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InDoMat Final ReportIntroduction"Inaccessible Domain" material types Available means for providing access Proposed minimum-level record for collections Conclusion and recommendations Key to acronyms Sources and bibliography Comparative charts Sample records IntroductionThe "Inaccessible Domain" Materials Working Group (informally known as InDoMat) was formed in July 1994 as a result of discussions during the annual meeting of the RLG Art and Architecture Group (AAG) held in Providence the previous February. In light of past cooperative projects within the AAG community—particularly projects to catalog exhibition catalogs and monographic series—several AAG members volunteered to form this group to explore the possibilities of providing access to those materials in our library collections that because of insufficient time or staff remain uncataloged, and therefore unknown, to researchers. The original working group was composed of Ann Abid (Cleveland Museum of Art), Nancy Allen (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), Pat Barnett (Frick Art Reference Library), Jeannette Dixon (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston), Pedro Figueredo (Wolfsonian Foundation), Milan Hughston (Amon Carter Museum, AAG liaison), Roger Lawson (National Gallery of Art, WG Chair), Peter Trepanier (National Gallery of Canada), and Jim Coleman (RLG). After Jim Coleman's departure from RLG, member services officer for SHARES Carol Hughes took over as RLG liaison to the working group. The group held monthly conference calls and devised a plan for meeting the charge as set forth by the RLG AAG Steering Committee. The InDoMat working group was charged with:
We examined other projects within RLG (such as ArtNACO, SCIPIO, and the Avery Library's AVIADOR) and outside of it (Artists in Canada, the Victoria and Albert National Art Library in-house system) as well as the current literature on cataloging ephemeral material to serve as guides. It was decided that devising a cooperative decentralized project based upon readily available, easily understood, and mutually agreeable standards provided the best means for achieving our goal. "Inaccessible Domain" material typesWe identified five material types—catalogs, clippings, visual resources, architectural records, and documents—for the purposes of this project and for which sample records would be created and tested. The chief criteria were that they be considered important enough to the AAG community to warrant access, and that they be commonly found in library collections. We agreed that for greatest flexibility and applicability, the material types should apply to all physical formats (printed, visual, and machine-readable). The Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) was chosen as the source for identifying the material types. Apart from the AAT's focus on subjects of primary importance to AAG members, the hierarchies allow for organization of more specific categories of material types under these broad terms. Its increasing use in the archival community as a source for genre terms was considered another advantage. Available means for providing accessThe means for providing access at the basic and full levels to these material types at the item level are already well established—AACR2, the USMARC format, RLG documentation, and other guidelines for specific materials (see Sources and bibliography). It usually is the lack of sufficient time or skilled personnel that prevents institutions from describing items individually to meet national standards at the full level. Thus we decided that formulation of a minimum-level standard of description at the collection level for textual and visual materials—a task that the RLG Archives and Manuscripts Task Force on Standards (AMTFS) was currently attempting for archival materials—should be the starting point for the InDoMat project. The conventions of describing archival collections presented a model for providing basic access that could be enhanced to give more details as time and staffing permitted. The AMTFS draft report (October 1995) and the RLG Base-Level Standard—Books (July 1983) were reviewed in order to avoid possible conflicts. Comparisons were also made with other existing or proposed "core record" projects for bibliographic and visual resources, viz., the Library of Congress (both in-house and through the Program for Cooperative Cataloging), the Visual Resources Association, and the Getty Art Information Task Force. Except for the very recent initiative at the Library of Congress to create full-level standards for cataloging collections, the projects' focus is item-level description and access. A comparative chart of fields for each is included at the end of this report. The USMARC Format for Bibliographic Data minimum-level standards are found in its Key to acronyms. Proposed minimum-level record for collectionsa. Characteristics
b. Proposed minimum-level record data elementsThe following data elements were identified as relevant to this project. Fields listed as mandatory if applicable are those we consider essential for minimum-level description and access. Those listed as optional provide important information but are suggestions only, to be assigned subject to local conditions and policy, and addition of these fields would not increase the CC value. Contributors might agree informally to include these fields routinely. Description conventions: The standard for description is AACR2. If supplementary guidelines for specific material types (see Sources and bibliography) are employed, the code for the source is entered in 040 $e. See USMARC Code List for Relators, Sources, Description Conventions for codes. RLIN mnemonics and USMARC equivalents are given for the fixed-field elements. For variable fields, all applicable subfields should be included. For further information on each element, see USMARC Format for Bibliographic Data (1994).
