Copying & Pasting Can Cause Havoc in MARC Records

Written by Joan on September 17, 2018. Posted in Blog, General

September 17, 2018

Recently we have received records from libraries containing fields with data that contains incompatible character encodings.  The majority of these fields appear to be summaries, annotations, or tables of contents that may have been copied from websites like Google Books or Amazon.com and pasted into the bibliographic record.

Some of the data used on websites in summaries or tables of contents contains character encodings that are not compatible with a MARC bibliographic record.  Additionally, MARC-8 characters are never appropriate on a web page, so any special MARC-8 data is always incompatible with web data.  Then, when all of the different Web encodings (UNICODE/UCS, UTF-8, UTF-32, Windows 1252, etc.) are added to MARC data, it becomes a conglomeration of many different character sets that is often incompatible with library systems.  We have seen situations in which the special character that appeared as a quotation on a website was represented as a field terminator in the data received by MARCIVE, which makes the record more challenging to process.

Another issue is when a very long summary or table of contents is pasted into a 520 or 505 tag in a MARC record.  There is a size limit for individual fields in a MARC record (9999 bytes), as well as a size limit for the entire MARC record (99999 bytes).  Sometimes these summaries and tables of contents exceed the limits, either for a field or for the entire record.

A few examples of issues with this type of data:

⇒Quotations:  Appears on website   …chance for a “real job”….

The quotations are interpreted by the local system or text editor as something different, and they are incorrect when exported from the library’s system, therefore incorrect when received by MARCIVE. They can appear as question marks or other representations, depending on the editor or function used to view or process the records and how it handles characters that are not valid for bibliographic records.

⇒Apostrophe:  Appears on website   …Jacob’s opinion…..

The apostrophe is interpreted by the local system or text editor as something different, and the data is received by MARCIVE with incompatible coding.

⇒Special characters – non-English:   Appears on website “sueño” and received by MARCIVE as “suñeo”

Depending on how the data is used or displayed, this may appear as “sue?no” or “suñeo” or some other form.  The code for ñ is not being interpreted correctly; it is not the correct code for this special character in MARC records

While we are happy to resolve these problems, sometimes it is not always apparent to the end user where the problems with diacritics and other special characters originated.  Therefore it is good to be aware of the issues that arise from cutting text from websites and pasting it into a MARC record.

The best way to include summaries and Tables of Contents in your data is to have it added by a vendor like MARCIVE that has put procedures in place to make the data compatible with MARC records, or within your system by entering the data using the tools for cataloging bibliographic data or a MARC editor tool.

Written by Carol Love, Programmer/Analyst and Joan Chapa, MLS

 

MARCIVE Provides Metadata Conversion for Catalog Visibility

Written by Joan on September 17, 2018. Posted in Blog

September 17, 2018

MARCIVE, Inc. has performed metadata conversion on behalf of Creativebug for Cuyahoga County Public Library. Creativebug is an award-winning on demand video streaming service for arts and crafts and Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL) is the first library to subscribe.  Craft books are among the highest-circulating items in the CCPL collection, and they feel Creativebug’s videos are a great complement to the highly circulated genre.

Creativebug provided an Excel spreadsheet which MARCIVE, Inc. converted into MARC format so the streaming videos could be searchable within CCPL’s catalog.  MARCIVE also performed other data manipulation in addition to authorities processing and RDA Conversion, so the records could be as up-to-date as possible.

“Formatting Creativebug data for Library catalogs posed a new challenge for us. The MARCIVE team helped us quickly understand the structure of library record metadata so we could format our own data in order to provide discoverability and relevant search results for library patrons,” says Julie Roehm, Founder and VP of Operations at Creativebug.

“Cuyahoga County Public Library is thrilled to be the first library in the country to offer this exciting new video service,” says Lori Thorrat, Cataloging and Processing Manager at Cuyahoga County Public Library, “We knew Creativebug had good data as part of their product database, but getting it quickly into a library friendly format with Library of Congress Headings was an issue.  We knew MARCIVE could do this for them.”

MARCIVE’s Director of Marketing Joan Chapa states: “MARCIVE has enjoyed a collaborative relationship with the Cuyahoga County Public Library, beginning when we did backfile authorities processing and RDA conversion for them in 2014.  We also enriched their records with Tables of Contents, Summaries, and Reading Notes data (Lexile and Accelerated Reader) to add more access points to their catalog. It has greatly benefitted us to be able to get their feedback on various technical issues, and we were pleased when they reached out to us to ask for advice about how to manipulate data from an outside vendor so that it would be searchable in their catalog.  It is rewarding that besides providing the Library with ongoing authorities maintenance and enrichment, that we were able to assist them with an exciting new resource.”

