the link to the resource itself. staff time involved in implementing
decision making as user access issues. Holdings data is another category them. If they are not rated as impor-
Vendors have sought to fill a niche in that needs to be assessed. Options tant, you may wish to reconsider some
this arena through subscription servic- may include recording and displaying recommendations. Also, go over the
es that allow libraries to leverage their data in the same manner as physically wording of notes and display text to
data to support both alphabetical lists held volumes, making coverage dates get specific feedback on them. Getting
and MARC records for their catalogs. part of the display text for the URL these details worked out in advance
Libraries will want to do a cost analysis link, relying on the resource itself will facilitate implementation.
of outsourcing versus in-house cata- to communicate holdings, or linking After collecting feedback, you
loging and database maintenance as a to an outside service (for example, may want to revise some recommen-
part of the decision-making process. Serials Solutions’ e-journal portal). In dations and resubmit them for a final
A decision to include online serials in addition to considering the preferred decision. If the recommendations are
the catalog supports the idea that the place to display the data, one must not approved exactly as written, the
role of the catalog is to provide access also consider which method will result evaluation team or library administra-
to all titles owned or licensed regard- in the most accurate, up-to-date data. tion will want to issue a revised report
less of format. Whether the cataloging Prominently displaying data that is to reflect what was ultimately decided
is done internally or is outsourced, a inaccurate is not helpful to users. as a guide for those participating in the
few policy decisions that will affect the implementation.
user experience need to be made. Report Preparation and Follow-Up
Deciding between single and Implementation and Follow-Up
separate records is the biggest deci- During the process of conducting
sion. Most librarians will agree that the evaluation, the team doing the While a discussion of the implementa-
collocating titles in various formats work should arrive at specific recom- tion of recommendations made at the
is desirable, but is this the job of mendations to address the issues and UW Libraries is not the topic of this
the bibliographic record or the online problems that have been discovered. paper, a few points warrant inclusion
catalog? This is one issue for which These recommendations should be here. The evaluation process should
data display and data recording issues recorded in a report to be submit- not end with the issuance and approval
have become entangled. Using sepa- ted to library administration or others of recommendations. As recommen-
rate records will likely put libraries in within the library who have the author- dations are implemented, a follow-
the best position to take advantage of ity to make the decision to implement up assessment should make sure that
FRBR-related innovations in future them. Because the online catalog is a the goals for each are achieved.
catalogs. Anecdotal evidence also primary tool used by library employees Appropriate follow-up measures could
points to separate records as the most to carry out their daily work, it is also include the use of focus groups or
 202   Terrill LRTS  52(3)

other user studies, surveys of employ- ect success is about making the online not let the explanation of the process
ees, or anecdotal evidence from public catalog better for external users. of doing your work overshadow the
services personnel. For recommenda- Synchronizing the evaluation meat of your report, specifically your
tions that can be implemented quickly, with other organizational changes recommendations. Limit introductory
the evaluation team itself may be able and projects, if they could affect the materials to no more than a page. You
to assess the results of the changes and ability to implement recommenda- should begin your report by stating
perhaps make recommendations for tions in a timely fashion, is important. what the charge or goal of your group
further fine-tuning. Other recommen- Unforeseen circumstances are always is in simplest terms—do not assume
dations may take months or even years a possibility. If several recommenda- everyone knows or remembers. For
to implement, particularly if retro- tions affect the work of a particular example, your group may have received
spective conversion of data is involved. unit or department, you should pri- a lengthy charge outlining your task,
Reviewing a set of sample records as oritize them to insure that the most but try to boil this down to basic points
an early phase of the implementation important issues are addressed first. (and include the full charge in an
is one means of assessment that will Broader questions of library poli- appendix if you deem it necessary).
allow fine-tuning to occur before too cy may arise as a result of the process. Send your message at various lev-
much manual updating is done in a Additionally, issues tangential to the els of detail. Some readers will only
data-conversion project. serials evaluation may be discovered want to scan the main points, while
by or brought to the attention of the others will want to study every detail
evaluation team. The team will need you provide. You need to cater to both
Recommendations to establish some boundaries regard- of these groups. An executive summa-
ing what falls within the jurisdiction ry can provide a succinct overview of
Guidelines for Conducting an
Effective Project of the project. It is good practice recommendations. We numbered our
to document any problems or issues recommendations, expressed each one
In addition to the evaluation process beyond the project’s scope to share in a single sentence, and presented the
outlined above, other general issues with relevant departments or library list at the beginning of the report. In the
should be kept in mind during the administration. main body of the report, we repeated
project. Clear, meaningful communi- each recommendation, presenting the
cation between the evaluation team, number and first sentence in bold, and
Guidelines for Writing
the library administration, and the an Effective Report then provided more detailed informa-
organization should be a high prior- tion for each. Throughout the report
ity. Be sure to get all directives from Writing an effective report requires we used subheadings and bulleted or
library administration in writing and more than assembling information. numbered lists to break up dense sec-
make them available to the organi- The following are suggestions for writ- tions of text.
zation. That will make expectations ing a successful report: Include examples. Examples help
clearly known to all parties involved Be reader friendly. More than to illustrate specifically what you are
in the project. Open channels of com- likely your report will be read by a proposing, which is important in the
munication within the organization variety of people at different levels of visual medium of the online catalog.
during such a project will keep per- expertise when it comes to the techni- Justify your recommendations.
sonnel informed about how the pro- cal details of your ILS, MARC records, State what problems each recommen-
cess is progressing, as well as allow cataloging standards, and so on. Try to dation is intended to solve and why
opportunities for input that can create avoid using jargon. Make the report changes need to be made. This will
a level of buy-in during the change easy for everyone to read and under- promote a better understanding of the
process. Depending on the nature of stand by using plain English. issues within the organization. If the
the recommendations, some may take Be clear and direct. State your recommendations cannot be imple-
months or even years to bring to frui- main points clearly, and prominently. mented as written, understanding
tion. For long-term communication Do not let your recommendations get what is driving them will be helpful in
needs, a wiki or blog for internal use lost in the text of a long paragraph or coming up with alternative solutions.
may be a good tool to implement. be obscured by too many tangents.
Despite the evaluation team’s best Focus on results, not process. After
intentions, organizations usually have all the time you have spent on research, Conclusion
some people who are resistant to making discussion, and decision-making, you
changes. Pleasing every employee will may be tempted to document a lot Libraries should strive to make serials
be impossible, so remember that proj- of your work in great detail. But do information in the online catalog as
 52(3) LRTS Evaluating & Improving the Presentation of Serials Information in the Online Catalog   203

