Bibliographic Standards Committee

Past Preconference Seminars & Workshops

See also: Current and Forthcoming Preconference Seminars & Workshops

2011 Preconference Seminar, Baton Rouge
Z702 is for Book Thief: The Role of Technical Services in Collection Security

Following the 2010 RBMS Conference Program, To Catch a Thief: Cataloging and the Security of Special Collections, this seminar will explore cataloging rare materials while being ever mindful of securing those collections. This seminar will look at those questions, and possible answers, from a cataloger’s point of view. Are they practicable? What happens if the best answer is in direct conflict with department priorities? What is the responsibility of technical services when it comes to collections security? How should we prioritize our limited time when we consider our responsibility for our collections?

Speakers:

2010 Preconference Workshop, Philadelphia
Latin for Rare Materials Catalogers

Intended for rare materials catalogers with little or no familiarity with Latin, this workshop will provide tools for navigating the title page, identifying the key verbs and inflected forms of nouns for persons, places, and things, in order to accurately record title and remainder of title information, author(s) and other names, editions, publication information, and privilege statements (i.e. DCRM(B)/AACR2 descriptive areas 1, 2, and 4), and any related notes. Among the issues addressed will be identifying and expanding contracted forms, Latin terminology used for illustrations and publishing, and other issues unique to Latin materials.

Presenters:

2010 Preconference Seminar, Philadelphia
Bridging the Gap: Communication Between Catalogers and Archivists

How can catalogers and archivists better work together for the benefit of their users, public services staff, conservators, and the collection in general? More and more people self-identify as "special collections catalogers" rather than either book or manuscript catalogers. How are current trends blurring the lines between the roles of rare book catalogers and technical services archivists? This promises to be a lively discussion of the interaction between the archival and rare book communities' practices, standards and cultures.

Speakers:

2009 Preconference Workshop, Charlottesville
Applying Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Serials)

Through lectures, visual aids, and in-class exercises, workshop participants will be introduced to and gain some practical experience in using Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Serials) (DCRM(S)). The workshop will focus on the descriptive portions of the bibliographic record, following the scope of DCRM(S), with special emphasis on the basis of the description, transcription, numbering, publication area, and required notes. In addition, it will cover variations requiring a new bibliographic record and the treatment of reissued serials. The workshop is suitable for those catalogers who have experience using DCRM(B) -- or its predecessor, DCRB -- and who wish to catalog rare serials according to DCRM(S). Participants should have working experience in MARC AACR2 cataloging.

Presenters:

2009 Preconference Seminar, Charlottesville
Citing Bibliographies in Rare Book Cataloging

The Bibliographic Standards Committee is revising the rules for recording bibliographic citations in catalog records. The revisions aim to make the citations easier to understand. The seminar speakers will discuss the goals of the revision process and how these citations can be used as a research tool by public service librarians, curators and scholars.

Speakers:

2008 Preconference Workshop, Los Angeles
Applying Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Books)

Deborah J. Leslie

Through lectures, visual aids, and in-class exercises, workshop participants will be introduced to and gain some practical experience in using Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Books) (DCRM(B)). We will focus on the descriptive portions of the bibliographic record, following the scope of DCRM(B), with special emphasis on the changes from Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Books (DCRB). The workshop is suitable for those with working cataloging experience who wish to be introduced to rare book cataloging, as well as for those experienced in DCRB who wish to be trained in DCRM(B). Participants should have working experience in MARC AACR2 cataloging, and must bring a hard copy of DCRM(B).

Presenter:

Instructors:

2008 Preconference Seminar, Los Angeles
Rare Book Cataloging: Making Decisions, Setting Priorities

Geared toward those who make decisions about rare book cataloging -- curators, managers, administrators, catalogers -- this seminar will examine the variety of cataloging options available and will explore the factors to consider in making the decisions that determine cataloging policies. Decisions regarding cataloging policy have implications not only for researchers, but also for security, digitizing projects, and collection management. It will provide an overview of the issues, as well as case studies from two different institutions that have set rare book cataloging priorities based on the precataloging decisions and options established in Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Books).

