Technically Speaking

A Technical Services Newsletter for Nebraska Libraries

Volume 4 number 2, Winter 2002

ISSN 1085-3448

Table of Contents

Technically Speaking . . . is published 3 times a year by the Nebraska Library Association, Technical Services Round Table (TSRT). Issues are published in Fall, Winter and Spring.

This publication is free to current and prospective members of the Round Table. It is not available by subscription.

Remember:

Renew your NLA membership in time for the Conference. The membership year falls from January through December.

The TSRT, ITART (Information Technology and Access Round Table), and the NMRT (New Members Round Table) announce their Spring meeting, a tri-conference to take place in Aurora, Nebraska.

Please contact: John Seyfarth at (402) 597-2050 or jseyfarth@monarch.papillion.ne.us for more information, or visit the NLA Website.

Seymour Lubetzky has been called "one of the most important and beloved thinkers in cataloging theory of the century," (1) and "the finest mind of the twentieth century devoted to the discipline of cataloging," (2). He was born in 1898 in Zelwa, Belarus, became a teacher, immigrated to the United States, and received degrees from UCLA and Berkeley. He was a teacher at UCLA for much of his career, and is still alive now, in 2002. Two of his best-known works, Cataloging Rules and Principles and Code of Cataloging Rules, (3 & 4) are still providing insights into the future of cataloging in the beginning of the twenty-first century. In Nebraska, as we are a relatively small group of catalogers involved in holding the flame of our profession in a large and non-populous state, we should be inspired by and take advantage of Lubetzky’s sometimes revolutionary writings. His principles can be greatly useful even and especially when we take first steps in cataloging electronic resources, for example. Some of the most edifying and deeply satisfying activities that Nebraska catalogers can engage in are in the thoughtful application of Lubetzky’s philosophical yet practical methods of cataloging. All catalogers ought to read his Cataloging Rules and Principles, for a refreshing breath of air from a rather higher plane of cataloging theory. Librarians need to remember though, that the region from which he speaks is accessible to everyone, and not just an ideal, impossible to be reached.

Unfortunately, as evidence that even though librarians have continued to try to implement Lubetzky’s enlightened teaching, but have not always succeeded, Michael Gorman, Dean of Library Services, California State University at Fresno recently argued that the Lubetzkyan principles that are at the heart of the Paris Principles were not fully implemented into the Anglo-American tradition until the publication of the Second Edition. (5)

The following elegant quote from Lubetzky gives a good feel for the intelligence behind his principles: "Whoever embarks on a study of the development of our cataloging rules, from their spectacular trial before a royal commission and their brilliant defense by Panizzi in 1849 to the appearance of the A.L.A. Cataloging Rules for Author and Title Entries in 1949, a round century later, cannot fail to be impressed with the broad knowledge, keen thinking, and fruitful imagination which the founders of the rules have brought to the profession of cataloging. At the same time, one could hardly view with equanimity the continuous proliferation of the rules, their growing complexity, and the obscurement of the objectives and design of the code as a whole. One is impelled to ask: Are all these rules necessary? Are all the complexities inevitable? Is there an underlying design which gives our code unity and purpose?" (6) Nebraska catalogers, in solidarity with Lubetzky, can truthfully say that these are the very kinds of questions we are still asking ourselves.

by Brian L. Pytlik Zillig

Digital Initiatives Librarian,

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Innovative new technologies are in use at the Electronic Text Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries. Markup languages SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) and XML (Extensible Markup Language) are being used to bring 18th and 19th century publications into computer-readable form. Markup languages permit complex documents to be represented in a manner that can be electronically stored and transmitted, or viewed on the World Wide Web. HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), the current standard for most web pages found on the Internet today, is actually a simplified application of SGML. XML, perhaps the newest application of markup language technology, is a rather simplified subset of SGML that retains the power and flexibility of SGML.

The UNL Libraries’ Electronic Text Center, established in 1999, has been working to create electronic documents that are of use to scholars in the humanities. The Center has been focusing primarily on documents that are no longer protected by copyright and have passed into the public domain. Online editions of Charlotte Turner Smith’s 1794 works The Banished Man and Elegiac Sonnets (1795), are on display, under "Digital Archives", at the Electronic Text Center’s website at: http://libr.unl.edu:2000/index.html

Use of SGML instead of HTML permits the creation of highly specialized markup tags that can store both the content and all aspects of the layout of the original document. Additionally, SGML makes it possible to separate the document’s content from its layout and, in effect, permits a single electronic document to be radically altered in appearance without changing its original tag encoding.

