The ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition in Chicago, IL has been canceled. In lieu of face-to-face meetings at the Annual Conference, ALCTS will hold a Virtual Interest Group Week, June 8-12, 2020. Registration is free and meetings are open to all.
Registration is limited to 300 per meeting.
Linked Library Data Interest Group Meeting
Monday, June 8, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. CT | Sign up to Attend
Description: ALCTS/LITA Library Linked Data Interest Group (LLD-IG) facilitates active conversation among librarians and information professionals to discuss projects, ideas, and practical use cases related to library linked data. For ALCTS Virtual Interest Group Week, the theme of this meeting is “Thinking outside the Box: Linked Data initiatives to connect users to content.” Two presenters, Ethan Gruber, American Numismatic Society, and Will Kent, Wiki Education, show how the GLAM community (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) creates and utilizes linked data beyond the traditional bibliographic framework.
Presenters: Will Kent, Wiki Education, and Ethan Gruber, American Numismatic Society
Interest Group Chairs
Metadata Interest Group Meeting
Tuesday, June 9, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. CT | Sign up to Attend
Description: The ALCTS Metadata Interest Group facilitates active conversation among librarians and information professionals about projects, ideas, and practical use cases related to library metadata. While the interest group usually plans a program of presentations, given the unprecedented situation facing us all this year, the program will follow a more open, town hall format. The aim is to encourage discussion about any work or ideas related to metadata, with a special emphasis on topics/questions related to the impact of the current COVID-19 crisis on metadata work. This open format is an opportunity to encourage community participation, provide a platform to express concerns and ask questions, and offer solutions to support each other.
Discussion may include:
- How does telecommuting affect your workflow on metadata?
- Has your library been working on a reopening plan? How does that affect your metadata work?
- Have any new projects come out of the need to work from home?
- What have you learned from this situation that you will be able to leverage in future work?
- Other metadata creation, management, evaluation, and maintenance topics
Presenters: The IG members will moderate the discussion: Rachel Turner, Mingyan Li (Programming co-chairs), Darnelle Melvin, Anne Washington, Charlie Tillay, and Jacky Hart
Interest Group Chairs
Darnelle Melvin
Anne Washington
Cataloging Norms Interest Group Meeting
Tuesday, June 9, 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. CT | Sign up to Attend
Description:
The ALCTS CaMMS Cataloging Norms Interest Group is pleased to announce its program for the ALCTS Virtual IG Week 2020, 3:00-4:00 pm EDT, Tuesday, June 9, 2020.
There will be three presentations that are relevant to what catalogers are dealing with today. The presentations will be 10-15 minutes long, and there will be time for Q&A and possibly some relevant, related discussion at the end of the session.
Presenters: Bela Gupta, Cataloging & Metadata Librarian, Claire T. Carney Library, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth bgupta@umassd.edu
Topic: How end users’ expectations and behaviors affect cataloging norms.
Summary: Cataloging norms at our library in UMass Dartmouth library help to provide easy and direct access to library resources that represent and disseminate users’ needs online. In a rapidly changing environment users expect accessibility to not only physical resources but to a large number of electronic resources. To fulfil this need we provide access to new electronic books by ensuring their activation and representation through bibliographic records in the library catalog. Recently, I worked on the JSTOR Discovery eBooks (JSTOR eBooks EBA Pilot) Project. I activated 42,033 ebooks in this CZ (Community Zone) collection and deactivated the electronic portfolios for which we already had access through other eBook collections (around 711 portfolios were deactivated). I did this in the cloud based Integrated Library System and Excel. Similarly, I examined and deleted duplicate electronic portfolios in the DOAB (Directory of Open Access Books). Another project was to move 4000 physical books from the basement to the library shelves to ensure their discoverability and access by our patrons. I did this virtually by moving thousands of them as a batch job in ExLibris Alma working with staff in Circulation and Access Services who moved these books physically. Users expect the latest technology so we withdrew VHS Tapes after reviewing their usage statistics and cataloged DVD formats of those tapes as those are in demand. I also created a new National Gallery of Art electronic books collection for the College of Visual and Performing Arts students. I was also involved in several clean-up projects to ensure that each resource whether electronic or physical is attached to a compatible bibliographic record in the catalog for access and discoverability. Keeping our users’ expectations in mind we also added several local MARC fields in MARCEdit and created normalization rules in Exlibris Alma for our physical resources.
