[MinervaCats] Standards for Acceptable Cataloging in Minerva

[Ellen Conway]

The following proposal was submitted by the Minerva Cataloging Standards
Committee to the Minerva Executive Board for consideration at their meeting
scheduled for Weds., May 21, 2008.  If you have any comments regarding this
proposal please post them to the MinervaCats listserv.

Thanks,
Ellen


*Establishing Standards for Acceptable Cataloging*

The Minerva Cataloging Standards Committee believes that the group must
establish what is meant by the term "acceptable cataloging".  The official
documents that outline the process for applying for membership in Minerva do
not define in any specific terms what is required in the Bibliographic
Record.

The document titled "Thinking of Joining Minerva?  Consider the Following"
may currently be found in the Maine InfoNet webpages. Under the heading
"General Qualifications" it is stated that all "perspective" [sic] members
must show that they have "regular, permanent staff with a comfort level and
basic understanding of cataloging procedures and the need for standards
critical to a shared environment with different library types:  public,
academic, school and special."

Furthermore, it is stated under the heading "2) Cataloging Requirements",
"All members must…have a least one staff member who is capable of
identifying acceptable catalog records before loading records into the
shared catalog [and] adhere to Minerva standards for old and new records and
agree that all incomplete records containing only author and title will be
suppressed in the OPAC."

The Committee believes that the non-specific nature of the above statements,
along with other factors, has allowed an excessive number of poor records to
be loaded into the Minerva catalog.  To try to prevent any further
degradation of the catalog it is imperative that strict guidelines to
"acceptable cataloging" are established and enforced.

To that end the Minerva Cataloging Standards Committee suggests that the
following proposal be considered and approved by the Minerva Executive
Committee.



*Acceptable Cataloging for Minerva Libraries *

Bibliographic records in the Minerva Catalog will conform to AACR2 rules
except in special circumstances allowed by the Cataloging Standards
Committee.

Records must be in correct MARC format and will include all appropriate MARC
tags, indicators, and subfields.

The Fixed Fields section of the Bibliographic Record will be complete with
all required information, including correct Material Type, language,
non-filing characters, Location, language, country, input library, and
initials.  New records will have the cataloging date entered.

The MARC Leader will be complete with correct codes for Record Type, Status,
and Cat Form "a" (AACR2) in particular.

The record will include all the following fields:

   - 001 field, used for OCLC numbers only.  (This is already an approved
   Minerva standard.)  001 fields containing non-OCLC numbers must be
   deleted.
   http://www.maine.gov/infonet/archives/minerva/cataloging/compStandards.htm**
   - 010 field containing the LC control number if assigned.



   - 020 fields with ISBN if one has been assigned and it appears inside or
   on the cover of the item, or ISSN in the 022.



   - Nonprint, audiovisual material records will have a complete and correct
   007 field for physical description.



   - 008 field with complete information including dates and country code.



   - 1XX field for the main entry if applicable, with correct indicators and
   the correct LC authority record form of the entry.



   - Title information will be entered in 245 field according to AACR2.
   Correct indicators and subfields will be present, and correct punctuation
   will be observed.  GMD information will be entered in this field according
   to the list approved by the Minerva Cataloging Standards Committee.



   - 250 edition statement if applicable.



   - 260 field containing place of publication, publisher, and date, using
   correct subfields.



   - 300 physical description field with pagination, illustration details,
   and size in centimeters.  Information regarding additional materials will be
   included as needed.



   - 440/490 fields for series information if applicable.



   - 500 or 538 note with system details for audiovisual materials, as
   described in previously approved MCSC standard policy. **



   - 504 bibliography note (optional) will include pagination when possible.



   - 520 field for summary note (optional field) will be not longer than 50
   words in length.  Content should be objective and non-judgemental in nature
   and should not include excessive plot detail.



   - 6XX subject access field will be entered with correct indicators and
   subdivisions.  Library of Congress subject headings will be used except
   where MeSH headings and GSAFD genre headings are required.



   - 7XX added entry fields are included when applicable; the correct
   authority form of names will be used.



   - 8XX series added entry fields are included when applicable.  URL links
   to non- site specific resources are given in 856 notes.



In addition to the specific requirements listed above, bibliographic records
will observe all previously approved Minerva Cataloging Standards and
practices, including those that detail the proper handling of special
formats and material types.

When a new library is admitted to Minerva, its bibliographical records must
be examined and approved by the Maine InfoNet cataloging specialist and/or
representatives of the Cataloging Standards Committee before loading.

Any policies that are approved in the future must also be observed.


-- 
Ellen M. Conway
Maine InfoNet Cataloging Consultant
797-9464, cell ph. 329-5443
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.informe.org/pipermail/minervacats/attachments/20080518/daeca5b7/attachment.html