Cataloguing and Processing
A Resource for School Library Personnel
Chapter 4: Automation
The first significant change in the way a library delivers basic service is automation. All school libraries are expected to be automated in the future.
Data is the necessary ingredient for any computer to perform at its optimum. No other field in education has a better application for current computer technology than the library. The library has always been a database. In its new format the card catalogue becomes an OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue). Searches which once were time-consuming can be done in seconds on a well-designed OPAC.
In many ways, the traditional card catalogue has been as much a roadblock as an aid in education. The seldom understood innerworkings and cross- references of the card system are replaced by the far simpler keyword access of the modern OPAC. Students and staff, with some instruction, learn to manipulate large data files through the use of Boolean operators. By combining search terms such as author, title, subject, and abstract, the user is able to determine quickly where the appropriate information is to be found.
4.1 Getting StartedEven if there is little or no funding in the budget for library automation, the school can begin to prepare itself for that eventuality. MARC records can be purchased for new acquisitions along with catalogue card sets. For these items there will be no need to worry about recon as the MARC data will be ready to load into the cataloguing module of your chosen automated library system. Materials that are currently on the shelf present another challenge.
Regardless of which library application software the library may eventually select, full MARC records are required. There are many sources of MARC records but not all records are of a good quality. MARC records derived from the Library of Congress or the National Library of Canada databases are uniformly good. Records from these sources require little or no editing because they are full records. Records derived from other sources, including some of the major jobbers, are not as consistent. They often are not full MARC records and, invariably, they require some additional time and effort to raise them to the standard of the National Library of Canada or Library of Congress. Sometimes companies identify records as MARC when they are not (e.g., Microlif records are not full MARC records).
Libraries can prepare to automate by reading Selection of Automation Systems: Criteria for School Libraries in Manitoba and Selection of Learning Resources: Policies and Procedures for Manitoba Schools (see Bibliography). These two documents are available from the Instructional Resources Unit, Manitoba Education, Training and Youth. French versions are available from the Direction des ressources éducatives françaises.
4.2 VisitationsMany schools in the province have already converted their libraries to automated systems. Contact them and arrange a visit. The Instructional Resources Unit has a document available entitled Automated School Library Systems in Manitoba that lists automated schools. Automated schools have learned a great deal and know how to avoid pitfalls. Ask such questions as
- Where to obtain MARC records?
- How much original cataloguing is necessary?
- How good is the data?
- How good is the application software?
- What were the difficulties encountered?
- Any vendor training? If so, is it useful?
- Is the vendor responsive to school needs?
- How much did the project cost?
A library benefits from judicious weeding. The most expensive part of any library automation project is the conversion of the old catalogue into a MARC format. Old textbooks, teacher editions, dated scientific materials, worn, torn, and yellowed items should be discarded before the conversion process begins; otherwise, much time, effort, and money can be wasted doing recon on these materials.
Note: The Instructional Resources Unit, Manitoba Education, Training and Youth, has a collection of old approved Manitoba textbooks. Before discarding such material from your school library, please contact this Unit to see if your material is wanted.
4.4 Preparing the Shelf ListThe next phase is preparing the shelf list. If the shelf list has been catalogued up to the level described in this resource, recon is much easier. The more complete the shelf list, the simpler the task of matching against an existing database. If the shelf list is not up to standard, then the task becomes more difficult. It may become necessary to recatalogue many books entirely. The shelf list may be
- sent to a commercial jobber who attempts to match the information on the card with an existing bibliographic record such as one from A-G Canada Ltd. (formerly ISM Library Information Services), or another local resource, TKM in Brandon
- matched in-house using one of the compact disc MARC databases (e.g., BiblioFile)
- matched online against the holdings of a bibliographic vendor (e.g., A-G Canada Ltd. and TKM)
- entered partially in-house on diskette and sent off to a bibliographic vendor who attempts to match the "skeletal records" against their MARC database (TKM offers such a service)
If the shelf list does not include ISBN (International Standard Book Number) or Library of Congress numbers, arrange for volunteers to begin adding this data to the shelf list cards. The presence of this information greatly increases the chance of getting a "hit" and subsequently reduces the time and cost of deriving MARC records.
Contact the Instructional Resources Unit, Manitoba Education, Training and Youth, for a copy of the publication Commercial Cataloguing and Processing Services for Books and Audio Visual Materials (see Bibliography).