TWI Library

I've just started the CILIP Chartership process and one of my aims is to explore the information world beyond academic libraries. I have some visits lined up over the next few months but I began last week with a visit to the library at TWI. TWI is, in its own words:

a global leader in technology engineering providing research and consultancy to its members

My tour began with an introduction to the information services section at TWI. Linda Dumper, the manager of the section, talked to me about one of her main responsibilities - copyright. The only thing that I really know about copyright is how much photocopying of material students are limited to so it was interesting to find out about another side of the issue. The research that happens at TWI obviously produces a wealth of information in the form of reports and papers. The information services section needs to make sure that not only do the authors of these reports respect the copyright of others but that copyright can be retained for any staff papers submitted to conferences or journals. Retaining the copyright for its research means that TWI can continue to provide the best service to its members. Linda also provides copyright training for staff and members, ensuring that the correct practises are followed.

Joanne Cooper and Catherine Foley gave me a tour of the library. Open to staff, members of the organisation and the public, the library provides the traditional information services that I am used to. In addition the library provides a document delivery service to its users, sending out copies of journal articles and other information. Engineering standards are an important part of the service offering of the library and they maintain an up to date selection for easy staff access. Materials are classified using an in-house system, much the same as my workplace uses. Items are classified by subject and then chronologically within that subject meaning that staff develop a thorough working knowledge of the collection and the subject. The library also maintains an industry news service with different staff taking responsibility for particular subject areas within engineering. As well as providing a valuable service to users this enables staff to develop a specialist knowledge of an area. This is a definite contrast to my work as a cataloguer which means that I have to know a little something about a lot rather than a lot about a specialised area.

Lee Pretlove talked to me about archives and records management. The research that takes place at TWI obviously produces a wealth of documents which need to be stored and and increasingly this is done electronically. There is an overlap between the records management process and traditional library services, which means that colleagues get to collaborate. Lee also talked about the need to establish a retention schedule for documents. Some of the research conducted at TWI is funded by grants which stipulate that the resulting reports have to be kept for a set period, but it is important to have a clearly defined retention policy for all documents. Good records management makes it possible to supply documents to users in a timely manner which reflects well on the information service. This process is also useful for staff who need to know where to find documents quickly and easily. To be a cataloguer I think you need to have quite an organised way of thinking so all this discussion of records management struck a chord with me!

Maggie Larbey gave me a tour of the MI-21 database of welding consumables, an important service provided by the information department. As well as being an excellent source of advice on which materials to use during the welding process, the database takes information previously only available in hard copy and creates a fully searchable electronic interface. Users can search by type and property in order to find the most suitable consumable for their need. The database is keyword searchable and provides links to further information. One of the things that I liked most about the database was that it covered both old and new materials. This is especially useful if repairing an old structure where older materials are hard to come by since the database can recommend equivalent modern products. The database also allows users to build comparison tables for inclusion in reports, a very useful feature which must save a lot of time.

Lastly, Margaret Connell showed me the Weldasearch bibliographic database. This database contains abstracts of over two hundred thousand articles of relevance to TWI users, with approximately four hundred added every month. The team, comprised of internal employees and external abstractors, search journals and the web in order to find items of interest. Abstracts are produced from either the article itself or an existing abstract and are edited to ensure consistency. Keywords are then indexed using the International Institute of Welding thesaurus. The database is updated once a month with a range of items which appeal to different segments of the user population and users can set up alerts to receive updates on areas that are of interest to them. This is something which I would I like to be involved in if I worked in a more specialised library but would be impossible with the range of materials my workplace receives under legal deposit.

It was fascinating to see a specialised library in action and my visit has given me a new appreciation of the varied range of tasks that they carry out. At the same time I can see similarities with the way that we operate in an academic library - we are both focused on the user and try to present a variety of information in easily digestible formats. Of course, I would hope that the above is true of all library services!

Many thanks to the staff at TWI Information Services for an informative and interesting visit.

Measuring the Impact of Social Media Marketing in Libraries

One of the reasons that this blog has been so quiet recently is that I've been working on my MSc dissertation. I'm pleased to say that barring a few last minute tweaks it's complete! 

