Session 4 - BSBLIB305 Cataloguing introduction

BSBLIB305 Use established Cataloguing tools

Element 1 Select cataloguing tools

1.1 Access sources of cataloguing rules and tools relevant to organisation
1.2 Develop an understanding of basic components and structure of bibliographic records
1.3 Identify relevance of different cataloguing tools to particular areas of work
1.4 Select appropriate cataloguing tools to complete specific work activities

What is Metadata?

Metadata is data about data! In library cataloguing, metadata is the information that describes a resource such as title, author, publisher, date published, location publisher etc. This data allows you to easily search for and find resources and are called Access Points.

The following video gives a good basic introduction to metadata and is from the National Archives
National Archives of Australia, What is Metadata? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sLKVYYOM40

What is Cataloguing?

Cataloguing is the process of creating metadata about library resources, which is included in the
catalogue. A catalogue is an organized compilation of bibliographic metadata that represents the holdings of a particular institution or a library network and/or resources accessible in a particular location. 

Cataloguing involves Descriptive Cataloguing and Subject Cataloguing.

Descriptive Cataloguing includes recording the attributes of a library item, such as the name of author(s), contributor(s), title, edition, publisher, distributor, date, the number of pages, its size, name of series, etc. Descriptive Cataloguing enables the user to find and identify a book, by the name of the author, the title, variant titles, etc. 

Two popular standards for Descriptive Cataloging are Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR) and its successor Resource Description and Access (RDA).

Descriptive Cataloguing is that phase of the cataloguing process that is concerned with the identification and description of an information resource, answering questions such as:

• What is it?
• What are its distinguishing and significant characteristics?

It is also concerned with the selection of names and titles useful for providing access to the resources and the establishment of authorized access points for names and titles, answering questions such as:

• What is it called?
• Who is responsible for its creation?
• Who else contributed to it?
• By what form of name or title are they best known?

Subject Cataloguing involves the subject analysis of the resource and providing corresponding subject headings from a controlled vocabulary or subject heading list, such as Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), Medical Subject Headings (MESH) and assignment of classification numbers using schemes such as Library of Congress Classification (LCC) or Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC).

Subject cataloguing is the phase of the cataloguing process which is concerned with determining and describing the intellectual or artistic content and the genre/form characteristics of a resource, and translating that understanding into subject headings and classification notations.

Source: https://www.librarianshipstudies.com/2015/05/cataloging.html

In this unit we are going to be looking at Descriptive Cataloguing and where we can find bibliographic information about a resource.

AACR

The second edition of Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR2) is the most widely used cataloguing code, designed for use in the construction of catalogues and other lists in general libraries of all sizes. 

AACR2 comprise a detailed set of rules and guidelines for producing metadata in a surrogate record to represent a library resource. The rules cover the standard description of areas like 

• the title, 
• publisher, 
• edition, 
• series, 

as well as the provision of choice and form of access points (headings) for all materials which a library may hold or to which it may have access, including books, serials, cartographic materials, electronic resources, etc. 

AACR2 standardized cataloguing and ensured consistency within the catalogue and between the catalogues of libraries using the same code in describing the physical attributes of library materials identically. Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules are considered as the most important advances in English-language codes for descriptive cataloguing during the twentieth century.

Source: https://www.librarianshipstudies.com/2018/12/anglo-american-cataloguing-rules-aacr.html

For more information on AACR and a brief history
https://libguides.ala.org/catalogingtools/descriptive

RDA

The standard for descriptive cataloguing in Libraries Australia is Resource Description and Access (RDA).

Resource Description and Access (RDA) has replaced AACR2.

What are the benefits of RDA?

RDA builds on the strengths of AACR2 but has some new features that make it more useful as a cataloguing code for the digital environment in which libraries now operate. RDA:

• is better at catering for digital resources and for resources with multiple characteristics, and provides more guidance on the creation of authority headings
• is compatible with a range of encoding schemas, such as MODS, Dublin Core, ONIX and MARC, allowing library catalogue records to be integrated with those produced by other metadata communities
• facilitates the clustering of bibliographic records for different editions, translations or formats of a work, and more meaningful presentation of data to users
• is a web-based product, enabling cataloguers to view different levels of completeness of the code, move between related instructions using hyperlinks, and integrate their own institutional policies
• is a transitional stepping stone that requires only small changes to catalogue records but moves the metadata in catalogues much closer to full utilisation of FRBR models.

https://www.nla.gov.au/librariesaustralia/resource-description-and-access-rda


Required Data Elements: https://www.nla.gov.au/librariesaustralia/required-data-elements-bibliographic-records-libraries-australia

MARC / MARC21

The MARC standard is a means for the representation and communication of bibliographic information. MARC stands for Machine-Readable Cataloguing, and is developed and maintained by the Library of Congress, in consultation with the MARC Advisory Committee (MAC), previously known as the Machine-Readable Bibliographic Information Committee (MARBI). 

