Library Office Notes

Aaron Trehub delivered a paper entitled, "My Library, oder Interaktive Dienstleistungen: die Erfahrung einer akademischen Bibliothek" ("My Library, or Interactive Services: One Academic Library's Experience") at the Humboldt University Library (HUL) in Berlin, Germany, on May 31, 2000. Aaron's visit was part of an ongoing exchange program between the UIUC Library and the Humboldt University Library; past UIUC Library participants are Thomas Kilton (1995) and Gail Hueting (1996). Financial support for this program has been provided by the

Mortenson Center for International Library Programs and International Programs and Studies.

Aaron and Marianna Tax Choldin also moderated panel discussions on (1) the pros and cons of Internet-based information services and (2) international library programs and the activities of the Soros Foundation, at the annual conference of the German Slavic Librarians' Association (ABDOS) at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin/Preussischer Kulturbesitz (SBB/PK).

(Betsy Kruger)

Notable Government Documents!
Government Documents Library, Main Corridor, South End, Wall Display

University of Illinois Commencements: 1875-2000
Main Corridor and Mueller Display Case (East Foyer)

James Newton Matthews - First Student at University of Illinois
Main Hall - Upright Display Case

I Have a Song to Sing, O": Arthur Sullivan, 1842-1900
Music Library (April, May, and June, 2000)

Number Theory for the Millennium
Rare Book Room (Through August)

Lost University of Illinois--"What Once Was -- What Might Have Been"
University Archives, Outside Room 19

Attendance: Richard Burbank, Ruby Jahr (for Priscilla Smiley), Barb Henigman (chair), Stephen Smith, Mary Laskowski, Fung Simpson, Ann Copeland, Lisa Romero, David Griffiths, Nancy Miller, Jay Lee, Jenny Johnson, Marek Sroka.

Barbara shared preliminary results of the Inventory of Cataloging Tools Survey. The survey showed that a large number of catalogers did not have the latest tools (e.g., the latest editions or updates of tables, manuals, etc.) Most catalogers have access to"Cataloger's Desktop," but what is needed now is formal training to teach people how to use this great tool. CPAC should consider organizing such training sessions.

For Originally cataloged items field 246 will be used in reference to the Title Proper (subfield a).

Field 246 should not be used in reference to subtitle information (subfield b), unless it is necessary due to typography or layout of information on the title page. It is not necessary to place subtitle information in a 246 just because it is in subfield b.

Spine title and cover title information should be placed in 246 only when they differ from the information on the title page.

Initialisms and acronyms--for the Title Proper (subfield a) use a 246 for either the spelled out form of an initialism or for the initialism when full form is chosen as the title proper.

Catalogers should resist the temptation to second guess how a user might search for the item.

If the Title Proper (subfield a) contains &, then the cataloger should create a 246 with the word "and". (a 246 should not be made containing a "&" when the word "and" is present in the title proper.)

If the Title Proper (subfield a) contains "-" (hyphen) -- then the cataloger should create a 246 without the "-" (hyphen) present. (a 246 should not be made containing a "-" (hyphen) when one is not present in the title proper.)

Thesis should be coded as type "t". MARC (first) indicator has been changed for multiple surname. It used to be "2", now it is "1".

Report of the Cataloging Process Task Force has been completed and will be presented to the Administartive Council in May.

Cataloging Policy Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
May 15, 2000

Present: Henigman (Chair), Sroka, Smiley, Lee, Simpson, Laskowski, Smith, L. Romero, Kuhn, Johnson, Copland, Burbank.

and 4 for abbreviated or minimal cataloging and core level. UIUC will accept these records. Previously this information was in the 039 field; OCLC will eventually purge those fields.

2) OCLC Technical Bulletin 236: There is the new code "s" for for the fixed field "form." This is valid for electronic materials intended for manipulation by computer and applies to all formats. The URL for this technical bulletin is:

There were also some changes in fixed fields for books and maps, as well as changes to 007. Henigman distributed handouts that summarize these changes, but catalogers should consult the above URL for the technical bulletin to get precise information.

Henigman reported some results, but Law and Engineering have not yet submitted their report. The uncataloged backlog consists of at least 97,392 non-English monographs; 7,422 serials; 24,174 titles in other formats; 38,947 foreign-language serials. The original cataloging backlog consists mostly of LABO materials. There are 19 units with more than 1,000 titles needing cataloging, and 75% of units reported their backlog consists of gifts, with lots of pre-AACR2 imprints. 26 units said they regularly weed their periodicals; 16 units make their backlogs available, 19 do not. The largest backlogs are in Asian, Education, and Rare Books. Henigman will post the final results via email.

