GAELIC SUMMER TRAINING CAMP 2010

Trends and changes in Technical Services and the impact on cataloguing

Nonnie van Wykvwykac@unisa.ac.za17 November 2010

1. Trends in the new user environment

2. External trends influencing libraries

3. Trends in Technical Services

3.1. A new bibliographic utility

3.2. Changing library systems

CONTENT

CONTENT, cont.

3.3. The name “cataloguers”

3.4. The location of the Technical Services Division in the Library structure

3.5. Building better relationships up and down the supply line

3.6. Digital metadata creation

3.7. Retooling of cataloguing staff

3.8. Less descriptive cataloguing

3.9. More authority control

3.10. Outsourcing services for print resources

3.11. New standards

CONTENT, cont.

CONTENT, cont.

3.12. Contributions to international shared cataloguing cooperatives

3.13. The building of capacity despite the shrinking pool of cataloguing professionals and budgets

The following client expectations were identified: 1. One system or search to cover a wide information universe (e.g. seamless searches from this one system to Google, etc.) 2. Enriched metadata (e.g. ONIX, table of contents, summaries, reviews, cover art) 3. Full-text availability.

TRENDS IN THE NEW USER ENVIRONMENT

4. To move easily and seamlessly from a citation about an item to the item itself—to find, identify and select is not enough. The need to obtain the resource is a must.

TRENDS IN THE NEW USER ENVIRONMENT, cont.

5. Systems must provide a lot of intelligent assistance:

5.1. Correction of obvious spelling errors.

5.2. Results must be sorted in order of relevance to their queries.

5.3. Help in navigating large retrievals through logical sub setting or topical maps or hierarchies.

TRENDS IN THE NEW USER ENVIRONMENT, cont.

5.4. Help in selecting the best source through relevance ranking or added commentary from peers and experts or “others who used this also that” tools.

5.5. Customisation and personalisation services. 6. Authenticated single sign-on. 7. Security and privacy.

TRENDS IN THE NEW USER ENVIRONMENT, cont.

TRENDS IN THE NEW USER ENVIRONMENT, cont.

8. Communication and collaboration.

9. Multiple formats available: e-resources (books, e-journals), MPEG, JPEG, RSS and other push technologies, along with traditional, tangible formats. 10. Direct links to e-mail, instant messaging, and sharing.

TRENDS IN THE NEW USER ENVIRONMENT, cont.11. Access to online virtual communities 12. Access to what the library has to offer without actually having to visit the library.

EXTERNAL TRENDS INFLUENCING LIBRARIES

1. In the 20th century libraries made a huge financial investment in the organization and description of information, inventory, workflows and staff. Today this investment is under intense scrutiny as libraries realise they no longer have a monopoly on information. They are only one of the players in the new information marketplace

EXTERNAL TRENDS INFLUENCING LIBRARIES, cont.2. To survive libraries need to move aggressively forward into the digital environment to showcase and present their unique information resources and one-of-a-kind collections to the world. 3. Shrinking budgets for resources and staff required libraries to apply business models to workflows that have previously not been questioned or challenged.

EXTERNAL TRENDS INFLUENCING LIBRARIES, cont. 4. The appearance of WorldCat Local and the impact it will have on proprietary vendor OPACs. An inventory list, acquisitions and circulation modules could in future be integrated with WorldCat Local, which can lead to the demise of integrated library systems and their chunky OPACS and huge budgetary lines. Bibliographic utilities are likely to be the centralised node for all data.

EXTERNAL TRENDS INFLUENCING LIBRARIES, cont.5. The declining demand for library catalogues. Studies indicated that 80% of users bypass library OPACS in favour of search engines when beginning a search.

6. The power of Web 2.0 tools and services to better position libraries in the new information marketplace.

EXTERNAL TRENDS INFLUENCING LIBRARIES, cont.7. The influence and effect of the mass Google digitisation of print resources project and other associated ventures on the new information marketplace. Yes, there are concerns about quality, copyright, the disappearance of all print and the time and cost to digitise all print. The impact on the relevance of libraries will have to be managed very carefully.

EXTERNAL TRENDS INFLUENCING LIBRARIES, cont.8. More and more published printed information will be available in full-text online. It will have a big impact on the physical collections that all libraries maintain, in terms of circulation, use of space, preservation and collection development. Strategically libraries should develop new directions and options.

EXTERNAL TRENDS INFLUENCING LIBRARIES, cont.9. Automatic metadata generation without human intervention, using new technologies and tools, and the integration thereof into library workflows, can be viewed as a viable option to replace certain traditional functions in libraries and to maximise staff and budgetary resources.

EXTERNAL TRENDS INFLUENCING LIBRARIES, cont.10. Libraries should develop new mantras in the new information environment, such as:

10.1. Be available everywhere

10.2. Be designed to get better through use

10.3. Be portable

10.4. Know where they are

EXTERNAL TRENDS INFLUENCING LIBRARIES, cont.10.5. Help people learn

10.6. Be tools of change

10.7. Offer paths of exploration

10.8. Help forge memory

10.9. Speak for people

10.10. Study the art of war

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES1. A new bibliographic utility 1.1. A new bibliographic utility has come into existence to oppose OCLC, namely SkyRiver.

