Melissa Townsend-Crow
LIBR248 Final Exam
Question 1 (1 point)
With whom did you work on this
exam?
Just me
Question 2 (10 points)
AACR2/RDA and the development
of WorldCat have led to a huge movement towards cataloging standardization.
Consider that change and tell me one good result and one bad result. You may
consider either the perspective of the catalog user or the catalog librarian or
both.
Answer:
Good result: Cataloging standardization leads to
consistency throughout library systems. Since the primary purpose of the
library is to serve the information needs of the public, anything which
facilitates filling that mission has to be a good thing. According to Chan, "In the early days of
library service, cataloging was largely an individual activity for each library
… cataloging records were presented in forms and styles that varied from
library to library" (p47). If the system had not become as standardized as
is, then librarians would have to learn a lot of different systems instead of
just one or two if they were to transfer to other libraries. It would make
finding things more difficult, especially, for example, in a system like the
one in which I work. I work as an aide in a branch the Los Angeles County
Library system. I can work in any branch of the County library because
everything is standardized. Furthermore, if a patron comes into my branch
looking for a specific item or items covering a specific subject, author, etc,
even if we don’t have the item at our branch, I can get it into his/her hands
either from another branch in our system or through ILL because our catalog is
standardized.
Bad result: Individual libraries using standardized
cataloging practices lose their ability to cater to their unique
constituencies. As you wrote in our week 11 lecture notes, increased
standardization has " led to a decrease in local bibliographic
control." Furthermore, one standard does not always fit all libraries;
some libraries may not find RDA or AACR2 fits their library, their patrons, or
their collection. (Hard to believe, I know, because I find AACR2 pretty darn
comprehensive, but it's not an impossible scenario).
Question 3 (5 points)
Serials cataloging is
an..."interesting"...way to make a living. Lots of options and
possibilities, creating an interesting and stimulating professional challenge.
Really. So...here's a serials cataloging challenge. Consider a title like the World
Almanac. Comes out once a year like clockwork. One option is to catalog the
thing as a serial, another is to catalog each annual edition as a monograph.
Give me one good reason to catalog the thing each way, and then tell me which
way you'd catalog it and why.
Answer:
According to our class notes in
week 9, "Catalogers, (however), consider a monograph to be anything that’s
finite. A book is a monograph,
certainly, but a 30 volume set of encyclopedias is a monograph, and a 6 disc
DVD set is also a monograph. Monographs
have a beginning and an end. "
So, the argument could be made
that the World Almanac is like an encyclopedia that is updated annually
(as they are and we have three sets in our branch that confirm this – a new set
of World Book is delivered every single year), in which case it could be
counted as a monograph.
Again, from week 9, "A
serial is the opposite of a monograph. A
serial is something that is infinite…it may have a beginning, but it has no
end. Publishers of serials are classic
optimists…they think their publications will continue forever. Newsweek is a serial. Be aware, though, that serials don’t have to
be things that are published weekly and are published in paper…a serial could
be published as a sound recording and come out every other year."
By this definition, the World Almanac
is a serial because it is published annually. According to the official World
Almanac website
(http://www.worldalmanac.com/wa-wahist-learning-resources.aspx), there was ten
year gap in publication between 1876 and 1886, but ever since, it has been
published every single year, even after the newspaper which created it stopped
being published.
I would catalogue it as a serial
because it doesn't seem like its publishers have any plans to discontinue its
publication. As long as it keeps coming with a new edition every year, it is as
infinite as a tangible thing can be.
Question 4 (5 points)
If you were teaching a cataloging
class, which would you emphasize as more important—AACR2’s prescribed
punctuation or MARC’s system of tags, indicators, and subfield delimiters? Why?
Answer:
According to cataloging blog I
was reading recently (http://ephemeraextremus.blogspot.com/2009/12/difference-between-marc-and-aacr2.html),
"AACR2 is a way to write out information so people everywhere can
understand what you are describing.
MARC is a way to write out
information so you can transfer it to a computer database."
I would emphasize AACR2, rather
than MARC because it is people who will be seeking the information; computers
are just another tool to do this. Furthermore, AACR2 is the rule book by which
MARC records are created. MARC records are just created so that computers can
read the data and present it in a catalog format – a catalog formatted by AACR2
rules. Most importantly, MARC is more forgiving of mistakes than AACR2 --- as
you wrote in the lecture notes in week
11,
" Anyone who fails a cataloging course could create a full MARC record,
but could use the Fly by Night Cataloging Code to compose the record
instead of using AACR2. MARC won’t
hiccup and tell you you’re making AACR2-style mistakes. "
This is not minimize the
importance of MARC; the creation of the MARC format was a watershed in library
history – it allows for the standardization of cataloging rules by creating the
ability to load catalogs into computers which can be used worldwide – and, as I
saw in question 2, the positive of catalog standardization outweighs the
negative. MARC makes that standardization possible.