Speakers:

2007 Preconference Workshop, Baltimore
Cataloging and Organizing Ephemera

Ann W. Copeland

The presence of ephemeral materials in our collections is a credit to those selectors and curators with the insight to realize the cultural value of such artifacts. But collections of ephemera present unique challenges to catalogers, and in the absence of usable guidelines for their description, they often languish, uncataloged.

Ephemera collections vary in condition, content, format, historical importance, and size. They may include rare and unique artifacts or more commonly produced items exhaustively collected on a particular subject or in a specific format. Whether the individual items should be described in detail or whether one record will represent an entire collection is an important decision. A finding aid may be required to put everything in context, including acquisition and processing information, provenance, scope, etc. But what are the factors to consider in reaching such treatment decisions?

This full day workshop will provide participants with an understanding of the pre-cataloging decisions to be made and the relevant factors to consider when cataloging ephemera. Through presentations, discussion, and hands-on exercises using a variety of ephemera, the workshop will present various options for controlling these important materials (item level vs. collection level treatment; AACR2 vs. DCRM(B); finding aids; digital collections.) Participants will receive a packet of resources for creating MARC catalog records in accordance with existing standards and rules.

Participants should be familiar with AACR2 and have some experience cataloging special collections materials. Class size is limited to 20 registrants.

Instructors:

2007 Preconference Seminar, Baltimore
Cataloging of Special Collections Materials in an Organizational Context

Beth M. Whittaker

The cataloging of special collections material has changed in response to several trends, including technological changes in cataloging workflows, an increased emphasis on mainstreaming special collections in larger libraries, and organizational cultures which continually seek efficiencies. This seminar will address the placement of special collections cataloging (part of a cataloging department, a special collections department or some other arrangement), and will explore the issues that arise from this decision in a larger organizational context.

The introduction will summarize organizational issues in special collections cataloging and explain why the placement of this function merits consideration. Data from a recent study of ARL libraries will be used to illustrate trends and also discuss interesting comments from practitioners.

A case study will highlight specific questions or problems that have been encountered by colleagues. While similarities among organizations will no doubt be evident, the case study and discussion will move beyond “show and tell” to examine the larger questions of where and how best to administer cataloging in a rapidly changing environment, as well as ways in which cataloging can succeed regardless of organization structure. The need for creativity in dealing with personnel and assignments will also be addressed.

Finally, a former senior library administrator will share his perspective, as well as discuss how individuals can influence organizational structure (formally or informally) for the betterment of the whole.

This seminar will be of interest to special collections librarians and staff, administrators of special collections and technical services, and those interested in trends in library management.

Introduction and Overview

Beth M. Whittaker, Head, Special Collections Cataloging, The Ohio State University.

Case study

Margaret Nichols, Head, Special Materials Unit, Library Technical Services, Cornell University.

Administrator’s perspective

William Gosling, Curator, Children’s Literature Collection and former University Librarian, University of Michigan

2007 Preconference Seminar, Baltimore
Demonstration of the Hand Press Book (HPB) Database and the Latin American Short-Title Catalogue (CCILA)

E.C. Schroeder

2007 MAGERT Preconference, Washington D.C.

MAGERT, the Map and Geography Round Table of the American Library Association (ALA), is pleased to announce that it will be offering the following preconference at the ALA Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, in June 2007, with the co-sponsorship of the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS), the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT), and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS):

Rare, antiquarian, or just plain old: cataloging pre-twentieth century cartographic resources

This two-day workshop, hosted by the Library of Congress, will introduce participants to the cataloging of pre-twentieth century cartographic resources through instruction and hands-on activities with sheet maps, atlas plates, and atlases, ranging from manuscript to printed items. Addressing issues pertinent to early materials in general, instructors will also discuss relevant characteristic aspects of cartographic resources by era. The course will progress through the elements of description, with examples focusing on such issues as transcription, mathematical data, and supportive research. Registration will be limited to 50 participants.

Speakers

2006 Preconference Seminar, Austin
Cataloging Artists' Books: Challenges and Solutions

Sarah Schmidt Fisher, Arvid Nelsen, Megan Lewis

Artists' books have recently gained increasing attention from a variety of library constituencies, including special collections librarians, art librarians and catalogers.

