[MinervaCats] 791 fields

[rfrancis@curtislibrary.com]

Hello everyone,

Just FYI, here is part of the announcement on the 791 field policy that 
went out to all of you from the Cataloging Standards Committee in Dec. 
2005:
"We now have a working 791 field for recording library-specific 
collections 
or programs in bib records.  These fields are visible to patrons and are 
keyword searchable.  You will also be able to do an author search for the 
name of the collection or program (starting with the library's name), and, 

once an authority record is set up for each heading, you will be able to 
do an author search or a title search for just the name of the collection 
or program itself, and get a reference to the fuller form of the name, 
where you can click on the link to get all of the items in the collection.
"

If the current Standards Committee feels it's necessary to make changes to 
the policy, it's important that none of that functionality be lost.  The 
collections still need to be searchable in the OPAC, and they should be 
authorized for consistency (which is why we made up authority records for 
those who asked). 

Cornerstones of Science is a more complicated matter.  The donor who 
funded the program (right when Minerva was starting up, I believe, or just 
before) stipulated that there needed to be links from the OPAC for books 
in the program to the program's Web site.  (Similar to how funding for 
Husson College's Kilgore collection, I believe, depended on being 
searchable in the OPAC).  We put these links in the item records, since 
other libraries did not want them in the bib records.  Now the program is 
growing, and a number of other Minerva libraries have joined.  So, as 
things stand, this will result in even more item records with links to 
that same page that will show up when scoped to all locations.  If there 
is any way the link could go into the bib record, the display would look a 
lot cleaner when scoped to all Minerva libraries. 

If it's Cornerstones of Science that's the problem (with it's link to the 
COS page) and not the other 791 fields, should we focus on that?  In what 
other ways is the 791 field being abused?  I've only seen a small number 
of libraries using it.  Are patrons getting so confused by this field that 
it overrides what other catalog users gain from this field? 

Rebecca

****************************************************************************
Rebecca Francis
Coordinator of Technical Services
Curtis Memorial Library
23 Pleasant St.
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 725-5242 x218
rfrancis at curtislibrary.com
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