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Technical Services Law Librarian, December, 2003

http://www.aallnet.org/sis/tssis/tsll/tsll.htmISSN: 0195-4857

From the Officers:OBS-SIS Chair............................3TS-SIS Chair................................4

Articles:Statistics: Who’s Counting..........1Looking Beyond the

AALL Annual Meetingfor EducationalProgramming.................18

Columns:Classification...........................5Collection Development.............5Description & Entry................6Management........................8OCLC...................................10Preservation.........................11Research & Publications........12Serials..................................14Subejct Headings................15

Volume 29 No. 2December, 2003

Newsletter of the Technical Services Special Interest Section and theOn-Line Bibliographic Services Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries

INSIDE:

Technical ServicesLaw Librarian

(continued on page 16)

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.1

A friend who is the director of operations for a non-profit organization recentlymentioned that her organization is having difficulty getting accurate counts forthe number of visitors that enter their facilities. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?One, two, three…. Numbers should reconcile with ticket sales and programattendance but do not. Apparently, depending on who is doing the counting, thenumbers are different. So maybe I shouldn’t feel so surprised that the ABA andARL statistics are so troublesome.

Having survived another round of annual statistics, I do, however, find myselfskeptical about the accuracy of numbers stated in any report. Let me stress,our goal was accuracy as we read and re-read questions and definitions, analyzedvarious departmental tallies, and ran multiple lists in Innovative. But someconcerns linger, and I have a question: how can we make the process easier andanswers more accurate?

Our library has undergone reorganization resulting in staff changes impactingthe way we compile our annual reports. Previously the Head of TechnicalServices (a librarian position also responsible for the budget) compiled thelibrary portion of the reports. In that model staff participation was minimal;staff was asked for specific raw data (e.g., how many new serial titles/yr), andthe Head of Technical Services assumed sole responsibility for calculatingnumbers and completing the reports.

The library now has a budget officer (non-librarian) who compiles reports.Consequently, staff has much more involvement in calculating annual statistics.

Although libraries may employ different methods of compiling statistics, myguess is that there are common problem areas. Our experience and observationsmay identify pertinent issues.

Deborah DennisonCase Western Reserve University

[email protected]

Statistics: Who’s Counting?

Technical Services Law Librarian, Vol. 29, No. 2

OBS-SISChair:

Kevin ButterfieldCollege of William & Mary

Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect:Georgia BriscoeUniversity of Colorado

Secretary/Treasurer:Michael MabenIndiana University-Bloomington

Members-at-Large:Ruth FunabikiUniversity of IdahoAndrea RabbinSyracuse University

Education Committee:Kevin ButterfieldUniversity of Illinois, Urbana

Local System Committee:Corinne JacoxCreighton University

Nominations Committee:Ismael GullonMercer University

OCLC Committee:Darcy JonesMercer University

RLIN Committee:Virginia BryantGeorge Washington University

Web Advisory Committee:Anne MyersBoston University

2003-2004 Officers and Committee ChairsTS-SISChair:

Gary Vander MeerNorthern Illinois University

Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect:Cynthia MayUniversity of Wisconsin

Secretary/Treasurer:Patricia Sayre-McCoyUniversity of Chicago

Members-at-Large:Jolande GoldbergLibrary of CongressLorraine LorneUniversity of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Acquisitions Committee:Diane AltimariNova Southeastern University

Awards Committee:Chris LongIndiana University, Indianapolis

Cataloging & Classification Committee:Amy LovellDuquesne University

Joint Research Grant CommitteeEloise VondruskaNorthwestern University

Nominations Committee:JoAnn HounshellChicago-Kent College of Law

Preservation Committee:Patricia K. TurpeningUniversity of Cincinnati

Program/Education Committee:Jean PajerekCornell University

Serials Committee:Frank RichardsonLos Angeles County Law Library

TSLL EDITORIAL POLICYTechnical Services Law Librarian (ISSN 0195-4857) is an official publication of theTechnical Services Special Interest Section and the Online Bibliographic ServicesSpecial Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries. It carriesreports or summaries of the convention meetings and other programs of OBS-SISand TS-SIS, acts as the vehicle of communication for the SIS committee activities,and carries current awareness and short implementation reports. Prospective authorsshould contact the editors for style information.

Statements and opinions of the authors are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflectthose of AALL, TS-SIS, OBS-SIS, or the TSLL Editorial Board.

Subscriptions: Provided as a benefit of membership to Sections members. Non-member subscriptions: Domestic: $10.00; Foreign: $20.00. Contact the TSLLBusiness Manager or the American Association of Law Libraries.

Publication Schedule

Issues are published quarterly inMarch, June, September, andDecember.

Deadlines:V.29:no.3(Mar.2004)..........31 Jan. 2004V.29:no.4(Jun.2004)......... .31 April 2004V.30:no.1(Sept. 2004)........31 Aug. 2004V.30:no.2(Dec. 2004).........31 Oct.2004

TSLL StaffEditor:

Joe ThomasUniversity of Notre [email protected]

Business Manager:Cindy May University of [email protected]

Layout & Design:Linda TesarVanderbilt [email protected]

Webmaster:Martin E. WisneskiWashburn [email protected]

Contributing Editors:Acquisitions:

Janice AndersonClassification:

Beth HolmesMarie Whited

Collection DevelopmentMargaret Maes Axtmann

Description & Entry:George Prager

The Internet:Kevin Butterfield

Management:Caitlin Robinson

MARC Remarks:Susan Goldner

OCLC:Darcy Jones

Preservation:Hope Breeze

Private Law Libraries:vacancy

Research and Publications:Chris Long

Serials:Margaret McDonaldChristina Tarr

Serial Issues:vacancy

Subject Headings:Aaron Kuperman

Editorial Board:OBS-SIS:

Karen Selden (2002-2004)University of ColoradoSharon Burchard (2003-2005)University of San Francisco

TS-SIS:JoAnn Hounshell (2002-2004)Chicago-Kent College of LawMargaret Perrin (2003-2005)New York Law School


OFrom the Chair

nline Bibliographic ServicesSpecial Interest Section

Here it is the last week of October andI have just finished filling out all theforms for our meetings in Boston nextyear. Time flies. We have a full slateof meetings scheduled and Gary vander Meer and I have worked hard toensure that all TS/OBS conflicts arekept to a minimum. AALL providedadditional slots for SIS meetings thisyear by eliminating some programslots. This made scheduling ourcommittees and avoiding conflictseasier, but not completely unavoidable.When the final meeting schedule forBoston is approved we will post it tothe OBS mailing list.

When we are not attending ourmeetings we will all be enjoying oneof the four OBS sponsored programs!Four of our six proposals wereaccepted by AALL for the Bostonmeeting. My sincere thanks go out tothe hard working members of theeducation committee (Mary JaneKelsey, Shannon Burchard, JohnBissett and Georgia Briscoe) and to allthose who invested their timepreparing proposals this year. TheAnnual Meeting Program SelectionCommittee had 230 programssubmitted for 66 slots. The acceptedOBS sponsored programs are:

OPAC Usability Assessment:Your Passport to Effective WebPresence

Tired of the “out of the box” lookthat came with your OPAC?Before booting up your favoriteweb development software to jazzup your site, there are some thingsyou should know. Using actualOPAC examples, an experiencedWeb Designer from InteractiveFactory, Boston, will showparticipants design elements toenhance user satisfaction. The

speaker will also describe themethods and benefits of usabilityassessment.

Two Stepping With TechnologyReturns

Finding it hard to stay current withall the latest developments inlibrary technologies? Trying todetermine which library journalsand ‘blogs to read, what listservsyou should be on, what websitesyou should be watching? This quicksurvey of sources will give showyou the steps for keeping inrhythm with the latest in librarytechnologies and updates JohnNann’s Seattle program.

XML and MARC: Should weredesign or Build Anew?

MARC has been the de factostandard for the representation ofbibliographic data for decades.XML is fast becoming a de factostandard for the representation ofcontent optimized for webdelivery. Speakers will give anoverview of the latestdevelopments in the evolvingrelationship between XML andMARC and its impact on librariesand library systems as well asdiscuss current developments inMARC to XML transfer and its dayto day applications in TechnicalServices.

