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CATALOGING THEUNIQUE AND UNUSUAL :CLASSIFYING REALIA IN THE HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY

MAX BOWMANLIS640

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Barbara Tysinger, Cataloging LibrarianDawne Lucas, Special Collections Librarian

Allison Martin, Graphic Designer

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My final project is an outline - and at times a narrative - of my first person interviews with Barbara Tysinger, Cataloging Librarian at the University of North Carolina’s Health Sciences Library. Barbara is responsible for all of the original cataloging at the Health Sciences Library, where I also work. When I learned that I needed to come up with an idea for a final project, I hoped that she would agree to meet with me to talk about original cataloging, because our library houses some very unique items. We have conferences and meetings in rooms where shelves display rare, historic models of brains and hearts. We circulate skeletons that are lovingly referred to as bone boxes, and our articulated models of teeth are just as popular. It all sounds a bit macabre, which is certainly what I thought of the collection when I came to work here, but as time passed, I began to appreciate my unique surroundings.

Fortunately, Barbara agreed to meet with me to talk about her work, and over the course of two days and about 5 hours, we made our way through quite a bit of interesting terrain.Though I had planned to ask the same questions for every item in an effort to map out my project, it soon became apparent that I had far more questions than we had time. I recorded our interviews, because I wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss anything, and when I started to pull everything together, I was amazed at the amount of content we covered. As a result of all that we talked about - and Barbara’s willingness to answer my many questions throughout this process - I feel certain that I have a better understanding of cataloging, and original cataloging.

In the coming pages, I will present four unique items that are part of the Health Sciences Library’s Special Collections. For each item, I will include a picture, a few paragraphs that summarize my conversation with Barbara, multiple screenshots of the Endeca online catalog with highlighted content, as well as an overview of the MARC tags that make up the record.

INTRODUCTION

Max BowmanLIS640November 24,2014

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One of the first items that Barbara and I talked about was the title Physician Education Program in Regional Anesthesia. This title represents a set of 27 medical needles, or sharps, that are intended only for educational purposes. As Barbara and I were talking, she had to remind me that some of the questions I was asking were not really her purview. Beyond being interested in the item and the cataloging record, I admit to being curious about why we chose to collect this specific item, so every now and again she would jokingly say, “they give it to me, and I catalog it!” Even so, she did have a lot of good insights into some of the collection development decisions, or circumstances, with most of the items we looked at, if only because she has been a cataloger at UNC for nearly thirty years. I did ask her if she remembered why we chose to add this specific item to the collection, and she said that she didn’t remember exactly why - I had assumed that it was a gift, but noticed that we hadn’t included a note about it - but she believes it was something that we received from a faculty member, maybe someone who was retiring, and it sat un-cataloged for quite some time before it was sent to her to be cataloged. She said that is unusual for our department to receive a gift and not make a note of it, but generally speaking, gift items can be difficult because although there are almost always procedures in place for accepting them, there are times items are handed over without much fanfare, and they end up on a shelf and then years later, no one remembers how it came to be.

For each item - though I did eventually take photographs - I chose not to look at the physical item until after Barbara and I had talked about the record. I wanted to be sure that I was approaching these items as our patrons would; I wanted to view the items only through the lens of the record itself. For that reason, it was difficult for me to picture what this item looked like - I knew there were 27 needles, and a plastic sleeve, but in this instance, what I pictured when I was looking at the record was far different from the appearance of the actual item. It wasn’t until much later that I realized why my mental picture of the item, and the actual item, were so different; I had conflated the idea of original cataloging with the creation of records for primarily old and or rare materials. Even though the record mentioned a publication date of 1994, and I had noted the date and we had talked about it, too, this notion that original cataloging was only for rare, historic items crept in, and as a result, I definitely had not pictured a contemporary, well labeled, commercially available teaching tool, which is exactly the makeup of this particular item. Although this was far from one of

PHYSICIAN EDUCATION PROGRAM IN REGIONAL ANESTHESIA

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In terms of accessibility, I asked her how she would convey to our patrons, and staff, that this was a set

of needles, because the title certainly didn’t provide any clues. For this item, because it did have a

logical title, she used the description field to clearly state that the item is 27 needles, with protective

plastic sleeves, in a folder. Endeca only shows a brief record, defaulting to the location view - title,

author, description, location and availability information - initially, so it is important that description is

clear. The catalog record looks like this:

Barbara also pointed out that though GMD - General Material Description - can often be very useful, in

this instance, and in most of the records we examined, the GMD is “realia”, which unfortunately conveys

very little to our user. As we have talked about in class, the GMD as it appears now will not present in

RDA records, and eventually our catalog will not display this information any longer, but as it does right

now, we did spend a little time talking about how the GMD for most of the records we examined, is not

very helpful.

the most interesting items we examined, I was glad that we began with it, because it set an important precedent - original cataloging simply implies that the item being cataloged is unique, and that an original record must be created.

