Minutes: Minerva/Solar cataloging roundtable, September 21, 2010

Minerva/Solar Cataloging Roundtable Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Falmouth Memorial Library

In attendance:

Michele Adams, YSC; Jane Babbitt, ROC; Linda Barnes, RKD; Shane Billings, BAI; Deborah Buker, BML; Doris Chapman, PMA; Ellen Conway, FML/Maine InfoNet ; Happy Copley, STM; Carin Dunay, SMCC ; Michelle Firmin, Kaplan Univ.; Valerie Frechette, CMCC; Nancy Johnson, RIC; Jennifer Lewis, ASD; Robin Lowell, PFL/ SMCC; Peggy Malley, LUD; Kathie Martin, MCA; Laurie McQuarrie, BTS; Denise Menard, SCA; Katherine Morgan, NOR; Anne Mosey, WEL; Kristen Murphy, MGM; Kim Myers, YPL; Nancy Noble, MHS; Mary Pinkham, BBH; Elizabeth Phipps, USM/ URSUS rep; Alisia Revitt, Maine InfoNet; Jim Roy, MSO; Simone Roy, RIC; Robin Sanford, LIT; Courtney Sparks, PFL; Suzanne Sullivan, APL; Annette Tanguay, YCCC ; Maryhope Tobin, SJC; Ginny Todd, RPL; Helen Tomer, TPL.

Maine InfoNet Report (Alisa Revitt)
Maine InfoNet (MIN) spent the last couple of weeks turning things on and getting things ready for the school libraries.MIN is still looking at moving MaineCat to a new server. This would allow faster communication between the different library systems, such as URSUS, Minerva, SOLAR, CBB, etc.MIN is beginning to purchase electronic books from Overdrive. These will be available to use any electronic reader device except the Kindle and possibly the iPad. Email James Jackson Sanborn if you have any questions about this service.Minerva Cataloging Standards Committee (Carin Dunay)

The Cat Standards Committee (Cat SC) met for a full day retreat in July to discuss material types, item types and a survey for Minerva catalogers and will meet again after today’s RoundTable meeting.An initial draft proposal for revising the material types was written up and the Cat SC will be discussing this again at their meeting this afternoon. (Some material types are being added and others are being combined.) The Cat SC will send their proposal out to the Minerva membership for comment in the next few weeks.The Cat SC is looking to get a snapshot of the current situation of Minerva Catalogers and so will be sending out a survey to each Minerva library. At least one response from each Minerva library will be required.A handbook to assist Minerva catalogers in cataloging electronic books is now complete and will be sent out the listserv and posted on the MinervaCats blog.
The next project that the Cat SC will be working on is reviewing and revising item types.

Updates from Maine InfoNet Cataloging Specialist (Ellen Conway)
Ellen will now be loading CatExpress records into Minerva. (The previous librarian who had done this has retired.) She will be doing this at least once a week on Tuesdays.

A number of new large print bibliographic records have been entered into Minerva without being properly edited. If you import large print bib records, please review the approved Standard for Large Print materials on the MinervaCats blog.

When cataloging annuals, use a monographic series bibliographic record and put the year of the annual in the item record’s volume field.Series & Subtitles

Based on a question that a Minerva Cataloger asked, Ellen opened a discussion of how Minerva should handle series titles. The original question was “When is it a series statement and when is it part of the title?”

Ellen presented a powerpoint presentation reviewing the definitions and rules of series statements and subtitles as per the AACR2 and showed examples.

One of the difficulties is that according to AACR2, you should only catalog what you have in hand. That is, if a series statement is not printed on the prescribed chief sources of information, it should not be entered into the bibliographic record.

However, many titles are commonly considered to be part of a series even if the item doesn’t state that it is. And library patrons do seek out titles in a particular series.

Searching for titles within a series in Minerva is problematic because of this. Patrons and librarians often have to go outside of Minerva to get definitive answers to this question.

Adding series statements to bib records without having the series statement on the item goes against AACR2 and may create problems in the future. Adding series statements to bib records regardless of whether an item mentions the series has many advantages and disadvantages. The consensus of the people at today’s meeting felt that the advantages for patrons would outweigh the disadvantages.

Ellen Conway will continue this conversation at the next Cat Roundtable Meeting in Bangor in November.

Monographic series: A group of separate items related to one another by the fact that each item bears in addition to its own title proper, a collective title applying to the group as a whole. The individual items may or may not be numbered. (AACR2)
To be considered a series, a word or phrase must appear with other titles that could be separately cataloged.Subtitle: wording found after the title that explains, expands upon, or limits the meaning of the title, including a “Series-like phrase”. (AACR2)

Series-like phrase: A character string (words, letters, combination of letters and numerals) not considered to be a series. (AACR2)

Series title page: Page physically opposite the monograph title page if series title found there, may or may not have more information. (LCRI 1.6A2)

If there is no series title page, look for series title elsewhere in resource.
Chief source of information for series
The title page(s) of an itemThe verso of the title page(s)Any pages preceding the title page(s)The cover (per LCRI: “cover” = p.1-4 of the cover, both flaps, and the spine.)In the absence of a series statement:
A series-like phrase that appears on the title page is recorded as “subsequent title information”, a.k.a. a subtitle.A series-like phrase that does not appear on the title page is not recorded in 4xx/8xx fields. Place this information in a 500 note.This information was taken from the power-point presentation.

Publishers and Imprints

Ellen presented a power-point presentation reviewing what information should be entered into a 260 field.

Mass Market paperbacks may be added to the hardcover bib if the content is exactly the same.

Scholastic books should receive their own bibliographic record as Scholastic has been known to change the content of books. This reverses a decision made a few years ago which said that Scholastic books can be added to another publishers bib.

If more than one name is mentioned on the title page, you must investigate.If the multiple names are the publisher and its imprint or subsidiary, give only one.If the title page gives the publisher’s name and its imprint, use the imprint name unless the parent name is first.If a subsequent printing uses a different imprint name (or no imprint) but the publisher is the same: Attach to existing bib record if it matches according to other established practices.Add a 500 note: “Imprint varies”.Investigate unfamiliar phrases. A phrase that is not an imprint is given in a 500 note.This information was taken from the power-point presentation.


“On Order” Records

Please use the most complete bibliographic record you can find when attaching order records. A problem has arisen where holds have been placed on really brief order records. So brief that another library cannot tell if the item they have in hand matches the bibliographic in the system. So then the 2nd library brings in a new bib and the holds do not get transferred over.

If you absolutely must use a brief record be sure to:
Put the title in all caps (so that Ellen can spot these bibs and not send them to Marcive for authority processing)Add an 020 field so that other libraries have something definite to match with.Disappearing Item Records

Some libraries have reported that their item and bibliographic records have been disappearing. Alisia Revitt is looking for a pattern to this problem so please send her any information you can about this. For example, item record number, patron record number, when this happened, etc.

Emails/MinervaCats

A librarian asked that emails meant for certain libraries only be sent to those libraries to cut down on unnecessary emails in our inboxes. Other members in the group felt it would be too time consuming to look up each individual email address and also that the contacts listed on the MaineCat Contacts page is not always accurate.


Minutes submitted by Carin Dunay