LSSL 5332
Unit 1
Journal Entry #1
"During Unit 1 we have discussed bibliographic records, cataloging standards
and explored subject headings. Reflect on your understanding of
cataloging so far in the course. Discuss why it is important for you to
understand MARC records, subject headings and bibliographic description. How
will this impact your role as a Teacher Librarian? Discuss subject
headings and applying standardized headings in school libraries. Include specific examples to illustrate your points and cite sources as
appropriate."
Cataloging
Cataloging is a means of keeping information universal, accessible, and easily
editable within a system. After the BestMARC tutorial videos, it was apparent
how many fields could be associated with one book.
The
Resources and Technical Services Division (RTSD), later renamed to the
Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS), accepted
the standards of cataloging children’s material in July of 1982. With the
collaboration of the Cataloging of Children’s Materials Committee and the
Children’s Literature Section, later renamed to the Children’s Literature Team,
History and Literature Cataloging Division, they came to develop the Guidelines
for Standardized Cataloging of Children’s Materials. Now, both larger and
smaller libraries can catalog, convert, and add information that best fits the
needs of their location and the overall book itself. Card catalogs were
transferred from smaller libraries to the newer commercial processors, allowing
the World Wide Web to have machine-readable records from all vendors and the
LC. In 2005, the international side came into play, leaving MARC records at a need for updating, which was done so to help maintain international standards,
guidelines, and policies.
Cataloging
has changed significantly over the years, making it easier for users and
catalogers as a whole. In 1966, the Library of Congress created a program, the
Annotated Card, to help the unique needs of groups that range between the ages
of children to ninth grade, or around age fifteen. The guidelines are not as
strict as one would think because some librarians are allowing grades ten
through twelve to be put into the mix of these collections as well to add
uniformity to a high school establishment. To me, it seems rather silly to cut
the age group off at ninth grade, or fifteen years old, when high school stops
at age eighteen, just a mere three more years. Granted deciding the materials
can be subjective, the librarian needs to use their best judgement when adding
to a collection.
The LC
“considers materials to be ‘juvenile’ works when they are intended by the
author or publisher, deemed suitable by the cataloger, for use by children and
young people in these age and grade ranges” (Intner, Fountain, & Weihs,
2010, p. 3). Because children have their own special way of searching for
books, a program needed to be put into place to distinguish what was actually
being searched, since a majority of OPAC programs tend to think literally
instead of what the children are actually searching for.
The Library of Congress (LC) decided to develop a specific set of subject
headings just for children. Originally accessed on catalog cards in a hard copy
form, the LC realized that a computer-based system was much more reliable and
accessible to those who needed to locate items and edit them within a
reasonable amount of time. Before that, each library seemed to keep its own
cataloging system, specific to its needs, but a new means came about when
shared databases came into play.
I feel that
the times before shared databases were around, it would have been a complete an
utter mess to find any information. My mother was huge into genealogy, and I remember
following her from city to city to locate records of our ancestors, majority of
them being Native Americans, some even who walked The Trail of Tears. We all
know that finding history of a non-white race can be difficult because
documentation was not as widely used for these individuals. Looking back, I
remember my mother having to search multiple databases, using different wording
for each library she visited because each system was based on that specific
location. We would spend hours in a library trying to find what she wanted,
sometimes successful, usually not. While this does not deal with the children’s
aspect, it does remind me of a time when cataloging was on cards, rather than a
computer database, and how difficult it was to find something that we would
consider so simple to find. While some libraries were more up to date, it was
increasingly difficult to find information, and I am glad that my searches will
be easier when I begin to take this task on for myself.
While
watching the videos and interacting with the BestMARC cataloging system, I was
amazed at how many features were available! You could enter as many fields as
you needed, opening the possibility of finding a specific book that much more.
You could go in and edit certain fields, adding your own name in, to credit
your research and addition to the system. Since the original guidelines have
changed, libraries around the United States have benefited significantly
through bibliographic utilities or commercial processors using MARC records.