The topic of my dissertation is the title of this post. I've been interested in social media use in libraries ever since I took part in Cam23 and I've come across a lot of institutions that use the tools. It came as a little bit of a shock then to find out that few places have an evaluation strategy in place when it comes to their social media initiatives. Some places make a token effort to count the number of 'likes' a post has on Facebook or the amount of times that something gets retweeted, but few look beyond this. My research was concerned with delving a little deeper and exploring whether social media use was having an impact on library users, good or bad.

I won't go into detail with the results here but below is an image of a poster that I presented at the recent libraries @ cambridge conference which summarieses the main findings:

Measuring the Impact of Social Media Marketing in Libraries by Claire Sewell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

I'm not claiming that my research is brilliant or foolproof (far from it!) but I think this an interesting area which more libraries need to explore. If you actually ask your users what they like/don't like about social media you might get some interesting answers. You might find out that your users really like your Twitter feed even if you don't get many retweeets, or that your Facebook 'likes' don't really count for much. If you rely on usage statistics alone then you could be misled.

It seems to me that a lot of librarians are having trouble convincing their managers that social media is really worth their time. Although impact is a notoriously tricky thing to measure, if you can come up with some user based evidence then you will have something concrete to show your managers next time they ask why you should be wasting time on social media!

Libraries@Cambridge Conference 2013

The theme of this years conference was 'Making an Impact', something which I have been interested in since conducting research into impact for my MSc dissertation. I should add for anyone who read my blog on last years conference that this post will not be as controversial! I'm just going to focus on a few of the points that I found really relevant in the keynote sessions. For a full report of the day, see the official conference blog which has a report on each session.

Liz Jolly gave the first of the two keynote sessions. One of the points that she highlighted was that although as a sector we are good at measuring things, we need to make sure that we are doing this for the right reasons. This is something that I've come across a lot in my own research. Libraries tend to have all manner of usage statistics but do we actually use them effectively or do we just compile them for the sake of it? Liz talked about the importance of effective benchmarking and setting our measurements in context. This last point is particularly important as we should be measuring how we align our work with the goals of our institutions if we want to prove our worth.

This is something that I've often thought about with cataloguing. I know that to some we are a dying species but I think that a strong cataloguing department is essential to the smooth running of a library. The main problem is how to get this message across. There is lots of talk at the moment about how important the student experience is and I think that cataloguers need to make the point that even if we are in the back office, what we do is actually a very important user service. Without proper cataloguing our users will have trouble finding the resources that they need - isn't this one of the most important parts of serving library users?

Liz also talked about the importance of advocating what we do to our colleagues and users. She stressed that we need to make it clear that professional bodies such as CILIP are learning organisations and we are using membership to develop ourselves, hopefully leading to better service. This is something that was mentioned at the recent CILIP CIG conference where presentations highlighted the importance of getting involved with the library outside your own department. Liz talked about going to where our colleagues are and learning to speak their language, something which I think is important. We need to stop seeing our departments as isolated units and learn to work together and promoting ourselves to our colleagues is one way of doing this.

The second keynote presentation was given by Dave Patten and Graham Stone who talked about the Library Impact Data Project. The project is attempting to establish a link between library use and final degree level - something which is really interesting to a lot of librarians! Phase two of the project is more focused, looking at off campus resource usage, hours spent logged in and overnight use amongst other things. The results so far are really interesting, for example showing that mature students (anyone over 21!!) tend to use resources more than their younger counterparts. Dave and Graham have also broken down usage by ethnicity and country leading to some surprising results which need further investigation. The presenters made the point that even if some of the results that they are producing seem to be common sense, having actual evidence of the impact of the library should not be underestimated. Demonstrating the value for money that the library can bring to the student experience is vitally important - especially in the light of the current financial climate. This is an issue that I have seen raised many times in the course of my research on impact and I'm glad to see that someone has taken this further and is producing some quantifiable evidence.

Even though the issue of impact has been raised in the profession many times before I don't think that being reminded of it is a bad thing. It's important that we don't become complacent and continue to find new and innovative ways of demonstrating the difference that we make to our users and colleagues, whichever part of the library that we work in.