Presenters:
Jessica L. Serrao, Metadata Librarian for Digital Collections, Clemson University, jserrao@clemson.edu; Scott Dutkiewicz, Metadata and Monographic Resources Team Lead, Clemson University, scottmd@clemson.edu; Charlotte Grubbs, Library Specialist, Clemson University, grubbs4@clemson.edu
Title: Metadata-from-Home: A Digital Collections Project During COVID-19
Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting shift to working from home (WFH) and online education proved a boon for digital collections. Not only can digital collections provide researchers remote access to rare and unique archival materials, but the metadata work that facilitates its discovery can be adapted to a WFH environment. At Clemson University Libraries, the metadata team facilitated a WFH project where 15 Libraries employees across two units are helping to describe a collection of over 2400 photographs. This project rose to the challenges of providing meaningful work to colleagues while working from home, empowering them to learn new skills and gain stronger understanding of metadata work, all while speeding up the timeframe for making this collection accessible online. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the project workflow, including how training, communication, and quality control were managed remotely.
Presenters: Graeme Williams, carryonwilliams@gmail.com
Title: Why is language coding so bad?
Summary:
Language information can be included in the MARC record in at least six places (008, 041, 240, 250, 546, 650) as well as the call number. Inconsistent coding is exacerbated by quirks of the OPAC (e.g., the language facet uses the 008 but the language term in advanced search uses the 041).
In theory, a single library could apply consistent rules for language coding which would limit these possibilities. In practice, records vary wildly. As a result, there is no way for a patron to obtain good search results. This causes particular challenges to patrons looking for bilingual materials.
I will present results from different searches (of the Palo Alto City Library) to show that it is unlikely that any plausible search will return correct and complete results for bilingual materials.
Interest Group Chairs
Liz Perlman Bodian
Keiko Suzuki
Competencies & Education for a Career in Cataloging Interest Group Meeting
Wednesday, June 10, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CT | Sign up to Attend
Description: The Cataloging Ethics Steering Committee, with members from cataloging communities in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, will present their work to-date at the Competencies and Education for a Career in Cataloging Interest Group session.
Cataloging Ethics: The Force Awakens
This effort to produce a cataloging ethics document is in response to a clear interest and need for direction on cataloging ethics expressed through Cataloging and Metadata Management Section (CaMMS) Forums at Midwinter and Annual in 2016. The CaMMS Executive Board formed the Cataloging Ethics Steering Committee to create a dynamic document that embodies the collective experiences and wisdom of the cataloging community of practice – a document that would consist of a framework, with guidance and examples of best practice, which can be shared across the cataloging community. This six-member committee includes representatives from CaMMS, the Metadata and Discovery Group (MDG) (formerly Cataloguing and Indexing Group (CIG)) of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) in the United Kingdom, and the Cataloguing and Metadata Standards Committee (CMSC) in Canada.
At this session, Cataloging Ethics Steering Committee members will describe the work to-date, present the resulting draft cataloging ethics document, and solicit additional ideas and feedback.
Presenters: Beth Shoemaker, Emory University; Karen Snow, Dominican University; Sarah Furger, Joliet Public Library; May Chan, University of Toronto; Diane Pennington, University of Strathclyde; and Jane Daniels, Cardiff Metropolitan University
Interest Group Chairs
Cataloging and Classification Research Interest Group Meeting
Wednesday, June 10, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. CT | Sign up to Attend
Description: Cataloging and Classification Research Interest Group provides a showcase for viewing and discussing the latest research projects in the organization and retrieval of information. For ALCTS Virtual Interest Group Week, the meeting theme is “How cataloging can support changes and challenges affecting our libraries.” We have three presentations: 1. “Increasing collections discoverability through interdepartmental collaboration” by Rachel Berman Turner, Binghamton University; 2. “Managing during a crisis: emerging stronger than ever” by Cecilia Williams and Nikita Mohammed, Harris County Public Library; 3. “Across three continents: Collaborating on the Gros collection gift between the University of Toronto Libraries and the French Institute of Pondicherry” by Lana Soglasnova, University of Toronto Libraries (Canada).