MARBI Report

The U.S. MARC AdvisoryCommittee approves changes tothe MARC 21 formats in responseto users needs. After a briefdescription of the Committee andits procedures, the AALLRepresentative to the Committeewill discuss the issues raised

during the past year by describingthe proposals that were approvedand by commenting on thediscussion papers that werepresented. The emphasis will beon the changes most likely toimpact law libraries

These are a strong slate of educationalprograms. The OBS EducationCommittee, under the leadership ofVice-Chair Georgia Briscoe, willcontinue to work through the fall andspring to define issues and methods forcontinuing education. Watch forpostings to the OBS mailing listregarding topical discussions andquestions on how the OBS-SIS canbest assist with your continuingeducation needs. Georgia will also beconducting the annual membershipsurvey this spring. If there arequestions you feel would be beneficialto add to the survey please contactGeorgia.

By the time this column is publishedin TSLL, the OBS-SIS NominatingCommittee, under the leadership ofIsmael Gullon, will have completed itswork and presented a slate ofcandidates for our next election. TheOBS Board extends thanks to Ismaeland the committee for their work andthanks to all who volunteered to runfor office. It has been both aneducational experience and a privilegeto serve the OBS SIS these past fewyears. I hope that everyone willconsider volunteering when Georgiaseeks committee members this spring.

Kevin ButterfieldCollege of William & Mary


Technical ServicesSpecial Interest Section

From the Chair

Well, I remember blinking twice sincethe July convention, and here it isOctober already. The search for theformica top to my desk is an ongoingone, and while glimpses show up nowand then, it seems like a hopelesscause. Given the funding status mostof us face, we are doing our work withfewer people, canceling more titlesthan we are buying new, and facing atenuous future in our libraries. This isa perfect time for SIS members to helpeach other do our jobs better, and todeal with the stress of them in waysthat don’t leave us longing for Fridaysand dreading Monday mornings.

By now, you haveheard about thep r o g r a m m i n gopportunities that TS-SIS will be providingat the Bostonconvention. We aretaking a break fromour three-yearcataloging cycle topresent a workshopon the cataloging ofi n t e g r a t i n gresources. The Fall2003 issue of theLibrary of CongressCataloging ServiceBulletin (no. 102)presents LC rule interpretationsdealing with many areas of this typeof material. I commend it to yourreading, and suggest that you will findthe workshop well worth theinvestment. The basic cataloginginstitute was also presented as aworkshop proposal, but only theintegrating resources workshop wasaccepted.

We can look forward to programs ondealing with foreign publishers, thefuture of AACR, cost-cutting intechnical services, and the regular

CC:DA and SAC reports. Because wewere limited in the number ofproposals we could submit, theMARBI report was submitted by theOBS-SIS. Jean Pajerek and herEducation Committee members are tobe thanked for their work with thosesubmitting proposals. We had severalthat I believe need to be presented, butthe limitation of space, and theexpansion of slots at the conventionfor committee meetings, limited thenumber to fewer programs than in

Although it hasn’t been that long sinceJuly, we are gearing up for Bostonactivities. JoAnn Hounshell will chairthe Nominations Committee and willbe looking for volunteers to help withthe running of the SIS. Chris Long willbe heading the Awards Committee. Ithank them, and those who have agreedto work with them, for theircommitment to the SIS. Cindy May isbeginning the work on the annualsurvey. When it is available, pleasecomplete it. It can be a valuable toolfor SIS planning, but moreparticipation is needed. Again this yearit will be available online. Part of the

survey is a chance to volunteer forservice to the SIS. Many ofour over 600 members arepassive participants in theactivities of the SIS. Ourprofessional and personallives are busy enough thatvolunteering for moreseems like too much toexpect. However, those of uswho have been active arerewarded by ourparticipation. We findpeople to call when we havequestions, people to helpwhen there are problems.Cindy will be seeking to filltwo committee chairpositions as Diane Altimari(Acquisitions) and PatTurpening (Preservation)complete their terms. Shouldyour phone ring, pleaseconsider saying yes toserving this SIS. We willcontinue to be a positive

benefit to your efforts with your help.

Gary Vander MeerNorthern Illinois University

Seattle.I will bew o r k i n gw i t hcommitteechairs and roundtable coordinators onthe possibility of examining some ofthe proposals that were turned downduring the roundtables. We will alsoneed to vigorously work with the newprofessional development program tomake sure that TS needs are met in anyfuture programming decisions.


Marie E. WhitedYale Law School

[email protected]

In the past months, there have beensome changes to the law classi-fication schedules and tables. Thechanges have been reported on variouslists and we can thank Paul Weiss ofLibrary of Congress, CatalogingPolicy and Support Office for makingthem.

Form division table KF9 no longer hasjust the modifications for state law butnow is a complete form table for state

Elizabeth Geesey HolmesUniversity of Georgia

[email protected]

Classification

law. The modified table was discussedin TSLL. Vol. 27, no. 2, p. 7.

Classification Web has done away withthe old forms “Divide like”, “Undereach”, “Subarranged like” and now eachsubarrangement is in the schedule withthe number to which it applies. If yougo to KF105 in the enhanced browser,you see “General. Various courts TableKF31” and if you click on the general,the subarrangement will expand to showthe numbers for digests, indexes,briefs, etc.

Parentheses around numbers in theLibrary of Congress classificationschedules indicate that the number was

valid at one time but is now obsoleteand not used by LC. Angle brackets inthe schedules indicate that the numberhas never been used by LC but isprovided for libraries who wish to usean arrangement different from LC.

K4610 is now the number for WorldTrade Organization and K4609.5 is forthe GATT organization. (K4601-4609)is closed with a note: “This range ofnumbers was used by the Library ofCongress from 1977-2003. Beginningin 2003, material formerly classed inthese numbers is classed in K4600 orin K4609.5+.” With great pleasure Iask you to disregard the TSLL classi-fication column, vol. 28, no.1/2, p. 7.

Margaret Maes AxtmannUniversity of St. Thomas

[email protected]

Is That in Our Collection Development Policy?

Collection Development

If you’ve asked yourself that questionlately, chances are the answer will beno. Most of the questions anddilemmas we face these days are theresult of rapid changes in thepublishing industry – new and multipleformats, higher prices, licensingconsiderations – as well as changinguser expectations about informationavailability and delivery.

Recently I reviewed a variety ofacademic law library collectiondevelopment policies to get someideas about how libraries are revisingtheir policies to reflect publishingchanges and user needs. There areseveral models to follow: a separatepolicy for electronic resources; a

separate section of the policy forelectronic resources; or integration ofelectronic resources with otherformats and subject matter describedin the policy. All of the models havecommon elements.

Selection criteria – This sectionoften incorporates criteria usedfor print and micro formats, eitherdirectly or by reference to anotherdocument. Most libraries havesupplemented the standardelements with additional criteria tobe applied to electronic resources.These include (but are not limitedto) enhanced content, timeliness,ease of use, searching capabilities,technical platform and interface,

reliability, accessibility, technicaland customer support, and trainingopportunities.

Duplication of formats – Thelibrary should identify those areasin which it will considerduplication, i.e. where electronicmedia will be added even thoughthe information is already in thecollection in print or microform.We are facing this issue morefrequently as digital lawcollections proliferate, and thelibrary should develop criteria forevaluating information in multipleformats. In addition to theselection criteria noted above,these might include cost savings,

K


partial cataloging and whichresources have a direct link fromthe library’s web page.

Staffing – While not necessarilypart of a collection developmentpolicy, it is important to identifythose staff members who will beresponsible for various aspects ofselecting, acquiring andmaintaining access to electronicresources. The library shoulddesignate appropriate personnel tohandle any technical and systemswork associated with adding andmaintaining electronic resources.This may include loading software,maintaining a proxy server,checking and updating links, andproviding documentation andtraining.