RECORD ANALYSISThis item did not have a record in OCLC, most of the items we looked at did not, and so my first question was always some variation of, “if the record isn’t in OCLC, where do you start?” For this particular item, Barbara indicated that there was a fair amount of text present. In this case, she said her first step was to look for a manufacturer name, which she found pretty quickly. After finding the manufacturer, she then looked for something that she could logically conceive to be a title, which was also something that she found right away. At this point, she mentioned to me that if there had not been a title, the record should give me that information, because had she created one on her own, she would have needed to include a note - 0500 - in the record indicating that the title was supplied by the cataloger. Barbara indicated that although this particular item had not been cataloged and an original record needed to be created, it did not present too many challenges because there was a lot of information - there was a lot of information readily available on the item itself.

In terms of accessibility, I asked her how she would convey to our patrons, and staff, that this was a set of needles, because the title certainly didn’t provide any clues. For this item, because it did have a logical title, she used the description field to clearly state that the item is 27 needles, with protective plastic sleeves, in a folder. Endeca only shows a brief record, defaulting to the location view - title, author, description, location and availability information - initially, so it is important that description is clear.

Barbara also pointed out that though GMD - General Material Description - can often be very useful, in this instance, and in most of the records we examined, the GMD is “realia”, which unfortunately conveys very little to our user. As we have talked about in class, the GMD as it appears now will not present in RDA records, and eventually our catalog will not display this information any longer, but as it does right now, we did spend a little time talking about how the GMD for most of the records we examined, is not very helpful.

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Beyond the description, which might only be helpful with a keyword search, Barbara also used appropriate MeSH subject headings to illustrate that this item was medical instrumentation. For this item, she used a subheading to denote that this was instrumentation used for anesthesia:

When I performed a search for this item, if I searched for “instrumentation” within the subject headings, and combined that with a keyword search for “needles,” I was able to find the record right away. Although we didn’t talk about collection development too much, Barbara did mention that while we do collect some kits and teaching materials, we have very few items like this in the collection; we tend to collect models of teeth, skeletons, and hearts, and some charts, but aside from historical instrumentation, we have very little in the way of contemporary medical instrumentation. In other words, it’s unlikely that one of patrons would specifically be looking for medical instrumentation within our collection, but if they were doing just a keyword search for needles and instrumentation.

If we look at another view of the record, from the patron’s perspective, we can see that the Table of Contents view includes information on the kinds of needles this kit includes - this view also italicized the word “needles,” because that word was part of my keyword search.

If we take a look at the full record, the note in the record clearly conveys that this is a kit containing needles:

Beyond the description, which might only be helpful with a keyword search, Barbara also used

appropriate MeSH subject headings to illustrate that this item was medical instrumentation. For this

item, she used a subheading to denote that this was instrumentation used for anesthesia:

When I performed a search for this item, if I searched for “instrumentation” within the subject headings,

and combined that with a keyword search for “needles,” I was able to find the record right away.

Although we didn’t talk about collection development too much, Barbara did mention that while we do

collect some kits and teaching materials, we have very few items like this in the collection; we tend to

collect models of teeth, skeletons, and hearts, and some charts, but in terms of actual instrumentation,

aside from historical instrumentation, we have very little in the way of contemporary medical

instrumentation. In other words, it’s unlikely that one of patrons would specifically be looking for

medical instrumentation within our collection, but if they were doing just a keyword search for needles

and instrumentation within our library’s collection, this is one of the 29 results.

If we look at another view of the record, from the patron’s perspective, we can see that the Table of

Contents view includes information on the kinds of needles this kit includes - this view also italicized the

word “needles,” because that word was part of my keyword search:

If we take a look at the full record, the note in the record clearly conveys that this is a kit containing

needles:

In the MARC view, Barbara pointed out that it’s easy to know if UNC, or NOH, our OCLC symbol, created

the record by looking at the 040 field:

This first position indicates the source of the record - NOH - and the second position indicates that we

input the record.

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In the MARC view, Barbara pointed out that it’s easy to know if UNC, or NOH, our OCLC symbol, created the record by looking at the 040 field:

If we take a look at the full record, the note in the record clearly conveys that this is a kit containing

needles:

In the MARC view, Barbara pointed out that it’s easy to know if UNC, or NOH, our OCLC symbol, created

the record by looking at the 040 field:

This first position indicates the source of the record - NOH - and the second position indicates that we

input the record.

This first position indicates the source of the record - NOH - and the second position indicates that we input the record.

The full MARC view looks like this:

The full MARC view in the catalog looks like this:

At first glance, if a patron was to arrive here, it might not look like much, or it might look like a lot of

confusing, unhelpful information. I’ve spent time working with patrons who have clicked on this tab and

audibly gasped because it’s overwhelming; it’s a part of the record that they can get to, and they’re

concerned that they’re supposed to know what it all means, or might have to learn what it all means in

order to use the catalog. Explaining how MARC or cataloging works to patrons is actually a pretty fun

exchange, because so often, it’s a part of the library that they’ve never considered. Once you get past

all the fields and subfields, it’s pretty easy to see how the MARC translates into the tidy, user friendly

Endeca record that is presented when someone searches the catalog.

