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Authority Control Interest Group Annual 2009

July 12, 2009, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

BUSINESS MEETING

Members present: Mary Mastraccio (MARCIVE), chair; Amy McNeely (Bookshare), chair-elect; Anaclare Evans (DALNET), secretary; Edward Swanson (MINITEX), past chair.

Members-at-large present: Felicity Dykas (University of Missouri-Columbia), series; Shannon Hoffman (Brigham Young University), subjects; Martin Knott (University of Michigan), names; John Reese (Backstage Library Works), local systems; Elaine Winske (Florida International University), uniform titles.

Liaison present: Damian Iseminger (New England Conservatory of Music), Authorities Subcommittee of the Bibliographic Control Committee of the Music Library Association Chair.

Guests present: Linda Ballinger (Newberry Library); Lynette Fields (Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville); Neil Robinson (University of Michigan); Sandy Roe (Illinois State University); Mark Scharff (Washington University in St. Louis); Cynthia Stockard (State Library of Louisana)—others not signed in.

Elections

There was some discussion of the need for a Wiki-Blog-ALA Connect Coordinator; this person would start discussions, monitor topics.  Mary described some of the uses she envisioned for ALA Connect.  No one expressed interest in the position at this time.  Since Diane Stine agreed to withdraw her candidacy for Member-At-Large for Series, the remaining slate was presented:

Vice-Chair—Lynnette Fields (Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville)

Secretary—Mark Scharff (Washington University in St. Louis)

Member-at-Large Names—Neil Robinson (University of Michigan)

Member-at-Large Name/Subjects—Cynthia Barrilleaux Stockard (State Library of Louisiana)

Member-at-Large Subjects/Series—Felicity Dykas (University of Missouri-Columbia)

 With no further nominations from the floor, election was by acclamation.  Mary volunteered to be the coordinator referred to above.  She pointed out some wiki features, posited some best practices for the IG and for sharing information more widely (e.g. pointing out to other more-public wikis when the data at the other end is of general interest).

ALA Connect and ACIG

Mary cited a RUSA task-force report at the LITA site about “virtual membership” (http://Connect.ala.org/node/77284) and how this could affect the need to attend ALA in person.  She invited the group to consider what implications that might have for ACIG, and what sorts of participation would work in online-only mode.  Amy suggested that members begin with a poll on the subject on the Connect site for practice.

ALA guidelines allow only 2 years of current notes to be on a site.  Where can/should we archive the older material?  ALA has not come to a conclusion yet.  Possibilities to explore include loading a link pages for archived material (i.e. a “hidden page”), or using Google Docs.  There is no ACIG Blog, and ALA is not inclined to allow it; we won’t need one if Connect works as should.  ACIG members need to sign up for the list if Mary did not do it for you.

ILS Vendor Survey

Mary invited John to post the results on the wiki.  They noted that responses were uneven, but Mary said that all available data should be posted, which might provide incentive for slackers to respond.

Program Post-Mortem

We estimated attendance at 240—not as large as some years, but a healthy number and quite large by LITA standards.  All agreed that the content was excellent, but that the program got long—there were many speakers, Diane Hillman’s presentation in particular was quite theoretical, and there was no opportunity for live Q & A.  This last point will be addressed by opening our page on Connect to allow posting of questions and subsequent discussion.  We narrowly averted technological disaster—the A/V providers claimed that Mary had not submitted a request for technology (she had), and only at the last minute did a laptop appear.  The moral of the story is to assume the worst and be sure that someone has brought a laptop with suitable software.

Midwinter 2010

Midwinter is likely to be a small gathering, possibly 100 max; nonetheless, we must be sure to not ask for a room that is too small.  While some program ideas were floated about, including a panel of ILS and open-source vendors to hear about their current stance on authority control and future plans, it was reiterated that Midwinter is a reporting session, not a program session.  The timing of Midwinter vis-à-vis the issuance of RDA-triggered changes to MARC21 and the hoped-for publication of RDA might be a problem.  ILS vendors’ willingness to speculate on their future activities in such a setting is dubious.  Further discussion will have to take place on the wiki.

The meeting adjourned at 5:35

Submitted by Mark Scharff

(Washington University in St. Louis)

Incoming Secretary 2009-2011