clear and easy to understand as possi- presented in a manner that is easy for Librarian 40, no. 1/2 (2001): 7–18;
ble. Conducting a user-focused evalu- users to interpret. Project success is Shirley Lincicum, “An Introduction
ation is the first step in the process of ultimately measured by users finding to Holdings Standards,” Computers in
making the online catalog more user the information they want and need in Libraries 24, no. 2 (2004): 10–16.
11. Barry B. Baker, “Panacea, Patterns
friendly. Once recommendations have an efficient manner.
and Problems: Implementation of
been made and approved, the next
the USMARC Holdings Format at
step is for the departments that will be References the University of Georgia Libraries,”
doing the work to address implemen- Technical Services Quarterly 9, no.
tation. If procedural efficiencies are 1. Barbara P. Pinzelik, “The Serials 3 (1992): 31–39; Gail McMillan,
at odds with what is best for users, a Maze: Providing Public Service for “Retrospective Conversion of Serials:
compromise between the two must be a Large Serials Collection,” Journal Implementing the MARC Holdings
negotiated. As a final step, following of Academic Librarianship 8, no. 2 Format,” Technical Services Quarterly
implementation, collect user feedback (1982): 89. 9, no. 3 (1992): 41–54; Marilyn Quinn
2. Wilma Reid Cipolla, “Finding a Way and Gracemary Smulewitz (work-
to make sure the changes made have
Out of the Serials Maze,” Library shop leaders) and Shelley Neville
addressed the identified problems. Resources & Technical Services 32, (recorder), “Implementing and
Conducting a periodic evaluation no. 2 (1988): 151–58. Appreciating the MARC Holdings
is good practice for libraries if they 3. Ibid., 152. Format,” Serials Librarian 40, no.
wish to keep their catalogs relevant. If 4. Ibid., 152, 154. 3/4 (2001): 343–48; Robert Alan,
a library is following international stan- 5. Loanne Snavely and Katie Clark, “MARC Holdings Implementation: A
dards for bibliographic and holdings “What Users Really Think: How They Long-Term Process with Long-Term
records, the full range of data entry See and Find Serials in the Arts Advantages,” Library Collections,
issues may not need to be revisited and Sciences,” Library Resources & Acquisitions, & Technical Services 27,
very often. Local data, such as wording Technical Services 40, no. 1 (1996): no. 1 (2003): 107–20; Diane Hillman
of notes, may be an exception, particu- 54. et al. (presenters) and Pat Loghry
6. Kathy Fescemyer, “Serials Clutter in (recorder), “Implementing MARC
larly if global change capabilities in an
Online Catalogs,” Serials Review 31, 21 for Holdings,” Serials Librarian
ILS are available to expedite mainte- no. 1 (2005): 14–19. 44, no. 1/2 (2003): 5–9; William
nance. Since online catalog function- 7. Ibid., 18. Anderson, “The Library of Congress
ality is subject to periodic upgrades, 8. International Federation of Library Serials Holdings Conversion Project,”
data display issues should be revisited Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Serials Librarian 49, no. 1/2 (2005):
regularly to take advantage of any new Task Force on Guidelines for OPAC 211–40; Kalyani Parthasarathy,
features. Forming a standing commit- Displays, Guidelines for Online Public “Serials Holdings Conversion Project
tee charged with keeping abreast of Access Catalogue (OPAC) Displays at the University of New Orleans’
changes to online catalog functionality, (Munich: K.G. Saur, 2005). Earl K. Long Library: An Outsourcing
investigating problems, and conducting 9. Joan M. Cherry, “Bibliographic Experience,” Louisiana Libraries 69,
periodic user studies (or using other Displays in OPACs and Web Catalogs: no. 1 (2006): 12–15.
How Well Do They Comply with 12. Alan, “MARC Holdings Implemen
feedback mechanisms) is a good idea.
Display Guidelines?” Information tation,” 107.
A review of the presentation of Technology & Libraries 17, no. 3 13. Patricia M. Wallace, “Serials
serials information in the online cata- (1998): 124–37. Holdings Statements: A Necessity
log can involve a lot of time and effort 10. Mary Ellen Clapper, “Serial Holdings or a Nuisance?” Technical Services
on the part of the evaluation team, as Standards,” Serials Librarian 11, no. Quarterly 14, no. 3 (1997): 11–24.
well as those charged with the imple- 3/4 (1986–87): 111–35; Marjorie E. 14. Ibid., 12–13.
mentation of recommendations. Some Bloss, “The New! The Improved! 15. Baker, “Panacea, Patterns and
changes, such as those that are con- Standard for Serials Holdings Problems,” 34.
trolled by display settings in your ILS’s Statements,” Library Resources & 16. Paul Moeller and Wen-ying Lu,
software, may be relatively quick and Technical Services 31, no. 1 (1987): “MARC 21 Format for Serials
easy to implement, resulting in imme- 24–34; Frieda B. Rosenberg (work- Holdings: A Survey on the Acceptance
shop leader) and Cathy Kellum and Use of Standards,” Serials Review
diate benefits to your catalog’s users.
(recorder), “Do Holdings Have a 31, no. 2 (2005): 90–102.
Other changes may take longer to Future?,” Serials Librarian 36, no. 17. Ibid., 98.
implement, such as retrospective data 3/4 (1999): 529–39; Frieda Rosenberg 18. Tyler Goldberg and Eric Neagle,
conversion, but represent a long-term and Mary Ann Van Cura (present- “Serials Information in the OPAC:
investment in the data that the online ers) and Kathryn D. Ellis (recorder), A Model for Shared Responsibility,”
catalog displays. Effective catalog dis- “Understanding the MARC Format Serials Review 22, no. 4 (1996):
plays are based on quality data that is for Holdings Data (MFHD),” Serials 55–63.
 204   Terrill LRTS  52(3)

19. Ibid., 63. the OPAC,” Serials Librarian 45, no. 39. Ibid.
20. Charles R. Hildreth, “Online Catalog 3 (2003): 101–8. 40. Ibid., 34–35.
Design Models: Are We Moving in the 30. Ibid., 103. 41. Ibid., 35.
Right Direction?” Aug. 1995, www 31. Wayne Morris and Lynda Thomas, 42. Julian Everett Allgood, “Serials and
.ou.edu/faculty/H/harles.R.Hildreth/ “Single or Separate OPAC Records Multiple Versions, or the Inexorable
clr-opac.html (accessed May 15, for E-Journals: The Glamorgan Trend toward Work-Level Displays,”
2007). Perspective,” Serials Librarian 41, Library Resources & Technical
21. David H. Thomas, “The Effect of no. 3/4 (2002): 97–109. Services 51, no. 3 (2007): 160–78.
Interface Design on Item Selection in 32. Ibid., 100. 43. Ibid., 165.
an Online Catalog,” Library Resources 33. Vera Giles, “Single or Multiple 44. Ibid., 166.
& Technical Services 45, no. 1 (2001): Records for Print and Electronic 45. Ibid., 175.
20–46. Serials Titles: When Less Is More 46. Thomas Mann, “The Peloponnesian
22. Ibid., 21. (More or Less),” Serials Librarian 45, War and the Future of Reference,
23. Allyson Carlyle and Traci E. Timmons, no. 1 (2003): 35–45. Cataloging, and Scholarship
“Default Record Displays in Web- 34. Ibid., 41. in Research Libraries,” Aug.
Based Catalogs,” Library Quarterly 35. Abigail C. Bordeaux, “Single, 1995, 4–5, www.guild2910.org/
72, no. 2 (2002): 179–204. Separate, or Something in Between: Peloponnesian%20War%20June%20
24. Ibid., 201. Results of a Survey on Representing 13%202007.pdf (accessed June 21,
25. Cherry, “Bibliographic Displays,” Electronic Serials in the Catalog,” 2007).
135–37. Journal of Internet Cataloging 7, no. 47. Thomas Mann, “The Changing Nature
26. IFLA, Guidelines, 15. 3/4 (2004/2005): 37–48. of the Catalog and Its Integration with
27. Jim Cole, “Impacts of the 36. Ibid., 42. Other Discovery Tools. Final Report.
Abandonment of Catalog Records for 37. Chris Oliver, “FRBR is Everywhere, March 17, 2006. Prepared for the
Electronic Serials,” Serials Librarian But What Happened to the Format Library of Congress by Karen Calhoun:
45, no. 1 (2003): 27–33. Variation Issue?: Content versus A Critical Review,” 7, www.guild2910
28. Ibid., 33. Carrier in FRBR,” Serials Librarian .org/AFSCMECalhounReviewREV
29. Peter McCracken, “Beyond Title 45, no. 4 (2004): 27–36. .pdf (accessed June 21, 2007).
Lists: Incorporating Ejournals into 38. Ibid., 33.
 52(3) LRTS    205

