[Yulcat-l] Reports from ALA Annual 2012

[Arakawa, Steven]

The ALA reports wheel grinds slowly & reports from Annual 2012 have finally started to come in via ALA Connect.  I collected the ones that are related to cataloging so you can get an overview of  current hot issues in our area of expertise.

Rec'd 11/26


New Discussion in ALCTS Strategic Activities Tracking
Division >> "FRBR Interest Group at ALA Annual 2012"
By: Dale Swensen

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>From the report by Karen Anderson:

Our speakers were Jennifer Bowen and Scott Piepenburg. Jennifer spoke on the progress of the Extensible Catalog. This is an open-source system that provides a discovery system that can put in a FRBR interface. Display is driven by linked records for FRBR levels including work, expression, manifestation, etc. MARCXML records can be parsed into linked FRBR-based XC schema.

Problems identified include:
* Some MARC fields, etc., are difficult to match
* MARC bib records can refer to multiple FRBR entities, thus creating lots of links
* 880 fields can have data that really belongs in auth records (different forms of names, etc.)
* Lots of data that is really hard to make links for
* Records change, get deleted, relationships change, new records are added, etc., so links are really hard to maintain and keep up to date

They determined to use FRBR for linked data for the following reasons:
* Users want relationships among entities
* FRBR is the underlying model for RDA
* XC can explore how FRBR can be useful for linked data
* Other data models can also be explored for linked data (XC can handle more than one model)

Scott spoke on the theory behind FRBR and it impacts cataloging and an ILS.

FRBR is a theory about concepts that are not new. RDA is a set of rules for implementing this theory with library data. The ILS system has the responsibility for displaying the data held in the information records. The records should only contain data and should leave the display up to the ILS.

The real challenge is to bring a legacy data center and ILS systems up to date to handle RDA records and the FRBR linked data model. This model will help create catalogs that everyone can use, not just catalogers/librarians/programmers. The model provides a means to convey more information faster and clearer.

New Discussion in ALCTS Strategic Activities Tracking
Division >> "LITA/ALCTS Library Code Year Interest Group at ALA Annual 2012"
By: Dale Swensen

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>From the report by Shana McDanold:

Attendees identified challenges of keeping up with the weekly Code Year lessons: problems you can't figure out how to solve on your own; feeling stupid/not confident; new way of thinking -- don't have tools for dealing with this independently; math phobia; without a project to apply the lessons to, it's not as interesting (i.e. making stuff work is more fun); feeling guilty because learning code isn't really your job so it is hard to devote and justify time; need examples of ways to apply it in real life to justify the investment of time; sometimes there are bugs in the lessons and you think it's your fault when it's not (helpful tip: sometimes the lessons work better in Firefox than in Chrome). Several solutions identified by attendees were: having an answer key helps some people, but it feels like cheating to others; hand -holding/having someone to talk to or talk through the challenge with; find a time every week to devote to learning code, no exceptions; but some pref! er to code for hours when you happen to be interested; reading someone else's code and adapting it, meaning you don't have to know how to write it from scratch; you can do really useful things with existing code.

The group brainstormed ideas for future projects:

  *   Python pre-conference (to be run at a conference next year, based on the Boston Python Users Group's highly successful Python workshop for beginners)
  *   A code project using OCLC's APIs
  *   Pull together training & resources for people wanting to conduct a hackathon
  *   Github how-to
  *   IRC how-to

There are projects for people at all levels of coding skill, and they'll need lots of non-code skills as well, so no matter your skill-set there are places people can be helpful and learn more.

This one had slides. Reports on how other cataloging departments are incorporating metadata projects into their day to day activities.

New Discussion in ALCTS Strategic Activities Tracking
Division >> "Metadata Interest Group at ALA Annual 2012"
By: Dale Swensen

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>From the report by Michael Dulock:

The Metadata Interest Group featured four presentations focused on the changing role of the cataloger. Rebecca Lubas of the University of New Mexico presented "Cataloging Partners: Collaboration Across the Library"; Debra G. Skinner of Georgia Southern University presented "The Ever Changing Role of the Cataloger and How Catalogers Manage the Changes"; Anna Craft and David Gwynn of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro presented "Thinking Outside the Search Box: Redefining the Roles for Catalogers in an Academic Library"; and Julie Swann and Pat Headlee of Northern Arizona University presented "21st Century Cataloging, Changing Priorities". All four presentations are available at our ALA Connect site: http://connect.ala.org/node/65847.

Also w/links to slides. I'm somewhat surprised this IG still exists.

New Discussion in ALCTS Strategic Activities Tracking
Division >> "MARC Formats Interest Group meeting at ALA Annual Conference 2012"
By: Dale Swensen

>From the report by Chiat Naun Chew:

The MARC Formats Interest Group held a discussion meeting attended by around 120 people. Robert Pillow (VTLS) gave a vendor's perspective on current developments and described a linked data project being developed by VTLS. John Riemer (UCLA) discussed the potential for an expanded role for library authority data in a linked data environment and argued for changes in practice (including those concerned with undifferentiated names) that would help it play this role. Reinhold Heuvelmann (DNB) describe recently completed Gemeinsame Normdatei project, which merged existing German and Austrian authority files into a common file guided by the Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD), with an emphasis on coding relationships. The presentation slides are available at http://connect.ala.org/node/178213#comment-34510.

The group went on to consider possible topics and speakers for the 2013 Midwinter meeting. The focus was again on the bibliographic transition, and consideration was given to applied topics that would be of interest to front line practitioners. The group also discussed ways to gauge and sustain interest in its activities.


Steven Arakawa
Catalog Librarian for Training & Documentation
Catalog & Metadata Services, SML, Yale University
P.O. Box 208240 New Haven, CT 06520-8240
(203)432-8286 steven.arakawa at yale.edu

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