Some organizations are currently planning or have recently held conferences and workshops across the country to discuss the multitude of issues that collecting artists' books incur. Recent articles and presentations have offered insights to cataloguing artist's books. This seminar will bring together some of the pioneers from the Special Collection libraries, Museum, and Art communities to discuss methods of catalog description for artist's books.

This session will offer a variety of cataloging schemas and hopefully find common ground between librarians, museum curators, and book artists. Some possible discussion points include:

Speakers:

Organizers:

2005 Preconference Seminar, St Louis

Digital initiatives and the impact on Cataloging Departments

Many of our libraries are engaged in digitizing unique and rare materials from within our specialized collections. There are numerous benefits for scholarship and preservation resulting from such digitization efforts. The success of such projects relies greatly on the descriptive metadata accompanying digital projects. This session will explore many of the issues involved in such projects from the perspective of standards, cataloging, and workflow for cataloging departments.

The seminar will feature presentations by Rebekah Irwin (Yale University) and Genie Guerard (UCLA). Each will speak from the perspective of their own institutions, providing case studies which represent two approaches to digital production that have resulted in different ways of addressing cataloging issues - that of a large institutional project based model, and that of a specialized collection driven by patron needs. The speakers plan to present examples of their digital efforts and discuss the choices they have made in hopes of stimulating a conversation with attendants of the seminar.

Speakers:

2005 Preconference Workshop, St Louis

Descriptive Cataloging of Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern Manuscripts

The Vatican Film Library proposes a full-day workshop on MARC cataloging of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts according to Descriptive Cataloging of Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern Manuscripts (AMREMM). This workshop is aimed at catalogers or curators of manuscript collections containing early materials for which it is desirable to create item-level records in their OPACs. The scope of the material suitable for this treatment ranges from manuscript codices to documents and individual leaves, as well as microform reproductions of the same.

The workshop will introduce catalogers to the basic physical and textual elements of pre-modern Western European Latin and vernacular manuscript codices and to the principles of scholarly manuscript description, showing them how to apply this information-obtained either from published or unpublished catalogs or inventories, bibliographical specialists, or their own direct examination-in a MARC record. A variety of commonly encountered manuscript formats and genres will be treated. Among topics to be covered will be basic techniques and reference works for manuscript identification, description of illumination, subject and genre/form access, and authority control. The workshop will include a tour of the Vatican Film Library and its collections.

In order to benefit from this workshop, participants must have a working knowledge of Latin and competence using MARC-21, AACR2 chps. 1-2, 4, and some experience with DCRB or APPM. Participants should have read AMREMM previous to the workshop and bring a copy with them. A brief list of preliminary readings will be provided prior to the workshop.

Instructors: Staff of the Vatican Film Library:

Limited to 20 participants
Fee: $100

2004 New Haven Preconference Workshop

"Cataloging Manuscript Music"
Karen Spicher

Cataloging Manuscript Music Workshop, RBMS Preconference, Yale University, 2004 Monday, June 21, 2003, 9:00 am-4:30 pm
Location: Seminar Room, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University AV
Equipment: LCD projector and screen

While music manuscripts share characteristics of printed music, they are also unique materials requiring original cataloging and often deserving detailed description and access. Manuscript materials may present challenges such as drafts and fragments, varying versions of works, or materials lacking identifying information for transcription. Catalogers and archivists responsible for giving access to manuscript music should be prepared to describe evidence of the composer's creative process, publication and performance history of the work, and use and ownership of the artifact. This full-day workshop will present new rules for cataloging post-16th century music manuscripts under development by a Joint Subcommittee of the ALA Rare Books and Manuscripts Section Bibliographic Standards Committee and the Music Library Association Bibliographic Control Committee, one of several Task Groups involved in the revision of Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials. Participants will gain an overview of issues in description, participate in hands-on exercises, and receive a packet of guidelines and resources for creating MARC catalog records in accordance with existing standards and rules developed by the Task Group.