Presenters: Rachel Berman Turner, Binghamton University; Cecilia Williams and Nikita Mohammed, Harris County Public Library; Lana Soglasnova, University of Toronto Libraries (Canada)
Interest Group Chairs
Collection Evaluation and Assessment Interest Group Meeting
Wednesday, June 10, 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. CT | Sign up to Attend
Description: The Collections Evaluation and Assessment Interest Group is pleased to collaborate with the Chair of the LLAMA Assessment Community of Practice on a session featuring three presenters from Temple University who will share information about innovations Temple University Libraries put into place as they moved during the spring of 2020 to fully virtual operations, and what they learned that will inform collection decisions looking ahead.
General discussion topics include:
- How does collections temporarily shifting to all virtual change our thinking about collections usage.
- What are we learning about patron behaviors now that might inform our future collection development.
- Given the likelihood of budget shortfalls for collections, how might our current pandemic experience impact future decision making.
Please join us and bring your ideas and questions related to informing collection decisions.
Presenters: Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian, Temple University Libraries; Olivia Given Castello, Head of Business, Social Sciences & Education; Library Liaison to the School of Social Work, Temple University Libraries; and J. Brian, Schoolar, Head, Acquisitions & Collection Development, Temple University Libraries
Moderator: Nancy Turner, Associate Director for Organizational Research & Strategy Alignment, Temple University Libraries; Chair of the Chair of the LLAMA Assessment Community of Practice
Interest Group Chairs
Authority Control Interest Group Meeting
Thursday, June 11, 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. CT | Sign up to Attend
Description:
Provides a forum for discussion of a variety of issues related to authority control for online catalogs and for international sharing of authority of data.
Presenters:
Janis Young, Library of Congress, PTCP LC Update
Hilary Thorsen, Stanford University, Wikidata as an Identifier Hub
Interest Group Chairs:
Creative Ideas in Technical Services Interest Group Meeting
Thursday, June 11, 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. CT | Sign up to Attend
Description: The ALCTS Creative Ideas in Technical Services Interest Group (CITSIG) will host a collection of 5 lightning talks focused on a variety of creative ideas and practices in technical services. Topics cover adapting workflows or taking on entirely new projects for the rapidly-changing work environment of the covid-19 pandemic, as well as non-pandemic topics. The specific talks include:
Everybody grab a shovel! Library-wide catalog clean-up in the age of COVID
The clean-up projects that tend to get pushed off the longest are those that require large amounts of human time and attention—most of us just don't have the resources to tackle those in the way we'd like... except perhaps during pandemics, and especially when people throughout the library are willing to pitch in. At George Mason University we identified post-migration clean-up projects that could be taken on by anyone in the library, put together documentation, and set up training sessions to get everyone up to speed. In the months since our shut down began we've already reviewed tens of thousands of records! Presented by Kimberley A. Edwards, Head, Database Integrity & Analysis, & Emily Nilson, Database Integrity & Analysis Specialist, George Mason University
Digital collections at a distance
What happens when you no longer can digitize new content for your digital collections? The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections responded with the creation of Still Tide Together: Documenting Life during the COVID-19 pandemic, whose submissions will represent the first intake of born-digital content without having an established born-digital program in place. Attendees will learn about the decision-making process to make this project doable and the planning of a makeshift born-digital workflow. Besides this project, the staff is completing a migration of existing digital content to a new digital content management system, reusing grant-funded digital content to create new digital collections, and revamping its digital preservation processes and workflows. Presented by Laura M. Gentry, Special Collections and Digital Initiatives Librarian, The University of Alabama Libraries
Workflow for providing HathiTrust access for brittle books
