The University System of Maryland & Affiliated Institutions (USMAI) is a consortium of 17 member libraries that share a common integrated library system (ILS) and participate in shared purchasing programs.
The Cataloging & Metadata Unit often refers to the USMAI staff site for resources regarding the shared ILS. The USMAI Cataloging, Database Maintenance Community of Interest works together to create documentation that governs our use of the ILS. We also communicate issues to each other using the Cataloging Problem Submission form.
USMAI allows you to join Communities of Interest listservs to keep up with recent news and problems that could affect multiple people. At the very least, C&M Unit members should join the Cataloging, Database Maintenance listserv.
We also frequently use the USMAI Consortial Library Applications Support (CLAS) team for technical support such as extracting bibliographic data, running reports, and batch changes. We submit requests to CLAS using AlephRX.
The Eastern Academic Scholars' Trust (EAST) is a shared print initiative involving academic and research libraries in New England, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. EAST is focused on retaining unique, scarcely held and frequently used scholarly monographs and serials in support of scholarship, research and teaching. EAST member libraries commit to retain agreed upon titles in their local collections for a minimum of 15 years and make those titles available to other EAST members, allowing these libraries to consider weeding and deselection of titles locally in order to free up space for new and innovative library services.
EAST manages a retention database to identify which libraries have committed to retain which titles.
Here is an example of a catalog record with an EAST holding statement: http://catalog.umd.edu/docno=000261610. Click 'Holdings.'
Reading Catalog Records
There are three types of catalog records: bibliographic, holdings, and item.
You’ll notice there are two parts of a record. The left side has a list of numbers, called MARC fields. Each MARC field contains data about the resource. For example, MARC field 100 contains the author. You will not have to memorize any of these numbers or what they mean! Just know that sometimes, we may ask you to edit information in a specific MARC field, and we’ll give you all the information you need to do this.
A bibliographic record is a type of record describing a resource. It answers questions like, “What is the title?” “When was it published?” “Who are the creators?”
Bibliographic records are created to represent a resource in an online search. Patrons can’t look through every book in the library to find the one they want, right? So librarians provide representations of those books by summarizing the data in a bibliographic record. This allows patrons to narrow down their options and hopefully identify which resource they need, whether the library has it in the collection, and where to find it in the library.
Bibliographic records are often shared between libraries. You’ve seen an example of this in WorldCat: an international database with bibliographic records that represent library collections worldwide. Librarians use a standard called MARC to share bibliographic records and make library data computer-readable.
MARC stands for Machine Readable Cataloging and is a standard for encoding data so it can be read by computers (therefore, machine readable).
MARC data looks like this to a computer:
00985cam a2200289Ia 4500001000200000005001700002008004100019010001700060020001500077035002300092035000600115040002800121049000900149082001700158090002400175100002900199245009700228260004800325300005400373504005100427650004200478650005100520700002600571910001900597994001200616998006700628‑2‑20060925132923.0‑980824s1998 enkaf b 001 0beng d‑ agb 98061412 ‑ a0571175406‑ a(OCoLC)ocm39748039‑ a2‑ aUKMcUKMdEMUdBUFdLOY‑ aLOYY‑04a782.1092221‑ aML410.J18bJ35 1998‑1 aJana¿¿c¿¿kova¿¿, Zdenka.‑10aMy life with Jana¿¿c¿¿ek :bthe memoirs of Zdenka Jana¿¿c¿¿kova¿¿ /cedited by John Tyrrell.‑ aLondon ;aBoston :bFaber and Faber,c1998.‑ axviii, 278 p., [8] p. of plates :bill. ;c24 cm.‑ aIncludes bibliographical references and index.‑ 0aComposerszCzechoslovakiavBiography.‑ 0aComposers’ spouseszCzechoslovakiavBiography.‑1 aTyrrell, John,d1942-‑ aCARL0000000001‑ a02bLOY‑ 0aLDR506 OCLC 00/01/03 12:31:48bLDR506 OCLC 00/01/03 13:50:25‑
When a patron searches our online catalog for the above resource, the computer translates that long string into something the patron can read:
However, that long string of numbers and letters isn’t exactly friendly to catalogers who have to edit the data. As a result, software was created to “read” the MARC and put it into a format that was easier for catalogers to understand.
When you are cataloging, you’ll see something like this:
You’ll notice that MARC records have numbered tags on the left and data on the right. The numbered tags tell a cataloger what data to input. These are called MARC fields. For example, the 020 field always contains ISBN numbers.