In other words, MARC21 is a digital format for AACR2 and RDA. It allows records to be downloaded from a cataloguing source and uploaded into a library's own library management system.

The MARC record consists of three parts:

• Leader: Data elements that contain coded values based on their position, which define the processing of the record. It is fixed in length (24 positions) and is found at the beginning of the record.
• Directory: Contains the tag, starting location, and length of each field within the record. Directory entries for variable control fields appear first, in ascending tag order. Entries for variable data fields follow, arranged in ascending order according to the first character of the tag. Each directory entry is 12 characters long. It is not displayed in OCLC interfaces, but is included in all MARC records exported or output from OCLC.
• Variable fields: The data content is divided into variable control fields (no indicators) and variable data fields. OCLC requires that each record have at minimum one variable data field (field 245 with either a subfield ǂa or subfield ǂk) in addition to the necessary control fields (LDR and 008). Inclusion of all other fields is dependent on the item being catalogued.

Source: https://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en/introduction.html

For more information on MARC:

http://lili.org/forlibs/ce/able/course8/03purpose.htm

https://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/

https://www.loc.gov/marc/umb/um01to06.html

https://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en/introduction.html

YouTube: MARC Bibliographic basics, OCLC Training https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa1Y21Q2-sI

Where can we find bibliographic records? 

ANBD

The Australian National Bibliographic Database (ANBD) is Australia’s largest single bibliographic resource.

What does it contain?

The ANBD contains:

• bibliographic records representing resources that are part of an Australian library collection—including published resources, unpublished resources such as original pictures, archives and manuscripts, unique items, and resources provided in any media
• other bibliographic records (such as Library of Congress records) required to support copy cataloguing in Australian libraries
• manifestation level records to support copy cataloguing and interlibrary loans
• collection level records if manifestation level records are not available or in addition to manifestation level records
• analytic records for component parts of monographs if the part is judged by the contributing library to be of sufficient value to warrant a separate description, such as map plates in a rare atlas
• holdings data supplied in bibliographic records or as a separate holding records
• Name and Subject Authority records
• records that meet Libraries Australia’s required data elements
• records that are supplied to Libraries Australia in one of the formats supported by the service.

Where does the ANBD get its bibliographic records?

In order to support copy cataloguing and enrich data, MARC records are loaded to the ANBD from:

• Library of Congress (1968+)
• OCLC
• YPB’s Table of Contents
• Serials Solutions.

Source: https://www.nla.gov.au/librariesaustralia/about-australian-national-bibliographic-database-anbd

More information: https://help.nla.gov.au/la-search/national-bibliographic-database-anbd 

The free version of this catalogue is Trove. https://trove.nla.gov.au/

Libraries Australia provide a subscription service for accessing the ANBD.

https://www.nla.gov.au/librariesaustralia/about

Worldcat

https://www.worldcat.org/

You can sign up for a free account and search the database. From the database you can access basic cataloguing information.

OCLC also provide a subscription based access to their cataloguing services.

SCIS

SCIS stands for Schools Catalogue Information Service. 

A link has been provided on our Facebook group that will allow you to register for a FREE account at SCIS. Please use your Chisholm email address.

Once you have your account setup, you will have a limited access to SCIS and the ability to download cataloguing records. 

Start with the Introductory tutorial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq4CXu9WpgA

The SCIS Help centre is available here https://help.scisdata.com/hc/en-us

You can use this link to go directly to the Getting Started section in the Help centre

https://help.scisdata.com/hc/en-us/articles/115011882848-Getting-started-with-SCIS

Sources of Cataloguing Copy

For our class, we will use SCIS as the main sources for copy cataloguing. SCIS is widely used in schools in Australia for Copy Cataloguing.

Class Activity 1

Select 5 books that you have at home - they can be ones that you own and/or ones that you have borrowed

If you haven't already done so, make sure that you register with SCIS. This was emailed to students over the weekend.

Go to Search to see if you can find your resources in the catalogue https://my.scisdata.com/discover

Ideally, you should select the exact match record from available options. In general, if there is a choice between two exact match records, it is preferable to use the record which is already RDA or RDA compatible. If there is no RDA record available, select the best quality exact match record available.
Look for:
• ISBN (at least one ISBN on the resource should match with an ISBN in the record)
• Matching of the wording of the title and statement of responsibility (same work)
• edition statement (same number or wording)
• publication statement (publisher and date of publication / copyright date should be the same)
• extent part of the physical description (number of pages in sequences of a print monograph)
• content type (for example, text) If the record is not RDA, the content type may not be explicit
• media type (for example, print (unmediated), electronic (computer)). If the record is not RDA, the
media type may not be explicit
• carrier type (for example, print (volume), electronic (online resource) If the record is not RDA, the
carrier type may not be explicit
• Always prefer an RDA exact match record where one is available
• If there is no RDA record available, select the best exact match record available

N.B. The above is a guide only - your library may have different local guidelines for selecting cataloguing records.