BCC01/SAS/3
2001 ALA ANNUAL MEETING
ALCTS CCS SUBJECT ANALYSIS COMMITTEE REPORT
June 17 and 18, 2001
Submitted by Michael Colby
The following report represents selected coverage of topics from the SAC meetings in San Francisco on June 17 and 18, 2001.
1. Report of MARBI Liaison (Bonnie Dede)
This report included mention of Discussion Papers DP03 "Types of Dates for Electronic Resources in MARC 21 Formats" and DP05 "Multilingual Authority Records in the MARC 21 Authority Format." Proposals mentioned included 2001-05 "Changes in MARC 21 to Accommodate Seriality" and 2001-07 "Repeatability of Field 508 in the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format." For further information on discussion papers and proposals see
http://www.loc.gov/marc/marbi/list-dp.html and http://www.loc.gov/marc/marbi/list-p.html or the report of the MLA MARBI liaison.2. LC report (Lynn El-Hoshy)
LC News
The Library’s budget for fiscal year 2002 is currently under consideration in Congress. The Library’s request includes an increase of 108 FTE positions. Classification Web was being demonstrated at the LC exhibit. Following a successful pilot test, LC plans to have Classification Web on the market later in 2001. This product provides World Wide Web access to up-to-date LC classification schedules and LCSH. It features a full-text display of class schedule data and hyperlinks among classes, with various searching options. It can also perform automatic calculation of table numbers. Information on its availability and pricing will appear on the Cataloging Distribution Service homepage at
http://lcweb.loc.gov/cds.The Collaborative Digital Reference Service matches reference requests with a member institution from a profile listed in the program, utilizing an international digital network of libraries and related institutions. LC launched it in the spring of 2000. Libraries interested in joining CDRS can contact LC or see
http://www.loc.gov/rr/digiref/.Barbara Tillett, the Integrated Library System Program Director at LC, received the prestigious Arthur S. Fleming Award for outstanding federal service in recognition of her oversight of the LC ILS implementation. LC plans to implement an upgrade to the Voyager system in February of 2002, which is a delay from previous announcements. This upgrade will include long-awaited access to LC’s names and subject authority records via the web. It also includes improvements in acquisitions, serials check-in, and OPAC functions, as well as the capability to display Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Hebrew vernacular characters. Further information on the ILS is available at
http://lcweb.loc.gov/ils.LC celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Cataloging in Publication program. Details can be seen at
http://cip.loc.gov/cip.The proceedings from the Bicentennial Conference on Bibliographic Control for the New Millennium have been published. LC has devised an action plan for the recommendations made at the conference on improving access to Web resources through library catalogs and applications of metadata. This plan can be found at
http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/bibcontrol/conference.html.All LC Chinese bibliographic and Chinese CONSER records have been converted to pinyin, loaded into the LC database and distributed by CDS. Work continues on the conversion of Wade-Giles access points on non-Chinese CONSER and bibliographic records. The status of the pinyin conversion project is located at
http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/pinyin.The SACO Participants’ Manual written by Adam Schiff is now available in print and electronically. It can be accessed in PDF format at
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/saco.html. Workshops on proposing new and changed headings to LCSH continue to be offered.Lists describing elements from recent updates to the MARC 21 Bibliographic and Authority Formats that will become valid in LC’s system are available at http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/cpso.
Subject headings and classification
On February 1, 2001, the location of geographic subdivisions in art headings was changed to conform to the standard order used in most other topics. Headings like Drawing—20th century—France will now appear as Drawing, French—20th century. Authority records have been changed and work is proceeding on the bibliographic records in the LC database. A new instruction sheet was added the Subject Cataloging Manual and the instruction sheet on "Art and Fine Art" (H 1250) was revised.
Instructions on assigning subject headings to works of fiction were updated on instruction sheet H 1790.
Ten new LC class schedules have been published, including the long awaited G schedule. New editions of D-DR, History (General) and History of Europe, are expected in the summer. Other new editions projected by the end of the year are BL-BQ (Religion) and KL-KWX (Law).