For example, the Electronic Text Center website offers the Smith works in SGML format, which requires a special software program for viewing, as well as an HTML version that may be viewed in any browser. It is highly significant that the Smith works were encoded in SGML rather than HTML. Because of the power and flexibility of SGML it was possible for the UNL Libraries’ Automated Systems Office to create a filter program that transfers SGML documents to HTML documents "on the fly", at the request of the user. All volumes of The Banished Man and Elegiac Sonnets are thus available in two markup languages. As data standards change over time, using accepted international standards such as SGML and XML should permit the seamless transfer from one standard to the next.

Other activities at the Electronic Text Center include transcription of 19th century scholarly correspondence, digital imaging, and serving as consultants on digital projects. Electronic Text Center staff may be reached at etcenter@unlnotes.unl.edu

Board Meeting

January 15, 2002

Board members Sue Ann Gardner, Devra Dragos, Charity Martin, Cecilia Slingsby, Jean Dickinson, Kira Barnes and Mary Marchio met January 15, 2002 at the Green Gateau in Lincoln for lunch and a meeting. Chairperson Sue Ann Gardner made the introductions and handed out the meeting agenda.

Cec Slingsby, Secretary, distributed the minutes for the 2001 Fall Meeting. Charity Martin moved that they be approved, Kira Barnes seconded and the motion carried.

Charity Martin, Treasurer, presented the 2001 Annual Financial Report with an ending cash balance of $1,453.17. The treasurer’s report went for audit. Charity also acknowledged a thank-you note from the Louise Nixon Scholarship Fund for the Round Table’s donation.

Newsletter editor: Jean Dickinson reported that the production and distribution of the newsletter went smoothly and that the next issue will come out mid-February. She will contact Maggie Harding for an updated list of members and include TSRT minutes in the next newsletter.

Kira Barnes has updated the officers and will also include the minutes of TSRT meetings.

Spring Conference: Sue Ann will work with ITART or NMRT to incorporate TSRT issues with the ITART program of "computer networking and wireless technologies." Suggested TSRT topics include: Serials - CONSER manual with Margaret Mering; Acquisitions - Ebscohost; ILL - copyright or union list; Cataloging - shared cataloging or "what new technological equipment is available." Possible meeting places include Aurora, the Botanical Garden Center in Omaha, Mahoney State Park and the Platte River State Park. Meeting format (morning speaker, business meeting and several concurrent sessions in the afternoon), length (9:00 am until 3:00 pm) and potential April dates with a preference for Tuesday, April 23 were discussed.

Devra described possible TSRT sponsored programs at the NLA Conference such as a panel discussion about communication issues between public and technical services, what library collections are worth, the Colorado Digitization Project and a TSRT business meeting. Co-meetings with other Round Tables are an option also.

Nominations will be sought for TSRT vice chair/chair-elect and secretary this year. Charity moved that lunch expenses come out of the treasury, Sue Ann seconded and the motion carried. By-laws will be checked to consider the feasibility of making the newsletter and web site editors fixed term positions.

Charity Martin moved that the meeting adjourn, Mary Marchio seconded and the motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Cec Slingsby, Secretary

by Jean Dickinson

Cataloging Librarian,

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

During the first two weeks of December 2001, the University of Nebraska- Lincoln Library’s Cataloging Department hosted a visiting Librarian from Senegal. Mouhamadou El Bachir Ba spent most of the two weeks observing and doing hands-on work in the department.

Several members of the original cataloging team worked with Ba, practicing record creation and subject headings. Since his library in Senegal uses its own system of classification, it was decided not to spend time with Library of Congress or Dewey practice. Carole Goebes spent mornings with him, discussing headings from the LCSH red books, and going over books for which he had created cataloging records using AACR2. He was given copies of the red books and of AACR2 to take back to Senegal with him, as he wanted to try to conform his future work with those important catalogers’ tools. His library does not use MARC cataloging and has no access to OCLC, so there was no help he could get from studying OCLC records. But the catalogers he worked with at UNL directed him to the Internet, to which he does have access, to get records from LC and other libraries to use as guides and examples.

Ba’s library in Dakar, Senegal, the School of Communication Library, which belongs to Sud Communication, a private Senegalese media company that owns the independent newspaper "Sud Quotidien" and radio station Sud FM, has about 20,000 volumes, most of which are in French (his first language is Wolof, second is French, and English is his third). He is the sole librarian there, working with all aspects of technical services as well as reference work for the students. Much of his material consists of serials and newspapers, and while he was at UNL he spent several days working with the serials catalogers.

Some of his time at UNL was also spent in the University’s Archives and Special Collections, where he worked on learning some current practices in archival control.

