Online Audiovisual Catalogers

Last updated
Online Audiovisual Catalogers, Inc.
AbbreviationOLAC
Formation1980;44 years ago (1980)
Type Non-profit
Purpose"In 1980, OLAC was founded to establish and maintain a group that could speak for catalogers of audiovisual materials. OLAC provides a means for exchange of information, continuing education, and communication among catalogers of audiovisual materials and with the Library of Congress. While maintaining a voice with the bibliographic utilities that speak for catalogers of audiovisual materials, OLAC works toward common understanding of AV cataloging practices and standards." [1]
President
 Mary L Huismann
Website olacinc.org

Online Audiovisual Catalogers, Inc., otherwise known as OLAC, was founded in 1980 [1] [2] [3] as a group of library catalogers involved in the cataloging of audiovisual materials, but now supports the work of catalogers working on all nonprint resources. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] OLAC provides a way for catalogers to have a method of communication among themselves as well as with the Library of Congress. [1] The first official meeting of the group happened on July 1, 1980, in New York City with Nancy B. Olson chairing the group of catalogers. [3]

Contents

Activities

Cataloging Policy Committee (CAPC)

OLAC's Cataloging Policy Committee (CAPC) represents audiovisual catalogers in national and international cataloging communities to help with the development of cataloging standards and rules, especially with MARC standards. OLAC has established liaison relationships with Subcommittee on Genre/Form Implementation (SAC-SGFI), [9] MARBI, [10] CC:DA, [11] the NACO AV Funnel [12] and OCLC [13] A significant contribution to audiovisual cataloging in the new RDA standard was that of assigning uniform titles for motion pictures, which OLAC produced along with the Music Library Association. [14]

Another significant contribution to the library community has been OLAC's collaborative work, through its liaison relationships such as the SAC-SGFI, and its own internal efforts on the Library of Congress Genre-Form Term (LCGFT) projects. [15] Once LCGFT was officially adopted, OLAC produced a best practices guide for their usage and application by catalogers which is widely used by many colleges universities to establish their own internal practices, such as Middlebury College [16] and BYU. [17] The Federal Depository Library Program also refers catalogers to OLAC produced documents regarding cataloging motion pictures, streaming media, and more on its Bibliographic Cataloging: Audiovisual Resources page.

OLAC Conferences

OLAC hosts a biennial conference for catalogers to come together and discuss topics related to cataloging, and has held a joint conference at least four times with the Music OCLC Users Group organization over the years. [3]

Nancy B. Olson Award

The Nancy B. Olson award, formerly the OLAC Award, is named for the group's founder. It is awarded to individuals who have made "significant contributions to the advancement and understanding of audiovisual cataloging." [18] [19]

Publications

OLAC has published many reports, thought papers, and training materials over the years to support and advance the work of cataloging audiovisual materials. Currently, OLAC's work has focused on a series of 'best practices' guides for cataloging nonprint materials based on national and international standards.

According to a 2007 study with 354 respondents, special format catalogers (i.e., non-print materials) report spending the majority of their time cataloging electronic resources, sound recordings (both audio and music), and video resources, and of these special formats catalogers 31% were members of OLAC. [20] Bothmann also found that more than half of the respondents said that OLAC provided the most support for special formats cataloging. [20]

Previous publications included similar best practices guides, but in older standards like AACR2. [21]

Membership

As of May 2004, there were 379 personal members in OLAC. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Library catalog</span> Register of bibliographic items

A library catalog is a register of all bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations. A catalog for a group of libraries is also called a union catalog. A bibliographic item can be any information entity that is considered library material, or a group of library materials, or linked from the catalog as far as it is relevant to the catalog and to the users (patrons) of the library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digitization</span> Converting information into digital form

Digitization is the process of converting information into a digital format. The result is the representation of an object, image, sound, document, or signal obtained by generating a series of numbers that describe a discrete set of points or samples. The result is called digital representation or, more specifically, a digital image, for the object, and digital form, for the signal. In modern practice, the digitized data is in the form of binary numbers, which facilitates processing by digital computers and other operations, but digitizing simply means "the conversion of analog source material into a numerical format"; the decimal or any other number system can be used instead.

MARC is a standard set of digital formats for the machine-readable description of items catalogued by libraries, such as books, DVDs, and digital resources. Computerized library catalogs and library management software need to structure their catalog records as per an industry-wide standard, which is MARC, so that bibliographic information can be shared freely between computers. The structure of bibliographic records almost universally follows the MARC standard. Other standards work in conjunction with MARC, for example, Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR)/Resource Description and Access (RDA) provide guidelines on formulating bibliographic data into the MARC record structure, while the International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD) provides guidelines for displaying MARC records in a standard, human-readable form.

