Transcript Slide 1

Managing the Myth of Shelf-Ready:
Creating a Tiered Workflow for
Bibliographic Records
Alayne Mundt Sandler, Metadata Librarian
Anne C. Elguindi, Director of Information Delivery Services
American University Library
The Landscape
 Merging Acquisitions and Cataloging functions and
workflows
 Continuous development of new technologies, schemas, and
materials
 Administrative pressures:
 Focus on unique content and digital materials
 Shelf-ready should go straight to the shelf
Who are we?
 American University is an independent coeducational institution
with 12,705 students enrolled in its 57 bachelor’s programs; 52
master’s programs; nine doctoral programs; and a JD program.
 The library’s monographic collections include 980,000 books
including 701,518 print books.
 The library subscribes to more than 300 databases, 60,000 on-line
periodicals, and 1,000 print periodicals.
 Regarding shelf-ready services, we have used Blackwell, Coutts,
and OCLC services for the past two years.
What is Shelf-Ready?
 Two sides – Cataloging and Processing
 Cataloging options:
 Vendor-supplied records
 WorldCat Cataloging Partners (WCP) program
 Levels of service: Basic, 100%, Customized
 Vendor-enhanced WCP records
 Processing options:
 Vendor-specific, including spine labels, stamps, bookplates, etc.
Challenges of Shelf-Ready
 Issues we have had
 Record quality – selection process of WCP
 Recent unavailability of TOC enhancement of WCP
 Processing quality
 System-wide failure of WCP
 Higher level of service (100% service) disappointing
 Data issues – call numbers for spine labels, for example
 The realities of outsourcing – it requires management and
quality control
Overview
 Physical check of books and Processing
 Bibliographic data
 Encoding level
 Dates
 Title/Variant titles
 Call numbers
 Local cataloging practices and other information
 Name adjustments
Three Categories of Books
 Books that did not pass the “Copy Cataloging” checklist and
need to be routed to Cataloging for additional work.
 Books that bypass cataloging but need additional processing,
such as new spine labels
 Books that bypass cataloging and need no additional
processing, which can go straight to Circulation to be shelved
Physical check of books/Processing
 Check for spine label/spine label protector
 Obvious damage to books
 Barcode on book
 Bookplate/security strip
 Books that are Folio sized, have CD-Roms, multiple volumes
sent directly to cataloging for additional work.
 300 field must match preliminary pagination and final page
number
 Double check that 852 matches spine label.
 Instructions for adding holdings/item record
Encoding Level
 Book is sent to Cataloging if record is not
 Full level (_)
 Full level input by OCLC participants (I)
 Core level (4)
Check publication date
 Check publication or copyright date on T.P. verso against
three places in cataloging record:
 008
 Date in 050 and/or 090
 260 $c
 If date on book doesn’t match in all three places, Receiving
Specialist routes book to Cataloging
 Checklist contains screenshots of the date in the 008, T.P.
verso as examples of where to look.
050/090
 If both present, check to see if they are identical. If not, send
to Cataloging.
 Call number on spine must match call number in holdings
exactly.
 Recent challenges– Spine label not always generated from
holdings
245 (Title)
 Names in 245 $c must match names in 7xx exactly.
 Title on title page must match 245 $a exactly.
 Variant spellings
 Numbers
 Abbreviations
 Symbols such as $ or &, and other symbols that do not need
spelled out versions such as exclamation points– checklist
addresses differences in all of these !, @, #, $, %, &, +
 If these alternate titles are already in record, no need to route
to Cataloging.
Standard Numbers, 260, 6xx
 020 (last four digits)
 035 must be preceded by prefix “OCoLC”
 260: Name should match title page. Does not need to match
exactly (e.g. Pub. vs. Publisher).
 Books missing 6xx fields are forwarded to Cataloging.
Local Practices
 National Literatures
 Historical local practice to reclassify some national literatures.
Any book in certain call number ranges is forwarded to
Cataloging.
 Books lacking 505’s (TOC information)
 Books with editor(s) and no 505 field are forwarded to
Cataloging (we add this manually).
Name Adjustments
 Check to see if name in 245 matches name in 100 or 700
field.
 Books with 720 are forwarded to Cataloging.
 Check to see if name in 245 can “lay on top of ” name in 100
or 700 and fit within it without any variations, e.g.:
 Can bypass Cataloging
100: Pogge, Thomas Winfried Menko
245: Pogge, Thomas
245: Pogge, Thomas W.
 Forwarded to Cataloging for authority work
100: Pogge, Thomas Winfried Menko
245: Pogge, A. Thomas
245: Pogge, Thomas W. M.
245: Pogge, Tom
*(but not Pogge, Thom)
Benefits
 Expands boundaries of cataloging knowledge
 Can show new personnel the ‘why’ behind good quality control,
and they can see their work as valuable
 Almost anyone can do this – it’s a checklist
 Opens up time for cataloging unit
 This project cut down the number of books that require an in-
depth review by trained Cataloging Specialists by 45%
 Speeds up time to the shelf
 This project took two weeks off of the time between these
books coming in the door and going on the shelf
Conclusions
 Talk with your administrators about the need for good
cataloging – show them concrete examples in your catalog
and discovery layers.
 This is our version of “good enough.”
 This allows you to take an active and leading role, presenting
administrators with something they want but in a way you
are comfortable doing it.
Thank you!
 Any questions?
 You can also contact us at [email protected] or
[email protected].