Time to shake things up...

Our own Jana Hausburg has written and published a book, It wasn't much, that will be a wonderful addition to media centers all across our state. This book chronicles the lives of 10 Oklahomans. What is unique about this book are the individuals themselves. They are for the most part ordinary citizens, who, due to circumstances beyond their control find themselves in extraordinary situations, and find the courage to do the right thing. The time span is intriguing, too. From World War II to the Iraq war and time in between, Hausburg brings the lives of Oklahoman's to life.

These mini-biographies would enhance any units on Oklahoma history. Included with the biographies are nice side-bars explaining in depth the more difficult concepts presented in the text. This is a reader friendly book that I would recommend for public libraries and media centers. Readers between 8-12 will find this book interesting.

Posted by MaryGrace Berkowitz

If you have something that you would like to see in the blog please email me at mberkowitz@occc.edu

Will LC continue to cut services?

In the November 15, 2007 issue of Library Journal the article, "Report on Cataloging Sparks Concerns", discussed what the Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control may report on December 15, 2007. ALA is concerned that LC will make sweeping decisions on their cataloging practices without examining the concerns of the cataloging/library world beyond LC. ALA president-elect, Jim Rettig, testified before Congress explaining that many libraries throughout the country accept bibliographic copy from LC without editing the records. Rettig also testified that though search engines are useful that consumers must still rely on the traditional cataloging practices to fulfill their information needs. LC's Marcum responded that they appointed 3 ALA members to the working group. Marcum also reported that even thought the number of catalogers has decreased their output has increased.

So how do you all feel about the changes that LC has implemented recently? I know that Autocad and OCLCcat listservs were pretty wild about the series control issue not too long ago. Is anyone concerned about the possible "findings" in this report and how it makes effect us "out in the field"? I am concerned that LC is going to ditch controlled subject headings and rely totally on the 520 field. This doesn't make me very happy and I hope that I am wrong about this but I see more 520s and fewer and fewer subject headings being assigned to copy from LC.

To me it seems that the administrators of LC seem to not realize that they are a service to the library world. We do depend on them heavily for direction.

Top library blogs

So, has everyone seen the list of top library blogs at http://oedb.org/library/features/top-25-librarian-bloggers-by-the-numbers? There has been criticism about their methodology, but it sure has gotten people talking. I subscribe to a number of these blogs and added one more when the list came out.

Here are some of the Technical Services related blogs on my blogroll:

025.431 : The Dewey Blog
ALA TechSource Blog
Cataloging Futures
Catalogablog
Hectic Pace (by Andrew Pace)
Library Juice
Library Stories (that’s our Adri!)
Library Stuff
Library Technology in Texas (Christine Peterson from Amigos - not really geographically limited)
LibraryCrunch
Planet Cataloging (a roundup of multiple cataloging blogs)
Stephen’s Lighthouse (Stephen Abrams of SIRSI)
The Shifted Librarian
TSRT Oklahoma (of course!)

Do you keep up with library or Technical Services-related blogs? If so, what are your favorites? If not, why not? I find the blogs really valuable in helping me stay current with the main topics of discussion in the cataloging and Technical Services world, but just like electronic lists, there is a lot of stuff I skip over. Which blogs are worth it to you? Inquiring minds want to know!

Submitted by: Sarah S.

Baker and Taylor level 3 records

Does anyone else view those Baker and Taylor level 3 records with dread when they come up on an OCLC search? Do you then do a title search to try and find a better record? There's a whole discussion going in in AUTO-CAT about this. Here is a short summary of the discussion. Here is Glenn Patton's official OCLC response.

I'd almost rather catalog from scratch than use one of those records. OCLC says they are there to be upgraded by member libraries, vendor cataloging staff, etc. What are your thoughts?

Submitted by Jana

Name change list

Dear TSRT readers,

Ian Fairclough (Marion [Ohio] Public Library) and I have set up a notification list for issues about personal names in bibliographic and authority records. The list is PERSNAME-L. This list will interest those of you who are concerned with the accuracy of headings, which I trust includes most readers of this message.

If you find a personal name heading that has been inappropriately assigned, or that needs changing-- FIRST you should report such matters in the first instance to the appropriate agency in accordance with that agency's own policies. (For example, report WorldCat records to OCLC at mailto:bibchange@oclc.org; report records of the Library of Congress online catalog http://catalog.loc.gov/ to mailto:cpso@loc.gov.) ADDITIONALLY, you can report them to PERSNAME-L so that other people working with those records can be advised. NACO members are welcome to report newly established headings, as well as adjustments to existing records, particularly when you have successfully disambiguated a vexatious situation. If you have a question about a personal name, you can ask, and hopefully receive advice, on PERSNAME-L.

If you simply wish to be advised when a heading has been updated in a record, PERSNAME-L will serve as a means for doing so. You can then adjust your local database as appropriate. It's recommended that you first take steps to insure that any action you take is in accordance with local policy and procedures.

PERSNAME-L is intended for announcements rather than discussion. To insure that our subscribers receive only pertinent material, we will moderate PERSNAME-L and approve only those messages which we deem appropriate. Based on my experience with the DEWEYERROR list, I'm confident that your subscription will be worth the time you invest in reading the messages that are posted.

As before, discussion of such matters can take place on OCLC-Cat, Autocat, and other forums. Why then start PERSNAME-L? PERSNAME-L is intended strictly as a tool for cooperative quality assurance. It will join a suite of such tools as DEWEYERROR and the Typo of the Day for Librarians blog. In situations where people are assigned responsibility for different aspects of quality assurance, individuals can work with just those tools that apply to the aspect they're concerned with.

To subscribe to PERSNAME-L, follow this link http://lists.ou.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=PERSNAME-L and click on "Join or leave the list (or change settings)". Or send a message to MAILTO:LISTSERV@LISTS.OU.EDU with the words SUBSCRIBE PERSNAME-L followed by a forename and surname. To post to the list, send your message to MAILTO:PERSNAME-L@LISTS.OU.EDU. The list has no formal connection with OCLC, the Library of Congress, or the NACO project.

P.S. Corporate names are not in scope!

Submitted by: Ian & Jay