Many librarians identify theircollection development policies as“living documents,” subject to regularrevision. In practice we don’t like torevise our policies too frequently,because we prefer to have a long-rangeview of the shaping and developmentof our collections. But we run the riskof letting current practice become thejustification for guiding our collectiondevelopment decisions when we don’ttake the time to reflect on the changingenvironment and the long term impacton our collections.

Whatever model you choose, if youhaven’t revised your collectiondevelopment policy in the last fiveyears, now is the time to dust it off andbring it up to date. The next newresource is just around the corner, andyou need to be ready!

For another brief article with tips andresources, see Karen Silber’s “EveryLibrary is Special and So Is ItsCollection Development Policy,” 4AALL Spectrum 10 (December 1999).

Note: I would like to review morecollection development policies fromlaw firm, court and governmentallibraries. Please contact me [email protected] if youhave a policy you are willing to share.

broader access, greater flexibility,and the opportunity to eliminateother formats.

Access – What forms of accesswill the library be able to accept,both from the technical perspectiveand from a service viewpoint? Forexample, will the library addresources that are restricted bypassword access or will it onlyconsider those resources that haveaccess via IP address? If passwordaccess is accepted, how will thelibrary distribute and managepasswords? How will the resourcebe publicized and marketed to theuser community?

Licensing – It is essential for thelibrary to outline its basicrequirements for licensing,including those provisions that itdeems essential and those it findsacceptable. The library mightdevelop language for specificprovisions or it might follow oneof several model licenseagreements available from other

libraries and consortial groups.License agreements shouldcontain, at a minimum, adequatedescriptions of the rights oflibraries and their users, therestrictions placed on those users,and provisions for fair use ofinformation for educationalpurposes. Yale UniversityLibrary’s Liblicense web site is anexcellent resource for detailedinformation on this topic,including licensing terms andrestrictions and a model licenseagreement. See http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/.

Cataloging – Most libraries arecataloging at least some of theirelectronic resources, but it isimportant to document thecataloging policy for electronicmedia. There has beenconsiderable debate in theliterature and at conferences aboutcataloging vs. web page access forelectronic resources. The policyshould clearly state whichelectronic resources receive full or


George A. PragerNew York University

[email protected]

Description & Entry

A. Updates to previous TSLLcolumn (v. 28, no. 4, June 2003,p. 8-11)

Integrating Resources Manual

I would first like to follow up onseveral topics which I discussed inmy last TSLL column of June 2003.Integrating Resources: aCataloging Manual, has recentlybeen posted to the BIBCO website,as “Appendix A” of the BIBCOParticipants Manual. This manualwas prepared by Diane I. Boehr andAlice E. Jacobs, with the assistanceof our AALL colleagues, Regina T.Wallen and Kathy Winzer. Althoughit’s only been available for a shorttime, I find myself constantlyreferring to it (possibly because Iforget the same information overand over again?) At any rate, not tobe missed are the extremelyhelpful record examples in the lastsection of the manual. We can onlyhope that this manual is “suigeneris”, that is, that it will be amodel updating integratingresource, frequently updated. Themanual is available at: <http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/bibco/irman.pdf>

“Parallel” Records in OCLC

As announced on Oct. 13, 2003,OCLC will now allow for parallelrecords within WorldCat bylanguage of cataloging. If nolanguage code is given in the 040field, it is assumed that thelanguage of cataloging is English.An example of parallel records is:

OCLC#45570484, with a locallydefined MARC 936 field giving therecord number of the relatedrecord, preceded by “PR” (PR45825482). See OCLC TechnicalBulletin no. 250 for further details:<http://www.oclc.org/support/documentation/worldcat/tb/250/default.htm>

B. AACR 2002 rev. (2003 update)

In late September, the 2003 update wasissued to the Anglo-AmericanCataloguing Rules, 2nd edition, 2002Revision. The most significantchanges include:

Changes in title proper: Minorchanges (Rule 21.2A2).

Category “i” of minor changes(changes not requiring a new serialrecord) has been expanded to read:“The addition, deletion, orrearrangement anywhere in the titleof words that indicate the type ofresource such as “magazine”,“journal”, or “newsletter”, or theirequivalent in other languages.”“Rearrangement” has been added.

Choice of access points: Titles:Titles proper (21.30J1).

This rule previously instructed usto make added entries under thetitle proper of every item enteredunder a personal or corporateheading, or a uniform title, exceptin four specific cases (a-d, with “c”being based upon filing needs foran interfiled catalog). The fourexceptions have been removed,with a more general option added,to “make such added entries inaccordance with the policy of thecataloguing agency.” Case “a” is the

most common situation, when thetitle proper is essentially the sameas the main entry heading. (Rule25.2E2 and 26.4B1, footnote “2”have also been revised to reflectthis change). Example of currentpolicy:

130 0 Keesing’s record of worldevents (Online)

245 10 Keesing’s record of worldevents|h[electronic resource].

Formerly, the 245 field would havebeen coded: 245 00 [the firstindicator “0” meaning “No addedentry”.

This revision is something to keepin mind when you’re creating orrevising records in the nationalbibliographic utilities, but in many(dare I say nearly all?) online publicaccess catalogs, the differencewould be immaterial, as thesoftware would always make anadded entry for the title properanyway.

Headings for Corporate Bodies:Heads of Governments and ofInternational governmentalBodies (24.20C1)

Formerly, we were instructed notto add dates or names to acorporate heading for a head ofgovernment not also a head of state,when that individual was acting inhis/her official capacity—forinstance, a corporate heading for amayor or a prime minister of acountry whose head of state is apresident or sovereign. Now, dateand name elements are to be added,so that these headings will betreated more like headings forheads of state, governors, etc.


ManagementSuggestions for Supporting,Suggestions for Supporting,Suggestions for Supporting,Suggestions for Supporting,Suggestions for Supporting,EncourEncourEncourEncourEncouraging and Empowering Staffaging and Empowering Staffaging and Empowering Staffaging and Empowering Staffaging and Empowering Staff– Pr– Pr– Pr– Pr– Practical Solutionsactical Solutionsactical Solutionsactical Solutionsactical Solutions

In the last column I reviewed some ofthe pressures that we all face, anddiscussed the personal andenvironmental assessment steps thatshould take place before undertakingchanges related to the support of yourstaff. In this column, I’d like to turnour attention to some practicalsuggestions for supporting,encouraging and empowering yourstaff.

We have talked about, and most of ushave accepted the “more/less”paradigm. Our staff members certainlyhave enough to do and there is littlechance that we will be able to increaseour staff resources. In someinstitutions, the size of our staff is

actually decreasing. At the same time,in many libraries the flow of incomingmaterial has increased. Certainly themultiplicity and complexity of theformats we are controlling hasincreased. Finally, while automationhas enhanced our ability to control andprovide access to our collections,actual staff workloads haven’t beenreduced. What can we do to assist ourstaff in managing their workloads? Ifwe can’t reduce the demands forservice, what can we offer staff to helpthem manage those demands?

Review and revise jobdescriptions, creatingdescriptions where none exist.

Your staff has reason to complain iftheir position description bears noresemblance to the job they arecurrently performing. No one shouldwork in a position where taskassignments have not been adequatelyor accurately documented. Knowingwhat is expected allows staff to takean ownership interest in their job, andencourages them to actively managetheir work life. Ask your staff toprepare the initial job description andthe accompanying task list. Sit downtogether and review the description,revising as appropriate.

I once had a boss who was fond ofsaying “what are we doingexceptionally well, that we don’t need

(24.20B). Example:

2003 update: Philadelphia(Pa.). |b Mayor (1972-1980 : Rizzo)

pre-2003 update: : Philadelphia(Pa.). |b Mayor

Abbreviations: B.14A

The abbreviation for “New-foundland and Labrador” has beenchanged to “N.L.” (formerlyNfld.), and “Nfld.” is now used for“Newfoundland” (formerly noseparate abbreviation).