Creativebug produces high quality video tutorials for various craft projects with 1000+ classes in drawing, painting, sewing and quilting, knitting, crochet, cake decorating and much more.  The product also increases engagement with the public library as it offers a social media aspect, where users can post questions after viewing a video about a certain craft project, and share photos of the project they created.  “It is a genuine thrill to see Creativebug classes appear in Cuyahoga County Public Library’s catalog,” says Julie Roehm, “and MARCIVE helped to make that happen in record time.”

MARCIVE Consultative Sales Representative Ligia Gomez stated, “Creativebug was a great partner to work with in metadata conversion as they really wanted to understand libraries and knew the importance of providing high quality MARC records with their resource.  This project was the first of its kind for us.”

Being able to help Creativebug craft library friendly data with MARCIVE that will be shared as their customer base grows was truly gratifying,” says Lori Thorrat, Catalog and Processing Manager at the Cuyahoga County Public Library.  “We hope by partnering Creativebug with MARCIVE that we have set a good example for other online products as to how to effectively improve their data for their library customers.”

About Cuyahoga County Public Library:

Cuyahoga County Public Library is committed to its mission of being at the center of community life by creating an environment where reading, lifelong learning and civic engagement thrive and its vision to be the most convenient library system in the country. For more information, visit http://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/

About Creativebug:  Creativebug is an online learning community for DIY crafters, producing award-winning inspirational and educational videos. Founded in 2012, Creativebug is known for its all-star lineup of instructors and video classes that walk users through creative projects from start to finish. Members enjoy unlimited access to classes in painting, drawing, sewing, quilting, cake decorating, knitting, crochet and more. There is truly something for everyone in Creativebug’s growing library of more than 1000 classes.  For more information, go to creativebug.com

Written by Ligia Gomez, MLS

New 34X fields make resources more functional for emerging technologies

Written by Joan on January 25, 2018. Posted in Blog, General

January 25, 2018

Now as a part of RDA processing performed during authorities processing, we have the ability to create fields that can assist with formulating format facets, and prepare for linked data.    These new 34X fields provide consistency in describing the characteristics of various formats.  They are:

340      Physical Medium
344      Sound Characteristics
345      Projection Characteristics of Moving Image
346      Video Characteristics
347      Digital File Characteristics
348      Format of Notated Music

The conversion is only as good as the data elements that typically are already present in the MARC record in various fields and subfields.  Our processing looks at the LDR, 007, 008, 300, 533, and 538 fields to accurately create the new 34X fields.

Libraries looking to do authorities processing and RDA conversion on their legacy cataloging records can have this new processing included.  Existing customers can request that we add this option to any new bibliographic records sent for processing.  And even better yet—Comprehensive Notification customers can have this option applied with their next processing run—essentially having the entire backfile performed to include new RDA tags.  There is no additional charge for this option.

Here are some examples.

Interested in learning more?  Send us a sample and we can show you all the good we can do to make your records more useable.  Contact us at [email protected].

Written by Joan I. Chapa, MLS

MARCIVE Participates in GPO Webinar

Written by Joan on September 8, 2017. Posted in Blog

September 8, 2017

The GPO (Government Publishing Office) is initiating its eighth year of the Cataloging Record Distribution Program (CRDP), with MARCIVE as the contractor.

On September 7, 2017 MARCIVE participated in a webinar hosted by GPO titled Cataloging Record Distribution Program Workflows.  Jim Noel, our Manager of GPO Services was the first speaker and he briefly discussed the process in which we receive new cataloging records from GPO each month and process them for both CRDP participants as well as for our paid subscribers.  Approximately 95 people signed up for the webinar, with about half of them already involved in the CRDP.

Three current participants representing libraries of different types and with different library systems gave a brief overview of how they process the monthly files, the decisions that were made, and tips for handling issues.

1.     Oregon State Library.  This library selects approximately 55% of all GPO item numbers and is a shared regional depository library for the state.  They use the SirsiDynix Symphony system.  Arlene Weibel shared how she loads the records, makes some local edits, and exports record numbers to OCLC to reflect holdings.  She also gave the pros and cons of receiving changed records.

2.     Auburn University.  Although the Ralph Brown Draughon Library selects almost 100%, they are not a regional depository and select almost exclusively electronic-only titles.  They use the ExLibris Voyager system and have a home-grown link tracker.  Liza Weisbrod explained how although they are aware that they can eliminate older cataloging records distributed by GPO, they prefer to receive them since much of their legacy collection is uncataloged.  She did say that dealing with the older records can be time-consuming.

