One Alternative to Cataloging Microformat Collections

Charles Peters

Peters is Head of Periodicals, Newspapers , and Microforms at the main l ibrary of the U n i - versi ty of Ar izona in Tucson.

Patron access to the individual publications that make up large m i c r o f o r m a t sets of serial and monographic publicat ions has always presented pro- blems to libraries. The full cataloging of large sets of these mic ro fo rma t t ed materials consumes large amounts of s ta f f t ime. The bibliographic utilities, with the assistance of cooperat ing libraries, have made available valuable cataloging informat ion about several of these m i c r o f o r m collections, thereby reducing the amount of work required to create original cataloging records for some sets. However , many problems remain.

The p l a c e m e n t of a specif ic l ibrary 's symbol in the holdings records and the filing of catalog cards for these sets still pose problems for libraries. Most l ibraries do not have the skilled personnel required to enter specif ic l ibrary data for these previously uncataloged materials. Moreover , the coded fo rma t used in OCLC's publ ic access terminals does not explain fields such as the 780 or 785 state- ments in the M A R C record.

Many of the materials in these mic roform collections come under A A C R 2 rules for cataloging serials. The informat ion a f fo rded by the bibl iograph- ic guides or the m i c r o f o r m publ isher is not suff icient for cataloging purposes. Some bibl iographic guides make use of obsolete rules for entering serials or represent mere guesses as to the titles of works. Moreover , mic rof i lm containers usually do not list the title changes a serial has undergone. This means that a cataloger or qual i f ied paraprofessional must examine each title on a mic ro fo rm in order to confo rm to the A A C R 2 rules for serial entry.

I f the contents of a m i c r o f o r m are not fully examined and recorded, the l ibrary 's holdings may

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be misrepresented. Duplicates may be unknowingly purchased, and unnecessary interlibrary loan re- quests may be processed for titles already in the collection, if inadequate access to the titles is provided.

In order to spare the library the cost of pro- viding full cataloging for large microform collec- tions, librarians have devised many alternative searching aids. One such aid, developed on a per- sonal computer using a commercially available bib- liographic database program, is used for dissem- inating information about microform sets at the Main Library of the University of Arizona.

Using a database management system called Pro-Cite (Personal Bibliographic Software, PO Box 4250, Ann Arbor, MI 48106), the library has de- veloped its Bibliographic Guide to Micro forms in a form that is easy to use and update. The Pro- Cite program has many attractive features for han- dling bibliographic information: variable length fields, full-text searching, full Boolean logic cap- abilities, automatic merging of separate databases into one file, and the utilization of all MARC for- mats in its internal data management system. Any bibliographic files in ASCII format can be merged with the MARC formats to create "in analytics" for microform sets in a library. Important local information can thus be conveyed to researchers. Companion programs that download bibliographic information from a database for handling without extensive rekeying are also available. One example is Biblio-link (also from Personal Bibliographic Software). This software package allows data downloaded from OCLC, RLIN, Dialog, and BRS to be reformatted and entered into the Pro-Cite database where it is merged with manually-keyed data, The result is a database which can be searched by many different methods, such as title, editor, author, organization, subject, or microfilm accession number.

Specific local information can be added to the records produced with Pro-Cite. For example, the librarians at the University of Arizona have added serials holdings for titles in our microform sets. Such holdings are not always fully available either in the library's serials union file or on OCLC.

Another nice feature of Pro-Cite is that data can be transported from the database to commer- cially available word processing software to pro- duce custom bibliographies on specific topics.

To date, the database created at the Univer- sity of Arizona contains nine hundred titles re- presenting four microfilm serials sets. Up to thirty-two thousand records can be created per database, so the database has room for expansion. Information is retrieved by a variety of search terms in conjunction with the microform accession

numbers. The library is able to provide AACR2 level 3 microcataloging for its collection, whereas this was unaffordable using the bibliographic utilities and adding local information.

What follows is a sample of the type of serial data the University of Arizona Library has been able to generate using Pro-Cite. Examples of linking entries and other notes are included. The twelfth and thirteenth examples illustrate the type of local notes the library has added to bring titles to the attention of students. The fourteenth through sixteenth examples illustrate notes indicating that some of the volumes for the same title are also held as classified material, and indicate pertinent holdings.

EXAMPLES

1. The Academy [Microfilm 3297. Reel 164-176, 178-179]. In: Early British Periodicals Collection on Microfilm; Oct 9, 1869-Jan 11, 1902; Vol. 1-62. Note: Continued by: The Academy and literature. Subtitle varies.

2. The Academy and literature [Micro- film 3297. Reel 176-178, 180-183]. In: Early British Periodicals Collection on Microfilm; Jan 18, 1902-Mar 4, 1905; Dec 17, 1910-Jan 24, 1914; Sept 1914- Sept 1916; Vol. 62-68; 79-86; 86-90. Note: Continues: The Academy. Absorbed: Literature, Jan 1902. Continued by: The Academy.