Book Reviews
Edward Swanson

FRBR: A Guide for the Perplexed. is thorough and refreshingly compre- For example, he shows how the model
By Robert L. Maxwell. Chicago: ALA, hensible in explaining what an entity- would be cleaner if it allowed for attri-
2008. 151p. $50.00 ($45.00 ALA mem- relationship model is, where it came butes to be defined for relationships as
bers) paper (ISBN 978-0-8389-0950-8 from, and why it is good for an online well as for entities, as is the case in the
/0-8389-0950-7). environment. He emphasizes the rela- entity-relationship model.
tionships as much as the entities to Maxwell concludes by saying
Understanding FRBR: What It fully explain what the FRBR model is that, despite the “daunting task” of
Is and How It Will Affect Our trying to do. transforming our MARC records into
Retrieval Tools. Ed. Arlene G. Taylor. Maxwell also explains FRBR in FRBR entities and relationships, the
Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited, relation to our current cataloging uni- advantages to converting to FRBR-
2007. 186p. $45.00 paper (ISBN 978- verse. He points out how FRBR can or based entity-relationship databases are
1-59158-509-1/1-59158-509-0). cannot be applied, without changes, to without question.
FRBR (Functional Requirements our current online catalogs and our cur- In case one did not realize this
for Bibliographic Records) has been rent cataloging rules. This is especially before, Maxwell’s book makes it clear
around for awhile (the final report true in the chapter on relationships that FRBR is not just for catalog-
of the International Federation of where he describes how each relation- ers. Understanding FRBR: What It Is
Library Associations and Institutions ship is brought out in the AACR2/ and How It Will Affect Our Retrieval
[IFLA] Study Group was published MARC environment and then how it Tools, edited by Arlene G. Taylor,
in 1998) and most of us in the library might work, often more clearly and reinforces this and explicitly states in
world have at least heard of it.1 FRBR efficiently, in an FRBR environment. the introduction, “It is hoped that the
literature continues to grow, with Functional Requirements for book will be of interest to people who
analyses, explanations, and reports on Authority Data (FRAD) concepts and are not cataloging specialists, as well as
research; experimentation is taking examples are included throughout, to those who are” (vii).
place, and we are seeing some adapta- and I found this particularly helpful to Understanding FRBR is a col-
tion of FRBR-like concepts in database get a fuller grasp of how the two mod- lection of thirteen discrete chapters
search displays. But many of us cannot els might work together. Also, Maxwell by thirteen authors, all of whom are
say that we truly grasp FRBR. We is always careful to cite FRBR and known either for their FRBR work or
remain unenlightened, confused, or FRAD sections and pages for those as experts in their library field. The
unconvinced, and this is likely because who wish to refer back to the FRBR thirteen chapters do not necessar-
it has not yet affected our world in Report and the FRAD 2007 draft.2 ily hang together except by virtue of
any significant way. Very few library- The examples and diagrams con- advancing the reader’s understanding
system vendors have undertaken a full- tribute greatly to explaining the FRBR of FRBR.
scale conversion to FRBR, and we still concept. In fact, Maxwell uses both The progression of chapters
await the new cataloging code (RDA) FRBR and entity-relationship dia- moves from what FRBR is (Arlene G.
that will incorporate FRBR concepts. gramming, and the entity-relationship Taylor) and what FRAD is and how it
These two new books on FRBR go a diagrams are often better and more relates to FRBR (Glenn E. Patton),
long way toward helping both cata- complete than the FRBR ones. to considerations of general aspects
logers and noncatalogers understand This helps to point out some of the of FRBR and its place in the his-
FRBR and how it can significantly problems with FRBR. And, indeed, tory of cataloging (William Denton),
improve access to information. Maxwell is not shy about bringing up the role of research in its develop-
Robert Maxwell’s FRBR: A Guide issues and limitations of FRBR that ment (Edward T. O’Neill), the concept
for the Perplexed is the best expla- will need to be worked out before of bibliographic families (Richard P.
nation I have seen of FRBR as an there can be full adaptation of the Smiraglia), and FRBR’s incorporation
example of the database-modeling model. Among other things, Maxwell into RDA (Barbara B. Tillett). (It
technique called entity-relationship. I feels that some of FRBR’s problems should be noted that Tillett has writ-
suddenly understand things that had arise where the FRBR model deviates ten a partial update to her chapter to
remained inscrutable before. Maxwell from the entity-relationship model. reflect the recent reorganization of
 206   Book Reviews LRTS  52(3)

RDA.3) The last six chapters inves- and Shadle (serials) present the fullest, and overall it contributes important
tigate the application of FRBR in most complex analyses. They under- insights into the conceptual model
specific environments or with spe- stand the potential of FRBR and are we call FRBR.—Virginia Dudley,
cific formats: archives (Alexander eager to contribute to its interpreta- ([email protected]), MINITEX Library
C. Thurman), art (Murtha Baca and tion and application. In fact, for each, Information Network, Minneapolis,
Sherman Clarke), cartographic mate- their chapters reflect their consider- Minn.
rials (Mary Lynette Larsgaard), mov- able previous work on FRBR in their
References
ing image materials (Martha M. Yee), areas of specialization.
music (Sherry L. Vellucci), and serials The FRBR model is print (and 1. International Federation of Library
(Steven C. Shadle). to a lesser extent music) centric. If it Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
Among the first seven chapters, considers archives, cartographic mate- Study Group on the Functional
two are of special note: Smiraglia’s and rials, or art objects at all, it is only Requirements for Bibliographic
Denton’s. minimally. As the three chapters cov- Records, Functional Requirements
for Bibliographic Records, Final
Smiraglia’s “Bibliographic Fam- ering these areas point out, this is one
Report, UBCIM Publications, New
ilies and Superworks” gives us the of the greatest limitations of FRBR. Series, vol. 19 (München: K. G. Saur,
benefit of his previous research on Despite this, Baca and Clarke, in their 1998), www.ifla.org/VII/s13/frbr/frbr
knowledge organization. He discusses chapter on “FRBR and Works of Art, .pdf or www.ifla.org/VII/s13/frbr/frbr
the phenomenon of “constellations of Architecture, and Material Culture,” .htm (both accessed Apr. 8, 2008).
works” that form around an original show a willingness to consider FRBR, 2. IFLA Working Group on Functional
work. He calls these “bibliographic especially the aspect of relationships. Requirements and Numbering of
families—groups of works that share On the other hand, both Thurman Authority Records (FRANAR),
common intellectual content.” (73). (archives ) and Larsgaard (cartograph- Functional Requirements for
He sees FRBR working much better ic materials), see that FRBR in its Authority Data: A Conceptual Model,
than our current use of the uniform current form does not apply to their Draft 2007-04-01, www.ifla.org/
VII/d4/FRANAR-ConceptualModel
title heading to collocate the genera- fields, so they do not explore FRBR’s
-2ndReview.pdf (accessed Apr. 8,
tions and siblings of these families. potential. 2008).
My favorite chapter, one that As O’Neill reminds us in his chap- 3. Barbara B. Tillett, “Update to Chapter
would appeal to anyone (possibly even ter on FRBR research, “FRBR is not 7, FRBR and RDA: Resource
nonlibrarians), is Denton’s “FRBR a fully developed model but rather a Description and Access,” (2008)
and the History of Cataloging.” In model that requires continuing refine- http://lu.com/FRBR (accessed Apr. 8,
a light, narrative tone, he explains ment, interpretation, and develop- 2008).
where FRBR comes from by follow- ment” (61). We are reminded of this
ing four ideas through modern Anglo- repeatedly in both books. Maxwell E-Metrics for Library and
American library history. One of those weaves his own interpretations and Information Professionals. By
ideas is that of the “work,” and that suggestions for improving the model Andrew White and Eric Djiva Kamal.
sets us up nicely for the discussions of throughout his book, and these New York: Neal-Schuman, 2006. 250 p.
the work entity in many of the other enhance his presentation of FRBR’s $75.00 paper (ISBN 1-55570-514-6).
chapters. He includes an extensive goals. Likewise, many improvements Going by articles in library litera-
bibliography, a helpful and welcomed are proposed in Understanding FRBR, ture, postings on e-lists, and blogger
addition to his chapter. (It would have most especially by Yee, Vellucci, and comments, library users seem to have
been good if all the authors had done Shadle. We are able to learn not just an insatiable appetite for electronic
the same.) what FRBR is, but also what its poten- information. Reports from the Pew
Denton is careful to point out that tial strengths are, and this gives us a Internet and American Life Project
FRBR is an end point, not the end more well-rounded understanding of and industry data from search engine
point, “of almost 175 years of thinking the concepts. providers substantiate increasing use
about what catalogs are for and how I would recommend both of these of the Internet each year. Users seek
they should work” (35). We are on books to any librarian who wants to information first from their comput-
a continuum here, and many of the learn more about FRBR. Maxwell’s ers using Web search engines, and
chapters, especially those analyzing comprehensive overview is the stron- libraries are increasing the number of
FRBR in light of specific disciplines ger of the two, and would be an electronic resources they are provid-
and formats, point out the limitations excellent starting place. Although ing because of what is often character-
of FRBR and the need for refinements. Understanding FRBR has some weak ized as user demand. But are libraries
Yee (moving images), Vellucci (music), areas, it does have many fine chapters, providing the right resources?
 52(3) LRTS Book Reviews   207