The 300 field provides the physical description and the notes fields, 5XX, provide additional descriptions

and general information, which is not only informative, but aid in keyword searching. For this record,

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At first glance, if a patron was to arrive here, it might not look like much, or it might look like a lot of confusing, unhelpful information. I’ve spent time working with patrons who have clicked on this tab and audibly gasped because it’s overwhelming; it’s a part of the record that they can get to, and they’re concerned that they’re supposed to know what it all means, or might have to learn what it all means in order to use the catalog. Explaining how MARC or cataloging works to patrons is actually a pretty fun exchange, because so often, it’s a part of the library that they’ve never considered. Once you get past all the fields and subfields, it’s pretty easy to see how the MARC translates into the tidy, user friendly Endeca record that is presented when someone searches the catalog.

The 260 provides publication information, the 300 field provides the physical description, and the notes fields, 5XX, provide additional descriptions and general information, which is not only informative, but aids in keyword searching. For this record, the 506 field also lets other libraries know that we aren’t willing to loan this material. Our library does not use deflection rules based on location codes, so if a potential borrowing library was looking at this record in OCLC, this note would be very helpful - if it isn’t noticed by the borrowing library and an ILL request is submitted to our library, the note then becomes very useful for our ILL staff. The 6XX fields provide subject information - it should be noted that there is one LC heading, and two MeSH subject headings. If patrons are viewing the record using the full record view, all of the information that allows for accessibility is present.

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This particular item was purchased for our special collections, and of all the items and records we examined, this one was the most straightforward, which is the primary reason that I decided to include it. It was helpful to view it alongside the other records because it prompted me to think about their inherent differences - why did this item present fewer problems? It’s a neat item, and it’s probably not something a patron would assume we have, which is why I think Barbara selected it. However, there are a few different reasons that I think this particular item was easier to catalog; it’s a grouping of stamps, and by default, because stamps are widely collected, there are lots of available resources to seek out for more information; this set was put together and sold by a studio, and the matting and frame included the donor information; this was an intentional purchase, which means that there was a description available, and

an endowment fund was used, which means that all of that information was available. With some of the other items we looked at, we had bits and pieces of the information I just mentioned, but the item was very rare, or, in the case of the Physician Education Program in Regional Anesthesia record, the items and packaging were contemporary, but we aren’t sure how they arrived at the library, exactly. For Barbara, although the item required that she create an original record, as I mentioned earlier, the fact that it was intentionally purchased from a third party means that there was purchasing information made available to her - in this case, she remembers it to be a catalog description. The same information that aided in the selection of this item for our special collections, made it easier for Barbara create an original record, and having the details about the purchase also made it possible to create a record that accurately reflects the item’s status as a purchase made possible through a gifted endowment fund.

As there was a basic description of this item included when it was given to Barbara to be cataloged, creating an original record for this item began with locating the information that wasn’t included with the description and verifying the information that was included. For example, this item is a collection of stamps, but not a collection that was issued by the U.S. Post Office, which meant that she needed to consult a stamp collecting guide book, or catalog, which would provide her with the names a dates of each stamp. Six of the seven stamps were issued by the U.S. Postal Service, and one of the stamps was Cambodian - she indicated that stamp collecting resources are plentiful, and fairly standard, so it didn’t take too long to gather information about the stamps, regardless of their origination.

A GLIMPSE OF THE PAST THROUGH THE PHARMACY COLLECTION

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The table of contents tab shows provides us with more information about each of the stamps in the grouping - including dates and titles.

RECORD ANALYSISAfter we finished talking about some of the records, and I was taking a closer look at the MARC, one of the first things that I noticed about this record was the fact that it included a description and a summary. This was true for the one of the other records - the heart model - but a summary was not included in the first record we looked at (Physician Education Program in Regional Anesthesia). I asked Barbara about this, and she said that she wasn’t sure, but that it looked like one of the 500 fields in that record should have been a 520, or summary. As she put it, “yes, even I make mistakes.” I hadn’t considered it a mistake, but I was glad that I asked.

As in the case of some of the other records we looked at, the title alone would not indicate the item type, and while the GMD can be helpful at times, realia is not an especially valuable descriptor. In this default view, the description and summary let us know that this item is a grouping of stamps.

As there was a basic description of this item included when it was given to Barbara to be cataloged,

creating an original record for this item began with locating the information that wasn’t included with

the description, and verifying the information that was included. For example, this item is a collection of

stamps, but not a collection that was issued by the U.S. Post Office, which meant that she needed to

consult a stamp collecting guide book, or catalog, which would provide her with the names a dates of

each stamp. Six of the seven stamps were issued by the U.S. Postal Service, and one of the stamps was

Cambodian - she indicated that stamp collecting resources are plentiful, and fairly standard, so it didn’t

take too long to gather information about the stamps, regardless of their origination.

Record analysis:

After we finished talking about some of the records, and I was taking a closer look at the MARC, one of

the first things that I noticed about this record was the fact that it included a description and a

summary. This was true for the one of the other records, the heart model, but a summary was not

included in the first record we looked at, Physician Education Program in Regional Anesthesia. I asked

Barbara about this, and she said that she wasn’t sure, but that it looked like one of the 500 fields in that

record should have been a 520, or summary. As she put it, “yes, even I make mistakes.” I hadn’t

considered it a mistake, but I was glad that I asked.

