MODS Implementation Registry

The MODS Implementation Registry contains descriptions of MODS projects planned, in progress, and fully implemented. It provides the MODS community with important information about how MODS is being used in various projects throughout the world.

Please review your entry if you have one or submit any new ones. Institutions and organizations who are implementing or planning to implement MODS should submit the following information to the Network Development and MARC Standards Office (ndmso@loc.gov) at the Library of Congress.

1. Name of the institution or organization implementing MODS
2. The MODS project name
3. A short description of the MODS project
4. Projected dates of implementation
5. A URL to the MODS project web site (if available)
6. A URL to any available documentation or specifications developed for the MODS project
7. A list of any MODS tools developed and or used as part of the MODS project
8. The MODS version used in the project
9. Contact name and e-mail address

MODS

Microformats

As a cataloger who appreciates all forms of structured mark-up, I'm putting this on my to-read list. Microformats: Empowering Your Markup for Web 2.0 I like microformats and hope they become more widespread on the Web. Can't link to WorldCat, since it has yet to make it into any libraries.

Microformats

Schematron

Schematron is an XML schema language that sounds better than what we have been using for our data. It allows for data validation. O'Reilly has a paid downloadable PDF on Schematron.

Schematron is a rule-based XML schema language, offering flexibility and power that W3C XML schema, RELAX NG, and DTDs simply can't match.

You need Schematron and can't settle for other languages if you have to check rules that go beyond checking the document structures (i.e., checking that an element bar is included in element foo) and their datatypes. Schematron is the right tool for checking conditions such as "startDate is earlier than or equal to endDate."

Schematron is also the right tool to use if you have to raise user-friendly error messages rather than depend on error messages that are generated by a schema processor and that are often obscure. Schematron builds on XPath. You will need to understand XPath to to get the most from Schematron.

XML

Happy 5th

I just noticed, a couple of weeks back, Catalogablog hit the 5th anniversary. The first post was early March 2002. I've had fun along the way, trying out different tools and metadata on the weblog. Lately I've been stressed and tired, maybe time to take a break or even close up shop. Not today though. I'll give it a bit more time and see if it passes. Maybe all I need is a good evening of contra dancing. Dancing here in Houston this Saturday. See you Friday at the TX SLA meeting or back here Monday.

"AACR2 Compatible" Headings

This notice from the Cataloging Policy and Support Office was seen on the SLA catalog email list.

The Cataloging Policy and Support Office (CPSO), Library of Congress, has mounted on the Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access (ABA) Web site a PDF file containing an introductory statement and several draft revisions to Library of Congress Rule Interpretations (LCRI) that provide guidelines for a more relaxed policy in dealing with "AACR2 compatible" headings. This document may be retrieved directly from the ABA Web site as the first item under General, Descriptive Cataloging or through the URL. CPSO would like comments from the library community by close of business, April 23, 2007, so that the resulting revisions may be prepared for the next update of LCRI in May. Comments, as noted in the introductory statement should be sent to cpso@loc.gov.

Authority

Metadata for All Memory Institutions

Metadata for All: Descriptive Standards and Metadata Sharing across Libraries, Archives and Museums by Mary W. Elings and Günter Waibel appears in the March issue of First Monday

Integrating digital content from libraries, archives and museums represents a persistent challenge. While the history of standards development is rife with examples of cross-community experimentation, in the end, libraries, archives and museums have developed parallel descriptive strategies for cataloguing the materials in their custody. Applying in particular data content standards by material type, and not by community affiliation, could lead to greater data interoperability within the cultural heritage community.

In making this argument, the article demystifies metadata by defining and categorizing types of standards, provides a brief historical overview of the rise of descriptive standards in museums, libraries and archives, and considers the current tensions and ambitions in making descriptive practice more economic

Metadata

DeLange Conference on Emerging Libraries

Rice University recently had the The DeLange Conference on Emerging Libraries. The talks were recorded and are available for downloading.

Libraries

Users and Uses of Bibliographic Data Meeting

There is a Brief Meeting Summary of the Users and Uses of Bibliographic Data Meeting held March 8, 2007 at Mountain View, CA now available.

The purpose of this first public meeting of the Working Group is to gain insight into the requirements of the bibliographic record and bibliographic control in the context of users and usage. The following brief summary of the Users and Uses Meeting highlights particularly relevant portions of some presentations and recurring themes, as well as some more specific requests for change. Fuller documentation will be prepared as part of the Working Group’s final report.