Expenditures for electron- in particular, then of how they came an overall electronic resources man-
ic resources are also increasing by about as a method of measurement in agement operation is apparent in this
leaps and bounds. As reported by libraries. Chapter 3 focuses on vendor- section. Again, that may be more than
the Association of Research Libraries supplied data, identifying both pros some libraries wish to invest at this
(ARL) in its ARL Statistics 2004–2005, and cons. Those familiar with current time.
“in every year of the last decade elec- efforts to bring consistency to defini- The chapter on staffing is an
tronic materials expenditures have tions of terminology and comparabil- especially important chapter, since
grown sharply, anywhere between ity among vendor usage reports will, most institutions need to think care-
three and ten times faster than mate- no doubt, find some of this informa- fully about organizational issues as
rials expenditures have. The average tion dated, since the industry changes they begin any e-metrics management
ARL university library now spends rather rapidly. Still, the exhortation for program. Although not obvious from
more than 37% of its materials budget the development and use of standards its title, this chapter also includes a
on electronic resources . . . and fifteen made by the authors in this chapter good section about setting policies
ARL libraries report that they spent and throughout the rest of the book is both for processing the data and pro-
more than 50% of their materials bud- a welcome reminder that there is still tecting users that could have been
get on electronic materials.”1 But if much left to be done to make these placed as a separate chapter to give it
libraries are spending a significant data easy to manipulate. more visibility.
portion of their materials funds on The second section of the book In the final chapter, the authors
electronic information, are they get- addresses how e-metrics can be speculate on future issues in technol-
ting value for their money? applied by different departments ogy and again come back to the impor-
White and Kamal’s book is a within the library: public relations, tance of standards.
way for libraries to begin the pro- collection management, and library There are several strengths to this
cess of determining if they are pro- administration. How these individual book. The authors include a great many
viding the right electronic resources chapters are organized and focussed examples to help the reader. Multiple
and if they indeed are getting value is helpful because it demonstrates tables in each chapter highlight points
for their money. The subtitle of the how data can be presented to pro- made in the text. Another nice set of
book, “How to Use Data for Managing vide useful information for those who features is the overview, notes, and
and Evaluating Electronic Resource may have a different focus or pur- conclusion sections for most chapters.
Collections,” indicates that the authors pose to their work. The approach For those who wish to do some simple
are taking a practical approach to the taken for most of these chapters is a programming, two of the appendixes
measurement of the use of electronic question-and-answer examination include actual scripts.
information in a library. But before together with tables showing results The bibliography is comprehen-
they begin to address the management from three library categories. This sive. Readers not familiar with all
and evaluation portion, the authors leads to an increased understanding the activities surrounding e-metrics
first review some terminology. For pur- of how data can address common will find a thorough introduction, and
poses of their book, the authors define library issues. Readers should be sure those who have been monitoring and
e-metrics as referring to “both the to review all of the chapters, since the participating likely will find some-
electronic format of collected metrics selection of data to present for each thing they have missed. The latest
and to the methods used for gather- department would differ from library references in the book are from 2004,
ing metrics through electronic means” to library. however, and efforts to standardize
(5). Since libraries are putting more of Building a local infrastructure to e-metrics definitions to make data
their dollars into electronic resources manage e-metrics is the focus of the processing easier are ongoing. For
and technologies can provide the tools last section of the book. The authors example, the Counting Online Usage
to analyze use, the authors have writ- provide practical advice on capturing of NeTworked Electronic Resources
ten what might be characterized as data, setting up the technical sup- Project is referred to many times in
a textbook for those who are looking port, and staffing the operations. Some the book, and updated releases of
for tools and techniques that would readers may find the technical aspects its Codes of Practice and vendor-
help them gather data to support their more than they want to know, but it is compliance lists have occurred since
significant investment into electronic important for libraries today to invest the book was written. Also, while
resources. in some technical support for electron- the index is very good, a glossary
The first three chapters provide an ic data management, since significant would have been helpful, since many
overview of e-metrics by giving a brief resources are going into electronic acronyms, initialisms, and terms are
history first of their use in commerce, collections. The authors’ advocacy for used throughout the book that are
 208   Book Reviews LRTS  52(3)

introduced in one chapter but not for archival and special collections no resource concentrate on the strategic
explained in others. longer meet the requirements of our action of identifying potential collabo-
While the book is well-written and users. As digital library projects move rators and resources and the provision
well-edited, it does have a technology forward, the scope of challenges and of sustainable and user-friendly digital
focus. Even if examining a sample log opportunities are considerable. From access. This case study makes team
file is not of interest, the book’s main the book, we gain extensive knowledge building and finding expertise outside
contribution is its overview of all of the into the methods used for finding of traditional library circles a priority.
issues surrounding electronic-resourc- solutions to the numerous questions “California Cultures: Implementing
es measurement. we face concerning technical infra- a Model for Virtual Collections”
White and Kamal have many structure, how to sustain multiple addresses key decisions in the creation
years of experience in information formats, and long-term preservation. of a virtual collection while updating
technology and have written a clear Ultimately, the goal of all stakeholders search and retrieval systems. Once
guide for those who wish to begin the is to provide greater access to their again, the transition into a system
process of managing data to support digital collections. Taking user needs with greater functionality based on
their decision-making regarding elec- into account is a significant part of the best practices and guidelines is well
tronic resources. It will help libraries digital library development course of documented.
begin to answer the questions: Are we action. Collaboration and partnerships As digital library initiatives gain
buying the right resources? Are we serve as foundational concepts for the momentum, our primary aspiration is
getting value for our money?—Julia C. implementation of numerous digital to serve the best interests of our users.
Blixrud, ([email protected]), Association of initiatives throughout the text. Each The secondary division of articles
Research Libraries. case study illustrates a high degree of stresses the pursuit of both quantita-
synergy among colleagues. tive and qualitative data to analyze
Reference The book is divided into three the needs of our consumers. The four
1. Martha Kyrillidou and Mark Young, sections, “Developing Non-Licensed key methodologies used throughout
comps. and eds. ARL Statistics Content,” “Usability Issues and the three examples are focus groups,
2004–2005 (Washington, D.C.: ARL, Options for the End User,” and interviews, questionnaires, and usabil-
2006), 20. “Technology, Preservation, and ity testing. “The Importance of User-
Management Issues.” The first sec- Centered Design: Exploring Findings
Archives and the Digital Library. tion gathers three textual illustrations and Methods” addresses the user-cen-
Eds. William E. Landis and Robin where the California Digital Library, a tered design philosophy that calls for
L. Chandler. Binghamton, N.Y.: well-respected organization that facili- user involvement in all stages of project
Haworth Information Press, tates the formation and execution of development: planning, implementa-
2006. 270p. $65.00 paper (ISBN digital library projects, was involved. tion, and post-project evaluation. The
978-0-7890-3438-0); $85.00 cloth “Committing to Memory: A Project advantages and disadvantages of using
(ISBN 978-0-7890-3437-3). to Publish and Preserve California each methodology can be extremely
William E. Landis and Robin L. Local History Digital Resources” beneficial to any digital library initia-
Chandler have gathered together a discusses best practices dealing with tive in the evaluation process. “How
noteworthy and diverse collection of topics including budgeting, selection, and Why of User Studies: RLG’s
writings from the Journal of Archival workflows, scanning, digital library RedLightGreen as a Case Study”
Organization. One can surmise from management software, digital asset continues the focus on user-centered
this book that the ever-evolving digital creation tools, metadata standards, design to facilitate “product design,
library landscape requires active con- staff training, outsourcing, data trans- usability testing and market research”
tribution from archivists and multiple formation, and metadata harvesting. (87). This article utilizes the following
stakeholders, including grant-funding One of the most valuable character- methodologies to research user needs:
agencies, digital library service pro- istics of the book is its inclusion of usability, focus groups, interviews, eth-
viders, and cultural heritage institu- step-by-step decision-making proce- nographic studies, and weblog analysis.
tions. The overall focus of the text is dures for each digital library initiative. “From Horse-Drawn Wagon to Hot
a case-by-case study of collaborative In “Technology Enhanced Archival Rod: The University of California’s
efforts designed to enhance efficiency Collections: Using the Buddy System” Digital Image Service Experience” pro-
and standardization into the digital the author notes that eligibility for motes collaboration and partnership
object management process. While grant funding includes digitization as among archivists and digital libraries to
archivists have a distinct expertise, the one prerequisite for many archival tackle collection development, system
traditional means of administration institutions. The focal points of this functionality, workflow, image manage-
 52(3) LRTS Book Reviews   209