The first part of the workshop will include an introductory talk on the use of music manuscripts in research, overviews of general music cataloging standards and reference tools, and a summary of DCRM revision. The second part will present examples, with discussion of description and access issues specific to manuscripts, and will conclude with hands-on exercises. Speakers will include members of the Task Group and staff of the Yale Music Library and Catalog Department. For examples and exercises, American and European manuscripts from the 18th-20th centuries will be drawn from holdings of the Yale Music Library and the Beinecke Library.

This workshop is intended for music catalogers who desire experience with manuscripts and archivists who are responsible for cataloging music manuscripts or who encounter music materials in archival collections. Participants should be familiar with AACR2 and have some background knowledge of music. Experience with manuscript or other rare materials cataloging is desirable. Class size will be limited to a maximum of 20 registrants.

Speakers and Facilitators

RBMS/MLA Task Group Jain Fletcher, Head, Technical Services, Department of Special Collections, UCLA Nancy Lorimer, Head, Technical Services, Stanford Music Library Karen Spicher, Archivist, Beinecke Library, Yale University Charlotte Wolfe, Music Cataloger, University of Michigan

Yale University Helen Bartlett, Assistant Music Librarian Michelle Koth, Music Catalog Librarian Joan Swanekamp, Chief Catalog Librarian

Schedule

8:30-9:00 Registration and coffee (Beinecke mezzanine)

9:00-9:30 Introductory talk on manuscript music collecting and use in research (Joan Swanekamp)

9:30-10:00 Overview of general music cataloging standards (Nancy Lorimer)

10:00-10:30 Overview of reference sources for establishing composer names and uniform titles (Michelle Koth)

10:30-11:00 Break (Beinecke mezzanine)

11:00-11:30 Summary of DCRM revision (Jain Fletcher)

11:30-12:00 Questions

12:00-1:00 Lunch (provided; Beinecke mezzanine)

1:00-2:30 Manuscript music examples and issues (Karen Spicher), and hands-on exercises

2:30-3:00 Break (Beinecke mezzanine)

3:00-4:00 Hands-on exercises, continued (Facilitated by Helen Bartlett, Nancy Lorimer, Karen Spicher, Charlotte Wolfe)

4:00-4:30 Questions and wrap-up

2003 Toronto preconference

"Authority Records for Special Collections Cataloging"
Manon Théroux

Description: Existing NACO guidelines do not explicitly address many of the issues that special collections catalogers face when creating authority records to support headings in bibliographic records. This seminar will identify commonly encountered situations, present possible solutions, and provide a forum for the exchange of ideas regarding especially problematic areas. Topics will include: establishing headings for printers, publishers, artists, and binders; resolving problems associated with imprecise dates and older styles of dating; methods for citing copy-specific data relating to provenance; formulating cross references for variant spellings and old letter forms; and choosing vernacular vs. Latin forms of name.

Format: The seminar uses a workshop approach and includes a Powerpoint presentation and handouts. Projected equipment needs: computer with Windows operating system and Microsoft Powerpoint software, projector with accompanying screen, microphone, podium, and table. If necessary, a low-cost alternative approach could be used, with an overhead projector replacing the computer setup.

Organizer/Presenter: Manon Theroux, Catalog Librarian, Rare Book Team, and Catalog Management Librarian for Authority Control, Yale University Library. P.O. Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520-8240. Phone: 203-432-8376. Fax: 203-432-7231. Email: manon.theroux@yale.edu. Ms. Theroux is an incoming member of the RBMS Bibliographic Standards Committee and is currently chairing the PCC Function of the Authority File Task Group.

Moderator: Deborah J. Leslie, Head of Cataloging, Folger Shakespeare Library. 201 East Capitol Street, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003. Phone: 202 675-0369. Email: djleslie@folger.edu. Ms. Leslie is the current chair of the RBMS Bibliographic Standards Committee and teaches rare book cataloging at the University of Virginia's Rare Book School.

2003 Toronto preconference DCRM Forum

Deborah J. Leslie

This forum provides an informal opportunity to discuss the DCRM Conference that will have just taken place in March 2003. The DCRM Conference working group leaders will provide an overview of the proceedings, report on the results, and lead discussion on any continuing unresolved issues or controversial outcomes.