Cataloging

SLA Talk

I've posted the text to my talk for the SLA Texas Chapter meeting, this coming Friday. Any suggestions welcomed.

Here are the slides.

SLA

Koha and Google

Exciting news from LibLime, the Koha support company.

I’m excited to announce that LibLime has been selected as a mentoring organization for the Google Summer of Code program. Google Summer of Code offers student developers stipends to write code for various open source projects.

Some of the area suggested are:

• Creation of CDS/ISIS Migration to Koha Toolkit
• Improve Kartouche for Koha Translation Manager
• Improve Koha Unicode Support
• Improve Koha Worldmap
• Improve Koha Documentation/Online Help
• Improve Koha Cataloging Interface
• Improve Koha Report Wizard
• Tool to build 'map' of shelves
• OpenShareTags

Koha

Serials Cataloging Paper

Catalog/Cataloging Changes and Web 2.0 Functionality: New Directions for Serials by Rebecca Kemp will be published in The Serials Librarian later this year.

This article presents an overview of some of the important recent developments in cataloging theory and practice and online catalog design. Changes in cataloging theory and practice include the incorporation of the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records principles into catalogs, the new Resource Description and Access cataloging manual, and the new CONSER Standard Record. Web 2.0 functionalities and advances in search technology and results displays are influencing online catalog design. The paper ends with hypothetical scenarios in which a catalog, enhanced by the developments described, fulfills the tasks of finding serials articles and titles.

Cataloging

Photo Metadata

MS Windows users may be interested in this download that allows editing photographic metadata within Windows Explorer, Microsoft Photo Info.

Microsoft Photo Info allows photographers to add, change and delete common "metadata" properties for digital photographs from inside Windows Explorer.

When installed, a new "Photo Info" item appears on the context menu for files selected in Windows Explorer. To use, simply select one or more image files, right-click and choose "Photo Info" to open the Photo Info properties editor. You can edit metadata for files individually, or all together as a batch. Photo Info reads and writes metadata in IPTC and XMP formats (depending on file type). It also provides enhanced "hover tips" and additional sort properties for digital photographs in Windows Explorer.

Seen on the Travelin' Librarian.

Metadata

My Next Talk

SLA Texas Chapter Spring Meeting
Friday, March 23, 2007
University of Houston's Rockwell Pavilion

This year's meeting is a spotlight on Innovation. We have a diverse topic line-up to stimulate innovative strategies that can be implemented in your library/research center.

Speakers

Joanie Oliver, Executive Partner and founder of Iconitel, Inc. - this session is sure to supply even the most experienced content buyer with effective strategies for purchasing, managing and implementing research information contracts. Since starting her career working for Dialog a Thomson company in 1992, she has gained a unique perspective and knowledge of managing and marketing information.

Carol Simpson, associate professor at the School of Library and Information Sciences at the University of North Texas, will speak on copyright in the special/corporate library environment. She will give an overview of copyright law, recent court cases and the importance of mitigating copyright liability.

Keith DeWeese, taxonomy consultant for Dow Jones, will give an overview of taxonomy development and will also speak on innovative approaches to incorporating taxonomies and other controlled vocabularies into various information management scenarios.

Panel Discussion featuring our own Chapter Members:

• Greg Lambert, King & Spalding, LLP - This law firm has developed a method for compiling articles and alerts published by their competitors. By taking that information, adding internal taxonomies, and pinpointing the distribution to those that benefit most, they have a better understanding of what their competitors are doing, and what can be done to advance the firm's position in the market
• David Bigwood, Lunar & Planetary Institute - Based on the desire to provide on-going marketing to users, the Institute's library has generated a Homegrown Outreach plan that requires little support. Using simple free or low-cost tools, a weekly news page, RSS feed and podcast has been created.
• Sandy Miller, Southern Methodist University - SMU's Business Information Center has incorporated educational technology initiatives into the library. A primary benefit is that students may now start and complete their entire academic assignments within the library, from the first reference question to a polished presentation or podcast as the finished product.
• Marcia Schemper-Carlock, Verizon - Due to the increase in market research content and the decline of available staff time for processing content, this research team has implemented Northern Light's integrated search portal. The implementation provides end-users faster access to new content and greatly reduces the manual cataloging process.