Subject
Headings
This specific portion took me the longest to understand due to reading,
rereading, and making things more complex than needed. After I finished the
chapter, what felt like ten years later, I was able to break MARC bibliographic
fields used in juvenile records pretty easily. Bibliographic fields and subject
headings are somewhat synonymous to one another in meaning, both implying what
to code the book as for the easiest way to find it in a system, but one is what
to search and one is the added information to that search.
The guidelines of addressing such fields follow through with both print and
nonprint materials and resources, including, but not limited to, video
recordings, electronic resources, sound recordings, and performers or cast
members on said sound and video recordings.
The purpose of subject headings is to be as descriptive as possible when
cataloging a print or nonprint resource, allowing both library patrons and
catalogers the information they need to find a resource. The LC understands
that children have special ways of searching for resources, so additional
fields come into play with this age group. A few stuck out to me, for example:
- Fields 505 and 520 helps when one wants to add in objective statements such as plot, theme, topics, summaries, and other unique aspects. All of these annotations must be justifiable.
- Field 538 helps for video recordings, electronic resources, and some sound recordings; typical to CD or DVD materials. This specific field also coincides with Field 511 to list the performers or cast members of said resources mentioned above.
- Field 521 allows additional information in terms of levels such as grade levels, interest age levels, or interest grade level for commonly searched materials. This is most beneficial when an older student needs information on something and does not want younger aged material (example: dinosaurs, a commonly searched resource for fun for younger students, but a more detailed resource needed for a research project for an older student).
- Field 586 for one needs a specific book that has won a specific award. In a previous LSSL class of mine, I was required to read a certain number of books under specific award categories. This would have been a beneficial tidbit of information instead of having to search through webpages and webpages of books on the ALA website. Instead, I could have visited a library or an online OPAC system, searched for the specific subject heading, and would have been able to key in on a larger category, filtering where needed.
- Fields 700 and 710 are helpful for when you know only one of the authors and are finding it difficult to narrow down your searches. Field 700 deals with personal names while Field 710 deals with corporate names.
Out
of all of the fields, I found that fields 245 and 246 were the ones that made
the most significant difference in how a child would search for a resource.
Children’s Subject Headings (CSH) are rarely changed and are created to help
choose alternatives to terms from the original search. The CSH helps replace
terms that are more appropriate for both the subject headings of juveniles but
also the general public. On page fifteen, in Cataloging Correctly For Kids,
the authors give a wonderful run down of what should be added, omitted,
changed, or specified in subject headings. The list of nine rules only touch
base on a portion of the full list, but the summary itself helped me understand
why catalogers may have to add, omit, or change something.
When
I first watched the BestMARC tutorial videos, I was shocked to see that one had
the ability to change such information that was cataloged on such a universal,
wide-range level. After seeing this short list of nine reasons, I fully
understand why one would need to add in information to help a potential
juvenile searcher in finding a resource. And, again, after completing the
discussion board post about what children search for in a cataloging system, it
really gave an insight as to the differences between keyword searches and basic
searches.
All of the above-mentioned items will affect me as a teacher librarian by
preparing me in what to do when it comes to searching and cataloging. In terms
of searching, I can help narrow others’ searches down by giving more specific
information, similar to a keyword search, but in a real life setting, making it
a more friendly interaction and not just a computer-based one. I have now been
prepared for the types of searches that could potentially occur, why children
and others choose to search that over something else, and all of the other
subject headings that could potentially fall under a single search. In terms of
cataloging, I am now, slowly, becoming equipped with the skills to open a
typical OPAC system, locate, edit, and save resources for my benefit. While I
do not feel like many schools have to catalog (also mentioned by two librarian
friends of mine at the middle school level), I do feel that this is something that
every librarian needs to know. If a new book comes into the library and could
benefit by having a few extra pieces of information in the system, then why
not?
Bibliography:
Intner, Sheila S., Fountain, Joanna
F., & Weihs, J. (2010). Cataloging correctly for kids: An
introduction to the tools (5th
ed.). Chicago, IL: American Library Association Editions.
Teacher Comments:
Molly,
Wow! Fantastic job on this. Sounds like you are off to a good start with a foundational understanding of cataloging. The pieces do fit together the more you do it and I'm confident as the semester moves along, your understanding will deepen even more.
Buffy
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