3.     Newark Public Library.  As the largest public Library in New Jersey, they are the regional for the state.  They use the III Millennium system and have been a MARCIVE customer since 1997.  Laura Saurs explained that they still get a paid subscription for authority records matching the CRDP cataloging.  Newark creates their own item records and uses their catalog as a shelflist.  They also get the Historic Shelflist records, an option which is available through the CRDP.

We appreciate having these seasoned librarians sharing their CRDP experiences, and their willingness to answer any system-specific questions!

Written by Joan Chapa, MLS

New! Lexile® format now more granular for early grades

Written by Joan on August 1, 2017. Posted in Blog

August 1, 2017

New!  Lexile® format now more granular for early grades

MARCIVE offers Reading Notes Enrichment, either as a standalone service, or as a part of Overnight Authorities and Ongoing MARC Record Services, as well as with other one-time services such as Retrospective Conversion, Brief Record Upgrade, and backfile authorities processing.  This includes Accelerated Reader and Lexile® data.  Reading Counts data is also available through the year 2014.

MetaMetrics is the source of the Lexile® data.  The company has completed in-depth studies to try to provide more guidance and resources for educators, publishers, and policymakers.  They have researched and re-measured the grades K-2 titles, assigning more granular values.  Before, all books measuring below 0L were given a “BR” (Beginning Reader) code.  However, not all K-2 books are created equally, and there was a need for more specificity in measuring the reading levels.  For more in-depth background on this research, go to http://www.lexiletoolkit.com/.

The new format has additional information not previously included in the past.  It contains reading difficulty indicators in four areas:

  1. Decoding demand. The decoding indicator looks at parts of the words like vowel and consonant patterns, and sounds by evaluating the patterns of letters in a word.
  2. Semantic demand. Looks at what is going on with the words by evaluating the challenge of word meanings in a text.
  3. Syntactic demand. Looks at what is going on at the sentence level by evaluating the complexity within sentences and across sentences.
  4. Structure demand. Looks at what is going on with text as a whole by evaluating the degree of repetition and patterning (such as repeated phrases) in the text.  Repeated phrases lower the Structure Indicator.

For more information, see our FAQ or contact us at 1-800-531-7678 or at [email protected].

Written by Joan Chapa, MLS

 

Added Benefits of Comprehensive Notification (CNS)

Written by Joan on July 31, 2017. Posted in Blog, General

July 31, 2017

Our new Comprehensive Notification Service (CNS) has many good benefits and one, in particular, was illustrated with the recent quarterly re-processing of a customer’s bibliographic file.

It was noted that 97.9% of their bibliographic records would be returned to them because of one or more changes made.  Earlier this year, the MARC Advisory Committee made the recommendation to remove the use of a Parenthetical Prefix
“(uri)” in MARC21 linking subfields when the identifier is in the form of a web retrieval protocol.  This change was implemented in our processing, and impacted this customer’s records.  A small percentage of records were not returned, only because we had already previously processed them through Overnight Authorities Service, with the new programming already in place. Ultimately, 100% of their records were affected, bringing them up to current practice.

As national standards change, and we incorporate those improvements into our work, CNS libraries will reap the benefits when the bib file that we have retained for them is entirely re-processed at a frequency of their choice.

For more information on how CNS can provide benefits to your library, go to https://home.marcive.com/blog/new-comprehensive-notification-services-cns

Written by Joan Chapa, MLS

NEW! Comprehensive Notification Services (CNS)

Written by Joan on February 23, 2017. Posted in Blog

February 23, 2017

Now we have an alternative way to keep your catalog up to date after the initial authorities processing/RDA Conversion project has been completed, through Comprehensive Notification Service (CNS).

We will retain both a copy of the matching authority records we supplied as well as the updated bibliographic records.  You should continue to send us new cataloging through Overnight Authorities Service on any time frame desired—daily, weekly, monthly, etc.  There’s never a minimum order, the work is done overnight, and updated bib records are posted the next business day for FTP retrieval, along with any requested reports.  The results of this processing are added to both the retained bib and authority files.

Then at the frequency of the library’s choosing, we will re-process the bibliographic records using all the same specifications, returning to the library only the changed bibliographic records, any NEW authority records, as well as authority records changed or deleted by LC, along with any reports.

Why would a library choose this subscription instead of Standard Notification Service?