The conference was as usual really though provoking and provided the opportunity to meet up with colleagues who may work in the same city but don't always have time to get together. Roll on libraries @ Cambridge 2014!

photo credit: Vermin Inc via photopin cc

Public Speaking for the Terrified!

Anyone who knows me in real life will know that I am not what you would call a natural public speaker. The thought of standing up in front of more than two people terrifies me to my very core, never mind having to sound intelligent in front of a room full of every librarian in my organisation! So when I was asked to be part of a panel discussion at yesterday's libraries @ cambridge conference I said yes with more than a little trepidation. However if 2013 is going to be my Chartership year I had better learn how to push my boundaries and there's nothing like jumping in at the deep end!

Having never done anything like this before I did what any good librarian in this situation would do - I started to research tips on how to be part of a conference panel. I found a couple of reassuring resources but most focused on how to chair a panel discussion rather than how to be part of it, so I thought I would use this post to share a couple of tips for other first timers:

• remember that you have been asked to contribute, so someone thinks you know what you're talking about even if you're less than confident. You must have done something to make them think this so try not to stress too much about how little you (think you) know about the topic
• try not to over prepare (also advice I give to people attending job interviews). It's a must to do some preparation but don't over think it. Have a list of bullet points rather than a totally planned speech which can sound a bit robotic 
• on the flip side, don't go in totally unprepared. Meet up with your fellow panelists and talk about areas you think might come up. You could even assign areas to talk about, giving you a chance to feel a bit more prepared on a smaller slice of the overall topic
• remember to talk to the audience not just your fellow panelists, especially if you're responding to an audience question. And don't do that thing where you imagine the audience naked - never a pretty image!
• at least attempt to look like you're enjoying yourself, even if you're not. Remember the conferences that you have attended where the presenter has looked totally bored and you have tuned out as a result? If you don't look interested in what's happening then the audience definitely won't be
• be yourself, in terms of both personality and dressing. Dress smartly but comfortably rather than trying to 'dress to impress'. If you wear something you're not used to then you will feel uncomfortable, which means that you will look uncomfortable
• don't give long-winded and technical answers. People will tune out. Remember a really bad panel session that you have been to where you understood nothing? Don't copy that
• the audience is not out to get you or trip you up with horrible questions, they're probably just glad it's not them on that stage! If you do get asked a question it's because you made enough of an impact with that person that they felt they needed to respond. If you don't know the answer then say so, you can always look into it and follow it up later. No one is expecting you to have all the answers
• if you have a last minute panic and end up rocking in a corner before the session remember that it's only an hour out of your life. Try to think of it as a conversation with other people interested in the topic rather than a scary experience (something else which works for me in job interviews). Audience members wouldn't be there in the first place if they weren't interested in what you have to say!

Being involved in a panel discussion is a way to ease yourself into public speaking. You're not up there on your own giving a paper and you can share the responsibility for questions with others meaning that you're not totally put on the spot. Taking part in a conference is a great opportunity and will look good on your CV in what is an increasingly competitive job market. It might take a lot of convincing (never mind a couple of stiff drinks) to get you up there but I promise that it will be worth it in the end. If all else fails remember that if I can do it, so can you!

photo credit: www.audio-luci-store.it via photopin cc

End of year update

It seems like a very long time since I wrote anything on this blog! The only excuse I can give is that I've been extremely busy starting a new job and trying to finish my dissertation. I'm pleased to say that the 'masterpiece' only needs a few more adjustments and it will be done - and I'll be very glad to see the back of it!
 

If anyone hasn't yet read Helen Murphy's brilliant series of blog posts about the Aberystwyth library course they can be found here - I highly recommend them to anyone who is doing or thinking about starting the course. I'm glad that I did it but happy that it's over and I can get my life back!

 

The next few months are going to involve some exciting projects and events to blog about. The biggest of these is Chartership which I plan on starting in the new year. Although I want to back-date some of my activities I hope that the process will give me lots of new things to talk about and explore. I intend to use the blog to keep a record and hopefully some of it will be useful to other people.