HathiTrust provides limited access to online versions of works for member libraries when current or previously held print copies fall under Section 108 conditions: when print copies of works are damaged, deteriorating, lost or stolen, and a copy is not available on the market at a fair price. To qualify for access, the library must demonstrate that it previously owned a print version. Preservation, acquisitions, and cataloging staff at the University of Washington Libraries partnered on a workflow for adding structured notes to item and holding records for withdrawn brittle volumes in a batch job. After 24 hours, the notes are permanently available via the analytics module of the LMS, and the records are deleted. An analytics report provides next steps for staff to remove OCLC holdings, edit holdings statements for multipart monographs where only some volumes are withdrawn, and notify acquisitions to handle attached purchase lines. Presented by Erin Grant, Director of Cataloging and Metadata Services, University of Washington
Uncovering hidden gems: How our library reached out to improve the discovery and use of departmental collections
Departmental and subject-specific libraries and collections are tucked away all over our campus. We reached out to the directors of two of these collections to offer assistance in the maintenance and management of their heavily-used, growing collections. This discussion will highlight the steps we took to communicate with these directors and implement management tools and strategies and how librarian expertise and library-supplied resources helped ease the management burden for their directors and make these resources more user-friendly. Presented by Sarah Mazur, Head of Resource Management and Discovery, Louisiana State University Shreveport
From data entry to MARC: Transforming Excel spreadsheets into MARC records using MARCEdit
The University of the District of Columbia had a problem; a backlog of old manuscripts were taking up space in the library’s small Technical Services area, and no one with the appropriate training had the time to process them, or to train another in original cataloging. Thankfully, one doesn’t need much training to do data entry! This presentation describes how the UDC Library used staff knowledgeable in data entry to enter manuscript metadata into Excel, which was then transformed by the Cataloging Department into MARC21 records using MARCEdit’s Export Tab Delimited program. Presented by Jacqueline Saavedra, Cataloger/Metadata Librarian, University of the District of Columbia
Presenters: Kimberley A. Edwards, Head, Database Integrity & Analysis, & Emily Nilson, Database Integrity & Analysis Specialist, George Mason University; Laura M. Gentry, Special Collections and Digital Initiatives Librarian, The University of Alabama Libraries; Erin Grant, Director of Cataloging and Metadata Services, University of Washington; Sarah Mazur, Head of Resource Management and Discovery, Louisiana State University Shreveport; Jacqueline Saavedra, Cataloger/Metadata Librarian, University of the District of Columbia
Interest Group Chair
Preservation Administrators Interest Group Meeting
Thursday, June 11, 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. CT | Sign up to Attend
Description: Details to come.
Presenters: Details to come.
Interest Group Chair
Electronic Resource Interest Group Meeting
Friday, June 12, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CT | Sign up to Attend
Description: The ALCTS Electronic Resource Interest Group is hosting a session of six lightning talks to highlight how libraries have approached electronic resource management during the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. This session will bring together library professionals to share their experiences, trials and successes in managing electronic resources to support online teaching, learning and research in this unprecedented time.
From Remote Facility to Working Remotely: What’s the Difference?
Presenters: Christopher Vidas, Electronic Resources Librarian, Clemson University
Into the Great Wide COVID-Open: Evaluating Temporarily-Opened E-resources During the Pandemic
Presenters: Heather Wilson, Acquisitions & Electronic Resources Librarian and Laurel Narizny, Systems Librarian, Caltech Library
When Everything Goes Online
Presenters: Xiaoyan (Yan) Song, Electronic Resources Librarian, NC State University; Katharine Frazier, University Library Technician, NC State University
Not Business as Usual: E-Resource Management and Communication at University of Denver Libraries During COVID-19
Presenters: Jenn Brown, Electronic Resources Access & Discovery Manager, University of Denver Libraries; Shannon Tharp, Collections & Content Management Librarian, University of Denver Libraries
Fun Times at SCU: Short-staffed, Streaming Videos, and Free Stuff!