CNS is a desirable method of maintaining records if your library’s ILS or library service platform does not have the function to fully update the corresponding bibliographic record with the corrected access point.  Sometimes the system has the capability but has difficulty converting the entire string in an access point.  CNS keeps a copy of your bibliographic records and the authority record files provide by MARCIVE.  The library chooses how often to update:  Quarterly, Semi-annual or Annual.  Pricing varies depending on the size of the bibliographic file, and how often you request the update. We ask you to list preferred dates for the bib updates.

What’s included with the Comprehensive Authorities Notification Service?

1.     Flip of access points to current LC practice.  This includes the update of access points that were not recognized when we did the initial processing.
2.     Inclusion of any NEW authority records on matched access points.
3.     Inclusion of any CHANGED authority records on access points that first matched during the initial processing, and any authority records deleted by LC.  It additionally includes differentiated authority records which were formerly undifferentiated.
4.     Undifferentiated-Differentiated.

In identified bib records, the access point will now match to a new authority record and the bib record will be changed.  Note:  several sources are used (e.g. 670 field, VIAF record, etc.) to verify a proper match.

5.     Partial matches that become full-string matches.
6.     Terms that change tagging.
7.     Fields that reflect changes in RDA.

What’s NOT included in Comprehensive Authorities Notification Service (CNS)?

If any type of enrichment (TOC, Summaries, Fiction/Biography data, Lexile or Accelerated Reader) is a part of your profile, that data will not be added during the re-processing of the bibliographic records during CNS.  This only happens during Overnight Authorities Service, or as a stand-alone project.

Commonly Asked Questions ABOUT CNS

1.     It’s time for my first update, and I haven’t yet sent any new records for processing, but I want them included.  What should I do?

MARCIVE Response:  Go ahead and send the file now, just as you normally would through Overnight Authorities Processing.  You’ll be charged the standard rates for this work.  These bibliographic records will be included in the update and will be added to the retained bib file.

2.     It’s time for our update, and our systems librarian is out on medical leave.  Can we re-schedule?

MARCIVE Response:  Yes.  Let us know when you are ready for this work.  Remember that you have pre-paid for the subscription and your updates need to occur within the subscription year.

3.     We have performed a large weeding project in our library and deleted a number of bibliographic records.  How do we let you know what we have deleted?

MARCIVE Response:  There are two ways to do this.  We can provide directions for sending us the control numbers of the bibliographic records to be deleted, and they will be removed from your history at the quoted rates.  The alternative method is to send us your entire bib file again, and we will replace your retained bib file with the new one.  Contact your Marketing Representative for a quote.

4.     We’re completing our profile with MARCIVE, and are trying to decide which Notification subscription is best for us.  Can you help us choose?

MARCIVE Response:  CNS was created in response to those libraries stating that while their ILS or LSP could update the main bib access point in a string using an updated authority record, often it could not update it if there were subfields included.

If your system can reliably perform this function, then we would suggest you choose the Standard Notification Subscription. Authority records are retained in your “history file.”  Also, we retain any unmatched headings for future updates through the NewMatch option.  You send new cataloging to us through Overnight Authorities Service, and any authority records produced are compared to your history file, and only those new to you are distributed.  These new authority records are added to your history file, which continues to grow.  With this subscription, you’ll rely on your local ILS or LSP to use the monthly files of changed/deleted authority records to update the associated bib records.  The advantage to this subscription is that because you get monthly updates, your catalog will be more current and in sync.

If your system has an issue with using an authority record to update an entire access point string, or there are problems running authority updates on a monthly basis, then CNS would likely be the better option.  Your entire bib file will be completely refreshed at the time interval of your choice and will include any new standard bibliographic processing functions that we have added.  The library does need to be aware that any access point that is processed through authorities processing and RDA conversion may overlay and therefore remove any in-house editing unless internal protections have been put in place.

5.     We are planning to do authorities processing/RDA conversion in preparation for migrating from a legacy system to ExLibris Alma.  We won’t be able to or need to do any ongoing authority work, will we?

MARCIVE Response:  According to reports from Alma users, there is an internal mechanism to automatically link bib access points to an external authority file.  However, this doesn’t always work as well as expected.  While Alma users don’t have the need for authority records, we can still process new cataloging through Overnight Authorities after the initial project has been performed, and more importantly, refresh the bib file on a periodic basis through CNS.  This frees the cataloging staff from having to continually confirm that bib access points are indeed being updated.  Additionally as described above, the library will benefit from any new options that have been developed as a result of RDA and other new cataloging standards and implemented for this service.

Further questions?  Would like some examples of changes provided through CNS? Give us a call at 1-800-531-7678 or email us at [email protected], and we will be happy to discuss your options and provide pricing.