It was rather unfortunate that Ramadan and the library’s annual December holiday parties occurred at the same time, since people would have liked to take the opportunity to socialize and ply the guest with cookies. But he met a lot of library people during other events and meetings, and despite a bit of a language barrier, seemed to enjoy his stay and was grateful for the things he had learned while he was at UNL.

Ba had planned to return next year, to continue studying on the job cataloging, but recently he was in a bad car accident while visiting friends in Tennessee, and his future now looks very uncertain. We hope he will recover and safely arrive home again soon.

Are you a "thinking person in search of truth, with a creative and artistic bent"?

Consider sending in something to be included in the Spring issue of Technically Speaking!

Articles or brief pieces on what’s new in your department or library are currently being enthusiastically accepted.

The following is the second of a two-part article on cataloging photographic material.

The bibliography for both parts is included in this issue.

Siobhan Champ-Blackwell

Photo Archivist, Jim Krantz Studios, Omaha/Chicago

MLIS candidate, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Introduction

The Fall 2001 issue of the TSRT newsletter included a discussion of the difficulties of subject analysis of photographs. This article will discuss descriptive cataloging and the tools that are available to catalogers to assist them in applying traditional library standards to the nontraditional format of the photographic print.

Cataloging Tools

Numerous tools are available for the description and indexing of images. AACR2R was adapted for visual formats in Graphic Materials: Rules for Describing Original and Historical Collections compiled by Elisabeth Betz Parker. Use of standard cataloging tools like these and MARC21 allow the cataloger to incorporate records for photographs into an already existing local automation system. A patron looking for material on or by Ansel Adams will be able to locate both the textual work and the images he created using one search tool.

Cataloging Photographs - General

Barbara Orbach has outlined "critical features" that catalogers must be aware of when describing photographs as compared to textual work. Photographs are not "self-identifying" (Orbach 1990). While it may be possible for the cataloger to extrapolate some information from the image, discovering the names of the subjects in the image and the names and places involved in its production may require extensive research. This issue was also discussed in the previous article regarding subject analyses.

Photographs provide information in a cumulative manner (Orbach 1990). In other words, a single image alone may be difficult to place in terms of time period or location, but a collection of photographs together may provide clues that allow for interpretation. A close-up shot of a man may allow a cataloger to determine the subject’s identity; a second photo taken from further away may include a building that has a name on it, indicating location; a third photo in the collection may be of a woman standing in front of the building holding a suffragette sign, a clue to time period. The three photographs together give more information than either gives standing alone.

If the cataloger has information about the creator of the image or group of images, s/he may have additional information about the image (Orbach 1990). For example, Laura Gilpin took a series of photographs on the Navajo Reservation in the 1930s. Knowing that a photo is a Gilpin and that the subject is Native American gives a clue to the possible location, the Southwest, specifically the Navajo Reservation.

The development processes, and additionally, the ability of photographs to be duplicated, are also essential features of photographs (Orbach 1990). As with books, the use of production information and notes can help distinguish one photograph from another.

Represented Work

Applying AACR2R to visual resources can be difficult. Thinking back on the introductory article, the varied levels of meanings make for inconsistencies in the interpretation of AACR2R and mapping of those rules to MARC tags.

For example, consider cataloging a photograph of a structure. "Architects and architectural historians consider building names to be titles, librarians who catalog drawings and photographs of structures consider building names to be subjects or names of corporate bodies; they are cataloging the representation rather than the building" (McRae and White 1998). This example illustrates what Sara Shatford refers to as "Represented Work".

Represented Work is, "a work that is pictured, portrayed, represented in a pictorial work: when an object or work, is represented in a picture, it is the subject of the picture, but not in the same sense as when it is the subject of a text" (Shatford 1984). Trant describes this as the difference between the "original visual image" and a "reproduction" of the image (Trant 1997).

In the above photograph, the building is a re-creation of "Fort Atkinson" in Nebraska. This building is considered a reproduction of the original fort. Now, a photograph is taken of the re-creation; that photograph is a "copy of the reproduction" (Trant 1997). Problems with Represented Work are encountered in the process of assigning descriptive elements to a work: What is the main entry? Who is the creator? and What is the title of the work? The Fort could be considered the subject or the title of the photograph; credit as creator could be given to the photographer Ben Blackwell, or to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission that supervised the building of the reproduction of the fort; or perhaps a Title Main Entry of "Fort Atkinson" would be used. Each institution must decide, based on their collection and mission, which choice they will make in the selection of main entry for such works. Orbach states that because catalog manuals offer options regarding points of access, "the most important tool for cataloging visual material is the cataloger" (Orbach 1990); she goes on to state that consistent interpretation of the rules is vital to the specific institution.