Presenter: Shenika McAlister, Head of Electronic Resources & Serials, Santa Clara University
To the Rescue: Partnership approaches to managing complementary and expanded access to resources during COVID-19
Presenters: Helen Salmon, Collections Librarian (Humanities), University of Guelph; Kailey Brisbin, Electronic Resources Librarian (Humanities), University of Guelph
Presenters: Christopher Vidas, Electronic Resources Librarian, Clemson University; Xiaoyan (Yan) Song, Electronic Resources Librarian, NC State University; Katharine Frazier, University Library Technician, NC State University; Jenn Brown, Electronic Resources Access & Discovery Manager, University of Denver Libraries; Shannon Tharp, Collections & Content Management Librarian, University of Denver Libraries; Shenika McAlister, Head of Electronic Resources & Serials, Santa Clara University; Helen Salmon, Collections Librarian (Humanities), University of Guelph; Kailey Brisbin, Collections Librarian (Humanities), University of Guelph
Interest Group Chair
Catalog Management Interest Group Meeting
Friday, June 12, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. CT | Sign up to Attend
Description: The Catalog Management Interest Group discusses the various issues involved in cataloging, classification, authority control, and metadata application after the initial cataloging has been performed, including its impact on discovery. Two presenters will discuss techniques, developments, and problems with managing the data integrity of library catalogs and related discovery tools.
Breaking Rules and Preserving Legacies for Digital Access
Faculty and students of Indiana University's school of music have been performing music for a century, and recording it for nearly 70 years. For 15 years, those recordings have been born digital, but then we digitized the rest of the approximately 30,000 recordings. Cataloging practice has changed a great deal in that time, and the practice specifically for sound exponentially so. Breaking some rules and adjusting priorities allows the legacy of a world-renowned school of music to be more discoverable and accessible to an even greater audience. I will highlight the management of a project that updates existing data and increases both the granularity and the fullness of records, improving discovery and access to that legacy in a digital form. I will also give insight to the complexity of connecting physical and digital content through physical and digital library processes.
Presenters: Michelle Hahn, Assistant Librarian, Sound Recordings Cataloger, William and Gayle Cook Music Library, Indiana University
Improving Local Holdings Records
The interconnectedness of libraries and scholars has never been more apparent than in this time of physical distancing and remote learning brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Accurate, shareable data is essential to ensure a fully functioning scholarship network. The Center for Research Libraries made the best of our time working remotely by updating our print serial holdings records from 866 to 85X/86X fields. The project was already in the planning stages before remote work was imposed, but the stay at home order thrust the project to the top of the to do list. Staff from the cataloging department and the stacks unit within Access Services working together have reviewed, parsed out, corrected, or set aside for physical review of items approximately 2,000 records. The process took into account the various levels of technology, training, and experience team members had and created a close knit, effective cross-departmental team.
Presenters: Amy Wood, Head of Technical Services, Center for Research Libraries
Interest Group Chairs
Acquisitions Managers and Vendors Interest Group
Friday, June 12, 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. CT | Sign up to Attend
Description:
The ALCTS Acquisitions Managers and Vendors Interest Group stimulate and facilitate the free flow of ideas between and among acquisition librarians and vendors of library materials.
Join us for a lively discussion about acquisitions workflows, staff and overall well-being related to the impact of COVID-19. This is an informal discussion to share lessons learned, best practices and exchange ideas
Presenters: Open Discussion.
Interest Group Chair
Technical Services Directors of Large Research Libraries IG (Big Heads)
Friday, June 19, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. CT | Sign up Attend
Description:
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Chair Updates– Dracine Hodges, Nina Servizzi
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Describing Indigenous Collections: Classification, Subject Headings, and Metadata Enhancement Practices at the UBC Xwi7xwa Library – Adolfo Tarango (University of British Columbia)
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Intro to librarianship: challenges and opportunities in hiring underrepresented undergrad and grad interns – Ellen Mueller (University of Michigan)
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Accessibility during a pandemic and e-resources accessibility keyboard testing project – Denise Pan and Hana Levy ( University of Washington)
Participation is reserved primarily for the interest group membership, but we gladly welcome guests who are interested in being in the virtual audience.
Presenters: Adolfo Tarango, Ellen Mueller, Denise Pan, Hana Levay
Interest Group Chair