As in the case of some of the other records we looked at, the title alone would not indicate the item

type, and while the GMD can at times be helpful, realia is not an especially helpful descriptor. In this

default view, the description and summary let us know that this item is a grouping of stamps.

The table of contents tab shows provides us with more information about each of the stamps in the

grouping - including dates and titles.

The subjects tab provides details about the subject headings, acquisitions information and points to an

alternate title:

I performed a subject search and a keyword search in Endeca, and with both, I had to limit the findings

to the Health Sciences Library - once I did that, both keyword and subject searches found this item right

away. As one might imagine, the collection at the Health Sciences Library does not include many

records that might have the words ‘postage stamps’ as keywords and or subject headings.


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I performed a subject search and a keyword search in Endeca, and with both, I had to limit the findings to the Health Sciences Library - once I did that, both keyword and subject searches found this item right away. As one might imagine, the collection at the Health Sciences Library does not include many records that might have the words ‘postage stamps’ as keywords and or subject headings. The full MARC view in the catalog looks like this:

The subjects tab provides details about the subject headings, acquisitions information and points to an alternate title:

The table of contents tab shows provides us with more information about each of the stamps in the

grouping - including dates and titles.

The subjects tab provides details about the subject headings, acquisitions information and points to an

alternate title:

I performed a subject search and a keyword search in Endeca, and with both, I had to limit the findings

to the Health Sciences Library - once I did that, both keyword and subject searches found this item right

away. As one might imagine, the collection at the Health Sciences Library does not include many

records that might have the words ‘postage stamps’ as keywords and or subject headings.


In the MARC record, the 040 field indicates that we created the record. The 245 and 246 - title and

varying title - provide the title, and an additional title or varying title and the 260 provides publication

details. The 300 field provides a description for the item, and is included in the brief default display,

and for this record, the 520 field provides a detailed summary of the item, and is also included the brief

default display. The 505 field indicates the contents of the collection, and the 541 provides acquisition

details. The 6XX fields are subject headings - there are 2 LC headings, and 3 MeSH headings. The 710

field provides the name of the endowment fund used for the purchase, and the 740 field was added

because this is a collection, without a title.

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In the MARC record, the 040 field indicates that we created the record. The 245 and 246 - title and varying title - provide the title, and an additional title or varying title and the 260 provides publication details. The 300 field provides a description for the item, and is included in the brief default display, and for this record, the 520 field provides a detailed summary of the item, and is also included the brief default display. The 505 field indicates the contents of the collection, and the 541 provides acquisition details. The 6XX fields are subject headings - there are 2 LC headings, and 3 MeSH headings. The 710 field provides the name of the endowment fund used for the purchase, and the 740 field was added because this is a collection, without a title.

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The next record we looked at was for a model of a heart. When I selected this particular item, Barbara said, “oh, that’s a cool one… that one took a lot of research,” - perfect! This particular item was purchased for special collections via a gifted endowment fund. As Barbara explained with another of the items we reviewed, sometimes we’re given gifts to support the collection, and other times we’re endowed funds in order that we may purchase items that support the collection; this 19th century papier-mâché heart model is one of those items that we elected to purchase in order to support our special collections.

For this item, even though it was intentionally purchased, and included a description, she said that the description did not include much beyond the basics; articulated papier-mâché heart model, made in Paris, France. As we started to talk about where she might

begin with this particular item, aside from checking for markings, or production information, Barbara said, “I know that there are a lot of librarians who bristle at the G word…”, and for a moment, I didn’t even know what she meant, though eventually I realized that she was referring to Google.

As someone who works with serials and in Interlibrary Loan, it’s simply impossible for me to think of Google as anything other than an invaluable resource. It’s not perfect, but I didn’t start working in libraries until 2000, so I’ve never worked without it, and through the years, the functionality and usefulness, if only because there are so many more resources online, has vastly improved. This mention of Google led me to ask a question that to Barbara, might have sounded a bit naïve, but in terms of original cataloging, it’s something I had not considered: what did original catalogers do before Google? She laughed and said something like, “sometimes, we had to make stuff up!” She went on to explain that what she really meant was that at times, there was a kind of educated guesswork involved, and that often, the records of unique items included very limited information. Barbara explained that for an item like the papier-mâché heart, there might be a sales catalog available for this company - which is what she would search for if she had to catalog it in the pre-internet day - but because the item is so old, and because it was made in Europe, it might be very difficult, if not impossible, to obtain. She also said that pre-internet, she would have searched OCLC for similar items, and this is something she still does, though not exactly for the same reasons; if she had limited information for an item, but there were other similar items in OCLC, it might give her clues or ideas about what to search for, for the item she was trying to catalog.

