[Web4lib] cataloging electronic resrces-public library

[Michael L. Champion]

It depends on what you mean by "cataloging electronic resources".  If
you are merely talking about database level (i.e. Biography Resource
Center) cataloging or journal level (i.e. Wired Magazine) cataloging
then the records are, most likely, available for copy cataloging and, if
not, could be created in about the same time as it takes to create a
regular serial or monographic record.  It is possible but catalogers
might rise up in revolt :-).


If you are talking about analytic level cataloging (i.e. individual
articles, chapters, documents, etc.) then you are looking at doing
something that U.S. public libraries have never or rarely ever have done
even for their paper collections.  Can it be done? Of course it can. Can
it be done without requiring that the library hire a dozen more
catalogers?  Most certainly.

There have been a number of projects in the UK that have worked on this
exact issue.  Using RSS and the ONIX XML format they have attempted,
successfully, to automate the delivery and input of document level
analytic records.  Here is one press release from the Table of Contents
by Really Simple Syndication (TOCRoSS) project.
http://www.talis.com/applications/news_and_events/pdfs/TOCROSS_press%20r
elease.pdf

Basically we get enough information to display to the user and generate
the index entries for OUR search engine (the catalog) with a link to the
content via OpenURL perhaps, in effect duplicating the database
publisher's index in our own catalog. Can anyone say "Google"?

Add to this the LOCKSS project http://www.lockss.org/lockss/Home and we
end up with backup copies of both the publisher's index and the content;
with the publisher's agreement of course.

But why stop there?  Just because a library doesn't own an item or
doesn't have access to it, doesn't mean it couldn't include an entry for
it in the catalog.  The records don't have to be as complete as a full
catalog record and the link could be to an ILL system or Document
Delivery system instead of directly to the content. The same technology
working between ILS systems might make this as cost effective as the
TOCRoSS project.

Add a directed webcrawler to get information form those online sites
that don't have vendors to help out and we can include those resources
as well.  This would be the most person intensive process due to the
requirement to validate the bots indexing at least for some records.

...sorry.  I got a little carried away there but, as you can tell, this
is a subject I am quite excited about.  Google has forged ahead of us on
this, so has Microsoft with their academic.live.com site, but I know we
can catch up and surpass them if we put our collective minds to it. 

Regards,


Michael Champion
Head, Information Technology Services
Lake Villa District Library
Lake Villa, IL

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Raumin "Ray"
Dehghan
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 9:35 AM
To: web4lib
Subject: [Web4lib] cataloging electronic resrces-public library

Dear Colleagues:

   I recently attended a workshop, for public libraries, on cataloging
electronic resources.  I was inquiring what experience any of you might
have
in cataloging electronic resources, such as including electronic
resources
on the OPAC, etc.

   It seems to me that if materials were cataloged this way it could be
something very useful - when patrons, do an OPAC search for materials,
for
example, they get all their results in one place - print, electronic,
etc.

   I am interested in input from people working in all types of
libraries,
but I'm especially interested to hear input from people involved with
public
libraries, since that is where I am employed.

   How time-consuming a project could this be?  I would appreciate any
feedback.

Sincerely,
Raumin "Ray" Dehghan
West Chicago Public Library
West Chicago, Illinois
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