2. Changing library systems 2.1. Continuous changing of Library systems to adapt to new technologies

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.3. The name “cataloguers” There is power in a name. Users and colleagues should understand what “cataloguers” do. They are structuring metadata. All over the world the name “cataloguers” are changed to Metadata Librarians to fit into the new work environment:

3.1. They think about descriptive data without preconceptions around descriptive level, granularity, or descriptive vocabularies.

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.3.2. They consider the entirety of the discovery and access issues around a set or collection of materials. 3.3. They consider clients and uses beyond an individual service when making design decisions—not necessarily predetermined. 3.4. They are aware of changing client needs.

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.3.5. They understand the evolving information environment.

3.6. They work collaboratively with staff in other divisions to cultivate new relationships. 3.7. They work closely with external service partners on evolving needs. 3.8. They are familiar with all metadata formats and encoding metadata.

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.3.9. They view data as collections, sets, streams. 3.10. They approach the task as designing data to “play well with others”. 3.11. They repurpose data. 3.12. Metadata creation will become more decentralised:

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont. 3.12.1. They will create original metadata for resources that would not otherwise be accessible to clients. 3.12.2. They would enhance shared metadata at its source by expanding their expertise into more varied and sophisticated metadata to improve seamless provision of access to clients. 3.12.3. They will take responsibility to quality control metadata through different approaches.

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.4. The location of the Technical Services Division in the Library structure 4.1. Where the Technical Services Division should be placed in the library structure is currently a very hot topic.

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.4.2. Technology has the effect of integrating processes. The Library of Congress has placed there Cataloguing and Procurement operations together. There are other examples in the literature where Cataloguing, Collection Development and Procurement form one operation, etc.

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.5. Build better relationships up and down the

supply line with:

5.1. Business partners

5.2. Administrators

5.3. Colleagues

5.4. Customers

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.

6. Digital metadata creation 6.1. Integrate digital library metadata into the workflow of Cataloguing. It is a natural extension of cataloguers existing skills. 7. Retooling of cataloguing staff Additional training is needed to enable staff to:

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.7.1. Work in both print and digital worlds.

7.2. Understand and use new and changed standards. 7.3. Create non-MARC metadata using a variety of schemas. 7.4 Map among various metadata schemas.

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont. 7.5. Review and analyze data. 7.6. Identify strategies to extend and reuse existing metadata. 7.7. Collaborate in the development of cost-effective, efficient best practices.languages.

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.7.8. Manage digital metadata projects, in and outside the library. 7.9. Enhance specialised skills such as foreign

7.10. Work both in digital and web-based technologies, in order to expand computing and technology skills. 7.11. Build expertise in digital asset management and problem-solving analytical skills.

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.7.12. Adapt to new processes and workflows.

8. Less descriptive cataloguing 8.1. More catalogue records are selected by machines. 8.2. More catalogue records are being captured from publisher data or other sources.

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont. 8.3. More updating of catalogue records is done via batch processes. 9. More authority control 9.1. Skilled cataloguers will be used to provide access to the intellectual content through controlled vocabulary and authority control to enhance retrievability for client.

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.10. Outsourcing services for print resources 10.1. The description, authority control, item information and physical processing of print resources are outsourced to service partners to create capacity for digital metadata challenges.

10.2. Expand outsourcing to other carriers such as audiovisual material when needed.

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont. 11. New standards 11.1. Participate in the national implementation of new standards:

11.1.1. Resource Description and Access (RDA) standard (that will simplify the cataloguing process and suit the needs of clients more), as well as the alignment with the conceptual models Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) and Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD).

11.1.2. Changed MARC21 standards (Format for Bibliographic Data (FBD) and Format for Authority Data (FAD)).

11.1.3. Changed International Standard for Bibliographic Description (ISBD, consolidated edition).

11.1.4. Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), 23rd edition

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.11.2. Manage the resistance to the new standards in order to minimize the impact on the implementation (through training, different communication modes, etc.)

12. Contributions to international shared cataloguing cooperatives

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.

12.1. Expand the contributions of cataloguers by participating in international cooperatives such as NACO, SACO and BIBCO

13. The building of capacity despite the shrinking pool of cataloguing professionals and budgets

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.13.1. The fact that a third of skilled cataloguing professionals will retire in the next ten years, continuing the trend of:

13.1.1. The shrinking pool of cataloguing professional

13.1.2. The shift away of Library Schools to incorporate cataloguing as part of their curricula

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.13.1.3. The shrinking of cataloguing experience and material budgets, necessitate the investigation of other options to sustain quality cataloguing.

13.2. Revive the concept of shared cataloguing training on consortium level, or on other platforms. This must include “how to catalogue on a shared library system”.

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont. 13.3. Lobby for a pool of South African retired or other expert cataloguers, to maintain knowledge. An example of such a group is the LAC Group (http://www.lac.com)

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont. 13.4. Introduce shared projects between 2 or more South Africans libraries to share cost and expertise, e.g. Cataloguing of government publications, cataloguing of specific subjects such as foreign languages, music, digitization of material on a specific subject, etc.

TRENDS RELATED TO TECHNICAL SERVICES, cont.I leave you with this thought:

High quality cataloguing (metadata) is priceless, because it is becoming more important for the discovery of appropriated resources.

Thank you

Questions?