HEART [MODEL]

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Thankfully, Google is available, and for cataloging items such as this one, it provides an excellent starting point. Barbara said that for this item, she might start by doing a basic internet search for papier-mâché heart with articulated pieces, and include France as a reference point. She mentioned that it’s extremely helpful that Google, and other search engines, incorporate images into their results; she specifically remembered using Google images to try and help learn a bit more about this particular item because there was so little to go on, otherwise. In addition to Google image searches, Barbara used OCLC to look for similar items, and though she did not find a record for this particular heart, she gleaned information that then prompted her to go back to Google to do a bit more searching. She said that creating a record for this item was a bit like putting together a puzzle; no one resource provided her with all the information that she needed, but she was able to combine information from a number of different resources - the item description used for purchasing, Google, OCLC, and a manufacturer’s catalog - in order to create a completed record.

RECORD ANALYSISOne of the first things Barbara mentioned about this record, in terms of accessibility, was the title; similar heart models included the word Heart in French as the title, but in the record she created, she used English in the title field, 245, and French in the alternate title field, 246.

Again, there is a GMD used in this record, but in this case, there is a better descriptor - the format is still realia, but the GMD is model, which is a description that the patron is likely to understand.

would search for if she had to catalog it in the pre-internet days, but because the item is so old, and

because it was made in Europe, it might be very difficult, if not impossible, to obtain. She also said that

pre-internet, she would have searched OCLC for similar items, and this is something she still does,

though not exactly for the same reasons; if she had limited information for an item, but there were

other similar items in OCLC, it might give her clues or ideas about what to search for, for the item she

was trying to catalog.

Thankfully, Google is available, and for cataloging items such as this one, it provides an excellent starting

point. Barbara said that for this item, she might start by doing a basic internet search for papier-mâché

heart with articulated pieces, and include France as a reference point. She mentioned that it’s

extremely helpful that Google, and other search engines, incorporate images into their results; she

specifically remembered using Google images to try and help learn a bit more about this particular item

because there was so little to go on, otherwise. In addition to Google image searches, Barbara used

OCLC to look for similar items, and though she did not find a record for this particular heart, she gleaned

information that then prompted her to go back to Google to do a bit more searching. She said that

creating a record for this item was a bit like putting together a puzzle; no one resource provided her

with all the information that she needed, but she was able to combine information from a number of

different resources - the item description used for purchasing, Google, OCLC, and a manufacturer’s

catalog - in order to create a completed record.

Record analysis:

One of the first things Barbara mentioned about this record, in terms of accessibility, was the title;

similar heart models included the word Heart in French as the title, but in the record she created, she

used English in the title field, 245, and French in the alternate title field, 246.

Again, there is a GMD used in this record, but in this case, there is a better descriptor - the format is still

realia, but the GMD is model, which is a description that the patron is likely to understand.

The word model is used throughout the record - it is present in the description, the subject headings,

and sub-headings. When I performed a keyword search for ‘heart model’, and then narrowed that

search to 3-D objects, I was able to find this item right away. I also performed a subject search using

‘heart model’, and without any other limiters, this record was included in the first few results. .

The language for this item is listed as French because the item originated in France, and though the

model doesn’t include any accompanying text, through her research, Barbara indicated that she was

fairly certain that there should have been some kind of print material included with this model.








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The word model is used throughout the record - it is present in the description, the subject headings, and sub-headings. When I performed a keyword search for ‘heart model’, and then narrowed that search to 3-D objects, I was able to find this item right away. I also performed a subject search using ‘heart model’, and without any other limiters, this record was included in the first few results.

The language for this item is listed as French because the item originated in France, and though the model doesn’t include any accompanying text, through her research, Barbara indicated that she was fairly certain that there should have been some kind of print material included with this model.

Unlike the first item Barbara and I reviewed, acquisition information for this item was available, and so it was noted in the catalog record. If patrons were to do a keyword search for ‘Benson Reid Wilcox Rare Book Endowment,’ they come up with hundreds of items. This information is an important component of the record, because occasionally relatives of someone who has given gifts to the library, or in this case an endowment, will call or stop by to ask about specific gift items, and this field allows those items be searchable via the








Unlike the first item Barbara and I reviewed, acquisition information for this item was available, and so it

was noted in the catalog record. If patrons were to do a keyword search for ‘Benson Reid Wilcox Rare

Book Endowment,’ they come up with hundreds of items. This information is an important component

of the record, because occasionally relatives of someone who has given gifts to the library, or in this

case an endowment, will call or stop by to ask about specific gift items, and this field allows those items

be searchable via the donor’s name. In this record, the Benson Reid Wilcox Rare Book Endowment has

also been added to the 710 field, corporate name, showing under ‘other author.’ When I click on that

link, it’s just as if I had performed a keyword search - all of the records purchased via that specific

endowment fund are shown.


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donor’s name. In this record, the Benson Reid Wilcox Rare Book Endowment has also been added to the 710 field, corporate name, showing under ‘other author.’ When I click on that link, it’s just as if I had performed a keyword search - all of the records purchased via that specific endowment fund are shown.


