CCM Revision: Module 31, Remote Access Electronic Serials (Online Serials)

Steve Shadle and Wen-ying Lu have published a description of recent revisions to Module 31 of the CONSER Cataloging Manual (CCM) in their article, "Update on CONSER Cataloging Manual Module 31 'Remote Access Electronic Serials (Online Serials)'" in Serials Review, volume 38, issue 3 (Sept. 2012).

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.serrev.2012.08.007

The full text of Module 31 (Aug. 2012 revision) can be found here: http://www.loc.gov/acq/conser/pdf/Module31.pdf

Preliminary Report from the CONSER Standard Record RDA Core Elements Task Group

The preliminary report from the CONSER Standard Record RDA Core Elements Task Group is now available on the CONSER website. Issues covered include:

• Authorized access points for translations and language editions
• Additions to distinguish otherwise identical authorized access points for resources
• Recording dates of publication
• Recording statements of responsibility relating to the title proper

Upcoming Webinar on the CONSER Standard Record

The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) has announced an upcoming webinar, "The CONSER Standard Record: Where Are We Now?" Steve Shadle will present this hour-long webinar on October 5, 2011.

Find more information, including fees and how to register, on the ALCTS website.

CONSER Editing Guide Revision: Request for Comments

CONSER requests comments on their draft revisions for the CONSER Editing Guide.  The deadline for comments is January 31, 2011.

View the draft revisions and instructions for submitting comments on the CONSER website.

CONSER RDA Testing

The CONSER Program has shared some of their Resource Description and Access (RDA) testing information.

A three-part document covers issues related to RDA, the CONSER Standard Record (CSR), and the Library of Congress Policy Statements (LCPSs).  It includes the following sections:

• RDA as Modified by CSR: Recommended Guidelines
• Differences between CSR, RDA, and LCPS
• Using Existing OCLC Bibliographic Records for Serials: CONSER RDA Testers

A webinar recording from September 29, 2010, consisting of RDA test discussions for CONSER catalogers is also available.  It is just under one hour long and will be of interest to RDA testers and those dedicated to following the test process.

Helpful links were shared in the webinar:

The Program for Cooperative Cataloging has a web page devoted to RDA testing: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/RDA-PCC.html

The University of Chicago Library has kindly shared its RDA testing information as well:  http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/staffweb/depts/cat/rda.html  Included is a link to Renette Davis' presentation "Changes from AACR2 to RDA for Cataloging Serials."

"Metadata in a Digital Age: New Models of Creation, Discovery, and Use" recorded by Paoshan W. Yue

This article is the report on a preconference held during the 2008 NASIG Annual Conference. It was co-sponsored by NISO (National Information Standards Organization). Yue's report covers presentations given by various speakers on metadata, providing both library and publisher/vendor perspectives.

Two sections in this article of particular interest to serials catalogers are: "ISSN: Linking Data and Metadata" presented by Regina Romano Reynolds of National Serials Data Program at the Library of Congress, and: "Changes in Cooperative Cataloging Standards: Implementation of the CONSER Standard Record" presented by Les Hawkins, who is the CONSER Coordinator at the Library of Congress. Reynolds provided general information about the ISSN program, as well as an update on the status of the new ISSN-L. Hawkins talked about the establishment of the CONSER Standard Record.

This article is available in The Serials Librarian, vol. 56, issue 1-4 (Jan. 2009), pages 7-24. It will also be available to NASIG members on the NASIG Web site.

"A Snapshot of Early Acceptance of the CONSER Standard Record in Local Catalogs" by Lori J. Terrill

A new issue of the Serials Review is now online. This article contains the first published research that I'm aware of on the CONSER Standard Record. Here's the abstract:

In an effort to enhance the usefulness of serial bibliographic records, while also increasing the cost-effectiveness of record creation and maintenance, CONSER adopted new cataloging guidelines in 2007. Commonly referred to as the “CONSER Standard Record,” the new cataloging standard was developed to support the user tasks of finding, identifying, selecting, and obtaining resources. This study looks at initial acceptance of the new standard by catalogers by measuring the types of edits made to these records in the copy cataloging process. Results indicate that libraries accept most of the changes made to the mandatory elements in the CONSER Standard Record, as compared to former full-level cataloging standards, and do not suggest the need for significant revision of the standard.

The article can be found in the Serials Review, vol. 35, issue 1 (March 2009), pages 16-27.

CONSER Standard Record Documentation Update

I previously reported on the November 2008 update to the CONSER Standard Record Documentation. CONSER has now posted an overview of those changes here.

