OSU library works with team on National Catalog Standard

Monday, April 10, 2006

Oklahoma State University is one of only 13 libraries participating in a pilot project to create a national standard for cataloging serials.

The pilot is jointly sponsored by the Library of Congress and the Program for Cooperative Cataloging and Cooperative Online Serials (CONSER) and runs from Feb. 6 to April 26, 2006.

“Our inclusion in this group of prestigious participants indicates the high regard our cataloging faculty have at the national level,” said Sheila Grant Johnson, dean of the OSU Libraries.

The purpose is to test the proposed Access Level Record for Serials for the CONSER program, which maintains the national standards for serials cataloging. The Access Level record will contain simplified data that is sufficient for users to search effectively across various resources. The proposed standard should produce functional cataloging records and yield overall cost savings in creating and maintaining records.

Five OSU cataloging librarians are participating in developing and testing the proposed standard. The participants are Linda Taylor, Michele Seikel, Michael Kim, Janet Ahrberg and Co-ming Chan. Chan is serving as the institution’s contact; Taylor is the coordinator for the project.

“We are excited to be participants in this initiative to develop a national standard for serial cataloging, which is both functional and economical,” said Chan, head of Cataloging.

Other project participants include Columbia University, Harvard University, Library & Archives Canada, Government Printing Office, Library of Congress, National Agricultural Library, National Library of Medicine, Stanford University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Chicago, University of Georgia, and University of Washington.