In the MARC record, the important facets of this record are the 245 and 246 - title and alternate title - because they point to both the French and English title. The 040 field lets me know that this is a record that we created, and the 260 field provides the place of publication information, and the cataloger’s best guess at a publication date. The 300 field provides a physical description of the item, while the 5XX fields include more detailed information about the item itself, and information regarding acquisitions. The 6XX fields are subject headings, and include both LC and MeSH headings. The 7XX fields, in this item, provide an entry for the painter - Barbara explained that this field is used as opposed to a 100 field because items like models, DVDs, etc., are considered too complex to be contributed to a single entity - , and more specifically, the 710 allows for an entry that points to the endowment fund with which this model was purchased.

In the MARC record, the important facets of this record are the 245 and 246 - title and alternate title -

because they point to both the French and English title. The 040 field lets me know that this is a record

that we created, and the 260 field provides the place of publication information, and the cataloger’s

best guess at a publication date. The 300 field provides a physical description of the item, while the 5XX

fields include more detailed information about the item itself, and information regarding acquisitions.

The 6XX fields are subject headings, and include both LC and MeSH headings. The 7XX fields, in this

item, provide an entry for the painter - Barbara explained that this field is used as opposed to a 100 field

because items like models, DVDs, etc., are considered too complex to be contributed to a single entity - ,

and more specifically, the 710 allows for an entry that points to the endowment fund with which this

model was purchased.

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One of the most interesting records that Barbara and I looked at was the record for [Selections from Judith, XII-XIII]. This item is a 12th century manuscript piece that was used as the binding for a 16th text that we received as a gift. A few years ago, Barbara spent a week at rare book school, so she was excited to catalog this newly received gift book using the skills that she acquired. She explained to me that cataloging standards she used, DCRM(B) or Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (books), and the process she went through when she cataloged the original item, part of which involved reaching out to the rare books community, helped her identify the manuscript fragment.

As she was cataloging the gift book, she recognized that the binding was from another text; the donor had noted that the book, Bericht von den wunderbaren… was bound in

a fragment, though he had not identified it yet, either. She realized that the text on the fragment was in Latin, so while she worked on cataloging the primary text, which was in German, she sent a picture of the binding to a rare books listserv to ask if anyone might be able to help with translation or identification. Within 15 minutes, she received a response that said, “this appears to be from the book of Judith…,” at which point, they identified the chapter and verse, and the moments later she received an additional email that explained the terminology, manuscript waste, which references the practice of using discarded books to create the binding and covers for new books. Another respondent suggested that she contact a rare books specialist and provided the name and email of the specialist, and within the hour she emailed him; he responded within just a few moments and said that it appears that this is a very early manuscript fragment, likely the 12th century.

Over the next few days, there was more information gathering, but essentially, by reaching out to a small community of rare book specialists through a listserv, the text was identified within an about an hour. As we were talking, I couldn’t help but think of our earlier conversations about pre-internet cataloging, which I mentioned, and she conjectured that it might have taken weeks or more to make the same identification in the pre-internet days of cataloging. She said that pre-internet, she might have consulted someone in the Classics Department, or maybe spoken with someone at Duke in the Religion Department, but all of that would have taken far more time because it would have required travel and appointments, and even still, she might not come up with an answer. Post-internet, she’s able to take a few photos, reach specialists from all over the country in a matter of minutes, and all while she continues her work on the original text.

SELECTIONS FROM JUDITH, XII-XIII

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As for the original text, Bericht von den wunderbaren… Barbara and I talked about it, too, because I was interested in how it came to reside with us in the first place. It was part of a larger collection given to us by Dr. Sheldon Peck, a UNC alumnus and an accomplished orthodontist, and in one of my favorite exchanges, she said, “well, there’s something dental in there somewhere…. “- I had asked about the contents of the book, and why Dr. Peck had collected it, and she explained that he is a rare book collector, and that he and his wife, Dr. Leena Peck, have collected and donated hundreds of rare books to our special collections. For the duration of our time together, whenever I would ask a collection development question, which she would always graciously answer despite having reminded me time and again that it is outside her scope, I began adding the tagline, “there’s something dental in there somewhere…” - this is also the part where I’d like to mention that not only is Barbara very knowledgeable and generous with her time, but she also made the process of analyzing MARC records seem like fun, and I had not thought that possible!

RECORD ANALYSISFor the title, Bericht von den wunderbaren… ,which is the original gift book, there is one cataloging record, and for the manuscript fragment that comprises the binding, there is a separate cataloging record.

In this record, the title is in brackets, which I asked about. Barbara said that she used older records as a guide when creating this particular record - she supplied the title for the fragment, and using square brackets is a way of indicating that content or information was supplied by the cataloger. This information can also be added to a note field, which she said is sometimes done in lieu of the brackets.

If a patron was to come across this record in the location view, which is the default, they could discern a fair amount about this item - it is old, it is a single page, it is an original work that is located in special collections. On the other hand, in looking at this default view, I am struck by just how difficult the task of the cataloger is - this item is remarkably complex, and the job of the cataloger is to make this complicated, multifaceted material accessible, by

If a patron was to come across this record in the location view, which is the default, they could discern a

fair amount about this item - it is old, it is a single page, it is an original work that is located in special

collections. On the other hand, in looking at this default view, I am struck by just how difficult the task

of the cataloger is - this item is remarkably complex, and the job of the cataloger is to make this

complicated, multifaceted material accessible, by creating a record that is reflective of the item itself,

which considering the nature of this material, is extremely challenging.