C. Updating Loose-leafs: Newguidelines from the LCRIs

AACR has never been of much help indeciding when to make a new recordfor an updating loose-leaf. When it wasdecided not to include an appendix ofmajor changes in AACR2 Rev. 2002,RI 21.3B was drafted to offer someguidance (see my previous column, v.28, no. 3, Mar. 2003, p. 8). These

guidelines have been further refined(May 2003 LCRI update) to deal withmany of the situations that technicalservices law librarians andparaprofessionals encounter on a fartoo frequent basis. For example,sometimes the publisher sends “intoto” replacement volume/s with newdates in the header or footer of thepages that are the same throughout, butthe resource does not have a newedition statement. In such cases, we arenow to create a new record. If bothresources lack edition statements, andthe main entry/title proper of the tworesources are the same, an editionstatement for the new resource shouldbe supplied in brackets, viz.: “[2003ed.].” The same edition statementwhich is supplied for the new resourceshould also be used in the linking entryfield (MARC field 780) on the recordfor the earlier resource. In my library,we are having to supply these bracketededition statements quite often formany Thompson/West publications,and BNA’s two series: “Tax

management portfolios” and:“Corporate practice series”. For actualrecord examples, I would refer you allto figures 14-15 in the afore-mentioned Integrating Resources: aCataloging Manual. In the August2003 LCRI update for RI 1.2B4(“Edition Statement. OptionalAddition”), a new paragraph applyingonly to updating loose-leafs has beenadded to synchronize this rule with RI21.3B.

The new guidelines are very clear, andso far, we haven’t had to base ourdecision upon the “in case of doubtproviso” of the latter RI: “In case ofdoubt, make a new record.” So, for newchallenges, we may have to wait to seewhat the legal publishers will come upwith next.

I would be interested in devoting atleast some of my future columns tospecific D&E problems in lawcataloging. Any suggestions would bemost welcome.

Caitlin RobinsonUniversity of Iowa

[email protected]


to be doing at all?“ When working onposition descriptions, ask your staffmembers for examples of tasks thatthey believe no longer need to be done.In my division, we formed a supportstaff/librarian team charged withidentifying unnecessary tasks. Thegroup forwarded 23 suggestions andwe were able to act on all but five. Itfeels good to “cast-off” work, even ifthe actual reduction in effort isrelatively minimal.

Consider conducting a detailedtask analysis for a position.

Formal job analysis is a tool that youcan use to identify and assess thediscrete tasks are currently assignedto a staff member. Basically, the stepsinvolved are: identify the discretejob tasks; categorize tasks, groupsimilar skills sets together;identify the amount of timedevoted to the task and thefrequency with which it isperformed; identify the knowledge,skill and abilities required; confirmthe continued need for the work;and identify the priority for thetask. Once information has beengathered, you can use it as a basisfor discussions related to revisingthe job description or reassigningwork. At Iowa I used formal taskanalysis as a foundation thatallowed us to make a decisionabout the best support mechanismfor our federal documents collection.

Cooperatively identify servicebenchmarks for tasks assignedto a staff member.

Working together, the manager andstaff member should identify theperformance expectations for each oftheir assigned tasks. Servicebenchmarks insure that both themanager and the staff member share acommon understanding of theexpectations for the position, identifythe relative priorities across tasks, andallow you to insure that external needsare being met. Your role as managershould be to insure that the goals arein balance with other departments’ and

other staff members’ benchmarks,with external demands, and to assesswhether the expectations arereasonable and achievable.Benchmarks are not throughput goals;they are statements of a sharedunderstanding of service levels. Anexample of a service benchmark is:“Strive to receive all new materialswithin 48 hours of arrival in theDepartment”. Give staff as muchflexibility as possible in determiningtheir benchmarks — they are, after all,the experts. Once the benchmarks havebeen established use them as the basisfor informal and formal evaluation,discussing the success with which theyare being met. Never carve abenchmark in stone. Revise them oftenbased on the input that you receivefrom staff and from external

constituencies.

Conduct a formal annual staffevaluation and frequentinformal evaluations.

A management-consulting firm, DDI1,surveyed 278 businesses andinstitutions and found that 60% oftheir staff members reported problemswith the effectiveness of theirperformance review mechanism.2Without effective feedback, staffmembers lack the signposts that allowthem to improve their performance orassess the importance of their rolewithin the organization. Communicatefrequently with your staff throughweekly meetings or other informaldiscussions in which the task

assignments and benchmarks that youhave agreed upon are reviewed. Useopen-ended questions to solicit input.At least annually, note any changes tothe position that have occurred duringthe past year. Set goals for the comingyear and work out service benchmarksas appropriate. Evaluation must becontinual if it is to be effective.

Commit to continual training.

As our jobs and our organizationsevolve and become more complex, ourknowledge and skill sets must changeas well. We need to recognize that ourstaff members are highly educatedindividuals who benefit from neweducational opportunities. Identifyingtraining and education needs shouldnot be a top down effort. Again, involveyour staff. Form a training needsassessment group or prepare a survey

to determine needs andexpectations.

Staff training and educationalopportunities do not need to alwaysbe strictly job related. Smith andBurgin’s study3 on the reasons staffreported they were seeking trainingdiscovered four motivations:personal concerns, patron service,collegiality and professionalcompetence. These needs can bemet by exploiting both formal andinformal options for educationalexperiences. Use all the internal

resources available to you.Suggestions include applicationsoftware training videotapes; apresentation on affirmative action byyour compliance officer; a discussionon ergonomics chaired by aknowledgeable staff member; an opendiscussion on stress management.Consider a brown-bag lunch to hearconference reports, play a meetingpresentation tape during a staffgathering; route articles of interest tothe staff. Another training/staffdevelopment issue that is oftenoverlooked is the training that we canprovide one another. At its simplest,short presentations on what each of usdoes, at its most complex, true formalcross training so that staff can rotate


OCLCDarcy L. Jones

Mercer [email protected]

Some updates from the ever-changingworld of OCLC…

J OCLC Connexion – PassportUsers Still Have Some Time toMake the Switch

According to the OCLC Connexionweb site (http://oclc.org/connexion/),a new expiration date for Passportsupport still has not been set. OCLCwill provide libraries at least 6 monthsadvance notice of the new date, and hasdetermined that this date will not bebefore September 2004.

J OCLC Releases No-Charge Accessto FRBR Algorithm

OCLC is providing libraries analgorithm to convert MARC21bibliographic databases to theFunctional Requirements forBibliographic Records (FRBR) model,which is available free of charge ath t t p : / / w w w. o c l c . o rg / r e s e a r c h /software/frbr/index.shtm. Thealgorithm extracts information fromMARC21 records, compares it with astandard name authority file, andcombines the records based primarilyon their author and title. This willallow the records for the 400+different forms of Sir Arthur Conan

Doyle’s “The Adventures of SherlockHolmes,” for instance, to be combinedas a single work for easier searching.To see an example of an “FRBRized”database, go to http://www.oclc.org/research/software/frbr/#top.

J Technical Bulletin 250: ParallelRecords

OCLC has changed its policy to nowallow for parallel records withinWorldCat by language of cataloging.This policy only applies to onlinecataloging, and does not yet apply tobatchloaded records. If a matchingrecord is cataloged in WorldCat in alanguage other than what the inputting

library has it cataloged, you may entera parallel record in its language ofdescriptive cataloging. Note, however,that if you are using an existing recordfor copy cataloging, you are notsupposed to change the language ofcataloging if you are upgrading theMaster Record, unless it is a vendorrecord. Libraries should use the 936field to link parallel records, with theOCLC control number of the parallelrecord in subfield a preceded by theuppercase letters “PR” and a space.For more information about thisTechnical Bulletin, go to http://oclc.org/support/documentation/worldcat/tb/250.

J Last, but not least, an update onthe OCLC Committee OpenDiscussion at AALL in Boston…

The open discussion is currentlyscheduled for Sunday afternoon, July11, from 4:15pm – 5:15pm. There willbe more about this meeting, includingspeaker information, in the next issueof Technical Services Law Librarian.

J Closing Comments

Please let me know if any of you haveany questions or comments for thiscolumn. I’d love to hear from you.

between departments. Together, staffand managers may be the richestresource that is readily available fortraining and educational presentations.

