Conducting Research and Writing for Publication

In honor of the "Year of Cataloging Research," I'm highlighting a couple of editorials from Library & Information Science Research on the research and writing processes. Whether you are brand new to conducting cataloging research or a seasoned veteran, you will likely find some tips to improve both your research process and the resulting write-up.

Make Sure Your Research has a Purpose!
Hernan, Peter, and Candy Schwartz. "What is a Problem Statement?" Library & Information Science Research 29, issue 3 (2007): 307-309.

Reporting Your Findings and a Few Style Tips
Nitecki, Danuta A. "Finalizing a Research Paper--Findings through Conclusion." Library & Information Science Research 32, issue 1 (2010): 1-3.

“Me and My Shadow: Observation, Documentation, and Analysis of Serials and Electronic Resources Workflow” by Kristen Blake and Erin Stalberg

Blake and Stalberg's “Me and My Shadow” outlines a project done at North Carolina State University Libraries to document and review serials and electronic resources workflow. This three-stage project looked at the entire serials lifecycle and began with a staff shadowing component where a librarian directly observed tasks being performed. Workflow mapping was the next step, where the information gleaned from shadowing was documented in a graphic representation showing what steps were involved in various processes and by whom. Finally, the workflow was analyzed to look for areas that could be made more efficient. This article provides a nice literature review, highlighting several articles looking at library workflow analysis. The authors identified a gap in the literature regarding shadowing techniques in libraries as a tool for workflow mapping and analysis and sought to fill that gap with detailed sections on the shadowing process and outcomes. This article will be of interest to librarians preparing to engage in a serials workflow analysis. A link to view the workflow mapping diagrams created in this project is an added bonus.

The article can be found in the Serials Review, vol. 35, issue 4 (Dec. 2009), pages 242-252.

doi:10.1016/j.serrev.2009.08.018

More on the Repeatable MARC 260 Field

CONSER has posted a recording of a recent webinar, "A Passing Interest in Publishers: Multiple 260 Fields in the MARC Record" presented by Melissa Beck and Valerie Bross, both of UCLA. The webinar covers repeatable 260s for serials, integrating resources, and multipart monographs. The webinar recording is about 1 hour in length, followed by a little over 10 minutes of discussion.

Links to the webinar recording (via Elluminate) and related information are on the right-hand column of the CONSER homepage. Or you can link directly to the webinar recording, PowerPoint slides, and chat session transcript.

A previous posting included a link to the 260 field documentation.

The Serials Librarian is Seeking a New Editor

Taylor & Francis has issued a call for a new Editor-in-Chief for the Serials Librarian. Information can be found here.

Call for Proposals: ALA Midwinter 2010

The ALCTS Continuing Resources Section College and Research Libraries Interest Group (CRS C&RL IG) requests presentation proposals for our Midwinter Meeting in Boston on Sunday, January 17, 2010, from 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Withdrawing print when libraries also have online access
• Distributed print repositories
• Regrouping after serials cancellations: have / how have your workflows changed?
• Pay per view pricing for journal articles
• RDA and FRBR, as they pertain to serials
• MARC Format for Holdings Data
• Next generation OPACs and serial displays
• Other topics?

Each presentation should be approximately 20 minutes. There will be time for discussion.

Please e-mail proposals by *December 14, 2009* to Beth Bernhardt, Beth_Bernhardt@uncg.edu

Please include in your proposal:

• Title of presentation
• Brief summary of proposed presentation
• Name(s) and position(s) of presenter(s)
• E-mail address(es) of presenter(s)

Many thanks. We hope to see you in Boston!

Sincerely,

Beth Bernhardt, Co-chair, ALCTS C&RL IG

Electronic Resources Librarian, Jackson Library, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Beth_Bernhardt@uncg.edu

Rebecca Kemp, Co-chair, ALCTS C&RL IG

E-Resources Acquisitions Librarian, Davis Library, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, rkempemailuncedu

"Serials in RDA: A Starter's Tour and Kit" by Mary Curran

In her Serials Librarian column, "E-Ventures: Notes and Reflections from the e-Serials Field," Mary Curran presents a concise tour of Resource Description and Access (RDA) rules related to serials cataloging. She covers changes from Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, second edition (AACR2); the text of RDA rules related to those changes; RDA rules regarding major and minor title changes; examples of how RDA data elements will be recorded; serial-related issues that have been deferred for later discussion by the Joint Steering Committee (JSC); examples of FRBR-RDA mapping for selected serials-related data; and examples of MARC record syntaxes.

"Serials in RDA: A Starter's Tour and Kit" is published in the Serials Librarian, vol. 57, issue 4 (November 2009), pages 306-323.

DOI: 10.1080/03615260903218825

NASIG seeks Cataloging Programming for 2010 Conference

NASIG 2010: Second Call for Proposals

NASIG 25th Annual Conference
An Oasis in Shifting Sands: NASIG at 25
June 3-6, 2010
Palm Springs, California

The North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG) 2010 Program Planning Committee (PPC) extends a second call for proposals and/or program ideas for pre-conference, vision, strategy, and tactics sessions. We welcome all proposals related to serials and electronic resources, and we are particularly interested in the following topics in order to provide a diverse conference program:

• Changes in the cataloging environment, particularly Resource Description and Access (RDA)
• Future directions for binding and other print-centered processes
• On-demand and patron-driven purchasing
• Programs reporting the findings of descriptive or experimental research on serials-related topics

The Program Planning Committee will review all submitted proposals for their content and timeliness, and reserves the right to combine or refocus proposals to maximize their relevance and to avoid duplication.

This Call for Proposals will close on November 6, 2009. PPC hopes to notify proposers in December 2009. Inquiries may be sent to the PPC co-chairs, Morag Boyd and Anne Mitchell at: prog-plan@nasig.org

For additional details and to suggest a proposal or idea, please complete the online form.

We look forward to seeing you in Palm Springs,

Morag Boyd and Anne Mitchell, PPC Co-Chairs