Improving Access to Audio-Visual Materials

by Using Genre/Form Terms

OLAC Conference

1-3 October 2004

Montreal, Quebec

Genre/Form Terms

• What are genre/form terms?

• How might these terms be useful in retrieving audio-visual materials?

• How are records accessed by genre/form?

MARC definitions

• 655 - INDEX TERM--GENRE/FORM (R) Terms indicating the genre, form, and/or physical characteristics of the materials being described. A genre term designates the style or technique of the intellectual content of textual materials or, for graphic materials, aspects such as vantage point, intended purpose, or method of representation. A form term designates historically and functionally specific kinds of materials distinguished by their physical character, the subject of their intellectual content, or the order of information within them. Physical characteristic terms designate historically and functionally specific kinds of materials as distinguished by an examination of their physical character, subject of their intellectual content, or the order of information with them

VS.

• 650 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM (R) A subject added entry in which the entry element is a topical term.

Related MARC Issue

• 6XX subfield ‡ v• This is for form terms as subdivisions, e.g.,

– Art– Film and video adaptations– Maps– Audio adaptations

• Form subdivisions may be used as appropriate with any 6XX field, including 655

Indexing and Access

• How will you provide users access to genre/form terms?– Browse vs. keyword?– As limiters or as primary searches?

Indexing and Access

• How important is database consistency to you?– Incoming records?– Original cataloging?

Consistency:The Multiple Thesaurus Problem

• There are currently 56 authorized thesauri from which terms may be used in 655, most written by different bodies that do not consult with each other

• All are listed at: http://www.loc.gov/marc/relators/relasour.html#rela655b

A Few Common Thesauri • aat = Art & architecture thesaurus (Los Angeles, CA: Getty Research Institute, Getty

Vocabulary Program) • gmgpc = Thesaurus for graphic materials: TGM II, Genre and physical characteristic

terms (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Cataloging Distribution Service) • gsafd = Guidelines on subject access to individual works of fiction, drama, etc.

(Chicago: American Library Association) • lcsh = Library of Congress subject headings (Washington: Library of Congress) • mesh = Medical subject headings (Bethesda, MD: National Library of Medicine)• mim = Moving image materials: genre terms (Washington: Motion Picture

Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress) • rbbin = Binding terms: a thesaurus for use in rare book and special collections

cataloguing (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, ALA) • rbgenr = Genre terms: a thesaurus for use in rare book and special collections

cataloguing (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries) • rbtyp = Type evidence: a thesaurus for use in rare book and special collections

cataloging (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, ALA)

Inconsistencies Between Thesauri:Terms

LCSH: Children’s literature

RBGENR: Juvenile literature

LCSH: Detective and mystery stories

GSAFD: Mystery fiction

GMGPC: Caricatures and

GMGPC: Cartoons (Commentary)

LCSH: Caricatures and cartoons

GMGPC: Film posters

LCSH: Motion picture posters

Inconsistencies Between Thesauri:Hierarchy

• AAT

Visual works

NT Photographs

• LCSH

Art

NT Pictures

NT Photographs

• GMGPC

Pictures

NT Photographs

Exercise 1Decide the hierarchy you will use in your catalog for Diaries

LCSH

Philology

NT Literature

NT Diaries

RBGENR

Record-keeping works

NT Diaries

AAT

Journals (accounts)

NT Diaries

Exercise 1

LCSH

Games

Amusements [both BT to Puzzles]

NT Puzzles

NT Rebuses

RBGENR

Recreations

NT Puzzles

NT Rebuses

GMGPC

Ephemera

Game pieces [both BT to Puzzles]

NT Puzzles

RT Rebuses [note: not considered NT to Puzzles in GMGPC

Indexing and Access: Consistency

• Do you want to do retrospective work?– Correcting of coding of old 650 to 655?– Older records that do not have a form term,

even in 650, that would if cataloged today?

Indexing and Access

• Policies– Will you make set policies for genre/form?– If so, how will the policies be communicated to

other parts of the library? Is it important that this happen?

Authority Control

• Will genre/form terms be under authority control?

• Will all genre/form terms be under authority control?

• Will the entire genre/form string (including subdivisions) be under authority control?

Authority Control

• Where will genre/form authority records come from?– Manipulation of existing LCSH records– Made from scratch– Authority vendors by contract– Other

Authority Control

• Will you try to prevent incorrect use of 650 for genre/form terms?

• How will you control terms that could be used either as a form or as a topic?

Solution Being Used at BYU

• Change subject record for form term to reference record (008/09 = g, “reference or subdivision”)

• This causes the record not to authorize the heading in 650

• Add cataloger notes

• Add public scope note and instructions

Subject Authority Record

Exercise 2

Creation of genre/form authority records

Converting LCSH authority records to genre/form authority records

• Duplicate Subject Authority Record

• Change 150 to 155

• Examine 450 fields; change to 455 as appropriate, or delete

• Examine 550 fields; change to 555 as appropriate, or delete

• Fixed fields can remain the same

Exercise 3

Conversion of subject authority records to genre/form authority

records

Questions?

robert_maxwell@byu.edu