Taken as a whole, these practicalsuggestions seem daunting and entirelytoo time consuming. After all, as amanager, your time is also fullycommitted, and your job stress isn’texactly lessening these days. As notedabove, these management initiativeswill be most successful if done

collaboratively, which distributes thework more evenly. Documentationthat grows out of these activities doesnot need to be extensive. Letting yourstaff members know that you are awareof and share the pressures of theirwork lives is what is most important.Working together to identify sharedproblems and solutions will pay bigdividends for them, for you and for theLibrary. As always, I’d be interestedin hearing your feedback. Email me [email protected].

Endnotes1 Development Dimensions International. Seetheir web site at http://www.ddiworld.com/

2 Bernthal, Paul et al. “Managing Performance:Building Accountability for OrganizationalSuccess – Executive Summary” p.4h t t p : / / w w w . d d i w o r l d . c o m / p d f /ddi_performancemanagement_executivesummary_rr.pdf

3 Smith, Duncan and Robert Burgin. “TheMotivations of Professional andParaprofessional Librarians for Participating inContinuing Education Programs” LISR v.13 (1991)pp.405-429.


PreservationHope Breeze

Duke University Law [email protected]

Vandals in the Stacks: A Response toNicholson Baker’s Assault onLibraries. Richard J. Cox.Greenwood Press, 219 pp.

In 2001, the publication of NicholsonBaker’s Double Fold: Libraries andthe Assault on Paper set the libraryworld abuzz by condemning thecommon library preservation practiceof reformatting and replacing olderprinted volumes with microforms.Baker accused librarians of destroyingdocumentary history by not doingenough to save all original printedmaterials, and even went so far as tosuggest that the reformatting oforiginals was fueled by a conspiracydesigned to economize space. BecauseBaker is an established and engagingwriter, this work received a great dealof attention from the general publicand was favorably reviewed innumerous publications.

Richard Cox, a professor in theDepartment of Library and InformationScience at the University of Pittsburghand a specialist in the field of archives,has become one of the library world’smost outspoken critics of DoubleFold. Having first responded toBaker’s book in a review requested bythe Society of American Archivists,Cox went on to publicly debate Bakerat Simmons College in May 2001. Hisbook, Vandals in the Stacks?: AResponse to Nicholson Baker’sAssault on Libraries, grew out of thatdebate. In Vandals, whose title isderived from the headline of the April15, 2001 New York Times Book Reviewwhich contains a review of DoubleFold, Cox examines the weaknesses ofBaker’s book while offering reasonswhy the library world should payattention to it. Although Double Fold

appeals to the reading public, Vandalsdoes not, and the author acknowledgesthis. Instead, his intention is to helplibrarians, preservation administrators,and archivists analyze and respond tothe issues raised by Baker.

Cox contends that the major flaws inBaker’s complaints stem from hismisunderstanding of what libraries doand his misguided belief that it ispossible to save everything everprinted. Baker fails to show us that hecomprehends the distinction betweentypes of libraries and the fact thatmissions of libraries differ dependingon their clientele. He also does notunderstand the competing prioritiesfaced by libraries every day in decidingwhat information to provide, how toprovide it, and how long to provide it.

Cox points out that Baker’s simplisticview of libraries as warehouses doesnot take into account the supportrequired to organize information andmake it accessible. The “HomeDepot” approach proposed in DoubleFold does not factor in the cost forpersonnel, equipment, environmentalcontrols and cataloging. Cox believesthat Baker’s premise that we can andmust save everything also ignores thefact that not everything is worth savingand that trying to keep everything willweaken our ability to keep anything.He thinks that librarians and archivistsmust respond to Baker’s belief that itis cost effective to save everything“...in a way that indicates thatpreservation is expensive and thatpreservation that assumes themaintenance of all originals isexpensive beyond our (or Baker’s)wildest dreams.”

A major theme throughout Vandals isthat the quickness with which the public

embraced Baker’s arguments provesthat the library world needs to do abetter public relations job. “The realmoral of the story here may be thefailure of archivists and librarians toexplain to the public and policymakerswhat it is they do, must do, and shoulddo in terms of managing our nation’sdocumentary heritage.” Cox usesDouble Fold in his classes as a toolto train future professionals aboutpublic perception. He feels that Bakerhas provided us with the opportunityand motivation to explain ourselvesand that the real value of Double Foldis that “...it serves as a warning ... thatwe cannot take for granted that we orour discipline will be understood orappreciated by external observers.”

Double Fold should also motivatelibrarians and archivists to reexamineand reflect on the wisdom of some ofour practices and justify those that aresound. For instance, Cox thinks itmight behoove us to reanalyze thebrittle paper issue so that we havemore scientific knowledge of howpaper deteriorates. If libraries havebecome too complacent in selectingfor preservation, perhaps the questionsraised in Double Fold will serve toremedy that.

In the final chapter, Cox seeks toclarify his presumptions as an archivistso that readers will understand hispoint of view. The result is a con-cluding chapter that is overly devotedto self-validation and comes across asmore of an essay on his professionalaccomplishments than the challenge tohis colleagues he means it to be. Asidefrom this, it is good that the professionhas an eloquent spokesperson toprovide another perspective and givelibrarians solid advice for counteringBaker’s indictments.

Book Review:Book Review:Book Review:Book Review:Book Review:VVVVVandals in the Stacksandals in the Stacksandals in the Stacksandals in the Stacksandals in the Stacks


Research & PublicationsChris Long

Indiana University , [email protected]

Where To Place Your Article?: TheE-Alternative

Certainly one excuse that prospectivearticle writers can no longer use is, “Idon’t have any place to publish mywork.” No matter how esoteric a topicmight be, there seems to be a journaldevoted to it. For example, did youknow that if string figures are yourpassion and you feel moved to put pento paper about them, there is apublication waiting to hear from you?Not only is there one such journal,there are two, so you might even beable to start a bidding war for yourstring figure insights!

Of course, there are a number offactors to consider when decidingwhere to submit your article, theprimary one being the “fit” betweenyour idea and a journal’s mission. Butthere is little doubt that today’s writerhas more publishing choices than everbefore, and these options extend waybeyond the world of print. Thiscolumn will discuss some reasons whyyou might want to explore a couple ofelectronic alternatives, as well assome caveats to consider.

The E-Journal Advantage

As tech services people, we all knowwhat e-journals are. (Caution: YogiBerra-ism ahead) Those are the thingsthat we think we might have but are notquite sure, and even if we are sure wecannot tell where they are and evenworse we cannot figure out a way toshow our users where to find them.(Whew!) So as librarians, sometimese-journals are our enemies. But if wetake off our librarian hat and put on our

writer hat, then e-journalscan be our friends. Whatfollows are, to my mind,

some advantages of pure e-journals, asopposed to those that are electroniccounterparts of a print publication.

Speed of Distribution and Production

Getting an article published in a printjournal can sometimes be a lengthyprocess, even taking upwards of a yearor more. For some topics, the timelag between submitting the work andseeing it in print does not make adifference. Other topics, though, suchas those dealing with newtechnologies, have a shorter shelf-life.A subject that seemed cutting edgewhen you submitted the piece may havelost much of its relevance now that itis coming off the press a year later. E-journals can offer a much quicker rateof turnaround between submission anddistribution.

Multimedia Capabilities

Print journals are by definition text-bound. Sure, they can contain sometables, charts, or illustrations, but theyare limited in what they can use tocomplement the text. On the otherhand, if you publish your work in an e-journal, you can easily incorporateenhancements like sound and videoclips and hyperlinks to digital imagesand other documents into your work.Your article, then, can be created on amultidimensional scale that isimpossible in the world of pure print.

Dynamism

Once published, your print article isset in stone. You cannot correct errorsthat are brought to your attention, orapply new knowledge that you have

gained since you submitted it. E-journals authors, however, canpotentially correct, revise, and updatetheir articles to their hearts’ content.How many times have you readsomething you wrote several years agoand wished you could go back andchange it? An e-journal article neednot be static—it can be a living thing,always improving and evolving.