CONSER 2009 ALA Midwinter At-Large Meeting Summary

The CONSER ALA Midwinter At-Large Meeting Summary from Jan. 25, 2009 is now available. It includes information on the RLG Shared Print Program, ISSN-L developments, the CSR MARC Task Group, the update of the SCCTP Holdings Workshop, and more.

CONSER Standard Record Documentation Update

The CONSER Standard Record Documentation has been updated as of November 4, 2008. The url remains the same as it was previously. Links to the documentation and related LCRIs can be found here.

CONSER Annual Report for 2008 Now Available

The 2008 CONSER Annual Report has been posted on the CONSER homepage. Topics covered include:

• Membership Updates
• CONSER Standard Record Update
  
• Serials Cooperative Cataloging Training Program (SCCTP) Update
  
• Links to Member Reports and Statistics

CONSER At-Large Meeting, ALA 2008

The summary of the CONSER At-Large Meeting held at ALA Annual is now available on the CONSER Web site. Topics covered include:

• the proposal to make the 440 field obsolete
  
• the proposal to add new subfields to the 8XX fields (including one for ISSN)
  
• the use of the 007 field in the single record cataloging approach
  
• updates to the CONSER Standard Record (CSR) guidelines
  
• a new proposal to define the 588 field for "description based on" and "latest issue consulted" notes
  
• the repeatable 260 field

CONSER Operations Meeting Summary

The summary for the CONSER Operations meeting held May 1-2, 2008, is now available.

Contents include:

• OCLC Report
• Standing Committee Roles
• RDA Update
  
• Aggregator Neutral Records for Online Monographs
• Integrating Resources Training Manual Revision (expect a revision in fall 2008)
  
• CONSER Standard Record (CSR) Discussion
• ISSN Report
• FRBR for Serials
• Registry of Digital Masters (RDM)
  
• ... and more!
  

More on the CONSER Standard Record

The Report of the CONSER Standard Record (CSR) Monitoring Group has been added to the May 2008 Operations Meeting Agenda. Discussed are possible changes to the standard record guidelines and other proposed updates to the documentation.

Authentication Codes and Encoding Levels for CONSER Serial Records

CONSER recently issued the agenda for the CONSER/BIBCO Operations Meeting to be held May 1-2, 2008. Included is a link to the report, "Report and Recommendations of the PCC Working Group on Authentication Codes and Encoding Levels for Serials and Integrating Resources." The report includes discussion of the treatment of the "new CONSER record," also referred to as the "CONSER standard record" or as an "access level record." The working group makes both short-term and long-term recommendations. In conclusion, they state:

We recognize that in many ways the underlying goals of the group that developed the new CONSER record are very close to the goals used when creating the core level record: providing guidance on elements essential for access, identification, and retrieval, and relying on cataloger expertise and judgment to know when additional elements are needed for a particular item. However, we are deliberately not recommending the use of encoding level “4,” because we want the concept of the new CONSER record to be viewed with a fresh eye in this new environment, both by administrators and catalogers. The focus of the core record development was on “what can we omit from a record?” The focus of the new CONSER record group was on “what do we need in a record?”

"Catalog/Cataloging Changes and Web 2.0 Functionality: New Directions for Serials" by Rebecca Kemp

Kemp discusses the organization and presentation of serials data in library catalogs with a particular interest in the relationships between serials. Included is a brief discussion of the application of FRBR concepts to serials and how these concepts along with the use of identifiers (some yet to be created) and superwork records (to fully outline the history of a serial title) could provide a useful framework for the organization of serials data. She also calls for the simplification of cataloging rules, looking to RDA for flexibility for future cataloging needs and citing the CONSER standard record as an improvement currently underway. Outsourcing is another means she cites to simplify the cataloging process. She argues that simpler records have the dual advantage of being more understandable for users and more efficient to create. Another aspect she considers in catalog design, specifically the implementation of web 2.0 functionality. She briefly addresses mash-ups, user-created metadata (a.k.a. tagging), user reviews, and personalization through recommender services as ways of bringing web 2.0 into library catalogs. She also touches on improvements in search technology such as relevance ranking, metasearching, natural language searching, faceted searching, and clustering. How can these advances help users searching for serials titles or articles? Kemp outlines five scenarios for locating known and unknown items, including mock-ups of catalog results screens. Overall, Kemp attempts to cover a lot of ground in this article and as a result does not provide comprehensive coverage on any of the topics included.

Kemp's article can be found in The Serials Librarian, vol. 53, no. 4 (2008), pages 91-112.