Welcome, Library colleagues! This is the first issue of C&MS News which is intended to be a quarterly update of events and activities in Catalog & Metadata Services.
New Vendor Services
In addition to the four vendors (GOBI, Casalini, Garcia, OCLC) C&MS currently contracts with for on-going shelf-ready services (providing metadata and physical processing for approx. 35,000 monographs annually), we're also pursuing two additional on-going shelf-ready projects:
- Amalivre for (primarily) French acquisitions (approx. 3,000 volumes per year)
- An expansion of our GOBI services to include e-monographs (approx. 1,500 titles per year)
Coordinating with the Acquistions Department and Library IT, we'll be setting project timelines that do not disrupt fiscal year-end ordering and invoicing. C&MS and Acquisitions will be in touch with selectors once estimated timelines are known. It's our goal to make resources available to our users as quickly as possible!
Upcoming Selector Review Projects
Following a discussion with CDLG (Collection Development Leadership Group) about cataloging backlogs, several selectors will be individually contacted over the next few months to review and make retention decisions for a handful of microfilm collections, media materials, and old gift collections that have been awaiting cataloging for a number of years.
The first such selector review project was completed last month (March). Thanks to David Eifler, the Francis Violich Latin American Urban Planning Collection was reviewed for retention. In addition to other criteria, David reviewed the materials for RLF duplication which reduced the collection by 16%. The remaining materials will be sent to OCLC for cataloging and physical processing.
New Skills on the Way
In September 2018 eight C&MS staff (along with 12 other campus catalogers) attended online name authority training offered by the Library of Congress. For the past 7 months C&MS staff have been under review for personal name, conference name, geographic name, and personal name + title authority records created for materials in their workflow. Successful completion of this training and gaining review independence will allow catalogers to create and submit authority records for inclusion in the international name authority database via the Name Authority Cooperative Program (NACO). Thank you to Stella Tang (EAL), Randy Brandt (BANC), Chris Tarr (LAW), and Bob Talbott (C&MS) for serving as NACO reviewers.
Staffing Updates
C&MS said good-bye to Elena Zaslavsky who has transferred to the Acquisitions Department to help with ordering. She started with C&MS in 2006, working on copy cataloging for Slavic and English language materials. Prior to her work in cataloging, Elena was in Acquisitions.
C&MS is interviewing candidates for an LP4 Metadata Creation Professional for English & Western European Languages. We hope to have someone on board ASAP!
C&MS Staff Focus: every issue will feature a different C&MS story
Meet Jim Latchney, Continuing Resources Cataloger
Jim Latchney works in Continuing Resources & Metadata Management (CRMM) in C&MS. In addition to his regular workflow (which includes cataloging new serial resources and resolving BadCat problems), for the past year he has also been working on a project to enhance metadata for low level MAIN serials. This project not only increases discoverability of the Library's vast serial collection, it also identifies storable volumes as well as RLF duplicates. So far over 800 titles have been upgraded, more than 5,600 volumes have been identified for storage, and over 2,400 volumes have been identified as RLF duplicates.
Where did you earn your MLIS? Wayne State University (Detroit, Michigan)
How long have you been with Catalog & Metadata Services? I've been in the Continuing Resources & Metadata Management Unit for almost 4 years.
Why serials cataloging? Since I’ve decided not to pursue a PhD or MD, serials cataloging is a valuable and fundamental way for me to support scientific research.
How did you find your way into serials cataloging? Continuing resources always seemed more interesting than monographs, which I had limited exposure to except for analytics. My second position at the University of Michigan was in the Science Library where I was chiefly responsible for bibliographic support and binding for the Science Libraries. It was a natural fit for me to transition to serials cataloging there when a position became available. Later, in my position as one of the continuing resources cataloging librarians at Michigan State University, I was the primary CONSER contributor for MSU and worked on decidedly less scientific subjects with my focus largely on Special Collections, Africana, all things related to turfgrass for the Turfgrass Information Center, and the federal and international documents collections.
What challenges do you encounter in your work? Upgrading a single title can easily reveal a multitude of missed title changes - this diagram (which reflects recent work) says it all.
On the lighter side of things, what's your favorite fruit? Generally, mangoes are my go-to, but it changes seasonally. Right now, it's guava.
The C&MS Leadership Team welcomes your feedback.