Electronic Self-Publishing

In the digital age, anyone with a Website can be a publisher. Writingsmounted on a home page are simplywhat we once would have called avanity press publication. There isnothing to stop authors fromcompletely bypassing any sort offormal journal context. Electronicself-publishing has all of theadvantages of e-journals, and thensome. This “disintermediated”publishing frees the author from anysort of editorial control. The writerneed not worry if the topic is toospecialized, too controversial, or tooanything. He can say what he wants,how he wants. He can use digital toolsto fashion the work visually and aurallyany way he pleases. There are nodeadlines to meet—as soon as theauthor thinks the work is complete, itcan be disseminated. No need totransfer copyright to another publisher.Speedy feedback can be solicited andreceived via email at the click of abutton. A work can be supplemented,revised, or corrected without goingthrough an editorial middleman. If youare the sort of person who likes toretain complete control of your work,publishing it yourself on your Web sitemight be right for you.


Some Issues to Consider

While some writers are given todescribing the world of digitalpublishing as some sort of e-topia,there are some important issues toconsider before submitting your pieceto an e-journal or mounting it on yourWeb site:

Promotion and Tenure Committees

One of the main motivations drivinglibrary research is the attainment ofpromotion and tenure. Promotion andtenure committees, however, are oftensome of the most hide-bound groupswithin the university—to put it mildly,change comes slowly and grudgingly.There has been a good deal ofinvestigation done into how acceptingP&T committees are of e-journalcontributions. Not surprisingly, thefindings are inconclusive. Attitudesnot only vary from institution toinstitution, but also among differentdepartments within the sameuniversity. Faculty members in thenatural and mathematical sciences, forexample, were early adopters ofelectronic dissemination of theirresearch and have come to see it as thenorm. Disciplines in the humanities,however, seem to be slower inembracing the e-journal concept.While is almost certain that eventuallyall disciplines will come around, manycurrent faculty members still see e-journals as lacking in credibility andprestige when compared with theirprint counterparts. They question therigor of the peer review that e-journalarticles withstand, and wonder aboutlong-term reliability and access.Whether these perceptions are real orimagined is of little relevance to thoseon the tenure-track whose careers areon the line. The best policy is todivine your institution’s attitudestowards scholarly electronicpublications as best you can. A copyof the current promotion and tenureguidelines is a good place to start; evenbetter would be a recent, formermember of your campus’s P&Tcommittee. If you decide to publishin e-journals, be prepared to provide

evidence of the journal’s quality,prestige, acceptance rate, and peerreview process. If you are publishingwith promotion and/or tenure in mind,I would advise against publishing yourwork solely on your own Web siteunless you have some very creativeways to document its quality andinfluence.

Archiving

Where will your e-journal article belocated in 5 years? Will anyone beable to access it? What happens toyour article if the e-journal folds?Good questions. Permanent archivingcontinues to be one of the mostproblematic aspects of digitaldocuments. While projects likeJSTOR provide access to retrospectivearticles in some disciplines, to say thatthere is still much to be done is a grossunderstatement. Some universities arecreating digital repositories wherescholars can present their preprints andstore their “finished” works. Theseprojects may prove to be part of thesolution, but they are still in theirinfancy and there is no guarantee theywill be able to garner long-termsupport from their parent institutions.

While I am generally hesitant to makepredictions about the future, I think itis safe to say that researchers willcontinue to enjoy a variety ofpublishing options for years to come.The flexibility inherent in adigital medium, however,will make e-journals veryappealing to the nextgeneration of scholars, whohave become accustomed toworking in a multimediamilieu.

References

Hibbitts, Bernard. “FromLaw Reviews ToKnowledge Networks:Legal Scholarship in theAge of Cyberspace.”Serials Review 25, no. 1(1999): 1-9.

Rosenzweig, Roy. “The Riches ofHypertext for Scholarly Journals.”Chronicle of Higher Education46, no. 28 (2000): B4-B6.

Slagell, Jeff. “The Good, the Bad, andthe Ugly: Evaluating ElectronicJournals.” Computers in Libraries21, no. 5 (2001): 34-38.

Sweeney, Aldrin E. “E-Scholarship andElectronic Publishing in theTwenty-first Century: Implicationsfor the Academic Community.”Education Media International38, no. 1 (2001): 25-38.

Hall of Acclaim

Louis-Jacques, Lyonette. “Publi-cations By Adolf Sprudzs.”International Journal of LegalInformation 32, no. 2 (Summer 2003)

If you have published somethingrecently, please email me so that I canlist in future issues!

Please see the announcement for theAALL/LexisNexis™Call for PapersCompetition elsewhere in TSLL. Also,Haworth Press has started a new lawlibrary journal called Journal ofElectronic Resources in LawLibraries. For more information, see:<http://www.haworthpress.com/store/product.asp?sku=J382>


SerialsChristina Tarr

University of California, [email protected]

Margaret McDonaldUniversity of San Diego

[email protected]

The following serial title changes wererecently identified by the Universityof San Diego Legal Research Centerserials staff and the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley Law Librarycataloging staff:

The American marinerVol. 1, no. 1 (fall 1998)-v. 2, no. 1 (fall2000)(OCoLC 42633934)Changed to:Loyola maritime law journalVol. 1, no. 1 (spring inaugural issue2002)-(OCoLC 50855345)

Assurances1 ere ann´ee (janv. 1933)-v. 70, no. 4(janv. 2003)(OCoLC 2230422)Changed to:Assurances et gestion de risques =Insurance and risk managementVol. 71, no. 1 (avril 2003)-(OCoLC 52633543)

Derivatives reportVol. 1, no. 1 (Sept. 1999)-v. 4, no. 9(May 2003)(OCoLC 42606750)Changed to:Derivatives financial products reportVol. 4, no. 10 (June 2003)-(OCoLC 53072252)

The international journal ofshipping law1996, pt. 1 (Jan. 1996)-2000, pt. 2(June 2000)(OCoLC 34483348)Merged with:International trade law quarterlyPt. 1 (Nov. 1997)-2000, pt. 2 (May2000)(OCoLC 40709241)

To form: Shipping and trade lawVol. 1, no. 1 (Sept. 2000)-(OCoLC 45115183)

IP worldwide-Dec. 2002(OCoLC 38300391)Changed to:IP law & businessJan. 2003-(OcoLC 51611771)

LRDC bulletinNo. 1 (summer 1981)-2002, no. 1, pt.2(OCoLC 9461575)Changed to:MLRC bulletin2003, issue no. 1 (Mar. 2003)(OCoLC 51987036)

LDRC 50-state survey. Currentdevelopments in media libel lawVol. 12 (1995-96)-2002/2003(OCoLC 34067228)Changed to:MLRC 50-state survey. Currentdevelopments in media libel law2003/2004-(OCoLC 53398738)

LDRC 50-state survey. Employmentlibel and privacy law1999-2002(OCoLC 40813173)Changed to:MLRC 50-state survey. Employmentlibel and privacy law2003-(OCoLC 51626934)

LDRC 50-state survey. Media privacyand related lawVol. 1 (1995-96)-2002/2003(OCoLC 33315177)Changed to:

MLRC 50-state survey. Mediaprivacy and related law2003/2004-(OCoLC 52966363)

Southwestern Legal Foundation.Annual report - The SouthwesternLegal Foundation1957/58-1999/2000(OCoLC 1766226)Changed to:Center for American and InternationalLaw.Annual report2000/2001-(OCoLC 52712590)

Tax planning international e-commerceVol. 1, no. 1 (Jan. 1999)-v. 5, no. 6(June 2003)(OCoLC 40756504)Absorbed by:Tax planning international. IndirecttaxesVol. 1, no. 1 (July 2003)-(OCoLC 52872694)

The following serial cessations wereidentified by the University of SanDiego Legal Research Center serialsstaff and the University of California,Berkeley Law Library acquisitionsstaff:

Asia business law reviewCeased with: no. 41 (July 2003)(OCoLC 29209533)

Consumer finance law bulletinCeased with: v. 56, issue 8/9 (Aug./Sept. 2002)(OcoLC 1564926)


International law may logically bethought of as Internationalrelations—Law and legislation sinceit is, after all, the law governing therelations between nations. Howeverdon’t expect to see it anywhere in thereference structure. In fact, don’texpect anything to be normal whendealing with the subject headingspertaining to public international law.This is probably a legacy of the formerJX classification that mergedinternational law and internationalrelations in one schedule. Therelationship of “KZ” subject headingswith “JZ” subject headings is quiteunlike the relationship between “legal”and “non-law” subject headings.