If we look at the record in the subject headings view, we’re given a few more clues about this item:

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creating a record that is reflective of the item itself, which considering the nature of this material, is extremely challenging. If we look at the record in the subject headings view, we’re given a few more clues about this item:

From this view, we can tell that this text is in Latin, and that it is a biblical manuscript. The subject heading - manuscript waste - might not mean much to a patron, but a quick internet search would provide context, as would the word binding. We’re also presented with the main or uniform title, which if selected, would pull up this record and the record for the original text. With this information - biblical manuscript fragment, binding, material waste - it’s possible to determine that this record is for a fragment that is the binding for another item in the rare books collection.

Considering that in the brief view, it’s fairly difficult to tell exactly what this record is meant to represent, but by looking at the subject headings it’s possible to make a determination, I think this speaks to the importance of choosing relevant subjects headings. Subject headings make items more accessible and searchable through linking and tracing, and with online catalogs we often talk about their usefulness only in those terms, but within a record, they can also provide quite a bit of context and information about an item.

This view also gives us donor information, too. We can see that there were two donors, and an honoree, and because a collection is mentioned, it’s easy to tell that those donors have given other works to the library. By using the link to the Sheldon Peck Collection, it’s possible to view all their donations:

If a patron was to come across this record in the location view, which is the default, they could discern a

fair amount about this item - it is old, it is a single page, it is an original work that is located in special

collections. On the other hand, in looking at this default view, I am struck by just how difficult the task

of the cataloger is - this item is remarkably complex, and the job of the cataloger is to make this

complicated, multifaceted material accessible, by creating a record that is reflective of the item itself,

which considering the nature of this material, is extremely challenging.

If we look at the record in the subject headings view, we’re given a few more clues about this item:

From this view, we can tell that this text is in Latin, and that it is a biblical manuscript. The subject

heading, manuscript waste, might not mean much to a patron, but a quick internet search would

provide context, as would the word, binding. We’re also presented with the main or uniform title,

which if selected, would pull up this record and the record for the original text. With this information -

biblical manuscript fragment, binding, material waste - it’s possible to determine that this record is for a

fragment that is the binding for another item in the rare books collection.

Considering that in the brief view, it’s fairly difficult to tell exactly what this record is meant to

represent, but by looking at the subject headings it’s possible to make a determination, I think this

speaks to the importance of choosing relevant subjects headings. Subject headings make items more

accessible and searchable through linking and tracing, and with online catalogs we often talk about their

usefulness only in those terms, but within a record, they can also provide quite a bit of context and

information about an item.

This view also gives us donor information, too. We can see that there were two donors, an honoree,

and because a collection is mentioned, it’s easy to tell that those donors have given other works to the

library. By using the link to the Sheldon Peck Collection, it’s possible to view all their donations:

The full record view is normally the way I prefer to look at a record, because it presents the entire

record on one screen. However, for this item, I actually prefer to look at the item using the subject tab

because I think it presents the best picture, or outline, of this particular material. That said, the full view

presents us with a significant amount of pertinent information - if a patron was examining this record

and wanted as much detail and description as possible, the full view includes the notes, which in the

case of this item, are extensive:

20

The full record view is normally the way I prefer to look at a record, because it presents the entire record on one screen. However, for this item, I actually prefer to look at the item using the subject tab because I think it presents the best picture, or outline, of this particular material. That said, the full view presents us with a significant amount of pertinent information - if a patron was examining this record and wanted as much detail and description as possible, the full view includes the notes, which in the case of this item, are extensive:

In this view, we’re presented with specifics about the item’s physical characteristics - the beginning and ending phrases, along with where those phrases originate on the covered text, measurements and information about the kind of paper used, where it was trimmed, and information about the original size of the page.

Note fields not only provide a space to add additional valuable information, but they also aid in providing content that can searched via keywords. The information found in note fields may duplicate information that was included in other portions of the record - in this record, acquisitions information, and the uniform title are present in multiple areas.

In this view, we’re presented with specifics about the item’s physical characteristics - the beginning and

ending phrases, along with where those phrases originate on the covered text, measurements and

information about the kind of paper used, where it was trimmed, and information about the original size

of the page.

This full view shows the use note fields, which not only provide a space to add additional valuable

information, but they also aid in providing content that can searched via keywords. The information

found in note fields may duplicate information that was included in other portions of the record - in this

record, acquisitions information, and the uniform title are present in multiple areas.