If anyone is still reading this then stop by in 2013 and find out more!



CIG 2012 - The Value of Cataloguing (Part Two)

This is my report on day two of the recent CIG conference. Part one can be found here.

New Challenges for Cataloguers

The first session of day two had the theme "new challenges for cataloguers", of which I'm sure we can agree there are many. Heather Jardine cut straight to the case by talking about the changes in the cataloguers role in 2012. She outlined three main changes:

• changing rules and formats - I think we can all agree that we're about to go through a big period of change here with the introduction of RDA
• changing materials - as cataloguers we're constantly being asked to keep pace with the latest materials. We're often faced with something new coming across our desks followed by the inevitable question: "how am I supposed to catalogue that?!" Heather showed us that this was nothing new since cataloguers have been dealing with new materials for decades and we have always managed to find a way to cope. Any future changes will be no different
• changing roles - there has been a change in expectations over what it is we actually do. With the cuts across all library sectors everyone has found themselves taking on increased workloads.

I think that these changes have both positive and negative points. Whilst no one wants cuts they are happening. The changing role of the cataloguer can be seen as an opportunity as well as a threat. Maybe a very long time ago all cataloguers did was catalogue books day in day out but I think that this has been changing for some time now. Cataloguers are much more adaptable than people think (see the above two points) and the changes currently taking place in libraries can help to showcase this. If we can prove to our colleagues that we are adaptable and indispensable then we can help to ensure our professional futures. No one can be trained in just one skill and expect to get a job out of it for the rest of their lives and so the more feathers in our caps the better. Proving our worth to our colleagues is an important part of advocacy - something which I feel very strongly that every cataloguer should be involved in. The flip side of this, as Heather rightly pointed out, is that all this extra work leads to a decrease in the time that we have for actual cataloguing. There is a balance to be maintained and I think that the true challenge will be in making sure that we still keep our cataloguing skills strong whilst taking on these new challenges. 

The next paper wins the award for best title, Gary Green's "the incredible shrinking cataloguer meets the Spaghetti Junction automation robot". Gary reminded us of the importance of  keeping abreast of the latest library technology even if we aren't using it ourselves. This is something that I try to do but sometimes struggle with so I know how hard it can be sometimes to take on yet another thing. The main body of the talk was focused on Gary's recent project to automate cataloguing and classification processes at his library service. This was tricky since computers haven't yet reached the level of intelligence of the average cataloguer (thank God!). For this reason Gary has tried to map these processes as if it were a human working on the changes rather than a computer. The project has resulted in a reduction in the amount of in-house manual work and faster processing which in turn has saved money - something which managers are finding especially attractive in the current climate. There are also of course some issues with the process; the mapping process is complex and anything which gets broken can have consequences which are equally complicated. One of the main things that Gary cautioned us about was that changes are not made in isolation, it's all part of a larger process. Work on the project is continuing in order to address some of these issues.

Helen Williams talked about the challenges involved in transforming copy cataloguers into 'metadata creators'. During her work at LSE Helen and her team were tasked with adding metadata to items added to the institutional repository. Helen reported that the same workflows used with print material could be applied to the repository material and helped in adding to the teams skill set. Using our skills in this new way can help to showcase the value of the cataloguing department to the wider institution, echoing the points made in previous sessions. Future-proofing the department and its skills is as vital right now as it has ever been. One point that Helen did raise is that whilst having a multi-skilled team has many advantages, it's also possible to consider specialising in some areas. All of the staff in a department can have a working knowledge of these new processes but since everyone has different strengths they will naturally develop a specialism in a particular skill. This is something to be encouraged from both the individual and institutional point of view. Projects such as this one at LSE make the bibliographic services team the place to go to for information within the wider institution - a definite plus point.

The next session was 'the problems of cataloguing in higher education' which was a slightly altered version of a presentation given at a CIG even earlier in the year. I'e already written a blog post about this event which is here if anyone wants to read it.