Changes and improvements were made to the LCC Outline posted at the CPSO web site. It can be found at
http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html.
3. Discussion on Bibliographic Control of Web Resources
In a discussion on the LC action plan Bibliographic Control of Web Resources, it was noted that a comment was heard at the ALCTS Technical Services Directors of Large Research Librarians Discussion Group (commonly known as Big Heads) that keyword access made subject analysis no longer necessary. It was noted here that keyword searching often retrieves from terminology only found in the subject terms on the record. Arlene Taylor reported that she is currently engaged in research that shows how frequently subject terms are accessed in keyword searching. It was also noted that subject analysis has greater utility in catalogs that operate on a web platform. For example, subject terms in the record have great effect on relevancy ranking of search results. In addition, with the use of hypertext links, subject terms lead the user to similar items. SAC will continue to promote subject analysis.
4. Dewey Decimal Classification Division Reports
In January 2002, WebDewey will be released. This is a web-based version of DDC 21 that will be available by subscription to non-OCLC members. This summer should see the publication of People, Places and Things, which is a list of over 50,000 LCSH paired with their corresponding DDC numbers.
The Dewey editors are soliciting libraries to test several revised and updated schedules. Testing libraries should regularly class a substantial volume of materials in the test area and commit to a test period of three months. The draft schedule for 300-307 Sociology is currently available for testing.
For further information on the above and other Dewey news, see
http://www.oclc.org/fp.5. Report of the IFLA liaison (Edward Swanson)
IFLA will hold its 2001 conference in Boston, August 17-24. Program information is available at
http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla67/pprog-e.htm.6. Subject Analysis Training Programs and Materials Survey (David Miller and Merry Schellinger)
A report was given on a survey that sought to identify training programs or materials that are extant in the topic of subject analysis. Certain groups or individuals had been mentioned at the midwinter meeting as doing training work in these areas and they were contacted (PCC; Arlene Taylor, University of Pittsburgh; Linda Gabel, OCLC; Adam Schiff, University of Washington). Miller and Schellinger contacted the above and also devised a brief survey that was distributed over AUTOCAT and sent to chairs and presidents of some library organizations and divisions. Following discussion of this report, SAC determined to explore collaborating with PCC on subject training.
7. Report of the SAC Subcommittee on Metadata and Subject Analysis
The subcommittee met for the second time at this meeting and presented a progress report. They will concentrate on what can be done with existing subject access tools and their established reference structures. They will explore several issues in how subject reference structures are (or could be) utilized and will include a list of recommendations in their final report, which is due at ALA annual in 2002.
8. Report of the SAC Subcommittee on Subject Reference Structures in Automated Systems
The subcommittee presented its final report. Its work culminated with the presentation of the program "Subject Analysis and Classification in Metadata for Digital Resources" to an audience of about 350 people at this conference. Previously the subcommittee had executed an overview of existing uses of metadata and subject analysis and prepared a report Subject Data in the Metadata Record that is available at
http://www.ala.org/alcts/organization/ccs/sac/metarept2.html. Forums were also presented at the midwinter 2000 and annual 2000 meetings. There is work for future committees in this area, with the topic of semantic interoperability as a likely candidate for exploration.
9. Report of the SAC Subcommittee on Guidelines for the Application of Genre Headings
In working on their charge to working toward guidelines for coherent subject and genre access to individual works of fiction, the subcommittee plans to look at all existing guidelines, become aware of other groups in ALA working on this issue, collect samples of existing guidelines, maintain a connection with the first two editions of Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, and compare existing guidelines. They hope to address the needs of children’s literature, the general reader and the scholar.
The name of this subcommittee was changed to SAC Subcommittee on Fiction Guidelines.
10. New business
ALCTS has agreed to allow the GFASD authority records to be made freely available. They will likely be initially mounted at the Northwestern University site, with a link to the SAC site. The Subcommittee to review 004-006 (Computer Science) in DDC was reconvened.
Submitted by Michael Colby
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Last updated October 1, 2001