3. Academy architecture and annual architectural review [Microfilm 3298. Reel 69]. In: British periodicals in the creative arts; 1889-1895; Vol. 1-9. Note: Issues for 1889-1891 not numbered but constitute v. 1-3. Continued by: Academy architecture and architectural review. Reel 69-71. No text exists in this journal. It consists entirely of drawings, designs, and illustra- tions.

4. All the year round [Microfilm 3297. Reels 137-152]. In: Early British Peri- odicals Collection on Microfilm; Apr 30, 1859-Mar 30, 1895; Vol. 1-76. Note: Indexed in Poole's index to peri- odical literature. Also at AP4.A4 and at Microfilm 4533. "All the year round, an unconventional almanack" (for 1886-1889) was issued with volumes 37, 39, 41, and 43 of the new series. Extra autumn numbers "with

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almanack" (for 1890-1895) were issued with the years 1889-1894. Editors: 1859- June 1870, Charles Dickens; June 25, 1870-1895, Charles Dickens, Jr.

5. The Dundee wasp [Microfilm 3297. Reel 706]. In: Early British Periodicals Collection on Microfilm; Mar 1901-Jan 1910; Vol. 5-8. Note: The series, "The O'Donnels in exile" is written about an Irish family who have lived in exile on the continent since the time of Elizabeth 1.

6. East Anglian: notes and queries on subjects connected with the counties of Suffolk, Cambridge, Essex and Norfolk [Microfilm 3297. Reel 425-427]. In: Early British Periodicals Collection on Microfilm; Oct 1858-1910; Vol. 1- new ser. v 13. Note: Founded under the auspices of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology.

7. Edinburgh monthly review [Micro- film 3297. Reel 190]. In: Early British Periodicals Collection on Microfilm; Jan 1819-June 1821; Vol. 1-5. Note: Indexed in Poole's index to peri- odical literature. Ceased publication in 1821. Continued by: New Edinburgh review.

8. The Edinburgh review [Microfilm 3296]. In: English literary periodical series; Reel 76; July 1755-Jan 1756; Nos. 1-2. Note: Adam Smith, William Robertson were contributors to this magazine. It also contains a review of Samuel John- son's Dictionary.

9. The Etcher [Microfilm 3298]. In: British periodicals in the creative arts; Reel 50; 1879-1883; Vol. 1-5. Featured the works of contemporary printmakers.

10. The European magazine, and, Lon- don review [Microfilm 3296. Reel 361- 382]. In: English literary periodical series; Jan 1782-June 1826; Vol. 1-87; new ser. v. 1-2 (Sept 1825-June 1826). Note: Also at: PR1365.G8 Special Coll. Absorbed by: Monthly magazine, or, Brit- ish register, Aug 1826. Papers on naval architecture were communicated through the channel of the wrappers of the Eur-

opean magazine. Vols. 1-50 issued by: the Philological Society of London. List of plates for v. 1-29 in v. 29. First magazine to publish an article by William Wordsworth.

11. Farmer's magazine (Edinburgh, Lothian) The farmer's magazine [Micro- film 3296]. In: English literary periodical series; Reels 901-904; Jan 1800-Nov 1825; Vol. 1-36. Note: Indexes: Vols. 1 (1800)-v. 12 (1811), in v. 12; v. 1 (1800)-v. 24 (1823); in v. 24.

12. The Female spectator [Microfilm 3297. Reel 468]. In: Early British Peri- odicals Collection on Microfilm; 1775; Vol. 1-4. Note: The aim of this periodical for wo- men was to "reform those errors in con- duct, which, if indulged, lead to vices."

13. The Rose, the shamrock, and the thistle [Microfilm 3297. Reels 501-502]. In: Early British Periodicals Collection on Microfilm; May 1862-Mar 1865; Vol. 1-6. Written for women, the editors, the Na- tional Institution for Promoting the Em- ployment of Women in the Art of Printing, wished "to give assistance to women walking the rugged road of life alone." The objective was to promote employment of women in the printing business.

14. The Sackbut [Microfilm 3298. Reel 143-144]. In: British periodicals in the creative arts; May 1920-Feb 1934; Vol. 1-14. Note: Also at: ML1.S12 v. 1 (1920); 8- 10 (1927-1929) Supplements accompany some issues.

15. Saint George [Microfilm 3297. Reel 602]. In: Early British Periodicals on Microfilm; Jan 1898-May 1911; Vol. 1- 14. Note: Also at: HN381.$2 v. 1-11 Special Coll.

16. Saint Pauls [Microfilm 3296. Reels 969-970]. In: English literary periodical series; Oct 1867-Mar 1872; Vol. 1-5. Note: Also at: AP4S15 v. 1-4 1867-1869 Special Coll. Title from caption. Issues for Oct 1867-June 1872 called also: Vol. 1-10. Edited by Anthony Trollope.

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