ment, and patron usability issues. All of archival data in a single, integrat- Services (ALCTS), because Dr.
the lessons learned will benefit readers ed software application. With more Carter’s major professional associa-
by increasing their knowledge base. streamlined and efficient archival tion service has been through ALCTS
The final section, which contains processing, established standards and (15). She served on numerous ALCTS
five articles, delves deeply into the best practices can be developed, leav- committees; she served as chair-elect,
complexities of access and preserva- ing time to shift focus to new goals chair, and past chair of the Serials
tion for nonprint-medium formats, and objectives. Section from 1984 to 1987; and she
in particular Web sites and audiovi- This book may prove enormous- was president of the association itself
sual digital objects. “Archiving Web ly valuable to leaders, collaborators, in 1991.
Sites for Preservation and Access: and novices contributing to digital The editor, Robert P. Holley, has
MODS, METS, and MINERVA” is library initiatives. The sheer number managed to organize all this hetero-
a case study that explores the best of case studies provides a compre- geneity into four sections: “Part I:
methods for archiving born digital hensive overview of digital access In honor of Dr. Ruth Carter,” “Part
materials, which have unpredictable and preservation issues for different II: Historical Studies,” “Part III:
and short life spans. Cooperative material formats. The detail orient- Research Studies,” and “Part IV:
partnerships continue to be the key ed nature should prove beneficial to Position Papers.”
to success in this collection of writ- archivists whose positions are evolv- The initial paper in part 1 was
ings. “Video Preservation and Digital ing as academic libraries and cultural written by Carter’s cataloging profes-
Reformatting: Pain and Possibility” heritage institutions restructure and sor at the University of Illinois at
covers the alliance between digital create strategic plans for providing Urbana-Champaign, Kathryn Luther
libraries and preservationists to build digital access to its patronage. Within Henderson. Henderson summarizes
a sustainable model for the digitiza- the archival and library communities, Carter’s career beginning with a year of
tion of the video-formatted moving we can definitely learn from sharing middle school teaching and two years
image. The primary challenges are information highlighting such distinct as a computer systems analyst for the
instability in media formats and obso- digital library initiatives. There is no U.S. Army. When she entered library
lete technology. The article discusses need to reinvent the wheel with each school, her intention was to become a
the validity of digital reformatting as new digital project when the ground- reference librarian. After meeting the
a viable preservation method and the work has been established in various challenges of Henderson’s basic cata-
ongoing challenge of creating user- institutions. Archives and the Digital loging class, followed by her advanced-
designed metadata. “Digital Archiving Library clearly shows how to shape cataloging class, with its introduction
and Preservation: Technologies and and implement digital library services to serials cataloging, Carter’s career
Processes for a Trusted Repository” for our target audiences.—Shantrie plans changed. But, as Carter herself
offers a new perspective on the idea of Collins, ([email protected]), University always emphasized, technical services
“trusted digital repositories” (193). In of Tennessee, Knoxville. are also user services (10). Her first
the digital service model, scholarship, job as a librarian was head of technical
authenticity, reliability, and persistence Cataloger, Editor, and Scholar: services and automation at Parkland
over time represent trust in a digital Essays in Honor of Ruth C. Carter. College om Illinois. Carter next held
system. “The Complexities of Digital Ed. Robert P. Holley. Binghamton, a series of positions at the University
Resources: Collection Boundaries and N.Y.: Haworth Information Press, of Pittsburgh Libraries between 1972
Management Responsibilities” high- 2007. 417p. $75.00 hard (ISBN and 1999. In 1993 she earned her
lights the difficulty of managing and 978-0-7890-3622-3). Ph.D. in history from the University
producing collection development Ruth C. Carter has had a wide- of Pittsburgh. Her final position at
policies for unpredictable changes in ranging and diverse career; thus it is Pittsburgh was as head of the Archives
content, specifically digital course con- fitting that this festschrift published Service Center and curator of histori-
tent and faculty papers. The last arti- to honor her twenty-year editor- cal collections.
cle, “The Archivist’s Toolkit: Another ship of Cataloging and Classification Carter was active in other pro-
Step Toward Streamlined Archival Quarterly (CCQ) should include a fessional associations in addition to
Processing” serves as an example of wide-ranging and diverse array of con- ALCTS. Beginning in the early 1970s
how collaborative efforts throughout tributions. It is also fitting that this she was involved with OCLC, particu-
the text can lead to improved func- volume should be reviewed in Library larly in the areas of serials control and
tionality and procedures community Resources and Technical Services, the union listing (11). She served for more
wide. The Archivist’s Toolkit is an official publication of the Association than a decade on the Cooperative
open source system for managing for Library Collections and Technical Online Serials (CONSER) Policy
 210   Book Reviews LRTS  52(3)

Committee. In 1986 the American having an effective description of the creation. With her usual good sense,
Library Association awarded her the job. Her survey participants stressed Martha M. Yee’s contribution to this
Bowker/Ulrich’s Serials Librarianship that the position description should collection describes just exactly what
Award for distinguished contribu- “focus on the end product and the is meant by cataloging as opposed to
tions to serials librarianship. From impact on library users” and “empha- other bibliographical activities, such as
1991 to 1999 she served as a mem- size the enduring aspect of what we the creation of metadata. She defines
ber of the standing committee of the do (bib records and authority records cataloging as
Serials Section of the International last a very long time in databases) and
Federation of Library Associations also the impact (international data- “the creation of catalogs;” and
and Institutions (IFLA). base)” (166). Another strategy is to a “catalog” is defined as: a
Henderson’s summary of Carter’s have performance-assessment criteria guide to a particular collec-
career, research, and publications is “expressed in terms of such attributes tion or aggregate of collec-
followed by Linda C. Ewbank’s inter- as timeliness, effectiveness, thorough- tions created using standards
view with Carter. The final article in ness, independence, creativity, contri- that govern both the choice
part 1 reviews the contents of CCQ, bution, mastery, flexibility, and service” and the labeling of data in
1990–2006. This article updates an (167). such a way as to result in the
article coauthored by Carter in 1991 Robert L. Bothmann is the author choice of preferred names
statistically analyzing the contributors, who addresses the value of cataloging for authors, works, subjects,
editors, and changes in emphasis of most directly. In the introduction to and disciplines, with provi-
topics in CCQ during its first ten years his study of the education and profes- sion for access under variant
of publication. sional development needs of special forms, such that a user who
The historical studies in part 2 format catalogers, he writes, searches under any variant
comprise the most eclectic section of is led to everything of inter-
the book. They include a history of Without proper cataloging est (all works on the subject
books and reading in pre-1850 Monroe and classification, collec- sought, or all works by the
County, Indiana; an article on the lost tion development librarians author sought, or all editions
art of annotation in cataloging; a his- would not be able to ascer- or expressions of the work
tory of bibliographic-control research tain strengths or weakness sought). In any given cata-
at the University of Bradford in Leeds, within a collection; serials log record, sufficient data is
England; and an examination of Italian librarians would be unable recorded to allow a user to
cataloging rules and traditions. to locate preceding or suc- identify and distinguish one
In parts 3 and 4 contributors write ceeding or ceased journals; edition or expression from
about some of the issues that are instruction librarians would another and to select a desired
widely discussed in librarianship today. be unable to teach users how work or expression of a work.
Rather than trying to summarize the to access materials; and ref- (308–9)
contents of all thirteen articles, I will erence librarians would be
mention selected articles that relate unable to locate resources For her description of metadata,
to these issues. An overarching theme that could aide a patron. Yee relies on D. Grant Campbell:
that can be stretched to include almost Without a proper catalog, a “Metadata is not designed or created
all the articles in these two sections is library is nothing more than a by a specially-trained cohort of profes-
the value of technical services work, building full of books with no sionals who have a specific skill set and
particularly cataloging. map to guide the user to the a common slate of objectives” (320).
The opening article of part 3, resources. (222) Although these articles were writ-
by Janet Swan Hill, fits easily into ten before the Library of Congress
this theme because she explores the Bothmann’s views contrast sharp- Working Group on the Future
impediments to the achievement of ly with the general tenor of Karen of Bibliographic Control was even
tenure for technical service librarians in Calhoun’s much-discussed report, charged in November 2006, some
academia. Not surprisingly, she argues which states, “Many considered the of the authors discuss issues that
that the work of technical services greatest challenge librarians’ own nar- appear in the group’s final report. For
librarians is no less critical to the suc- row views and lack of vision.”1 She con- instance, the working group’s report
cess of libraries than the work of those tinues by stating that catalogers need says “LC enjoys neither a mandate
interacting directly with the users. She to “build new professional skills”—pre- to be a national library, nor funding
recommends several strategies, such as sumably skills in non-MARC metadata concomitant with playing such a role.”2
 52(3) LRTS Book Reviews   211