Original German text

21

The full MARC view in the catalog looks like this:The full MARC view in the catalog looks like this:

22

In the MARC record, in the 245 field - the title is in brackets to indicate that it was one that we created - and the 130 field points to uniform title, or the original title, under which this title is cataloged. Regarding the 245 field, along with brackets, there would normally be a note indicating that the title was supplied by the cataloger, but when we looked at this record there was not, and so Barbara added that note while we were talking. However, at this time, it does not show up in the MARC record in Endeca because UNC is in the process of migrating the Millennium (ILS) server - as a result, Endeca will not be updated for anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks, which has been noted on our webpages:

The 040 indicates that NOH created the item, and language of cataloging is English: quick segue, I had forgotten about the subfield b, and language of cataloging, and I wrote Barbara a note that asked, “what is the beng word for?” That really made her laugh - we both agreed that I had been looking at the record for far too long. She also decided that she will name her next cat either ‘beng,’ or ‘erda,’ which is now a joke I can be in on (thanks to this class and this project)!

In this record, while it is not full RDA, it is a hybrid record - this is evident because of the 336, 337, and 338 fields, which are RDA tags that denote content, media, and carrier type. The 5XX fields include notes and acquisition information - the 501 field points to another bibliographic record or work, and the 540 field is used to provide acquisition information. The 6XX fields denote subject headings and indexing information - in the 650 fields, there are two LC headings and one MeSH heading, and the 655 indicates physical characteristics, and includes a subfield that provides a date.

The 7XX fields provide entries for the names of the donors, a link to the donor’s collection, and link to the original title. The 700 fields include the names of the donors and honoree, while the 710 field points to the donor’s collection, and the 787 field is included in order to illustrate a relationship or connection to another work.

In the MARC record, in the 245 field - the title is in brackets to indicate that it was one that we created -

and the 130 field points to uniform title, or the original title, under which this title is cataloged.

Regarding the 245 field, along with brackets, there would normally be a note indicating that the title was

supplied by the cataloger, but when we looked at this record there was not, and so Barbara added that

note while we were talking. However, at this time, it does not show up in the MARC record in Endeca

because UNC is in the process of migrating the Millennium (ILS) server - as a result, Endeca will not be

updated for anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks, which has been noted on our webpages

The 040 indicates that NOH created the item, and language of cataloging is English: quick segue, I had

forgotten about the subfield b, and language of cataloging, and I wrote her a note that asked, “what is

the beng word for,” which really made her laugh - we both agreed that I had been looking at the record

for far too long. She also decided that she will name her next cat either ‘beng,’ or ‘erda,’ which is now a

joke I can be in on, thanks to this class and this project.

In this record, while it is not full RDA, it is a hybrid record - this is evident because of the 336, 337, and

338 fields, which are RDA tags that denote content, media, and carrier type. The 5XX fields include

notes and acquisition information - the 501 field points to another bibliographic record or work, and the

540 field is used to provide acquisition information. The 6XX fields denote subject headings and

indexing information - in the 650 fields, there are two LC headings and one MeSH heading, and the 655

indicates physical characteristics, and includes a subfield that provides a date.

The 7XX fields provide entries for the names of the donors, a link to the donor’s collection, and link to

the original title. The 700 fields include the names of the donors and honoree, while the 710 field points

to the donor’s collection, and the 787 field is included in order to illustrate a relationship or connection

to another work.

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A glimpse of the past through the pharmacy collection realia](1983). In Anderson-Riggins Memorial Fund., (Eds.), . Washington, DC; Bainbridge, IN: United States Postal Service]; Jack Rabbit Studio. Retrieved from http://search.lib.unc.edu?R=UNCb4951593

Heart model](1870). In Benson Reid Wilcox Rare Book Endowment., (Eds.), . Paris: Auzoux. Retrieved from http://search.lib.unc.edu?R=UNCb4753886

Physician education program in regional anesthesia realia](1994). In Becton-Dickinson., (Eds.), . Rutherford, N.J.]: Becton Dickinson. Retrieved from http://search.lib.unc.edu?R=UNCb5163448

Selections from judith, XII-XIII]. 12th cent). Bible.Apocrypha.Judith, XII-XIII.Latin.Selections.12th Cent., (Located in UNC: Health Sciences Library (Call Number: QV 760 W832b 1589)) Retrieved from http://search.lib.unc.edu?R=UNCb7674286

Tysinger, B. (2014, November 18). Personal interview.

Tysinger, B. (2014, November 19). Personal interview.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Original cataloging has always seemed like a bit of a mystery to me, probably because my only experience with cataloging has been as a copy cataloger. In the beginning of my career in libraries, I took for granted that there was a person before me who had painstakingly created all the records I was using; I had assumed that the records were created by vendors or were the result of fancy computer programming. Eventually, I began to understand how it all worked, and that made the idea of original cataloging seem even more magical. In working on this project, I had hoped to learn more about the process of original cataloging, and I did, but I also found the process of examining each record in an in depth, segmented way to be extremely valuable. Barbara made herself available so that I could ask questions beyond our scheduled interview times, and I don’t think I realized how many I’d been saving up through the years; I’m grateful for her help and expertise, and am very glad that I decided to ask for her assistance. Rarely have I completed a project or paper that I felt would assist me in my day-to-day duties as a library employee, but I that’s one of the ways this project is unique. I learned a great deal, and it’s very possible that I’ll use some of that knowledge today, tomorrow, and may still be using it five years from now.

CONCLUSION

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