[MinervaCats] 791 fields

[Karen Jones]

I agree with Rebecca that the information for these special collections needs to be searchable in the OPAC and a link made to a program's website if available.  And I echo the last question in her post; what are patrons saying?
 
Karen
 
 
 
 
Karen N. Jones      
Technical Services Librarian
Lewiston Public Library
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kjones at ci.lewiston.me.us 
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Fax:  (207) 784-3011
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>>> <rfrancis at curtislibrary.com> 1/23/2009 2:40 PM >>>

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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