Cataloging

LITS Annual Report 2002-2003

Descriptive Section

All information is based on the collective work of the Cataloging Unit unless otherwise stated. The highlights of our work are followed by summary data. Most of the Unit's work can't be reduced to numbers. Among our activities last year we would particularly like to single out the following:

• We spent many hours during January-May working with our colleagues in SAS and the other liaisons dealing with the result of the Faxon/Rowecom debacle. This involved sorting and cross-checking lists of journals subscriptions, researching alternative means of acquiring the content, and contacting all departments both to inform them of the problem and to get input on prioritizing journal replacements.

• Twice we reviewed the procedures and processes that allow materials to flow smoothly through the technical services departments. Once in the fall of 2002 when we adjusted what (OCLC) levels of cataloging records would be handled by SAS, resulting in a considerable drop in the number of books coming to the five members of the Cataloging Unit. We again reviewed workflow in the spring of 2003 with the library-consulting firm of R2 Consulting. We compiled statistics and procedural documentation in advance of their visit, had interviews with them, and then read, considered and responded to their report.

• As part of our commitment to reach a rapid end to the retrospective conversion process, we created or exported a record number of bibliographic records into the OPAC. This was done while researching the possibilities for outsourcing the remainder of the work, culminating in the hiring of the Donohue Group in June 2003. We will continue to create local records for the "by-and-about" boxes of ephemera.

• July-September saw the preparation for implementing TDNet, a commercial journal locator service purchased by the five colleges. Much time was spent generating lists containing information about our library's electronic journals, sorting the results into the categories required by the vendor, and transferring the customized data to spreadsheets for the vendor. The results have been well worth the effort, but some work remains ongoing to keep it up-to-date.

• The opening of the 5-College Depository in November/December had the immediate impact of enabling us to begin shipping materials. We had already worked with the liaisons to identify titles and with SAS and Kathleen Norton to create procedures for the transfer. From January to July we helped prepare biweekly shipments, beginning with the physics journals and moving on to journals in library science and those titles also in JSTOR. The choice of physics as a starting point was partially dictated by the need to create room in the Miles-Smith stacks for the transfer of items out of the Science Reference Room to accommodate the information commons.

We would also like to note some of the interactions that we have with other LITS departments. In addition to regularly-scheduled hours at the Reference desk, all of us have filled in at other times as needed due both to unforeseen circumstances and Kathleen Norton's parental leave. Nancy Birkrem spends one day a week in Archives & Special Collections doing both cataloging and collection development as well as classroom work with faculty. Anne Miller worked with Networking on a presentation for LITS staff on D-Space, a new, open-source digital repository created by MIT. And several of us attended each of the various presentations and interviews for the many job candidates that were seen during the past year.

Note regarding statistics: For the last 5 years the technical services departments have kept numbers reflecting collection size and physical location, compiling numbers on type of work done only as needed for specific purposes (e.g., the fall 2002 analysis of workflow). Following Pat Albanese's March request, we have incorporated statistics on levels of cataloging into the statistics sheets kept by members of the Cataloging Unit for FY2004 and following.

Summary Section

Statistics (see also attached excel sheet for combined Cataloging/SAS numbers based on item locations):

Committee Participation:

• 5-College Cataloging Cmte
• 5-College Serials and Acquisition Cmte
• Ad Hoc 5-College Serials Subcmte
• 5-College Depository Advisory Group
• TDNet Implementation Cmte
• LITS Digital Resources Working Group
• Ad Hoc Space Cmte

Regularly-Scheduled Meeting Participation:

• Management team meetings
• Faculty meetings
• Cataloging Unit meetings
• Joint Cataloging/SAS meetings
• All-hands meetings

Conferences, Workshops, and Demonstrations Attended:

• "The Cutting Edge Catalog: Challenging 
  Traditions" (NELINET)
• "Open-linking solutions" (NELINET)
• Tamino demo
• Ingenta demo
• Open linking sessions (5-College)
• Federated searching sessions (5-College)
• "D-Space at MIT" (NERCOMP)
• New England Library Association annual   conference

Special Projects:

• Hosted Music Library Association NE Chap.   meeting (Jane Ting)
• Participated in several aspects of Institute for Training and Development's "Georgian Library   Profession Program", including orientation, a   ½-day workshop, tour of LITS and review of their action plans (Nancy Birkrem)
• Worked with faculty and other liaisons to review periodical subscriptions in light of Faxon debacle (all)
• Streamlined Cataloging and SAS workflow in  fall 2002 (all)
• Prepared for and responded to R2 consultants'   report in spring 2003 (all)
• Worked with LITS Ad Hoc Space Committee to   plan removal of materials from Science Reference Room into Main Reference and other locations; materials out of Main Reference  to the stacks and the dumpster; and moves within the stacks to accommodate these changes. Also plotted the new layout of Williston level 7 (Nancy Birkrem)
• Worked with Peter Carini to develop structural, descriptive and administrative metadata for use in Bob Schwartz's campus atlas project, with the   intent that it could be more broadly applied in future (Nancy  Birkrem, Anne Miller)