At the May CDC meeting, preservation needs were discussed. CPAC is concerned about fragile, embrittled materials it receives for cataloging. These items are barcoded and are often in decrepit condition. Frequently, the Library already has two or more copies, yet these fragile items are sent through shipping with damage happening at each moment of handling. Questions were raised as to whether or not selectors actually check the Library's holdings before forwarding materials for cataloging. Uncataloged items should not be shipped all over campus.

Perhaps it would be best to microfilm such pieces prior to having them cataloged, so that the conservation/preservation/packaging is done first, thereby decreasing the exposure to damage. The new Preservation Librarian should provide an education program on this (brittle test with
paper materials, costs of cataloging, etc.) to reduce the number of items that are routinely shunted to Technical Services. The Library administration might review its gift acceptance policies in this regard: the FIFO (first-in, first-out) program proposed in the Cataloging Task Force report will mean that these old (both gift and purchased) acquisitions will be cataloged before materials published/issued/received in 2000.

Henigman distributed a handout with highlights about the forum; this is an information item; cataloging staff are urged to read more detailed information at:

Sroka asked about cataloging for UIUC dissertations. Henigman replied that the 1999 dissertations have now been cataloged. Archival film copies (and hard copies for Master's theses) are still housed in Rare Books.

Present: M. Friedman, D. Burgard, L. Rudasill, G. Youngen, M. B. Allen, Jane Williams, S. Clark, N. Davis, L. German, N. Romero, L. Miller, D. Holiman, M. Stuart, K. Schmidt (chair)

Schmidt announced that our grant request to the ICCMP for a serials backlog cataloger has been approved, contingent upon the IBHE awarding the ICCMP its full budget for FY01. We will have verification of this later in the year. This is for a one year serials cataloger position, focusing on cataloging serials in the areas supported by the ICCMP collections programs.

Schmidt discussed the current work of the Budget Subcommittee. The BSC is fine-tuning its procedures for reading the 40% request forms. Budget information is expected the week of June 5, and at this time we are asking fund managers to have 40% request forms turned in on June 20.

Holiman reported that the May 3 voucher run did not have obligations recorded because the open order file was maxed out. A special run showing these obligations will be sent out.

German and Holiman reported that spending is generally on target, with binding slightly underspent.

The Committee extended its thanks to Bart Clark and Deloris Holiman for their budget presentations to the divisions.

Henigman shared some examples of items that need repair or additional selection decisions made before adding to the collection. Items such as a 5 ¼ floppy disk that comes from a long-standing cataloging backlog may no longer be valuable to the collection. Some items are fragile and need conservation work. We need to establish a process by which the cataloging teams can confer with subject before work is spent in cataloging. Schmidt reported that a preservation graduate assistant had been hired to start this summer. One of her tasks is to establish a subject review shelf for librarians to make recommendations about preserving these kinds of materials. The other component of this is an educational process that the Preservation Committee has been planning, giving people general information about the preservation options available to them.

S. Clark reviewed the draft policy of the Gifts Task Force and answered questions about specific items on the policy and procedures documents. The policy will be reviewed in divisions and discussed again at the June CDC meeting.

The Committee discussed divisions’ reactions to disbanding the CDC Nonprint Subcommittee. Two of the divisions had no objections and two did. The majority of the members of the subcommittee were in favor of disbanding. It was clarified that disbanding the subcommittee did not mean that the competition for funding would cease or that the policy on location of media would change. It was agreed that overall, it is productive to continue having this impartial group of librarians to handle the funds and give advice to the Media Librarian. Schmidt will let the Nonprint Subcommittee know that the CDC recommends keeping this subcommittee.

German reported that most of the divisions had responded to her inquiry on whether she should select items from the approval plan for specific locations if the item had not been selected. She is willing to streamline her work to meet these needs. Any items she does not select for a location will go to the stacks.

German reported that she had received an inquiry regarding the acquisition of NetLibrary books on our approval plan. She asked if we want to select these materials at this time. After some discussion, we agreed that we want to have a pilot project starting in July, and limited to reference materials only. This will give us high-value/high-service titles and allow us to look at the implications for technical services and public services of purchasing these kinds of materials. The funding will come from the approval plan budget. A task force of Lisa German, Greg Youngen, Nina Davis and (hopefully) Paula Watson will look at all the issues that emerge from this experiment.

The Committee thanked Dan Burgard for all his work on the CDC, the Budget Subcommittee and in the Library in general. We will miss him a great deal.