Lightning Round Talks

Celine Carty presented the first lightening round talk of the day and focused on the work of the High Visibility Cataloguing initiative. She outlined a project to set up a 23things style programme for cataloguers - Cat23. The first phase of the programme involves interviews with cataloguers working in a variety of roles. More can be read about the programme here on the HVCats website but I will say that I am really looking forward to it. When I first heard about the project I did wonder how it would work in practice but I think that the authors have done a wonderful job of coming up with something new and creative (and I'm not just saying this because I work for one of them!). I'm really looking forward to taking part and will be encouraging my colleagues to do so.

Karen Pierce talked about ways of promoting the work of the cataloguing department both internally and externally. This was a strong theme at the conference which came up in many of the papers. Karen talked about the importance of maintaining a physical presence and actually being seen by colleagues. Cataloguers are often tucked away in offices and too often it's a case of out of sight and out of mind. Getting involved in wider institutional events and committees are two ways in which the department can maintain a presence and raise its profile. One popular initiative that Karen talked about was "Do something different day" which gives staff at her institution a chance to do what it says on the tin. The day allows the cataloguing department to give an in-depth look at what it really does on a day to day basis and hopefully this will help to correct some common misconceptions about the work that the department does. Karen also gave us several hints on external advocacy:

• conferences - both attending and presenting. And don't think that you have to be limited to cataloguing conferences - get out of the echo chamber!
• report back from events - show people that you do sometimes escape from your desk
• have an online presence - this can be important in sharing your experiences with a wider audience

One of the key themes of Karen's presentation was to grab unexpected opportunities. The more widely you and your department get known the more chance that colleagues will approach you if they need something you can provide.

Rachel Playforth carried on the professional development theme by talking about her experience of changing her role from cataloguer to repository coordinator. Rachel pointed out that even if your job role changes you probably won't get training for your new role. I think this is something we can all relate to! She advised us to be strategic about taking on new responsibilities as it's important not to take on too much. We need to be selective and learn to say no occasionally. Consider how the change will benefit you in the long term - will it add a new skill? is it something that you've always wanted to try? Always be open to new opportunities but remember that you can't do everything at once.

Karen Pierce returned to tell us about the benefits of regionality when it comes to professional development. Karen was part of the organising team for Conversations with Cataloguers in Wales, an event which brought together a group of cataloguers with a common region. There are many benefits to holding regional events such as this; people often find these events easier to get to and they can be identity forming. One interesting point raised was that conferences and events can create a great sense of community but this is often only temporary. We need to be looking at ways of carrying this on and local groups are one way to do this. Karen encouraged us to look into developing our own local groups - you never know what could come out of it!

The open mike session was a chance for delegates to discuss any issues which had been raised so far. Unsurprisingly the chief topic of conversation was RDA and its impact on cataloguing practice. One issue raised was that of training. Once an institution has made the decision to implement the new standard the staff have to be trained in its use. There is lots of training freely available on the Internet but we were warned to check the material for currency. RDA is a constantly updated standard and so web-based content can become dated very quickly. The cost of RDA was also mentioned. It is not a freely available standard and this has caused problems for some libraries who would like to implement it. It was pointed out that whilst there is a cost to moving there is also a cost to not moving and the consequences of either action need to be weighed carefully.

Developing Working Practices

The theme of the final full session was "developing working practices" and began with a talk from Elly Cope about reclassification at the University of Bath. The library used a number of classification systems which had led to negative feedback from students. The decision was made to implement a more consistent system and gradually switch from UDC to DDC which is a more widely known system. User feedback to the change has been positive and plans have been made to continue with the scheme. Elly made the point that although it's a lot of work, one of the added benefits of reclassification is that it provides an opportunity to work on the records and ultimately produce a better standard of cataloguing.

Neil Robinson talked about his experience of developing cataloguing and classification at Marylebone Cricket Club library. The library houses one of the biggest research libraries on the sport and so is an important resource. Neil was tasked with updating the original classification scheme used by the library since the 1940s. The scheme was unsurprisingly out of date and in need of serious attention. The key decision to be made was whether to adapt the current system or to start again with something new. Neil went with the decision to adapt the scheme and said that it has led to an increased knowledge of the collection. One top tip that he shared was not to be afraid of changing something that you have just changed if you think you can make it better - be constantly on the search for improvement.

