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

Converting legacy data to RDA is a challenging idea to take hold in public libraries because of a school of thought regarding the short-lived nature of the collection. If your collection flips over every 15 years, why do anything with the legacy data?

Converting to RDA preps your data for the next generation systems and organizes your records in a layout that is easier for patrons to understand. Public libraries, in particular, have more formats than many other types of libraries, so the blanket term “electronic resource” is no longer relevant in today’s information environment. But don’t take our word for it, here is why some of our happy customers converted to RDA:

Cuyahoga County Public Library
Lori Ann Thorrat, Catalog Department Manager

“Cuyahoga County Public Library chose to convert our data to RDA for simplicity. Having our data in RDA format created a level of consistency that simplifies the configuration of the public catalog, improving our customer’s ability to find and retrieve materials. Dates are very important both for searching and sorting data.  Just having all of our publication dates in a single MARC field allows us to streamline how records display and sort in the public catalog. Because RDA is an internationally recognized standard, having our data already in RDA format will facilitate the conversion of our legacy data to Bibframe, the next generation schema for bibliographic data.”

Somerset County Library System
Adele Thoma Barree, Head of Technical Services

“We know that we will not have our current ILS forever, and that RDA is designed to handle links and connections among all types of data.  Getting our database in the best possible shape for the future is something MARCIVE can help us with by modifying our bibs to reflect basic RDA format.  We are very glad you offer this service!”

Thousand Oaks Public Library
Stacy Gordon, Cataloging Librarian

“Legacy data is worth converting so that older materials become as discoverable as new materials, especially as library management systems and other discovery layers begin to take more advantage of the new fields for content, media, and carrier type.  Since these fields (336, 337, and 338) have controlled vocabularies, greater consistency will be achieved between older and newer records.  As well, when BibFrame is ready to replace MARC, more of your records will be ready to be crosswalked to the new metadata standard that will be more compatible with other information systems in the greater linked data world.

Library catalogs have gone through many changes, and a recent change is to the new cataloging standard,  RDA.  Among the benefits of RDA are fewer abbreviations (no more “ill.” for illustrations or  the Latin “s.l.” for “Place of publication not identified,” and many others), more relationships identified between works, entities, manifestations, and items, as well as between persons, families, and corporate bodies and these FRBR requirements, and a catalog that’s data conform better to what’s being seen in the wider world outside of libraries.  Conversion would provide for greater consistency within your catalog, and will allow users to find information more easily, with RDA’s allowance for a greater number of access points, increasing discoverability.

We had no trouble deciding to go with MARCIVE for performing the retrospective conversion of our database to RDA.  We have had MARCIVE do our authority control for 12 years, and they have been extremely fast, reliable, and with gracious customer service.”

 –written by Ligia Groff, MLS

Type of Organization: School District

Project Coordinator: Linda Corey, Library Media Services

Address: Blue Valley Schools, 15020 Metcalf, Overland Park KS 66283

Telephone: 913-239-4234

Email: [email protected]

Problems To Be Solved:

1. Update authorities
2. Clean up coding of genre in bibliographic records
3. Add Lexile Measures® to records

MARCIVE Solutions:

1. Authorities processing including correction of genre coding
2. Ongoing authorities maintenance
3. Reading notes enrichment

The Story:

The Blue Valley School District encompasses 91 square miles in southeastern Johnson County, Kansas. More than 20,000 students attend Blue Valley’s 34 schools. The library media collections are developed for inquiry, research, project-based learning and also with an emphasis on free reading and literary enrichment. Resources are shared among the libraries; thus, requiring our combined catalog to accurately reflect content. We currently use SirsiDynix Unicorn.

Our first experience with MARCIVE was during the migration of our Integrated Library system (ILS) from DRA to SIRSI in 2004. We looked for companies who had performed previous DRA—SIRSI conversions. We put out an RFP and chose MARCIVE.

At that time we performed our initial authority clean-up with MARCIVE. Though we had authorities in our catalog, they had only sporadically been maintained. We then contracted for continuing authority updates. Recently, we perceived a need to apply Lexile numbers and update genre headings in our bibliographic records. Again we contracted with MARCIVE for full authority work performed retrospectively on our collection and the addition of Lexiles and update of genre heading coding. Our various projects involved approximately 190,000 bibliographic records.

The reports provided by MARCIVE were excellent and allowed us to make corrections prior to our final loads. MARCIVE was very helpful throughout the process, in tech support, project planning, and handholding. It was painless.

The Blue Valley School District’s mission is unprecedented academic success and unparalleled personal growth for every student. Products that enhance a student’s learning process, encourage their personal growth, and at the same time allow us to assess their progress toward their personal and academic goals are an excellent fit to our mission. Genres engage and aid students in browsing for independent reading choices. Offering students a wide selection of titles in their Lexile range is a key component to reading instruction in the classroom. Lexile Bands are used as a quantitative measure of text complexity as presented in the Common Core State Standards.

MARCIVE was able to provide the data and services we required to upgrade and enhance our combined catalog.

The MARCIVE staff understands the school library environment and was responsive to our needs. They were willing to take the time necessary to explain a somewhat complex process. The scheduling fit our school calendar and the turnaround time was excellent. Their pricing is competitive and their product and services of good quality.