<i>Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules</i> Library cataloging standard

Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR) were an international library cataloging standard. First published in 1967 and edited by C. Sumner Spalding, a second edition (AACR2) edited by Michael Gorman and Paul W. Winkler was issued in 1978, with subsequent revisions (AACR2R) appearing in 1988 and 1998; all updates ceased in 2005.

In library and archival science, digital preservation is a formal process to ensure that digital information of continuing value remains accessible and usable in the long term. It involves planning, resource allocation, and application of preservation methods and technologies, and combines policies, strategies and actions to ensure access to reformatted and "born-digital" content, regardless of the challenges of media failure and technological change. The goal of digital preservation is the accurate rendering of authenticated content over time.

In information science, authority control is a process that organizes information, for example in library catalogs, by using a single, distinct spelling of a name (heading) or an identifier for each topic or concept. The word authority in authority control derives from the idea that the names of people, places, things, and concepts are authorized, i.e., they are established in one particular form. These one-of-a-kind headings or identifiers are applied consistently throughout catalogs which make use of the respective authority file, and are applied for other methods of organizing data such as linkages and cross references. Each controlled entry is described in an authority record in terms of its scope and usage, and this organization helps the library staff maintain the catalog and make it user-friendly for researchers.

Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records is a conceptual entity–relationship model developed by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) that relates user tasks of retrieval and access in online library catalogues and bibliographic databases from a user’s perspective. It represents a more holistic approach to retrieval and access as the relationships between the entities provide links to navigate through the hierarchy of relationships. The model is significant because it is separate from specific cataloguing standards such as Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR), Resource Description and Access (RDA) and International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cataloging (library science)</span> Process of creating meta-data for information resources to include in a catalog database

In library and information science, cataloging (US) or cataloguing (UK) is the process of creating metadata representing information resources, such as books, sound recordings, moving images, etc. Cataloging provides information such as author's names, titles, and subject terms that describe resources, typically through the creation of bibliographic records. The records serve as surrogates for the stored information resources. Since the 1970s these metadata are in machine-readable form and are indexed by information retrieval tools, such as bibliographic databases or search engines. While typically the cataloging process results in the production of library catalogs, it also produces other types of discovery tools for documents and collections.

A finding aid, in the context of archival science and archival research, is an organization tool, a document containing detailed and processed metadata and other information about a specific collection of records within an archive. Finding aids often consist of a documentary inventory and description of the materials, their source, and their structure. The finding aid for a fonds is usually compiled by the collection's entity of origin, provenance, or by an archivist during archival processing, and may be considered the archival science equivalent of a library catalog or a museum collection catalog. The finding aid serves the purpose of locating specific information within the collection. The finding aid can also help the archival repository manage their materials and resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation and restoration of vinyl discs</span> Preservation of gramophone collections

The conservation and restoration of vinyl discs refers to the preventive measures taken to defend against damage and slow degradation, and to maintain fidelity of singles, 12" singles, EP’s, and LP’s in 45 or 33⅓ rpm 10" disc recordings.

Music librarianship is the area of librarianship that pertains to music collections and their development, cataloging, preservation and maintenance, as well as reference issues connected with musical works and music literature. Music librarians often have degrees in both music and librarianship. Music librarians deal with standard librarianship duties such as cataloging and reference, which become more complicated when music scores and recordings are involved. Therefore, music librarians generally read music and have at least a basic understanding of both music theory and music history to aid in their duties.

Resource Description and Access (RDA) is a standard for descriptive cataloging initially released in June 2010, providing instructions and guidelines on formulating bibliographic data. Intended for use by libraries and other cultural organizations such as museums and archives, RDA is the successor to Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, Second Edition (AACR2).

Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) is a standard used for describing materials in archives. First adopted by the Society of American Archivists (SAA) in March 2004, DACS was updated with a Second Edition in 2013. DACS is broken down into a set of rules used in crafting archival descriptions, and guidelines for creating authority records in archives.

The Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) was a division of the American Library Association (ALA) dedicated to the areas of technical services, collection management and development, and preservation and reformatting. ALCTS membership represented over forty countries and included librarians, library support staff, students of library and information science, and commercial vendors whose professional interests lay in these areas of practice. ALCTS met the needs of its members through educational programming, publications, professional development opportunities and information exchange. ALCTS also promoted and had significant input into the development of standards and best practices, including NISO standards and cataloging standards such as RDA.

