OLAC Newsletter
Vol. 29 | No. 3| September 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

Editor's Column

Treasurer's Report

Meeting Minutes:

• Executive Board
• CAPC Meeting
• Membership Meeting

News and Announcements:

• MOUG Liaison Reappointed
• Archival Sound Recordings Subcommittee Announcement
• Call for Nancy B. Olson Award Nominations

Conference Reports:

• MARBI Liaison Report
• CC:DA Liaison Report

Library of Congress Update

Book Reviews:

• Crash Course in Cataloging for Non-Catalogers
• More Innovative Redesign and Reorganizations of Library Technical Services

OLAC Cataloger's Judgment:

• SMDs for Remote-Access Resources
• Musings on the Mu
• Episode Titles and Season Designations
• Much Ado About Noting
• The Agony of the “sce” (and Other Relator Codes)
• Parallel Title, Displaced
• Records Without Class (Numbers, That Is)
• Uniform Titles for Television Programs
• NTSC, SECAM, and PAL, Oh My
• A Date with Consistency

News and Announcements
Barbara Vaughan, Column Editor

MOUG Liaison Reappointed
Mary Huismann, University of Minnesota has been appointed to a second term as the MOUG (Music OCLC User Group) Liaison to OLAC for 2009-2011.

Please join us in congratulating Mary and extending our appreciation for her work in this position for both OLAC and MOUG.

Originally submitted by Bobby Bothmann

Archival Sound Recordings Subcommittee Announcement

The DACS for Archival Sound Recordings subcommittee, a subcommittee of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Cataloging Committee, was formed in 2008 to prepare online guidelines on the application of DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard) to the description of archival sound recordings. DACS, developed by the archival community and published by the Society of American Archivists in 2007, is the standard that U.S. archivists use in preparing descriptions of archival materials; those descriptions can be expressed through structural standards such as MARC, EAD, MODS, METS, the Dublin Core, and so forth.

While DACS addresses the unique characteristics of archival materials in general and reflects archival principles of arrangement and description that are accepted throughout the United States, it does not attempt to include rules needed to describe sound recordings and other non-textual materials. The Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, second edition, does provide rules for the description of approach to description but does not provide rules for archival recordings. The goal of the DACS for Archival Sound Recordings subcommittee is to supplement DACS with guidelines for describing the content and physical and administrative features of sound recordings while adhering to accepted archival descriptive practice.

We plan to use the ARSC Associated Audio Archivists (AAA) Message Board

http://arsc-aaa.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php

as a way to solicit feedback on drafts of the guidelines, stimulate discussion of especially challenging issues in the description of archival sound recordings, and generally tap into the overall knowledge and experience of audio archivists, collectors, and technical experts in the U.S. and hopefully beyond. We hope you'll assist us throughout the process of preparing these guidelines. For more information about the subcommittee, please contact Marsha Maguire (202-707-8465).

Originally Submitted by the DACS for Archival Sound Recordings Subcommittee

Call for Nancy B. Olson Award Nominations

OLAC's Nancy B. Olson Award Committee is now accepting nominations for the 2010 award. The Nancy B. Olson Award recognizes and honors a librarian who has made significant contributions to the advancement and understanding of audiovisual cataloging. The Committee will select a recipient based on these criteria.

Eligibility for nomination is as follows:

1. Nominees may be OLAC members, but membership in the organization is not a requirement;
2. The nomination must be accompanied by a statement that provides supporting evidence of the nominees’ qualifications;
3. The nominations and statement(s) must be postmarked no later than December 1, 2009 and must be received by the Award Committee Chair no later than December 15, 2009.
4. Nominees shall have made contributions to audiovisual cataloging by:
   • Furthering the goals of standardization of AV and/or computer file cataloging, including MARC coding and tagging;
   • Interpreting AV and/or computer file cataloging rules and developing policies on organization for these materials on the national and/or international levels;
   • Promoting the understanding of AV and/or computer file cataloging, coding and data exchange by professionals unfamiliar with these materials and processes.

The award recipient will receive an engraved plaque containing an inscription recognizing his/her special contribution to the field.

Send all nominations by December 15, 2009, to:
Bobby Bothmann

Or by mail to:

Bobby Bothmann
P.O. Box 8419, ML3097
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Mankato, MN 56002

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