Conclusion and recommendationsIn the spirit of cooperation which has characterized past AAG endeavors, the working group proposes this standard as a means of providing prompt, effective access to collections that we feel are within the scope of RLG's interest in unique resources of demonstrated research value. We believe that the basic level of description and access that this standard provides is substantially better than the lack of information that now exists. The fact that constituencies in and out of RLG are working simultaneously to devise minimum-level standards attests to the value of this approach. The InDoMat Working Group is therefore pleased to present, with the approval of the AAG Steering Committee, this report to the AAG membership for immediate implementation. The report is also being distributed to the RLG Primary Sources Group and to appropriate committees in other relevant organizations (ARLIS/NA, SAA, VRA) for comment. Given the opportunity to provide online access to important resources heretofore undocumented on RLIN, AAG members will be strongly motivated to participate in a project of this kind. Free transfer from local systems via FTP offers further encouragement to take on additional (albeit simplified) cataloging tasks. However, the financial restraints that require some institutions to adhere to network standards in order to receive search credits could hamper progress in providing information for these materials. We therefore recommended that RLG consider the acceptance of this proposal as a standard for which there is some financial benefit to contributors. One possibility is the offer of search credits. Search credits based on a distinctive field value (for example, a full-level standard original cataloging record earns a four-search credit based on the CC value) might prove promising. For example, a minimum-level standard original record for collections might earn a two-search credit. It should be noted that at present only minimum-level records entered in the RLIN AMC file with a CC value of X55X are eligible to receive search credits. Records entered in the AMC file should be for archival or mixed materials; records for collections composed entirely of one material type (e.g., printed monographs and serials, visual materials, machine-readable data files, maps, sound recordings, and scores) should be entered in the appropriate RLIN file. Two issues relating to search credits require further study. The first relates to RLG practice to award search credits for records adhering to nationally accepted standards. As no national standard for minimum-level description and access for collections yet exists, the justification for awarding search credits for InDoMat records must find another basis. The second concerns the network system procedure for assigning CC values to "imported" records, i.e., records of any level created on a local system and added to RLIN via tape or file transfer. Such records are automatically assigned a CC value of X66X, and are therefore ineligible for search credits. Inasmuch as the practice of creating records locally for contribution to national bibliographic networks represents an increasingly cost-effective means of record contributions by institutions regardless of size, and is thus likely to increase, the InDoMat Working Group recommends that RLG consider modifying the existing policies and programs relating directly to the issues of (1) defining a standard in the absence of an official national precedent, and (2) assigning a CC (or other field) value to allow "imported" records to be awarded search credits. The InDoMat Working Group feels a particular affinity for the work of the RLG AMTFS, and we see some parallels in our efforts: the AMTFS is attempting to improve access to aggregations of unique research materials; InDoMat is attempting to improve access to unique aggregations of research materials. We are confident that contributions from both sources will enrich RLIN and strengthen its role as an important, indeed, indispensable component of scholarly research. Key to acronyms used in this report