Registration

Online Registration

Price includes continental breakfast, lunch, and closing reception
SLA Members $40
Non-Members $60
SLA Members (between jobs) $15
Students or Retirees $15

Agenda

8:00 - 8:45 Registration and Breakfast
8:45 - 9:00 Welcome by Marcia Schemper-Carlock, Texas Chapter President
9:00 - 10:30 Panel Discussion
Greg Lambert, King & Spalding, LLP
David Bigwood, Lunar & Planetary Institute
Sandy Miller, Southern Methodist University
Marcia Schemper-Carlock, Verizon
10:30 - 10:50 Break and Networking
10:50 - 11:50 Dr. Carol Simpson - Copyright
12:00 - 1:00 Lunch - Keith DeWeese - Taxonomy Development (sponsored by Factiva
1:00 - 2:20 Joanie Olivier - Innovative Negotiation Strategies for Purchasing Information Resource Contracts (sponsored by EBSCO)
2:20 - 2:40 Break and Networking
2:40 - 4:00 Joanie Olivier - Innovative Marketing Strategies
4:00 - 4:45 Wrap Up, Awards, Chapter Business
5:00 - 6:30 Wine & Cheese Reception

Directions

The meeting will be at the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion, located on the second floor (Room 214A) of the M.D. Anderson Library, which is the main library at the University of Houston (central campus). Map

Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion
M.D. Anderson Library, 2nd Level
114 University Libraries
Houston, TX 77204-2000

SLA

Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

Posts will be light and less regular next week. This is our annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Also, my podcast, news page and recent additions to the collection page at the LPI will not be updated next week.

If you will be at the conference stop by the library or the Publishers' Exhibit and say Hi.

LPSC

MARC RTP RIP

It seems that the MARC Record Translation Program is no longer available. It's a shame when tools disappear.

MARC

WorldCat Citations

Item records in WorldCat.org, WorldCat's open-Web interface, now include a Cite this Item link that provides bibliographic citations in five common styles: APA, Chicago, Harvard, MLA and Turabian.

That was a nice feature on the RedLightGreen site. Glad to see it here.

WorldCat

Podcasting Tips

I do a weekly podcast for the Lunar and Planetary Institute (MPOW). Short, simple and easy. I do read a bit about podcasting looking for useful tips, here is an audio file that covers a new aspect, Using Format to Engage the Listener by Stacy Bond.

Although podcasters may savor the raw style of extemporaneous talk, Bond shares many pro-level tips to help ensure content is presented in a listenable way. By envisioning a timeline or arc for the show, podcasters can build an identity and create hooks to engage and stimulate their audience. Breaks should be designed to allow people a chance to catch up and stay clear on who's speaking and what's happening. Rhythms, repetition and certain milestones can reinforce the tone and trajectory of a show in order to keep listeners on track and well entertained within a familiar framework for audio storytelling.

Podcasting

Library Peeps

Now that Peeps are appearing in the stores, it is time to revisit the study of Peeps using the library.

Flamenco Search Interface Project

UC Berkeley has released the Flamenco Search Interface as open-source.

The Flamenco search interface framework has the primary design goal of allowing users to move through large information spaces in a flexible manner without feeling lost. A key property of the interface is the explicit exposure of category metadata, to guide the user toward possible choices, and to organize the results of keyword searches. The interface uses hierarchical faceted metadata in a manner that allows users to both refine and expand the current query, while maintaining a consistent representation of the collection's structure. This use of metadata is integrated with free-text search, allowing the user to follow links, then add search terms, then follow more links, without interrupting the interaction flow.

FLAMENCO stands for FLexible information Access using MEtadata in Novel COmbinations.

Searching

Revised Name Authority Records

The lists of names being revised by adding death dates or changing the open date to a birth date is way too much for a small library to look through. When the lists first appeared I started to check them with my catalog, but soon stopped. Too few hits for the time invested.

Here is an idea, maybe some large library (or OCLC) that has most of these names in their catalog could create a list that shows the class number most associated with an author. If I could just check the QBs, QCs, QEs, and TLs I could find most of the changes in our catalog. I'd guess a music library, or management library or law library would like to check just their areas also. How about it? Any takers?

Names