Further in the report, the working This entire collection is rich is implies that the former is intended
group recognizes that “many informa- insights such as these. Although read- and, in that case, the reader has a
tion resources formerly managed in ing a text of 417 pages might seem like highly selective book on an almost
the not-for-profit sector are now the a major undertaking, I found enough impossibly broad topic: are there any
objects of a significant for-profit econ- stimulation and variety that I complet- procedures in the library these days
omy.”3 The group recommends that, in ed it much more quickly than I had that are not somehow influenced by
the absence of sufficient funding, LC expected. Particularly enjoyable was electronic technology?
work toward “divestment” of its role of learning about the career of a great The editor’s approach has not been
“sole provider of bibliographic data. . . . technical services librarian, Dr. Ruth to present a sprawling overview, with
The goal should be that of LC’s deriv- C. Carter—Sue Wartzok, (swartzok easily three or four times as many chap-
ing increasing benefit from the work @fiu.edu), Florida International ters as are included in this compilation,
of other libraries.”4 University, Miami. and to hope (and plan) that a coherent
Elizabeth N. Steinhagen, Mary and comprehensive treatment would
Ellen Hanson, and Sharon A. References be the result. Instead, there are seven
Moynahan discuss these same issues 1. Karen Calhoun, The Changing Nature broadly themed chapters that cover
even more trenchantly: of the Catalog and Its Integration some of the basics (acquisitions gen-
With Other Discovery Tools, report erally, collection development, selec-
Library administrations now to the Library of Congress, 2006, 42, tion, copyright and fair use, electronic
look to outsourcing of catalog- www.loc.gov/catdir/calhoun-report reserves, aggregated databases, virtual
ing as a way to reduce person- -final.pdf (accessed Apr. 8, 2008). reference, and electronic data inter-
nel costs. . . . Even the Library 2. On the Record: Report of the Library change [EDI]). The individual chap-
of Congress (LC) began “out- of Congress Working Group on the ters were written by different authors,
sourcing” LC-quality original Future of Bibliographic Control and there is the inevitable overlap of
(Washington, D.C.: Library of
cataloging through programs coverage, but this is not a huge prob-
Congress, 2008), 6, www.loc.gov/lcwg
such as BIBCO, NACO, and -ontherecord-jan08-final.pdf
lem. If the reader is expecting a book
CONSER. No longer able (accessed Apr. 8, 2008). about the acquisition of electronic
[to] afford its de facto role as 3. Ibid., 11. resources, then there are two chap-
a national cataloging agency, 4. Ibid., 12. ters that do not really seem to belong:
LC has shifted some of the “Choosing Virtual Reference Software”
burden for quality records to Handbook of Electronic and presents some useful information, and
a wide range of catalogers in Digital Acquisitions. Ed. Thomas “Electronic Data Interchange and
public, academic, and research W. Leonhardt. N.Y.: Haworth Press, Vendors” is about a specific aspect of
libraries. These efforts in 2006. 160p. $24.95 paper (ISBN acquisitions generally.
shared cataloging provide real 978-0-7890-2292-9); $34.95 cloth More importantly, though, is that
benefits for many libraries but (ISBN 978-0-7890-2291-2). there are some major topics that are
at increased expense to con- The title of this book is a bit not covered to any great extent in the
tributing libraries that receive ambiguous and, depending on your book, for example, e-books, electronic
less than $5.00 credit from a interpretation, you will find it either a resource management (ERM), and
utility for a record that might slender compilation about the acqui- licensing. It is true that these topics
cost up to $30 [to] $50 to cre- sition and implementation of various have already been covered in sev-
ate in-house. In effect, shared electronic products and procedures eral other articles and book chapters,
cataloging has become the in the library or a book about the and in blog postings and other sites
gift of these libraries not only acquisition of electronic resourc- on the Web—and in whole books
to the library community but es that includes some tangentially themselves—but any handbook should
also to vendors, who advertise related chapters about virtual refer- devote some attention to them as well.
the cost savings of purchasing ence and electronic data interchange The two chapters on collection devel-
this “shared” cataloging via (EDI) with vendors. If the latter, then opment deal with databases and elec-
outsourcing. Library direc- there are also some obvious and fairly tronic journals. Those are important
tors relying on outsourcing big holes in the content, i.e., e-acqui- information resources for libraries, of
may forget that someone had sitions issues that demand coverage course, but e-books present unique
to create those records origi- (or fuller coverage) in any handbook challenges of all sorts that have not
nally.” (275) claiming to treat the topic in any kind been written about nearly as much as
of dedicated way. The editor’s preface other electronic resources. As for the
 212   Book Reviews LRTS  52(3)

other two topics, ERM and licensing, Databases for Acquisitions and ceedings, and e-prints. Most are dated
they are core to the whole practice of Collection Development” presents between 1999 and 2004, and a large
electronic acquisitions. some general guidelines and then percentage of the entries (78 per-
Many topics, however, are well concentrates on a case study at the cent) link to freely available resources.
covered in this handbook; in fact, University of Montevallo. Rickey D. These URLs were last checked on
ignoring issues of what the title means Best’s “Issues on the Selection of August 31, 2004 (presumably right
and what should or should not be Electronic Resources” also contains before publication).
included, what is included in this book some good general guidelines, but at True to the spirit of open access,
is generally well written and highly times it presents overly detailed local this work has been licensed using a
informative. Linda Neyer’s chapter, information without generalizing to Creative Commons Attribution Non-
“Copyright and Fair Use: Electronic make it more useful for the reader. Commercial License. Bailey has self-
Reserves,” is both succinct and com- If you concentrate on what is archived the book in a PDF format,
prehensive, covering this broad and actually in this book and not worry making it freely available online.1 An
complicated issue in a clear style, about the lack (and the impossibility) online version proves handy indeed
and also providing practical advice for of inclusiveness no matter how you when trying to access citations with
institutions across a wide variety of read the title, there is much to recom- lengthy URLs.
types. The chapter has an appendix mend here. (By the way, what exactly Bailey offers solid credentials for
listing Web sites that deal with various is the difference between electronic such a project: not only is he an expert
aspects of copyright and fair use. The and digital in that title?) Compilation in the study of electronic scholarly
chapter by Susan McMullen, Patricia books like this are a notorious chal- publishing, but he also has more than
B. M. Brennan, Joanna M. Burkhardt, lenge for the editor. If one chooses a ten years’ experience in compiling
and Marla Wallace on “Collection narrow topic and is able to marshal online Scholarly Electronic Publishing
Development Strategies for Online people with solid work experience, Bibliography.2 Like all good bibliogra-
Aggregated Databases” is also good, a good head for the principles, and phers do, he discloses his scope for the
providing the necessary background writing ability, then the result can be open access bibliography in the pref-
on electronic collection development, excellent. But if the topic is as broad as ace by quoting the Budapest Open
defining its terms, and then presenting this one, then the readers can feel that Access Initiative definition:
discussions of the main criteria to be they have tasted some good courses
used in evaluation. but not quite had a full meal.—Wayne By “open access” to this liter-
One quibble, though, is that the Jones, Queen’s University, (jonesw@ ature, we mean its free avail-
section on accessibility and customer queensu.ca), Kingston, Ont. ability on the public internet,
support covers only the help screens permitting any users to read,
aspect of customer support, and that Open Access Bibliography: download, copy, distribute,
very briefly. This deserves length- Liberating Scholarly Literature print, search, or link to the
ier attention because the degree of with E-Prints and Open Access full texts of these articles,
support—support that is provided by Journals. By Charles W. Bailey. crawl them for indexing, pass
actual people in a timely manner, and Washington, D.C.: Association of them as data to software, or
not limited to e-mail or Web forms, Research Libraries, 2005. 105p. $45.00 use them for any other lawful
but also making available a represen- paper (ISBN 1-59407-670-7). purpose, without financial,
tative to talk live on the phone—that Open access has been gaining legal, or technical barriers
the vendor provides for a database momentum lately, from the National other than those inseparable
or any electronic resource is a sig- Institute of Health’s mandate to from gaining access to the
nificant determinant of how valuable Harvard University’s resolution on internet itself. (xi)
it is to the library and to the harried open access. Those wishing to learn
librarian who is doing the trouble- more about the open access move- He deliberately avoids the temp-
shooting. The chapter is limited to ment would be well served by turning tation to wander into tangential areas
aggregated databases, which is unfor- to Bailey’s Open Access Bibliography. of electronic scholarly publishing. For
tunate because the book would have A lot of material has been published example, the only references that dis-
benefited from the same treatment about open access over the past few cuss copyright that are included are
applied to all kinds of e-resources. years, and Bailey has amassed more those that discuss it in the context of
There are two other chapters on than 1,300 citations. They include a open access.
selection and collection develop- variety of sources, such as journal The next section, “Key Open
ment. Audrey Powers’s “Evaluating articles, newspapers, conference pro- Access Concepts,” lays the frame-
 52(3) LRTS Book Reviews   213