For all other subjects, if a heading isnot “inherently legal” (i.e. the headingcan logically be applied to non-lawmaterials) we usually add thesubdivision —Law and legislation forthe legal aspects of the topic.Similarly, any heading with a —Lawand legislation or similar languagewill inevitably class in “K” and nowhere else.

Looking at Intervention(International law), one wouldlogically assume this is the heading fora book on the legal aspects of militaryintervention, and that a non-law bookon the subject would have a heading for“Intervention”. “Military intervention”is a UF pointing to Intervention(International law), and therefore theheading, even with a “law” qualifier,also refers to the non-legal aspects ofthe topic (unless one assumes thatinvading someone is inherently legal).

Similarly a glance at Humanitarianintervention suggests there should beheading for the legal aspects of thetopic under international law. Howeverno such headings exist.

Proposals to establish legal and non-legal forms of both headings weremade, and rejected and CPSO (i.e. thisis policy, not an anachronism or anoversight). Both headings are used forlegal (KZ) and non-legal (JZ)materials. Arguably one could add –Political aspects a heading with “law”in it when using it to indicate the non-legal aspects of the topic, but whiletechnically valid since –Politicalaspects is a free-floater under topicsthis has not become a commonpractice among LC catalogers (I’vedone it a few times, but no one elseseems to like the idea).

Globalization is inherently non-legal.As a first heading it has a place in JZ.As a second heading, it goes anywhere.One would never want a heading suchas “Globalization—Law andlegislation” or “Globalization(International law)” since bydefinition, Globalization is a social,political and economic process, notsomething imposed by legislative fiat.A heading such as “Law andglobalization” might be a good idea, butthat would class in K rather than KZ

since it refers to how national law isbeing globalized.

Even the qualifier (International law),which as we saw above can be used fora non-legal subject heading, does notalways indicate a KZ (publicinternational law, the law of nations)heading. It has been used to indicatecomparative, uniform or even “private”international law (a.k.a. “Conflicts oflaw”). For example, Copyright(International law) is really aboutinternational unification of nationalcopyright law, not a publicinternational law of copyright (whichwould exist only for a situation suchas if GPO sued HMSO for illegalpublication of US documents).

International agencies have a place inJZ if they are too general to classelsewhere, otherwise they class bysubject. The heading also classes as afirst heading in KZ. The KZ and non-law uses of the subject heading are not-differentiated. Non-governmentalorganizations pertaining tointernational relations class in JZ aswell, but that is relatively rare – mostNGOs have a place elsewhere in theschedules reflecting their area ofoperation. However Non-governmental organizations—Lawand legislation is valid, and almostalways classes in the law of the country

Subject Headings

Aaron [email protected]

Subject Headings for International LawSubject Headings for International LawSubject Headings for International LawSubject Headings for International LawSubject Headings for International Law


Who has responsibility for thereports?

• Staff involvement may vary, butwhoever is responsible forcoordinating the reports shouldclearly identify staff areas ofresponsibility, i.e., who calculateswhat numbers.

• In order to designateresponsibility, the coordinatorshould understand the libraryenvironment, including how thelibrary system operates (e.g., thefunctions of library system lists),material formats, and the workflow of the library (e.g., how doesour library count discarded titles?).

• Coordinator should serve as a staffresource in clarifying questions(e.g., unclear definitions, etc.).

How are figures calculated?

Difficulty arose from our lack ofunderstanding of calculation methodsfrom previous years.

numbers. Contrary to the subjectauthority record, a NGO is not a typeof International agencies but is non-profit, non-statal organizationperforming a quasi-governmentactivity. The more theoreticalInternational organization does nottake a law subdivision or qualifier, sothe same headings is used for politicalas well as legal materials.

For works on peacekeeping, one mayuse the heading Peacekeeping forceswhich takes geographic subdivisionand/or the established 610 headingUnited Nations—Peacekeepingforces, or perhaps a headingconstructed with free-floaters for[Name of country]—Armed forces—

• Worksheets showing the previousyear’s figures aren’t helpful unlessthe worksheet indicates how figureswere calculated. When theanswers are still fresh in yourmind, write down how youcalculated each figure. Even ifyour calculation seemsridiculously obvious, write itdown. If you ran a list in youronline system, record theconditions. Often we recalculatedanswers because we discovered anew condition, or thought of anadditional qualifier, etc., and ithelped to review previoussearches.

• By logical extension, answers builton previous years’ totals, e.g.,column “c” in the ARL reports,pose similar problems.

Some of the problem areas related toour methods of counting/reportingstatistics throughout the year.

• Review what the reports ask for –are you identifying/counting whatthe reports ask for in your daily/monthly work tallies?

• Review the overall workflow andhow departments interact,

articulate uniform definitions (e.g.,is this a volume or a piece?), andidentify who keeps what statistics.

• Learn how to utilize libraryautomated system more fully.What conditions, e.g., MARCcodes, etc., help compilestatistics?

• Additionally, once you have yourprocedures, definitions, workflow,etc., documented stick with them.Revising them every year can leadto statistics comprised of theproverbial apples and oranges.

We did not understand what some ofthe questions meant.

• As mentioned above, trouble-shooting problem questions/definitions is one of the importantroles the coordinator shouldassume. If you have identifiedproblem areas in this year’s report,communicate those to thecoordinator, so the coordinator cantake the steps to decipher thoseproblems before next year’sreport.

We had problems counting electronicresources.

The problem continues for many otherheadings whose legal aspects are partof public international law, and whosepolitical aspects are part of the studyof international relations, which is partof political science. These includeDiplomatic negotiation ininternational disputes, Pacificsettlement of international disputes,Disarmament, Arms control, Nuclearnonproliferation and all sorts ofrelated headings that can class in KZor JZ (usually in parallel numbers)—and for which the class will probablybe the only indicator whether the bookis “legal” or “political”. While this isdeliberate, it perhaps should bereconsidered.

Statistics: Who’Statistics: Who’Statistics: Who’Statistics: Who’Statistics: Who’s Countings Countings Countings Countings Counting(continued from page 1)

Operations other than war or eventhe somewhat quaint and naïveInternational police . The politicalaspects of peacekeeping class in JZ orD-E-F (if specific to a single conflict),the legal aspects class in KZ or withthe law of the country thepeacekeepers are from, and the “howto” classes in U. Any of these headingscould end up in any of those places,again without subject headings toindicate which works are about the lawof the subject, though perhaps one canadd Military law—[Name of country]as a second heading for the books onthe laws of the country that sent thepeacekeepers (e.g. for Ruritanian lawpertaining to use of Ruritanain troopsas peacekeepers).


• No news here; the inclusion ofelectronic resources in our onlinecatalogs has led to confusion abouthow such resources should becounted and, consequently, to alack of uniform reporting. Howare web sites — original or thoseimported to the catalog —counted? Does ABA question 10(computer files) includeelectronic material accompanyingbooks?

AALL in Seattle had a 30 minutesession on statistics. A temporarylistserv was dedicated to the subject.However helpful these might havebeen, libraries need more assistance.AALL should offer a pre-conference

workshop devoted entirely tostatistical reports. Participation fromthe ABA and ARL seems crucial.Might Innovate Interfaces help bydevoting their Saturday program to aworkshop targeting the create listmodule? Libraries must mutuallydevise and share better methodology.

Although most staff are not directlyinvolved in the reporting andcalculating process, their daily andmonthly statistics are crucial to theannual compilation. It is important foradministrators to be aware of howmuch staff time is directly involved incompleting reports. In our library,where we have moved from one staffperson having primary responsibilityto several staff persons’ involvement,

administrators need to be aware of theadditional staff time quotient.

Having just completed this year’sreports, this is the time to documentcalculation methods and seek a bettermethodology for future reports.Finally, I look forward to moreleadership from our regionalassociations and AALL in this area.