MARC records also have indicators: the two numbers after the field number. For example, the 245 field has indicators 1 and 0. The first indicator means there is a primary author attached to the title; the second indicator means there are no articles (the, an, a) at the beginning of the title.
Indicators have different meanings depending on the field. The 100 field has first indicator 1 and the second indicator is blank. This means the author name in the field is written surname first, followed by the author’s given name.
You won’t ever have memorize all of the indicators for all of the fields! Just know that indicators have meaning.
The record also contains subfields which contain more detailed data. For example, the 260 Imprint field has subfield b which specifically tells you the publisher of the item. Subfields are marked by symbols called delimiters. These look like little fences or pipes; alternatively some software uses dollar signs.
The last thing you need to know about are the MARC headers. These include basic information about the bibliographic record and the resource: for example, the level of cataloging (how complete is the data in the record?), the language of the resource, the dates relevant to the resource, etc.
In Aleph, these include the LDR and 008 fields. Right click on the field and open the form to edit these if you want to see what the codes stand for.
In OCLC, the header fields are abbreviated, so you have to look up that Ctry means Country of Publication.
Here’s a tip: you don’t have to memorize MARC fields to catalog! Eventually, you’ll do it so often you’ll pick them up, but it’s always better to refer to the resources for accuracy rather than entering incorrect data.
You’ll find resources for MARC cataloging on the Cataloging References tab. A resource you should get familiar with is OCLC’s Bibliographic Formats and Standards. From the Cataloging and Metadata Blog under Staff Quicklinks, go to the OCLC heading and click on Bibliographic Formats and Standards.
This resource was created by OCLC, the international cooperative cataloging program. Basically, librarian Wikipedia for catalog records!
If you scroll down, you’ll notice the field numbers (0xx, 1xx, etc.). Another good thing to click on is the link to Fixed-Field Elements and 006. This will explain all of the codes in the OCLC header (ex. Ctry = Country of Publication). Use the sidebar on the left of the screen to search by OCLC header code.
Again, you never have to memorize anything as a cataloger, and trying to memorize can lead to mistakes. Always use resources like OCLC Bibliographic Formats and Standards to guide you when you catalog.
1) Find the Aleph Live Cataloging Module on your computer. Open the module and make sure your login works by entering your username and password.
2) Find the OCLC Connexion client on your computer. Open the module and add your login information to the client by clicking Tools-->Options-->Authorizations and adding your authorization number, password, and your name. Set your authorization as the default for the client, then click okay. Test your authorization by clicking the login button at the top of the screen:
3) Use the WorldShare Metadata Services link above to make sure your username and password work.
The image below provides terms referring to parts of the cataloging module.
The tabs refer to the four areas of the Cataloging module:
Anything related to the cataloging editor will have the icon for the cataloging editor tab (looks like a piece of paper with a pencil).
Anything related to item editing will have the item icon (looks like a book).
Objective: Push records between Aleph cataloging and item tabs
Hint: hover your mouse over Aleph icons to see what they do
Objective: Search for a bibliographic record using Advanced Search
Multi-Base CCL Searching
Aleph search indexes allow you to use identifiers or indexed descriptive metadata to locate records. Aleph search indexes are listed on the USMAI staff site. You can search indexes in Aleph using the index code and "=". Search multiple indexes by connecting them using AND.
Open the Aleph cataloging module. In the search tab, select the Multi-base CCL Search.
Example: Try searching WSC=LNDL STACK AND AUT=Smith
*Note: If you notice, the number of records returned for this search is less than the search for Authors(WAU) = Smith in the previous training exercise. Looking at what the different author indexes mean, why do you think this is?
Objective: Search for a bibliographic record using Aleph Indexes and the Multi-base CCL Search
Open the Aleph Cataloging module.
Make sure MAI Global is selected. Use the Aleph Indexes to perform the following searches:
Objective: Complete a multi-field Search
In the search tab's upper pane, select 3. Multi-field Search.
In Utility number, search the following:
MacroExpress is a macro editor that allows us to write scripts that will automate actions. For example, our e-resources macros will ask us for details about an e-resource, then will enter the correct fields and standard vocabularies in the bibliographic, holding, and item records.
We share a Macro file: I:\Cataloging Metadata Services\Systems and Technology\Aleph\Macros\alephMacros.mex
Whenever your computer reboots, it loses access to alephMacros . There are two options for managing this:
