NASIG's Call for Poster Session Proposals

The NASIG Program Planning Committee (PPC) invites poster session proposals for the 25th NASIG conference in Palm Springs, California, June 3-6, 2010. The theme of the conference is "An Oasis in Shifting Sands: NASIG at 25."

Posters will be on display 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday, June 5th. Presenters must be available to discuss their topics during the afternoon break on this day.

Poster sessions provide an opportunity to share innovative ideas and new applications of technology. Sessions may present a report of a research study, an analysis of a practical problem-solving effort, or a description of an innovative program that may be of interest to the serials community. In keeping with NASIG tradition of non-commercialism, poster sessions focusing solely on a commercial product will not be accepted.

Deadline for submission: Proposals must be received by Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 5 p.m. EST. Members of the PPC's Sub-committee on Poster Sessions will evaluate abstracts. Presenters will be notified in April 2010.

Please submit proposals online: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RXXMKM3

Inquiries may be sent to the PPC co-chairs, Morag Boyd and Anne Mitchell at: prog-plan@nasig.org

Established in 1985, the North American Serials Interest Group, Inc. is an independent organization that promotes communication and sharing of ideas among all members of the serials information chain--anyone working with or concerned about serial publications.

For more information about NASIG, see: http://www.nasig.org

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