Program for Cooperative Cataloging Participants Group Meeting
On Sunday evening, June 28, 1998 the Program for Cooperative
Cataloging (PCC) Participants Group meeting was held in the Mumford Room
at the Library of Congress. The evening event was opened by Brian
Schottlaender, Chair of the PCC. Schottlaender welcomed the audience,
many of whom had just attended the 25th anniversary celebration of CONSER.=
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He first noted that the PCC was very pleased that three leaders in the
field of cooperative programs had received recognition in the past year:
Winston Tabb, Associate Librarian of Congress, received the Melvil Dewey
medal and was honored "for his vision, leadership, and determination in
establishing the Program for Cooperative Cataloging, which resulted in
significant improvements to global bibliographic control"; John D. Byrum
was awarded the Margaret Mann Citation for outstanding professional
achievement in the fields of cataloging and classification; and Crystal
Graham was presented the Bowker/Ulrich's Serials Librarianship Award.=20
Schottlaender then announced that the PCC has now joined other
library organizations in the United States in becoming a non-voting member
of the Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access (CC:DA). Joan
Schuitema, chair of the PCC's Standing Committee on Standards, will serve
as the first PCC representative to CC:DA.=20
Schottlaender also announced that the PCC Steering Committee had
approved the final version of the PCC Tactical Plan and this is now
available on the PCC home page (URL:=20
http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/tacticalplan.html). The draft version of
the PCC document governing the use of its name and logo and the PCC budget
were also discussed and approved by the Steering Committee at their
meeting on June 25th. Condensed versions of both these documents are soon
to be available on the PCC home page.
Schottlaender next reported on the first joint meeting of the BIBCO
and CONSER Operations Committees in May 1998. At that meeting it was
decided that the two groups would meet concurrently and the next meeting
is set to take place April 22-23, 1999. BIBCO Operations Committee
decisions and action items which were forwarded to the Steering Committee
and approved include the establishment of a new BIBCO listserv and a
request to the Network Development and MARC Standards Office for a code to
be assigned to the PCC for use in series authority records. For a summary
of the operation committees' meetings, visit the PCC Home Page (URL:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/pcc) and click on either the CONSER or BIBCO
buttons.=20
John Byrum provided the BIBCO/NACO/SACO report. Byrum gave the
Cooperative Cataloging Team update and began by congratulating and listing
the newest participants in BIBCO, the bibliographic component of the PCC.
The newest BIBCO members include the Center for Research Libraries (CRL),
the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Princeton University,
Brooklyn Law School and the University of New Mexico. He also welcomed
the libraries which have joined NACO since the ALA Midwinter meeting in
New Orleans, and hastened to add that NACO is very excited about expanding
membership in August for the University of Newfoundland in Canada and the
upcoming plans to provide training to the Universidade de S=FEo Paulo in
September 1998 and to South Africa in the Spring of 1999. Byrum also
reported on other training initiatives including the seventh Series
Institute, the Asian Materials Cataloging Seminar, the SACO workshops, and
the upcoming Cataloging Now! Institutes.=20
CONSER Announces New Training Initiative
Schottlaender announced that the CONSER Program has initiated the
formation of the Serials Cataloging Cooperative Training Program. The new
program was conceived by Jean Hirons, CONSER Coordinator, as an effort to
standardize and simplify the serials cataloging instruction process.=20
Working with Hirons on this effort are colleagues in CONSER, the ALCTS
Serials Section Training Committee, the North American Serials Interest
Group, as well as several library school professors.
Schottlaender noted that "this is a logical extension of CONSER's
role in providing educational materials for serials catalogers through its
documentation. The aim of the program is to provide training materials
and trained trainers but not to sponsor the actual training. We will
leave that for ALCTS, NASIG, OCLC networks, regional and state library
associations, and others. The training will be based on the CONSER
Cataloging Manual and will also take advantage of the World Wide Web."=20
Current plans are to develop a program pilot in spring 1999 that will
address the most pressing need identified through a recent CONSER training
survey: introductory instruction in serials cataloging. It will include
both print and electronic serials and will be designed for classroom
training with supplementary material on the Web. Classes will be
developed through a modular approach to allow a trainer to mix and match
sessions of particular interest. A subgroup of the PCC Standing Committee
on Training will be formed to keep materials up- to-date and accurate.=20
Schottlaender also thanked those who have formed the program's
steering group: Jean Hirons, John Riemer, and David Van Hoy, from CONSER;
Sharon Mason, Julia Gammon, and Bea Caraway, representing ALCTS; Cameron
Campbell, Ann Ercelawn, Beverley Geer, representing NASIG; Patti Fields
from FEDLINK, and; Thom Saudargus from the College Center for Library
Automation. NASIG president, Steve Oberg, and Karen Muller Executive
Director of ALCTS were also recognized for their support. Library school
professors Lynne Howarth (University of Toronto) and Sherry Vellucci (St.
John=FEs University) plan to participate in upcoming months.=20
CONSER Then and Now
Hirons gave a slide presentation that featured a review of CONSER's
development and achievements, and included an effort to "dispel the myths
about CONSER." Several accomplishments were highlighted: instructions for
cataloging microforms and computer files, the development of
serials-related LCRIs, documentation on format integration, and CONSER=FEs
lead in the AACR2 review process. According to Hirons, CONSER is
perceived as involving too much work, having too much documentation, and
for only large universities and elite institutions. In reality, Hirons
explained that the creation of CONSER records and use of CONSER
documentation, while seemingly time-consuming, saves time overall in
providing records for library catalogs and in training new staff. She
also noted that, while many institutions have few original serials or
catalogers dedicated solely to serials, there are many possibilities for
smaller institutions to participate in the program.
Benefits of CONSER=20
Providing three different perspectives on the benefits of CONSER were
Cecilia Leathem, (University of Miami, Coral Gables), Jennifer O'Connell
(EBSCO Information Services), and Mechael Gago (Indiana University).=20
Leathem reported on her institution=FEs retrospective conversion of its
serial records and their success in finding CONSER or other OCLC records
for all but eight percent of the titles (82% had CONSER copy). According
to Leathem, the availability of CONSER records and documentation has
allowed her to become a manager while her support staff perform more of
the cataloging activities. O'Connell discussed the use of the CONSER
database for EBSCO's production of The Serials Directory. In their efforts
to supply accurate information without having the piece in hand, O'Connell
explained that "CONSER allows us to 'view' the publication without seeing
it and to list it by the title proper with the correct ISSN." Gago noted
the cost- and times-savings benefits of CONSER membership that Indiana has
realized in its 19 years as a CONSER member.=20
The meeting concluded with a tribute by Sally Sinn, PCC chair-elect,
to outgoing chair, Brian Schottlaender. Sinn remarked on his many
contributions to cooperative cataloging and particularly for his
leadership of both CONSER and the PCC during a time of change.
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