Written by Joan Chapa, MLS

Options for Genre Terms

Written by Joan on July 11, 2016. Posted in Blog

At the recent ACIG (Authority Control Interest Group) Meeting at ALA Annual 2016 in Orlando,  Mary Mastraccio from MARCIVE, and Rosemary Groenwald from the Mount Prospect Public Library presented on genre and the direction of library data with relationship to topical vs. genre terms.  Rosemary gave some statistics and numbers for the many new LCGFT terms that have been created in the last year.  These terms replace terms (sometimes exactly, sometimes with variation) that have been topical (150) in the past. New 155 authority records are being created, and there often is an issue of the ILS being able to merge 150 to 155.  Some of the issues discussed were how to make these conversions, how to fix the bib records, and what data is already in the records that can be used to accomplish this parsing of existing data.  Mary continued with a discussion of things libraries should consider, and things that a vendor could do to move data to the new fields.  She illustrated how information currently stored in a long topical data string (genre, medium of performance, audience, creator, etc.) must be split into separate fields that will be linked to authoritative databases, depending on the type of information.  She pointed out situations in which the existing data is in conflict, and some of the issues with processing the data.

Mary’s PowerPoint presentation can be found here

If you would like more information on how we can handle genre access points for your library catalog, please send an inquiry to [email protected].  Or give us a call at 800-531-7678.

Written by Carol Love

New MeSH deconstructed headings

Written by Joan on March 24, 2016. Posted in Blog

In 2001, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) provided instructions for deconstructing MeSH subjects to conform to NLM practices.  However, this practice was not widely embraced by libraries using MeSH. Periodic surveys conducted by NLM determined that half of the libraries preferred pre-coordinated subject headings, while the other half preferred faceted headings.  As a result, NLM continued to distribute bib records with pre-coordinated headings, but used faceted terms in-house.

MARCIVE watched these developments to determine what services were desired by libraries.  Over time there was an increased interest in faceted headings so we developed a profile option for our MeSH customers.  Since October 2005 MARCIVE customers have been able to specify whether they wanted pre-coordinated or deconstructed MeSH processing.

Beginning with the December 2015 distribution of new records in CATFILE and SERFILE, NLM subject terms (MeSH) will be distributed with topical subjects recorded in 650 $a or 650 $a $x; geographic subjects recorded in 651 $a or 651 $a $x; and publication type/genre terms record in 655 $a.  In January 2016, the entire CATFILE and SERFILE databases were released with these updates made to all the records.  NLM recommends downloading the full update to have local data consistent with the NLM files.  Catalogers in other libraries are encouraged to follow the NLM practice when assigning MeSH.

How does this now affect our authorities processing customers with MeSH headings?  In December of 2015 we modified our processing to automatically deconstruct MeSH subject headings for all customers.

Example:

Old form (with string)
650 12   $a Health Policy $z Africa $v Congresses
650 12   $a Health Policy $z Caribbean Region $v Congresses
650 22   $a Cross Cultural Comparison $z Africa $v Congresses
650 22   $a Cross Cultural Comparison $z Caribbean Region $v Congresses

New form (deconstructed)
650 12   $a Health Policy
650 22   $a Cross Cultural Comparison
651   2   $a Africa
651   2   $a Caribbean Region
655   2   $a Congresses

We encourage our customers using MeSH headings to contact us with any questions or comments regarding the new format.  Your input is welcome!

Written by Joan Chapa, MLS and Mary Mastraccio, MLS.

Presentation on Data Remediation for Consortium

Written by Joan on February 19, 2016. Posted in Blog

Libraries migrating to shared environment will be interested in the upcoming presentation given by Michael Cohen from the University of Wisconsin libraries: “Collocating the Collective: Third Party Database Remediation in an Alma Consortium” to be given at the ELUNA conference on May 6 at 9 am.  This conference will be held at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.

The Wisconsin libraries previously were on individual Ex Libris Voyager systems, and merged their bibliographic databases into a shared Alma consortial database.  After the merge, MARCIVE performed data remediation which included authorities processing and RDA conversion on over 8.5 million records.  The project was completed in January 2016. This presentation will discuss the highlights of that journey—including the decision making process, project configuration, file management logistics, affected cataloging policy, and lessons learned along the way.

Written by Joan Chapa, MLS

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MARCIVE will be exhibiting at the IUG Annual Conference which takes place March 24-28, 2024. Join us in Detroit, MI!

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MARCIVE will be closed April 8th, 2024.

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