ALCTS - Association of Library Collections & Technical Services

Committee on Cataloging: Description & Access

Announcements and Reports

Committee Activities at ALA Annual
New Orleans, LA, June 26-28, 1999

Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access

Saturday, June 26, 2:00 - 5:30 PM
Monday, June 28, 8:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Task Force on Rule 0.24

Friday, June 25, 2:00 - 4:00 PM

Preconference on Metadata Planning Task Force

Saturday, June 26, 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM

CC:DA/MARBI Task Force on Metadata

Sunday, June 27, 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Task Force on the Harmonization of ISBD(ER) and AACR2

Sunday, June 27, 2:00 - 4:00 PM

Agenda of the CC:DA Meetings

Highlights of the CC:DA Meetings in New Orleans

CC:DA received significant reports from three Task Forces at the Annual Conference. In addition, there was a joint meeting of CC:DA and MARBI.

The Task Force on the Harmonization of the ISBD(ER) and AACR2 presented a preliminary version of their final report, making recommendations on the revision of Chapter 9 of AACR2 (Computer Files) in the light of the provisions of the recently-published International Standard Bibliographic Description for Electronic Resources. The final version of the report will be presented to CC:DA at the end of July.

The Task Force on Rule 0.24 presented a report to CC:DA on its progress to date. The report looked particularly at two aspects of rule 0.24: (a) instructions for dealing with items that belong to more than one class of materials, and (b) instructions for applying the rules to a particular edition of a work that exists in multiple physical formats or manifestations or with minor variations in distribution information. The report presents series of options for dealing with each of these two problems and gives the pro’s and con’s of each option. The report is available on the CC:DA web site. CC:DA voted to prefer Option 2 for multiple characteristics and Option 5 for format variations. A final version of the report will be presented to CC:DA at the end of July.

The Task Force on Metadata also presented a progress report. The report is available on the CC:DA web site. The Task Force meeting included short presentations on RDF (Resource Description Format) and XML (eXtensible Markup Language).

In addition there was an update from Jean Hirons on her recommendations on “Revising AACR2 to Accommodate Seriality,” (see the anouncement below).

MARBI and CC:DA meet together on Monday, June 28, from 2:00-4:00 PM. The focus of their joint meeting was a discussion of seriality and of metadata as they relate to the descriptive cataloging rules and the communications format.

New Task Forces Appointed

Two new Task Forces have recently been appointed to review documents distributed for comment by the Joint Steering Committee for Revision of AACR.

The Task Force on the Review of the Logical Structure of AACR was appointed to review the two documents of that name (see the announcement below). These documents contain a data model of the structure of Parts I and II of AACR prepared by Tom Delsey of the National Library of Canada. They present a number of recommendations on some key issues revealed in the model. The CC:DA Task Force is charged to review and comment on the document, concentrating on the key issues and recommendations.

The Task Force on Seriality and AACR2R was appointed to review “Revising AACR2 to Accommodate Seriality” (see the announcement below), a report by Jean Hirons of the Library of Congress on the work of a number of Task Forces organized by CONSER. The report includes discussions of the concept of seriality and related concepts and suggests a set of categories for various types of continuing or ongoing items. It presents the outlines (but not yet specific text) of rule changes to AACR2 that would implement these concepts and, in particular, provide for the description of various types of ongoing electronic resources. The CC:DA Task Force is charged to review and comment on this document.

A third new Task Force has been appointed to plan a preconference on metadata for the 2000 Annual Conference in Chicago. The preconference is to be jointly sponsored by CC:DA, ALCTS Networked Resources and Metadata Committee, MARBI and the ALCTS/CCS Subject Analysis Committee.

Task Forces Present Final Reports in April

Two new Task Forces that were appointed to review draft documents presented their final reports this past spring.

The Task Force on the Revision of AMIM was charged with the detailed review of the draft revision of Archival Moving Image Materials a Cataloging Manual (AMIM). Specifically, the Task Force is charged with noting areas in which AMIM is not consistent with AACR2, particularly in the areas of transcription, uniform title, and main entry. The Task Force’s final report is available in Acrobat .PDF format on the CC:DA web site.

The Task Force to Review the IFLA Guidelines for OPAC Displays formed to prepare comments on the draft guidelines distributed by IFLA. The final report of this Task Force is available.

Logical Structure of AACR

As part of its ongoing mandate to respond to changes in the bibliographic environment, the Joint Steering Committee for Revision of AACR (JSC) organized and hosted in October 1997 the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR. As a result of that conference, Tom Delsey (National Library of Canada) has undertaken, at the JSC’s behest, a logical analysis of the principles and structures on which AACR is based. This analysis is intended to serve as a tool to assist in the re-examination of the principles underlying AACR2 and in setting directions for its future development.

The analytical schema prepared by Mr. Delsey is now complete in two parts and available for review and comment on the World Wide Web at: http://www.rda-jsc.org/docs.html#logical

Comments on the schema, and particularly on the key issues and resulting recommendations, are now being actively solicited by the JSC. These may be addressed to me, no later than September 1, 1999, at: BSCHOTT@LIBRARY.UCLA.EDU,
or in writing at:

UCLA Library Administration
11334 Young Research library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575

Many thanks!

Brian E.C. Schottlaender
ALA Representative to the JSC

“Revising AACR2 to Accommodate Seriality”

As you know, the Joint Steering Committee for Revision of AACR (JSC) organized and hosted in October 1997 the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR. One of the outcomes of that Conference is a commissioned report on “seriality issues.” This report includes recommendations for changes to the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (2nd ed., rev.) “in order to accommodate new forms of bibliographic resources and to better address the description of serials and other resources that exhibit seriality.”

The report, prepared by CONSER Coordinator Jean Hirons, with the assistance of Regina Reynolds, Judy Kuhagen, and the CONSER AACR Review Task Force, is now complete and available for review and comment on the World Wide Web at: http://www.rda-jsc.org/docs/ser-rep.pdf

Comments on the report, and particularly on its “Recommendations and Future Considerations,” are now being actively solicited by the JSC. These may be addressed to me, no later than September 1, 1999, at: BSCHOTT@LIBRARY.UCLA.EDU*,
or in writing at: