OLAC Newsletter
Vol. 29 | No. 1| March 2009

The OLAC Newsletter (ISSN: 0739-1153) is a quarterly publication of the Online Audiovisual Catalogers, Inc. appearing in March, June, September and December. Permission is granted to copy and disseminate information contained herein, provided the source is acknowledged.

In this issue

From the Editor

Treasurer's Report

OLAC Meeting Minutes:

• CAPC
• Executive Board
• Membership

Conference Reports:

• MARBI
• CC:DA
• AMIA

LC Update

MOUG/OLAC Liaison Report

Reports from the 2008 OLAC/MOUG
Conference, Part II:

Workshops:

• Elect. Resources
• Form/Genre Headings
• Integrating Resources
• Metadata for Audiovisual Materials
• Worldcat Local
• RDA Program
• Poster Sessions
  

News and Announcements

Announcement of New Officers

Book Reviews:

• Metadata
• Kidzcat

OLAC Cataloger's Judgment:

• Sounds & Silence
• Edition or contents
• Order of names in 505
• PowerPoint on CD-ROM
• Mysteries of the 007
• Which came 1st 508 or 511
• True colors
• Computer file vs. video
• Auteur theory questioned

News from OCLC

** REPORTS FROM THE **
2008 OLAC-MOUG Conference
Cleveland, Ohio
Part II

Jan Mayo
Column Editor

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES CATALOGING
Presented by Bobby Bothmann
Minnesota State University, Mankato

--reported by Jan Mayo, East Carolina Universit

Bobby Bothmann, Electronic Access/Catalog Librarian at Minnesota State University, Mankato, gave a thorough and informative session on electronic resources cataloging, so
much so that it wasn't apparent that he was a late substitution for the original presenter. His presentation style was relaxed and easy to follow, and he took questions from the audience as he went along, which helped to clarify the more difficult to understand portions of his material.

He began by giving an overview of what he planned to present, followed a list of links to resources for electronic cataloging, explaining a little about each one. In defining the
term "electronic resources," he made the point that, to be an electronic resource, it must require a computer to be played. Playaways are a point of contention, but for the sake of national standards, they should be given the GMD "electronic resource," however, for local catalogs, the use of "sound recording" or even "playaway" as the GMD could be acceptable.

The next concept Bothmann covered was the nature and content of the resource. A convenient list of what kinds of materials can be an electronic resource followed. There are two types of access: direct, which requires a physical carrier,and remote, which uses computer networks. To determine which chapters of AACR2r to use when cataloging, first determine the primary content of the resource, and then apply the Chapter 9 (Electronic Resources) cataloging rules.

What is being cataloged must be considered. Is it a discrete or a component resource? Is it monograph, serial or integrating? Bothmann provided a chart that clearly illustrated finite vs. continuing resources. Using the appropriate Type of Record and Bibliographic level is also important.

Formerly, all electronic resources were Record Type "m." Now, this is only used for computer files, but should also be used when you are unsure if what you have is a computer file or not. If the Record Type is "m," be sure to use the appropriate File Type.

Bothmann reviewed the fixed field elements and many of the areas of the bibliographic record, highlighting the aspects that pertain to electronic resources. This included the
assigning of the 006 and 007 fields, how to determine the chief source of information and elements of Areas 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7, as well as the 856 field.

He touched briefly on the use of form subdivisions and finished his presentation by displaying sample records for an e-book, a digital map, a digital image, and a blog or RSS feed, applying the rules and interpretations he had just shared with us.

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FORM/GENRE HEADINGS
Presented by Janis L. Young
Library of Congress

--reported by Beth Flood, Harvard University

Janis Young discussed the ongoing implementation of genre/form headings by the Library of Congress. Two main objectives of the genre/form project as a whole are:

1) to assist retrieval by creating access points for genres and forms of expressions, and
2) to have a system of authority records that permit future development and maintenance and that support automatic validation of headings. LC began the genre/form project with headings for moving images and radio programs.

These areas were chosen in order to identify issues and determine policies in the context of a relatively small group of headings.

An important distinction made during this presentation is the conceptual difference between genre/form headings and subject headings. LC considers genre/form headings
not to be subject headings but rather headings which describe what a work actually is, rather than the subject of the work.

An implication of this decision is that a record can contain both topical subject headings (MARC field 650) and genre/form headings (MARC field 655).

The preferred approach for establishing genre/form terms in the authority file is to create separate records for the genre/form heading and the term as a subject heading.
MARBI originally considered a proposal for new fixed field (008) coding indicating whether the term would be appropriate as a topical and/or genre/form term. This was rejected in
favor of the two record approach. Topical authority records will be coded as MARC field 150 for the authorized term; form/genre records will be coded as MARC field 155. Both
records may contain the same see references (4XX fields) and broader terms (5XX fields). Subject terms used in bibliographic records (MARC field 650) which are also used as
genre/form terms are now required to include a subdivision, indicating they are subject terms. For example, the term "War films" used as a subject now should include the subdivision"History and criticism" to make it clearly distinct from the genre term "War films [no subdivision]".

It is currently permissible to use LCSH topical headings as genre/form headings in some cases, when a scope note indicates the term stands for a type of work, rather than the
subject of a work. If no scope note is present, catalogers should use their own judgment to determine if a term represents a genre or form. For example, the headings "Cantatas
(Equal voices)," "Detective and mystery stories," and "Nautical charts" can be correct as genre/form terms, but the heading "Human figure in art" is not correct and can only be
used as a topical term. Headings which are not already established as genre/form terms but can be used as such should currently be coded as local headings: 655 -7 $a [heading] $2 local

A pilot project is currently underway in which two libraries are contributing new and revised genre/form authority records through SACO and are testing a web fill-in
form and workflow. After the project is completed, LC will begin accepting genre/form proposals from all SACO libraries. In the next few months, LC will begin using moving im-
age and radio program headings in their cataloging. LC is also formulating timeline recommendations for implementation in two new areas (music and law).

To assist in implementation of genre/form terms, a subcommittee has been formed through the ALCTS-CCS Subject Analysis Committee. The group is charged with facilitat-
ing communication between LC and cataloging communities interested in genre/form implementation.

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