Question 5 (5 points)
Stravinsky’s ballet could be
called
Firebird
Feuervogel
Oiseau de feu
Zhar-ptitsa
The fourth title is the one
dictated by AACR2 for use as the uniform title for this work, although that is,
of course, completely meaningless to most English speakers, even though AACR2
was designed with English speaking catalog users in mind. What could be the
rationalization for not using an English translation of the title? How,
specifically are English-only users supposed to find this title in a catalog?
Answer:
"Zhar-ptitsa" is Russian, as was Stravinsky, and, presumably the
ballet was written in Russian. According to AACR2 rule 25.27A1., " Use as
the basis for the uniform title for a musical work the composer’s original
title in the language in which it was presented."
I would conjecture that the
rationalization for using the original language of the ballet in the catalog
would be that the title in the language in which it was written is more
authentic because it is what the composer intended it to be called. Even more,
using the original language of works contributes to consistency in the
standardization of cataloging.
The AACR2 rule 26.4B1. states,
"In the case of translated titles, refer to the uniform title and the
appropriate language subheading, when appropriate." Examples given show
the format for "see" references that English only users might use to
locate the material.
Question 6 (10 points)
Here are the totality of public
catalog references that result from a single authority record:
1. Hale, Reenie see Testerman, Elizabeth
2. Reenie of the Hills see also Testerman, Elizabeth
3. Reenie of the Prairies
see also Testerman, Elizabeth
4. Countess see
also Testerman, Elizabeth
OK...chanting
the authority record mantra to yourself, show me what the authority record
would look like. You won't need to include anything other than a 100 field and
any possible 400 and/or 500 fields. You don't need to worry about indicators or
subfield delimiters.
Answer:
100 Testerman, Elizabeth
400 Hale, Reenie
500 Reenie of the Hills
500 Reenie of the Prairies
500 Countess
Question 7 (5 points)
hink back to your very first practice e
ercise, when I asked you to locate materials on the P . ake
a look at that authority record remember
its authori ed name...Muna amat al- a r
r al- ilas n yah . ow
check out the authority record for the
nification Church. hy is its
authorized name plain old Unification Church (a straightforward English phrase)
and yet the PLO isn't authorized as something similarly English, perhaps even
as the PLO?
Answer:
AACR2 rule 24.3D1., which sets
the rules for religious organizations, states, " Use the best-known form
of name, in English, if possible, for a religious order or society. In case of
doubt, follow this order of preference:
a) the conventional name by
which its members are known in English
b) the English form of name
used by units of the order or society located in English-speaking countries
c) the name of the order or
society in the language of the country of its origin."
he P –
or Muna amat al- a r r al- ilas n yah – is a poitical organization so I
looked under AACR2 rule 24.3 and found this:
24.3A1. " If the name
appears in different languages, use the form in the official language of the
body."
Presumably, the official
language of the body that we know as the PLO is Arabic. Since AACR2 rule
24.1B1. states, " If the name of the body is in a language written in a
nonroman script, romanize the name according to the table for that language
adopted by the cataloguing agency" we get "Muna amat al- a r r al- ilas n yah" instead of Arabic script.
Question 8 (25 points)
Below are the title page and
verso of a book.
|
Life in the Burbs Series
An Egg a Day,
or,
My Life with Four Rhode Island Reds
by
Evelyn Meisner
and
Martha Meisner
illustrations
by
Frank Harris
Galax, Virginia | Stuttgart : 2012
Red Barn, Inc.
|
Copyright 2011, by
Red Barn, Inc.
3rd illustrated edition
|
The book has
numbered pages from 3 to 221, a preface numbered from ii to xvi, has black and
white portraits, maps, and other colored illustrations; it measures 25.3
centimeters tall; it has "selected references" on pages 219 to 221.
Construct a
bibliographic description for this book. Label each field (e.g., TITLE and
STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY:...; etc.).
In addition,
determine the main entry for this work, as well as any added entries, and tell
me, again in labeled fields, your choices.
You must have a main entry, of course (every bibliographic thing has a
main entry); used AACR2 to determine necessary or even useful added
entries. Don't bother checking the
authority file in OCLC when constructing main and added entries---the names are
complete fiction.
or this e ercise, let’s use AACR2.
Answer:
Main
Entry: According to Chan (p. 153), this
would be a work of shared responsibility because there are two authors and an
illustrator listed (rule 21.6C.) Therefore the main entry would be listed under
Evelyn Meisner, since she is the first listed on the title page and added
entries for Martha Meisner and Frank Harris.
Title and
statement of responsibility: An Egg a
Day, or, My Life with Four Rhode Island Reds^/^Evelyn Meisner, Martha
Meisner^;^illustrated by Frank Harris
Edition: 3rd ed.
Publication
information: Galax, VA^:^Red Barn,
Inc.,^c2011
Physical
description: xvi, 221^p.^:^ill. ^(some col.), maps,
ports.^;^25cm.