Daphne Kouretas from OCLC gave the final full paper of the conference on managing metadata for ebooks. Libraries need to acknowledge that resource discovery is changing and we need to keep up with these changes. She talked about the importance of cataloguing as a public facing library service, something which I am very keen to promote. Cataloguing is one of the backbones of a successful library and I think that this is something that non-cataloguers forget and that cataloguers forget to shout about.

Lightning Round Talks

The final lightning round talk session opened with Katrina Clifford talking about harvesting repository data for use in an LMS. She explained how rich data for repository contributions was available but all too often this wasn't being linked to records in the catalogue. Research has been done into this problem and although I'm afraid the technology is beyond me, a way to export this data into the LMS has been developed. This has led to an enrichment of the cataloguing records which had aided user discoverability. Needless to say, this is proving very popular with library users!

Helen Garner talked about cataloguing media materials and its associated problems and benefits. The workflow for this at Sheffield Hallam University has been streamlined so that cataloguing staff now only need to view the first iteration of a program in order to catalogue it. Helen also raised the point that libraries need to maintain a consistent display across the catalogue so that users understand that they are looking at a media resource.

The final two sessions by Emily Bogie and Christina Claridge focused on the issue of shelf ready. Working in a library which uses its own classification system this isn't something that I've had to deal with personally but it is still an interesting development which needs to be monitored. Both sessions reported on the advantages and disadvantages of projects at the speakers' libraries. The scheme provides an important way to free up staff time but it is important that errors, however small, are spotted and corrected. This of course requires human intervention. Accurate records are even more important in today's catalogues with their faceted searching capabilities. The most important thing to check is if the records reflects the item that you have, obvious but still easy to miss in a busy environment.

I really enjoyed the conference and came away really energised and positive. To me this is one of the primary benefits of any event. I will take away several points and try to spend my time until the next conference focused on advocating my job and keeping the momentum going!

photo credit: Rijksmuseum Research Library via photopin cc

CIG 2012 - The Value of Cataloguing (Part One)

I’ve just come back from an exhausting but enjoyable two days at the CILIP Cataloguing and Indexing Group conference in Sheffield. This was my second CIG conference and I enjoyed it as much as my first experience. The theme of the conference was “the value of cataloguing” and all of the speakers more than met the challenge. I tend to blog quite full reports since I use this blog for my own records as much as anything else but I do realise that many people have better things to do than read 1500+ words on one day of a conference, so I’ve highlighted in bold what I feel are the key points.

The conference opened with a keynote speech by Dave Pattern focused on the need to measure the impact of the library. Since measuring impact is my dissertation topic, this session was close to my heart (and interests). Dave showed that there was a lot of data collected by libraries and that we should do something proactive with it. He has recently taken part in a project to try and establish a link between library use and grade amongst degree level students at the University of Huddersfield. Although he hasn’t as yet established a statistically significant link his results do indicate that there is some correlation between the number of library resources used and the final grade achieved. The study also indicated that there was a link between low library use and dropping out of courses. This could provide a useful early warning sign for both lecturers and tutors. There is still more work to be done but I look forward to reading the future results. 

Working with New Standards

The first theme of the conference was “working with new standards”. Anne Welsh and Katharine Whaite discussed the history of the catalogue. They showed that even though there is a lot of concern about the MARC/RDA hybrid catalogue this is unnecessary since modern catalogues are already comprised of multiple bibliographic standards. Changing standards and different workflows over the years mean that true consistency has never been achieved and all catalogues contain a mix of record formats. In the days of active information professionals on social media, new cataloguing standards can be discussed like never before but cataloguers shouldn’t agonise too much over rule changes – everything evolves and needs monitoring. Just because a rule has been around for a long time doesn’t mean that it is above question.

Lucy Bell from the UK Data Archive discussed her work curating digital data sets. She illustrated users’ preferences for simple, Google-style interfaces but showed that these still needed to maintain a high standard of academic use meaning that they needed to be powered by powerful metadata. She explained her work in mapping keyword search terms to a controlled vocabulary language in order to give users the best access to the data possible. These controlled search terms allow more accurate usage data to be kept which in turn makes it easier to prove the value of the system to those that fund it.