work for the rest of the book, since occurred in Web forums on Nature detract from the value of this work.
it enables readers to understand how .com are also cited. This title is a major contribution to the
topics such as developing countries Compiling a bibliography in the study of the open access movement
relate to the open access movement. modern digital era presents different in general, as well as its emergence in
Combined with the preface and the benefits and challenges than even a lit- the early twenty-first century.—Mary
subsequent “General Works” chapter, tle over a decade ago. Sidney Berger, a Aycock, ([email protected]),
these sections should provide a solid bibliographer himself, bemoaned how University of Missouri-Columbia.
background on open access to any his work was “dependent on librari-
student or interested scholar. ans, other scholars, on-line catalogues, References
The subsequent chapters cover telephone lines, and other intermedi- 1. Charles W. Bailey, Open Access
open access statements (it is par- ary agents which conspire to thwart Bibliography: Liberating Scholarly
ticularly helpful to have the state- our excellent work and threaten to Literature with E-Prints and Open
ments on open access such as the expose it to the invective of unsympa- Access Journal (2005), www.escholarly
Berlin Declaration and the Bethesda thetic critics who have never compiled pub.com/oab/oab.pdf (accessed April
Statement all in one place), copyright a bibliography themselves.”3 8, 2006).
issues, open access journals, e-prints, On the other hand, Bailey had 2. Charles W. Bailey, Scholarly
disciplinary and institutional archives, opportunities and challenges presented Electronic Publishing Bibliography,
and open archives harvesting. The last by resources available on the Internet. www.digital-scholarship.org/sepb/
sepb.html (accessed April 8, 2008).
chapters include conventional pub- His search encompassed a variety of
3. Sidney E. Berger, The Design
lisher perspectives and government sources that might yield resources, of Bibliographies: Observations,
inquiries and legislation, as well as such as databases, archives, and search References and Examples (London:
open access arrangements for devel- engines. He used a “pearl growing” Mansell, 1991), 28.
oping countries. The book unfortu- (xiii) approach to find additional cita-
nately lacks an index. tions through checking references of Organizing Information from the
Any bibliography is a snapshot relevant materials. In accordance with Shelf to the Web. By G. G. and
in time: ideally it has some enduring the philosophy of open access, he Sudatta Chowdhury. London: Facet,
value, but it cannot help but reflect endeavored to provide links that gave 2007. 230 p. $95.00 paper (ISBN
the resources of the era and the views freely available access. When online 978-1-845604-578-0).
of the author. This phenomenon is all resources required paid subscriptions Given the range of heterogeneous
the more true for emerging trends or even free registration, he cited the information resources available today
such as open access, in which new print instead, or, if not printed, left the and the disparate nature of the envi-
developments are ongoing. Inevitably, citation out completely. ronments in which they reside, the
four years later, as the open-access The links are both the book’s role of the cataloger has evolved tre-
movement surges forward, some of strength and weakness. Freely avail- mendously. More than ever, catalogers
the material does seem dated, such able online resources, like the open are expected to be familiar both with
as the “Government Inquiries and access movement itself, promise traditional approaches to information
Legislation” chapter. research that is just a click away and organization and with the emerging
Moreover, Bailey’s support not dependent on subscriptions or standards of the networked environ-
for open access is obvious from the institutional affiliation. The weakness ment. G. G. and Sudatta Chowdhury
celebratory subtitle of the book, lies within the fluid nature of the Web. stress that the rapid development of
“Liberating Scholarly Literature with Bailey himself noted such a drawback, the Internet, Web, and digital libraries
E-Prints and Open Access Journals.” “Given the high degree of inclusion necessitate the teaching of fundamen-
Not surprisingly, the Association of of ‘grey literature’ in the bibliogra- tal concepts, tools, and techniques
Research Libraries, a leading advocate phy, the reader should expect URL of information organization. In their
of open access through its Scholarly decay, and to some degree, reference book, Organizing Information from
Publishing and Academic Resources decay as well” (xiv). This prediction the Shelf to the Web, they attempt to
Coalition, published this title. To be has proved true four years later. For “cover the broad spectrum of infor-
fair, Bailey does include a three-page example, many of Walt Crawford’s mation organization in different envi-
chapter (the shortest chapter in the Cite links are no longer available at the ronments—from print libraries to the
book), “Conventional Publisher’s URL given (eleven of these appear on internet, intranet, and web” (xiii).
Perspectives,” which provides some page 6) because of an apparent move The primary audience for this text
of the arguments against open access. to another Web site. is library and information science stu-
The debates about open access that Such a minor quibble should not dents. Practitioners who want a basic
 214   Book Reviews LRTS  52(3)

overview of information organization tant to mention that although the synthetic system. In this case, DDC
in today’s networked world would also authors do not explicitly state that is used in both explanations. In fact,
be served well. The authors’ intent the book is primarily intended for a almost all examples given in chapter 5
is to present a book that “will lead European audience, it is duly noted. are DDC regardless of its relevancy to
interested readers to further studies Most references to online resources the information being presented.
and research by pointing them to the in the text are British; however, they A section that warrants exam-
appropriate references” (xiv). Thus are still quite relevant and interesting. ples is the discussion on Functional
they do not aim to present a thorough The authors are diplomatic in their Requirements for Bibliographic
discussion of information organiza- coverage of various formats and clas- Records in chapter 3, “Cataloguing.”
tion; rather, they intend to provide a sification systems by providing more The authors present a mind-numbing
brief overview and guide. The result detail for those with broader applica- explanation of two figures displaying
is a 230-page book containing thirteen tion worldwide. This approach pres- group 1 and 2 entities and their rela-
chapters and a short preface, glossary, ents no problem for North American tionships. In the span of two pages, the
and index. readers, except in chapter 5, “Library text repeatedly reads as such:
Upon reflection on the topics cov- Classification.” The authors present
ered in each chapter, it is evident that basic information about the Dewey A manifestation may be pro-
the book can be divided into four dis- Decimal Classification (DDC), as well duced by more than one per-
tinct parts. Chapters 1 and 2 present as instruction for building DDC num- son or corporate body, and
a rudimentary look at the concepts of bers. But the Library of Congress a person or corporate body
organization and classification, cover- Classification (LCC) receives only a may produce more than one
ing approaches taken in our everyday bulleted list of general features, some manifestation; thus the rela-
lives, the traditional approaches of of which are inaccurate. For example, tionship is many-to-many.
libraries, and the variety of approaches they claim that LCC lacks hospitality, An item may be owned by
in the online environment. In chap- when in fact it is a widely accepted more than one person and/
ters 3–6, the authors address in more strength of the classification system. or corporate body, and a per-
detail the approach taken by libraries The extent of information provided for son or corporate body may
to present information on cataloging, LCC versus that of DDC is uneven, own more than one item; thus
bibliographic formats, classification and leaves something to be desired the relationship is many-to-
systems, subject-headings lists, and for North American readers. Also, an many. (49)
thesauri. Also presented in these chap- issue for readers outside of the United
ters is an analysis of how libraries have Kingdom is the discussion of meta- The lack of a coherent exam-
adapted to the emergence of electron- data standards in chapter 8. Given that ple makes this “explanation” virtually
ic collections by implementing change the few metadata standards covered meaningless.
to traditional practices. Chapters 7–10 in this chapter are accepted world- The authors’ aim to provide sim-
focus on the organization of Internet wide, it seems unusual to include the ple introductory information is more
information resources, the emergence e-Government Metadata Standard, or less achieved; however, the depth
of metadata to describe and man- a standard employed by the United of coverage tends to range from con-
age those resources, the syntax uti- Kingdom. While it is informative, it cise statements to in-depth presen-
lized in online environments (markup is not particularly relevant to readers tations. Moreover, the text contains
languages), and the development of abroad. numerous cosmetic and typographical
semantic relationships for improved The authors provide a multitude errors. While many of these errors
information processing (ontologies). of examples to support the subject are harmless distractions, others are
The final chapters, 11–13, discuss the matter. Some of them, however, are glaring inaccuracies that misrepresent
emergence of an assortment of initia- inappropriate and obscure, while other key content. For example, the main
tives and trends. They include the sections of the text lack much-needed subjects of the Colon Classification
growth of information architecture as examples. One can only speculate that are listed in chapter 5 with two sub-
an area of study focused on the man- the use of inappropriate examples is a jects represented by the letter G
agement of intranets and the Internet, result of the authors’ experiences. For (Geography and Biography) and two
discussion of the Semantic Web, and example, when describing enumera- subjects represented by the letter H
other recent technological develop- tive classification systems, the authors (Geology and History). Geography
ments. use DDC irrespective of the fact that should actually be represented by the
Before I delve too deeply into it is no longer considered an enu- letter U and History by the letter V.
the critique of this work, it is impor- merative system, but is an analytico- This particular inaccuracy is mislead-
 52(3) LRTS Book Reviews   215