Series: Life in the Burbs
Notes: Selected references p.219-221
Question 9 (34 points)
Well...you've
now been on the job at the brand-spanking new Gregory M. Cotton Memorial Public
(or Academic or School or Special--take your pick) Library for almost sixteen weeks.
You are still the envy of everyone who has just graduated from library school,
but you know the truth. Your job is on the line, due in large part to the
Board's continuing conviction that
cataloging just isn't worth it. The Board's lousy attitude could
well be due to lousy luck at the track, but the fact remains...they are
obviously ready to let you go.
In a rare
moment of mercy (Cousin Dorothy apparently liked the Jello salad you brought to
the Board retreat), the Board has given you a chance to talk to them directly.
You have the opportunity to convince them that the work of the cataloger is
critical to the success of the library.
Discuss your
presentation to the Board. Look back over the work of this semester, consider
everything we discussed (consider subject cataloging, classification,
description, uniform names and titles, authority records and references) and
choose two things you feel make the best case for the role of cataloging. As a
sop to the Board, choose one bit of cataloging that you feel is essentially
much ado about nothing and thus could be abandoned. You should make your choice
of arguing points in terms of benefiting the catalog user. Support your case
with specific examples. Don't forget: two examples of cataloging practice that should
not be abandoned and one example that possibly could be. Be sure you look at
the entire buffet of things we've covered this semester.
Answer:
Let me preface
my answer with saying that the notion of a library without a catalog -- well,
it wouldn’t be a library; it would be a warehouse full of jumbled up materials
that would do no one any good because, first of all, no one would even know
what was there and if they did, by some chance know that an item existed in
that mess, no one could find it.
Any good
business keeps an inventory of its holdings. That is what a library catalog
does. It keeps track of what is available and allows materials to be located so
that they can be used. That is the point of a library: assisting its community in assisting that
community (whether the community is the public, university campus, business,
etc.) in meeting its information needs.
Charles Ammi
Cutter, the great innovator of library science, proposed three really good
reasons or objectives for having a catalog. According to Cutter, this is what a
good catalog should accomplish:
1) The
locational objective which helps people find materials about which they have
some bit of information. For example, a patron may come in and tell us,
"My friend recommended the latest Patricia Cornwell book, but I don't
remember what it was called. Can you help me find it?" (It's called Dust,
by the way.)
2) The
collocational objective , that is, it helps people find the things which
provide the information they need or desire. For example, a patron may call or
come in and ask, "I really want to find out everything I can about music.
What do you have?"
3) The choice objective, valuable
because the same materials may come in many forms. I had a patron come into the
library the other day, asking if we had a specific title in large print.
Another wanted a paperback edition of a book for portability.
Essentially, a
catalog should help people find things they're looking for in a library or at
least know what is available and in what format. Now, the way Mr. Cutter
proposed achieving this was by creating entries on several levels:
1) Author or creator
2) Title
3) Subject
4) Description
I remember
these entries from my local library's card catalog when I was a child as being
represented by different colored cards. Now the card catalog is all but extinct
because catalogs are on computers and we have MARC – Machine Readable
Cataloging record – to thank for that. We also have AACR2 -- Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules which are
the basis for catalog standardization. According to information found in the
article, "Understanding MARC Bibliographic," on the Library of
Congress website (http://www.loc.gov/marc/umb/um01to06.html), not having a
standardized catalog can isolate our library and leave us stranded on an island
of inefficiency, like Robinson Crusoe without Friday :
Using the MARC
standard prevents duplication of work and allows libraries to better share
bibliographic resources. Choosing to use MARC enables libraries to acquire
cataloging data that is predictable and reliable. If a library were to develop
a "home-grown" system that did not use MARC records, it would not be
taking advantage of an industry-wide standard whose primary purpose is to
foster communication of information (p.3).
All of these practices are
crucial to creating an effective catalog – and by effective, I mean necessary.
If we can't help people find what they want, they will go somewhere else and we
will cease to exist. Let me just re-iterate, AACR2 sets the rules for creating
the catalog entries and MARC is language used to translate those entries to a
computer.
Now, there is another set of
rules – or, really the same rules presented in another way, and that is the RDA
or Resource Description and Access. It is fairly new, and touted as AACR2's
"successor." In some ways it seems simpler than the AACR2, however,
except for vocabulary changes, I don't see much that is different than AACR2,
except that RDA is only available online. Because AACR2 is more complex, it
might seem that RDA would be a way to go, however, AACR2 is so detailed and
really covers all the cataloging issues. It is complete, stable, and available in print, which RDA is not (at
least not yet) and as such, meets our cataloging needs in a way that makes RDA
redundant (so far). We don't need both and I am willing to sacrifice RDA standards
in lieu of AACR2.
In conclusion, let me remind
you, as I did several weeks ago when we discussed classification, that our
bottom line depends upon our excellence in customer service. We want the most
comprehensive and user friendly catalog we can have to help satisfy our
community's information needs. Without a catalog to help us locate what we
have, we are little more than a storage facility for materials and without even
knowing what we have – which is dependent upon a catalog, we are not even that.
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