The University of North Texas Libraries is an American academic research library system that serves the constituent colleges and schools of University of North Texas in Denton. The phrase "University of North Texas Libraries" encompasses three aspects: The library collections as a whole and its organizational structure; The physical facilities and digital platform that house the collections; and certain self-contained collections of substantial size that warrant the name "Library"—the Music Library and the Digital Libraries (collections), for example, are housed in Willis Library.

The Filmgoer's Companion, now published as Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies, is an encyclopedic reference of film actors, film technicians, directors and producers who have produced or performed in the cinema. The format is a brief biographic introduction, followed by a list of films that they have association. It was originally written by Leslie Halliwell, but since his death in 1989, it has been edited by John Walker.

A bibliographic record is an entry in a bibliographic index which represents and describes a specific resource. A bibliographic record contains the data elements necessary to help users identify and retrieve that resource, as well as additional supporting information, presented in a formalized bibliographic format. Additional information may support particular database functions such as search, or browse, or may provide fuller presentation of the content item.

BIBFRAME is a data model for bibliographic description. BIBFRAME was designed to replace the MARC standards, and to use linked data principles to make bibliographic data more useful both within and outside the library community.

Nancy Grace Butterfield Olson was an American librarian and educator, an expert on cataloging rules for non-print materials, and the founder of the Online Audiovisual Catalogers (OLAC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audiovisual archive</span>

In archives, the term "audiovisual" is frequently used generically to denote materials other than written documents. Films, videos, audio recordings, pictures, and other audio and visual media are collected in audiovisual archives. A vast amount of knowledge is included in audiovisual records, which are considered cultural treasures and must be preserved for future use. Print materials would not have the same reach across various audiences as audiovisual resources.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Online Audiovisual Catalogers". American Library Association. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  2. ↑ Bobinski, George S. (October 2000). "Is the Library Profession Over-Organized?". American Libraries. 31 (9): 59. JSTOR   25645642.
  3. 1 2 3 Lisius, Peter H.; Griscom, Richard (2012). Directions in Music Cataloging. A-R Editions, Inc. p. 32. ISBN   978-0-89579-719-3.
  4. ↑ http://www.lib.noaa.gov/cataloging/Cataloging_Manual/Cataloging_bib_electronic.html, NOAA Central Library Cataloging Tools: Electronic Resources
  5. ↑ http://web.library.yale.edu/cataloging/tools-resources/nonbook, Yale University Library Cataloging Tools: Nonbook Cataloging
  6. ↑ http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/event/id/429434/2014OLACMOUGConference, Music Library Association 2014 OLAC-MOUG Conference
  7. ↑ http://www.liscareer.com/king_special.htm, What’s So Special About Cataloging Special Materials?
  8. ↑ Moulaison, Heather Lee; Wiechart, Richard (2015). Crash course in basic cataloging with RDA. Santa Barbara, California: Libraries Unlimited. p. 22. ISBN   978-1-4408-3777-7.
  9. ↑ Mugridge, Rebecca L. (2016). Cataloging Collaborations and Partnerships. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-134-91212-4.
  10. ↑ "Machine-Readable Bibliographic Information Committee" . Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "Current Roster of CC:DA" . Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  12. ↑ "NACO-AV Funnel Project". OLAC, Inc. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  13. ↑ "OCLC Member Groups". OCLC Member Groups. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  14. ↑ "PCC Practice for Assigning Uniform Titles for Motion Pictures: Principle versus Practice". Cataloging & Classification Quarterly. 50 (8): 889. 2012. doi:10.1080/01639374.2012.678033.
  15. ↑ Young, Janis; Mandelstam, Yael (October 2013). "It Takes a Village: Developing Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms". Staff Publications (2). FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History.
  16. ↑ "Call Numbers, Subject Headings, & Genre Headings" . Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  17. ↑ "Genre/Form and Subject Access to Moving Image Materials" . Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  18. ↑ "UO Libraries' Kelley McGrath Receives Nancy B. Olson Award" . Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  19. ↑ "GSLIS instructor honored with Nancy B. Olson Award" . Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  20. 1 2 3 Bothmann, Robert L. (2007). "Meeting the Needs of Special Format Catalogers: Ideas for Professional Organizations, Library Schools, and Professional Catalogers". Cataloging & Classification Quarterly. 44 (3–4): 221–232. doi:10.1300/J104v44n03_05.
  21. ↑ Duncan, Cheryl J.; Peterson, Erika Day (2014). Creating a Streaming Video Collection for Your Library. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 39. ISBN   978-0-8108-8456-4.
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