Sources and bibliographySourcesThe following is a selective list of sources of description conventions used in creating minimum-level cataloging records for collections according to the standard proposed above. Anglo-American Cataloging Rules. 2nd ed., rev. Chicago : American Library Association, 1988. Updated by 1993 Amendments. Library of Congress Rule Interpretations. Washington : Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 1989- . Updated quarterly. Hensen, Steven L. Archives, Personal Papers, and Manuscripts : a Cataloging Manual for Archival Repositories, Historical Societies, and Manuscript Libraries. 2nd. ed. Chicago : Society of American Archivists, 1989. Parker, Elizabeth Betz. Graphic Materials : Rules for Describing Original Items and Historical Collections. Washington : Library of Congress, 1982. USMARC Code List for Countries. Washington : Network Development and MARC Standards Office, Library of Congress, 1993. USMARC Code List for Geographic Areas. Washington : Network Development and MARC Standards Office, Library of Congress, 1994. USMARC Code List for Languages. Washington : Network Development and MARC Standards Office, Library of Congress, 1993. USMARC Code List for Relators, Sources, Description Conventions. Washington : Network Development and MARC Standards Office, Library of Congress, 1993. USMARC Format for Bibliographic Data. Washington : Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 1994. Updated quarterly. RLIN Supplement to the USMARC Bibliographic Format. 1st ed. [Mountain View, CA] : Research Libraries Group, 1989 (and supplements). RLIN Memory Aid : Variable Fields (Integrated Bibliographic Format). 1st ed. [Mountain View, CA] : Research Libraries Group, 1995. BibliographyArtists in Canada : a Union List of Artists' Files = Artistes au Canada : une liste collective des dossiers. 3rd ed. Ottawa : The Library, National Gallery of Canada, 1988. Automating Newspaper Clippings Files : a Practical Guide / by members of the Newspaper Division, Special Libraries Association. Washington, DC : The Association, 1987. "Avisdatabaser nyttige men erstatter ikke klipparkivet" [Newspaper databases are useful but do not replace clipping files]. In: Bok og bibliotek (ISSN 0006-5811) v. 58, no. 4 (1988) p. 26-29. Bichteler, Julie. "Geologists and Gray Literature : Access, Use, and Problems." In: Science & Technology Libraries (ISSN 0194-262x) v. 11 (Spring 1991) p. 39-50. Defining a Component Item Entry Field in the USMARC Bibliographic Format. USMARC discussion paper no. 80 (May 27, 1994) (available from the USMARC electronic discussion group) Gilmartin, Jacqueline, and Anne Beavan. Dynix : a Guide for Librarians and Systems Managers. Brookfield, VT : Ashgate, 1992. Huby, Danielle, and Claude Hurisse. "How IFP [Institut fran ais du petrole] Processes Data Concerning Meetings" [presented at the IATUL seminar, 1988, Veszprem, Hungary]. In: IATUL Quarterly (ISSN 0950-4117) v. 2 (Dec. 1988), p. 215-222. Hughston, Milan. "Preserving the Ephemeral : New Access to Artists' Files, Vertical Files, and Scrapbooks." In: Art Documentation v. 9, no. 4 (Winter 1990), p. 179-181. Johnson, Ruth M. "Extension Literature in UK Agriculture : its Bibliographic Control" [rev. version of a paper presented at the 7th World Conference of the International Association of Agricultural Librarians and Documentalists, Ottawa, June 1985]. In: Quarterly bulletin of the International Association of Agricultural Librarians and Documentalists (ISSN 0020-5966) v. 33, no. 3 (1988), p. 99-104 Kronenfeld, Michael, and Louis Howley. "Theory and Implementation of an Automated Vertical File." In: Readers' Quarterly no. 3 (Spring 1994), p. 387-394. Lamolinara, Guy. "Hispanic Division's Ephemeral Collections Become More Solid." In: Library of Congress Information Bulletin (ISSN 0041-7904) v. 50 (Oct. 7, 1991), p. 382. Luzi, Daniela, and Paola Molinas. "La catalogazione della letturatura grigia" [Cataloging of gray literature]. In: Bollettino d'informazioni (Associazione italiana biblioteche) (ISSN 0004-5934) v. 27 (luglio-dic. 1987), p. 325-344. Makepeace, Chris E. Ephemera : a Book on its Collection, Conservation, and Use. Aldershot, Hants. ; Brookfield, VT : Gower, c1985. Posnett, N. W. "Factors Affecting the Accessibility of Nonconventional Literature for use in the United Kingdom, and Some Possible Solutions." In: Library Acquisitions (ISSN 0364-6408) v. 8, no. 4 (1984), p. 275-285. Readings on the Vertical File / [collected by] Michael D.G. Spencer. Englewood, CO : Libraries Unlimited, 1993. Sitter, Clara Loewen. The Vertical File and its Alternatives : a Handbook. Englewood, CO : Libraries Unlimited, 1992. Wrighting, Andrew. "Cataloguing Ephemera : a Student's Project." In: Catalogue & Index (ISSN 0008-7629) v. 76-77 (Spring-Summer 1985), p. 15-16. Comparative charts
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