Core Categories

Two sets of categories were developed to assist artists, art historians, and information specialists in organizing and providing access to artwork due to the problems of Represented Work. They are the Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CDWA) and the Visual Resources Association Core Categories. Each of these resources provide catalogers with guides, available on the Internet, that they can use in developing a policy for consistent cataloging of photographs within their institution.

Conclusion

The organization of and access to photographic collections is a complex process. The myriad of issues involved, determination of meaning and access points, as well as application of standards must all be weighed against the ultimate concern of libraries and archives: the needs of the patron. As expanding technological capabilities continue to increase the range of access tools and options available to libraries and archives, the mission to provide meaningful access to collections must remain the guide.

Bibliography

Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, Second Edition, 1998 Revision. Chicago: American Library Association, 1998.

Betz, Elisabeth Parker, compiler. Graphic Materials: Rules for Describing Original Items and Historical Collections. Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1982, and the updated online version available at http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/print/gm/graphmat.html (January 2001).

Blackwell, Ben. "Fort Atkinson" [photograph] 2001.

Chen, Hsin-Liang, and Edie M. Rasmussen. "Intellectual Access to Images." Library Trends 48(2): 291-302 (Fall 1999).

Enser, P.G.B. "Progress in Documentation: Pictorial Information Retrieval" Journal of Documentation 51(2) June 1995, p. 126-170.

Greenberg, Jane. "Intellectual Control of Visual Archives: a Comparison between the Art and Architecture Thesaurus and the Library of Congress Thesaurus for Graphic Materials." Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 16(1): 85-117 (1993).

McRae, Linda, and Lynda S. White, eds. ArtMARC Sourcebook Cataloging Art Architecture and Their Visual Images. Chicago: American Library Association, 1998.

Nebraska Historical Society. World War One Collection. "Soldier Kissing His Girlfriend, 1917." [photograph].

Orbach, Barbara. "So That Others May See: Tools for Cataloging Still Images." Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 11(3/4):163-191(1990).

Panofsky, Erwin. "Introductory." In Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in the Art of the Renaissance. New York: Harper & Row, 1962.

Pearce-Moses, Richard. Personal correspondence. July 2001.

Peterson, Toni. "Developing a New Thesaurus for Art and Architecture." Library Trends 48(2):644-658.

Shatford, Sara "Analyzing the Subject of a Picture: a Theoretical Approach." Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 6(3): 39-62 (Spring 1986).

Shatford, Sara. "Describing a Picture: a Thousand Words is Seldom Cost Effective." Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 4(4): 13-30 (Summer 1984).

Trant, J. "Exploring New Models for Administering Intellectual Property: the Museum Educational Site Licensing Project." In Digital Image Access and Retrieval, edited by P. Brian Heidorn and Beth Sandore, 29-41. Urbana-Champaign, IL: Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois, 1997.

Webliography

"American Memory Collections". Library of Congress. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/mdbquery.html

"Categories for the Description of Works of Art." The Getty Homepage. 2000. http://www.getty.edu/research/institute/standards/cdwa/index.html (February 2001).

"Photograph Collections." Nebraska Historical Society http://www.nebraskahistory.org/lib-arch/research/photos/access/collect.htm

"VRA Data Standards." Visual Resources Association Homepage. 2001. http://www.oberlin.edu/~art/vra/dsc.html (February 2001).

Other Sources of Interest

Arms, Caroline. "Getting the Picture: Observations from the Library of Congress on Providing Access to Pictorial Images." Library Trends 48(2): 379-409 (Fall 1999).

Besser, Howard. "Visual Access to Visual Images: the UC Berkeley Image Database Project." Library Trends 38(4): 787-798 (Spring 1990).

Layne, Sara Shatford. "Some Issues in the Indexing of Images." Journal of the American Society for Information Science. 45(8): 583-588 (1994).

Millar, Ruth. "The Little Collection That Could: Building an Online Index to Historical Photos." Art Libraries Journal 24(3): 25-29 (1999).

Munoff, Gerald J. "Arrangement and Description." In Archives & Manuscripts : Administration of Photographic Collections compiled by Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler, Gerald J. Munoff and Margery S. Long, 71-93. Chicago, IL: Society of American Archivists, 1984.

Peterson, Toni. "Developing a New Thesaurus for Art and Architecture." Library Trends 48(2): 644-658.

Sklar, Hinda F. "Why Make Images Available Online: User Perspectives." Collection Management 22(3/4): 113-22 (1998).