ing, as is the use of outdated LCC Newspapers of the World Online: been the chair of the Newspapers
numbers in the same chapter. U.S. and International Perspectives: Section of IFLA, and he has edited
Generally speaking, the book is Proceedings of Conferences in Salt two other newspaper volumes of IFLA
accessible with the exception of chap- Lake City and Seoul, 2006. Ed. conference proceedings: Newspapers
ter 12, a complex, jargon-laden discus- Hartmut Walravens. Munich: K.G. Saur, in Central and Eastern Europe, pub-
sion of the Semantic Web. Noteworthy 2006. 195p. $109.00 (IFLA members lished in 2005, and Newspapers in
chapters include chapters 1, 9, and $81.00) cloth (ISBN 3-598-21849-4). International Librarianship, published
13. In chapter 1, Chowdhury and IFLA Publications, 122. in 2003. While there is some overlap
Chowdhury present one of the most As noted in International in terms of content and authors in
accessible explanations of organiza- Newspaper Librarianship for the 21st the two volumes under consideration
tion and classification as it pertains to Century, newspapers are “still not here, each article offers a different
everyday life that I have read. Chapter liked by a large number of librar- approach. These two volumes also
9 contains a well-balanced breakdown ians and archivists because they are complement each other to create a
of the differences between the variet- labour and staff intensive, and that well-balanced looked at the state of
ies of markup languages. Chapter 13 means cost intensive. Also they take newspaper librarianship on a global
serves as a basis for further discussion a lot of shelf space, they need special scale.
of emerging trends and issues. It is treatment for preservation, and they International Newspaper Lib-
both relevant and timely. should be microfilmed” (9). But fear rarianship for the 21st Century pres-
Perhaps the most significant con- not, for, as the reader soon learns, the ents the proceedings for the IFLA
tribution that the authors have achieved current state of newspapers collections Newspapers Section annual confer-
in writing this book is its uniqueness in and digitalization projects is becoming ences held in 2003, 2004, and 2005,
coverage. Roughly half of the book is increasingly popular, and they are liked and the midterm meetings for the
dedicated to the organization of infor- by the exceptional, hardworking, and same years. These forty-plus articles
mation on the Internet, intranets, and creative librarians and archivists who spotlight what is happening in region-
the Web. Discussions on metadata, care about their newspaper collections al newspapers, what is being accom-
markup languages, ontologies, infor- immensely. But what is the current plished in the field of preservation
mation architecture, and related devel- state and shape of newspaper libraries and digitalization, and they also cover
opments that pertain to the networked around the world? What are some digi- the issue of newspapers and copyright
environment are warranted and are talization projects currently under way? in the European Union, the United
handled with great accomplishment. How do different newspaper libraries Kingdom, and South Africa. National
The references listed at the end each and librarians deal with the demands digitalization projects discussed
chapter effectively serve the intended of working with this unique medium, in this volume include: Australia,
purpose of providing supplementary changing technology, electronic stor- Canada, China, Columbia, France,
material that will enhance the study of age, and not enough funding? Namibia, South Africa, Sweden,
information organization. Despite its Two books published in 2006 are United Kingdom, United States, and
shortcomings, Organizing Information now available to answer those and Venezuela. Articles are primarily in
from the Shelf to the Web merits con- many more questions. International English, but some authors have sub-
sideration because G. G. and Sudatta Newspaper Librarianship for the mitted their papers in English togeth-
Chowdhury have managed to provide 21st Century and Newspapers of the er with a French or Spanish version.
an essential balance between the treat- World Online: U.S. and International This book also includes a current list of
ment of traditional practices and that Perspectives: Proceedings of the South African newspapers with their
of emerging practices in today’s chang- Conferences in Salt Lake City and dates of commencement. Other topics
ing environment.—Sandy Rodriguez, Seoul, 2006 offer unique and detailed discussed in this volume in relation to
([email protected]), University of accounts of newspaper librarianship the overall theme of regional newspa-
Arkansas at Little Rock. from both an American and an inter- pers, digitalization, and preservation
national perspective and try to cover include newspaper selection, finance,
International Newspaper Lib- these various questions. Both volumes staffing, electronic newspapers,
rarianship for the 21st Century. are conference proceedings from CD-ROMs, software, new technology,
Ed. Hartmut Walravens. Munich: various International Federation of challenges and issues in today’s news-
K.G. Saur, 2006. 298p. $109.00 Library Associations and Institutions paper librarianship, copyright and fair
(IFLA members $81.00) cloth (ISBN (IFLA) conferences held in 2003, use, copyright clearance, digitaliza-
3-598-21846-X). IFLA Publications, 2004, 2005, and 2006, and are edited tion standards, storage, and Optical
118. by Hartmut Walravens. Walravens has Character Recognition (OCR).
 216   Book Reviews LRTS  52(3)

Newspapers of the World Online have existed and continue to exist in included. While it’s wonderful that
notes that newspaper “digitization has France, Germany, and South Africa? these were included, they are often
been a hot topic in newspaper librari- Reading these two books, one realizes hard to follow and leave much to the
anship for some years now” (7) and (despite the year, culture, or country) imagination because there is no intro-
that it is still a hot topic with all the dif- that the newspapers and their libraries duction or conclusion. Another issue
ferent types of digitalization projects are in, these librarians and archivists that impedes the reader in both books
currently under way. This second and and their libraries are all dealing with is the absence of division between the
smaller of the two volumes includes very similar issues, such as of lack of conference proceedings. The only way
twenty-plus papers from the 2006 funding, lack of shelf space, technol- the readers know that they are moving
annual conference session and mid- ogy, personnel, preservation of the on from one conference to another or
term meeting. Digitalization projects print copies of newspapers, micro- from one year to the next is by looking
discussed include those in Canada, fiche, digital databases, copyright, etc. at the table of contents. Both volumes
Chile, Finland, France, Germany, Unfortunately, they also have to deal also lack an index, so finding spe-
Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, with the reality of what should be cific information on authors, topics, or
United Kingdom, and United States. digitalized and preserved and what countries will be challenging.
All of the papers in this volume are in should not or cannot be. Despite the Majlis Bremer-Laamanen of
English, and they touch on subjects many challenges that these authors the National Library of Finland can
that one must think about when cre- have faced in their various newspaper easily speak for all the contributors
ating digitalization projects, includ- collections, they all seem to have a in both volumes when she writes in
ing metadata, procurement, Internet sense of knowing that what they are Newspapers of the World Online that
delivery, microfilm, intellectual-prop- doing is of great importance. These “historical newspaper collections and
erty rights, staffing, OCR needed to are people, libraries, and institutions the born digital ones are connect-
make the text searchable, finance, and on the front lines, saving history one ing the users to places, questions,
newspaper selection. page at a time. nations and human life over centuries.
The style of the articles in both While these two books do cover a Incidents from the past are suddenly
volumes covers a wide gamut from lot of ground and offer a lot of infor- easily accessible. The past is living
those with endnotes, to others with mation, their one fault is that they in the present” (43). It is this easy
references, to those with no citation could have been edited more thor- connection that makes newspapers,
information. There are articles with oughly. Because the articles are papers be they in print, entirely online, in
photographs and other illustrations as presented at conferences, grammati- microformat, or in digitalized form
well as some with charts and lists of cal errors were not corrected uni- so important. Despite a few faults,
various newspapers and their print- formly or at all. There are also a few these two books offer a fresh under-
ing runs. The historical aspect and cases where no conference paper was standing on the state of newspaper
research into the history and evolution submitted, so the author’s conference libraries around the world.—Melissa
of newspapers around the world in PowerPoint presentation was included Aho ([email protected]), University
what many readers will find fascinat- instead. These PowerPoint papers are of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
ing and informative. Where else will either formatted as a list of items,
one find lists of national presses that or the actual PowerPoint slides are

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 SUBHAJIT PANDA
ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN, CHANDIGARH UNIVERSITY

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