42.7 percent of all statistics aremade up on the spot. —The Hon. W. Richard Walton, Sr.

Endnotes

1Chambers Dictionary of Quotations. Ed. AlisonJones. New York: Chambers, 1997. 334.(attributed to Benjamin Disraeli by MarkTwain.)


As an acquisitions librarian with onlya few years of experience, my searchfor acquisitions programming has ledme to specialized acquisitionsconferences in addition to our nationalmeeting. This is not to say that theoverall quality of the acquisitionsprogramming at the annual meeting islacking, but it does point out therelatively small quantity ofacquisitions programs at a typicalannual meeting. For me, this isunderstandable in light of the multiplestakeholders attending the meeting andthe Annual Meeting Program SelectionCommittee’s desire to obtain a mix ofsessions that appeal to the greatestnumber of members. Still, this can befrustrating and I know that I am not theonly individual feeling this way.

A recent posting on the law-acq listservasked law librarians to comment ontheir experiences attendingacquisitions-specific conferences. Myprivate response to the individual whoposted the message was that with four

years of acquisitions experience, Icrave nuts and bolts sessions aboutacquisitions and loved the CharlestonConference and the AcquisitionsInstitute at Timberline Lodge. Bothconferences offer programs thatconcentrate on practical tips andstrategies for acquisitionsmanagement. I attended Charleston in1999 and, in 2003, the library sent meto the Timberline Institute. Since therehas been interest in alternativeacquisitions programming, others mayfind my experience at Timberlinehelpful in making the decision toattend.

The 4th Annual Acquisitions Institute atTimberline Lodge took place May 17-20, 2003. For those who have not heardof this meeting, it is the reincarnationof the Feather River Institute onAcquisitions. Richard Brumley(Oregon State University), NancySlight-Gibney (University of Oregon),and Scott Alan Smith (Blackwell’sBook Services) organized the three day

meeting held at the historic TimberlineLodge on Mount Hood. The theme for2003 was “Library Collections andInformation Access-Great Notion orCuckoo’s Nest?” Approximately eightylibrarians attended with the majorityfrom West Coast academicinstitutions. I was one of two academiclaw librarians present.

The always thought-provoking MichaelGorman opened the conference with akeynote address “CollectionDevelopment in Interesting Times”.He urged librarians to consider whatcomprises the library of the 21st

century and discussed the place ofelectronic resources within universitycollections. Subsequent sessionsincluded a panel on the state of theuniversity press. Representatives fromBlackwell Publishing and theUniversity of California, University ofWashington, and CambridgeUniversity Presses participated in adiscussion about their publishingpractices and sales. Several pressesspoke of declining overall numbers,both in terms of sales to libraries andsmaller print runs. Other pressesdetailed their cost cutting strategiessuch as an increased number of initialpaperback releases and print ondemand services. In another session,Robert Ogden, Of Counsel, Gursky &Ederer LLP, spoke on copyright issuesfor libraries and librarians. Hisapproach was very practical; hedescribed a model of analysis forcopyright problems. As someone withan interest in this area, I found hispresentation quite helpful andinsightful. Other sessions included:“Gearing Up for the Next InsanelyGreat Thing: Training New Skill Setsand New Mindsets”, “ManagingElectronic Resources in a Time ofShrinking Budgets”, “CollectionAssessment”, “CollectionManagement as Risk Management”,“Bringing Library Content to the Palmof Users’ Hands”, and “OutsourcingYour Overflow (Let the Vendor Do theWork for You)”. The sessionsemphasized areas most academiclibrarians have in common. Althoughthe presentations were not geared

Diana C. JaqueUniversity of Southern California

[email protected]

Looking Beyond theLooking Beyond theLooking Beyond theLooking Beyond theLooking Beyond theAALL Meeting forAALL Meeting forAALL Meeting forAALL Meeting forAALL Meeting for

EducationalEducationalEducationalEducationalEducationalProgramming:Programming:Programming:Programming:Programming:

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Lodge 2003Lodge 2003Lodge 2003Lodge 2003Lodge 2003


towards law librarians, the content wastransferable and provided tools towork within my library setting.

In all, the institute encompassed twoand a half days of programming—thirteen programs on acquisitions andcollection development. Mostsessions were informal and included aquestion and answer period. Theinstitute was small enough, in terms ofregistrants, that I found myselfchatting with the speakers andfollowing up on their presentationswhile sitting by the fireplace or diningtogether. The environment was verycollegial; all attendees wereencouraged to stay at the lodge and eattogether for the duration of theconference (the lodge is gorgeous andthe food is gourmet quality, so this isnot a sacrifice!).

In case you are wondering aboutvendors and their role at theTimberline Institute, severalinformation vendors attended theconference, but they did so asparticipants. A formal exhibit hall wasnot part of the conference, and vendorswere not permitted to approachconference attendees and solicit sales.This created a wonderful atmosphere,much different from otherconferences.

My experience at the AcquisitionsInstitute at Timberline Lodge could nothave been better: great programmingwith a consistently high level ofeducational content. I wouldrecommend this conference to anyacquisitions librarian from anacademic law library and look forwardto participating again in the future.

To see what the organizers have on theagenda for next year’s conference—May 15-18, 2004—point yourbrowser to http://linweb.uoregon.edu/events/ait1/

The Call for PapersHas Begun

Have you been thinking of writing an article of interest to lawlibrarians? Maybe you just need a push to get started? Whetherfor fame or for fortune, this is your chance to enter the AALL/LexisNexis™Call for Papers Competition.

The AALL/LexisNexis Call for Papers Committee is solicitingarticles in three categories:

Open Division for AALL members and law librarianswith five or more years of professional experience

New Members Division for recent graduates andAALL members who have been in the profession forless than five years.

Student Division for budding law librarians still inschool. (Students need not be members of AALL)

The winner in each division receives $750 generouslydonated by LexisNexis, plus the opportunity to present his orher paper at a special program during the AALL AnnualMeeting in Boston. Winners papers will also be consideredfor publication in the Association’s prestigious Law LibraryJournal.

For more information, a list of previous winners and anapplication, visit the AALL website at http://www.aallnet.org/about/award_call_for_papers.asp. Submissions must beSubmissions must beSubmissions must beSubmissions must beSubmissions must bepostmarked by March 1.postmarked by March 1.postmarked by March 1.postmarked by March 1.postmarked by March 1.

If you have any questions, please contact any member of theAALL/LexisNexis Call for Papers Committee, Kathryn Hensiak,[email protected] or Virginia Davis,[email protected]

Nonprofit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPermit No. 658Madison, WI

TECHNICAL SERVICES LAW LIBRARIANc/o Cynthia MayUniversity of Wisconsin Law Library975 Bascom MallMadison, WI 53706-1399

Volunteer in South Africa!

2004 Inform the World Library Skills Exchange

The ITW Library Skills Exchange is a 4-week hands-on volunteer program primarily for Library Science students andprofessionals (some non-librarians also accepted). The goal of the program is to provide structured training and assistanceto South African librarians, library committees and teachers with little or no formal librarian training. The program is

called a “skills exchange” because African and international librarians bring their expertisetogether to create unique answers to the information needs of rural African communities.Sometimes the solutions are based on international standards, like using a recognizedmethod for classifying books. Other times, they are unique adaptations to local conditions,like delivering books by donkey cart or making paper from elephant dung. Most often,each volunteer and African librarian contributes to creating a library as special as thecommunity it serves.

There are two groups who will visit different locations: Limpopo: July 12 - August 12 andKwaZulu Natal (KZN): July 16 - August 17.

For more information, please see http://worldlibraries.org/itw/itwoverview.shtml or contactLauraWendell, Executive Director, The World Library Partnership, 3101 Guess Rd. SuiteD, Durham, NC 27705, 919-479-0163 or Donna Nixon, World Libraries Volunteer 2001,

and Executive Board Member, Reference/Access Services Librarian & Clinical Assistant Professor of Law, Kathrine R.Everett Law Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 100 Ridge Road, Chapel Hill, NC, (919) 843-7890,[email protected].

technical services law librarian · new york law school. technical services law librarian,...

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