Simon Barron took a philosophical perspective when discussing the impact of networked knowledge systems on cataloguing practices. He showed that many library classification schemes are based on traditional, hierarchical systems which try to subdivide knowledge in a top-down fashion. Knowledge is much more complicated than this and networks are a much better way to demonstrate links. This sort of thinking is already present in FRBR and RDA, which aim to show the multiple links between items found in the library catalogue. Whilst the technology doesn’t yet exist to allow cataloguers to represent these connections as we would like, this is still an important area to think about and I'll be monitoring future developments.

The final full paper of the morning was delivered by Michael Emly who talked about the importance of preserving collections for the future using metadata. I work in a legal deposit library where preservation is a primary concern so this was of great interest to me. He outlined a COPAC project which aimed to show through metadata if a library was committed to keeping a copy of an item. Hopefully this would mean that there was at least one copy of an item available somewhere, preserving our national collections. The metadata can also be used to make collection management decisions easier – libraries will be able to see if an item was held anywhere else and what the long term plan for that item is. Even legal deposit libraries can’t hold everything (despite what most people think) so this would be a welcome way to help safeguard items in the future.

Lightning Round Talks

The first short lightning round talk was an RDA update by Celine Carty and was clearly what many attendees had been waiting for. Celine was fortunate enough to be able to attend ALA and brought back a lot of important news. This time RDA is really coming, with the implementation date being set for March 31st 2013. It won’t be a matter of simply switching to the new standard – we're going to be working with a mix of standards for a while yet but this is something that most cataloguers are already used to. The rules are currently being reworded in response to feedback from users and the Toolkit is also being changed in response to criticism from testers. Celine also outlined how CIG plans to help cataloguers to get to grips with the new standard. As well as its highly successful FRBR for the Terrified workshops, the group ran an eforum for RDA discussion that was very well attended. Having been to one of the workshops I can highly recommend it!

The second lightening talk continued the theme of RDA with Stuart Hunt talking about how libraries can implement the new standard into library systems that were designed to cope with MARC. He produced a useful checklist of potential problem areas:

• loading: will RDA records load into your system in their entirety or will you start to see an increase in rejected records and error reports?
• validation: validation tables within your LMS will need to be updated in order to cope with the new standard, including any local customisations
• indexing: will the new RDA fields be included in your indexing? What will happen if you do/don't index the new subfields?
• display: this needs to be considered for both the staff and user view of the system
• discovery: if your discovery platform is supplied by a third part then will it be able to cope with the changes?
• exporting: export tables will need to be changed in order to reflect RDA

Katharine Whaite’s interesting talk focused on using the library catalogue as a way to understand the history of the collection and the way in which thinking about it has changed over time. She showed that librarians need to maintain existing catalogue records as well as creating new ones so that this important aspect of library history could be preserved.

Working cooperatively

The theme for the second session was ‘working cooperatively’. Deborah Lee from the Courtauld Institute discussed the progress that she has made since CIG 2010 on setting up a UK NACO funnel. She argued that this was not only a cost saving measure but that it would have multiple benefits for the professional development of those involved. Training could be cascaded down through organisations, allowing cataloguers to add a valuable tool to their skill set. The funnel also gives libraries a chance to promote authors and organisations who are important to the library’s specialism, for example by establishing a heading for an artist who is not well known but has significance. I have just started my own training in the world of NACO and I think it’s an extremely valuable skill to have. I look forward to further reports about the projects progress.

Ian Fairclough closed proceedings on day one by talking about how email lists and other tools can be used to improve bibliographic data quality. I’m sure everyone has seen the ‘typo of the day’ section on Autocat and had a good laugh but it does actually have a serious purpose. By adjusting just the mistake that appears in the list libraries can carry out low-cost bibliographic maintenance and work towards a better standard of catalogue record. Mailing lists can get the message out to a lot of people all around the world and the only cost to the cataloguer is the time that it takes to correct the mistake (which hopefully you shouldn’t find many of anyway!)

Hopefully my write-up of day two will be posted in the next few days.

photo credit: sundaykofax via photopin cc