Register for 2021 Virtual Interest Group Week

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About the Group
The Cataloging Norms Interest Group offers a forum for the exploration, communication, and exchange of ideas on the dynamics and evolution of cataloging/metadata norms and workflows. We encourage and seek out participation from anyone with an interest in cataloging – from public, academic, school or special libraries – regardless of experience level or training.

Presentations

“Accurately Representing Diverse Human Experiences in a Rapidly Changing Vernacular” presented by Emory LaPrade
The LGBTQ+ acronym has gained many more letters over the last few decades due primarily to terms’ invention or promotion on the vast platform of the internet. These changes happen rapidly, while adapting the LCSH and LCNAF is a slow and Sisyphean task. This presentation examines ways to balance being respectful of LGBTQ+ identities with vocabulary that may not always be the most representative of those experiences.

“A cataloging platform that significantly reduces the cost & complexity of bibliographic cataloging within public libraries and supports interlibrary exchange of public-domain bibliographic records” presented by Tris Shores
An experimental cloud-connected software cataloging platform (PredictiveBIB) that uses predictive-algorithms and crowdsourced-metadata to simplify & accelerate creation of bibliographic records. The core innovation is the use of algorithms to process bibliographic metadata in order to predict subject headings for the item being cataloged. PredictiveBIB connects to an experimental cloud repository that allows sharing of bibliographic records containing a record-level CC0 statement (optional). This technology promotes equity, inclusion, and innovation by supporting creation, enrichment and exchange of public-domain bibliographic records between public libraries.

“Evaluating different sources for providing missing series information” presented by Graeme Williams
If you’re willing to abandon the rule that the 490 field is transcribed, you can help your patrons by filling in missing series information. For Science Fiction and Fantasy, isfdb.com provides a convenient downloadable copy of their database, but how good is the data? I looked at 2,000 records for SF&F books. Isfdb.com provided series information for 97 records without a 490 field. Hand-checking showed that the accuracy was fair but not good enough. I ran the author & title from the 97 records against both Novelist and Goodreads. Novelist provided almost no series data, but the series data from Goodreads was excellent — good enough for automatic remediation. I’ll explain the methodology, summarise the data, and discuss what good enough means.

Learn more about the Cataloging Norms Interest Group.
Contacts: Susan Martin (susan.martin@mtsu.edu); Alexander Whelan (aw3195@columbia.edu)

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Presented by the Linked Data Interest Group.

When accessing or referencing linked data resources, catalogers or metadata librarians may encounter statements that seem incorrect. Sometimes linked data authorities for entities, particularly individuals and organizations, contain factual errors. How can these potential issues be assessed? Can individuals provide constructive feedback to the organization that hosts the authority record(s)? This session will discuss these issues, and how best practices may differ for different platforms and data sources.

Panelists

• Paul Frank, NACO/SACO Coordinator, Cataloging Policy Specialist, Library of Congress
• Jonathan Ward, Senior Editor, Getty Vocabulary Program, Getty Institute
• Nathan B. Putnam, Director, Metadata Quality, Global Product Management, OCLC

Moderators

• Annamarie Klose and Benjamin Riesenberg, LDIG co-chairs (moderators)

Learn more about the Linked Data Interest Group
Contacts: Benjamin Riesenberg (ries07@uw.edu); Annamarie Klose (klose.16@osu.edu)

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The Imagineering Interest Group focuses on science fiction and fantasy books. Join us for a mix of book talk and future dreams for the IG.

Learn more about the Imagineering Interest Group.
Contact: Athina Livanos-Propst (alivanospropst@pbs.org)

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The session will consist of an extended presentation by three members of the University of Washington Libraries’ Cataloging and Metadata Services Unit.

Using RDA in Sinopia

As a cohort institution in the LD4P2: Pathway to Implementation project, staff members in the University of Washington Libraries’ Cataloging and Metadata Services unit created bibliographic descriptions in the Sinopia Linked Data Editor. The project team selected entities and properties from the Resource Description and Access (RDA) data model when designing the templates required for use of the Editor. Team members will discuss their motivations for implementing RDA in Sinopia, what the implementation process was like, challenges in converting the resulting RDA data to BIBFRAME, and prospects for interoperability between these two models.

Speakers

• Theodore, Gerontakos, Head, Metadata and Cataloging Initiatives Unit, Cataloging and Metadata Services, University of Washington Libraries
• Jian Ping Lee, Chinese Cataloging & Metadata Librarian, Tateuchi East Asia Library, University of Washington Libraries
• Benjamin Riesenberg, Metadata Librarian, Cataloging and Metadata , University of Washington Libraries

Learn more about the Bibliographic Conceptual Models Interest Group.
Contacts: Thomas Dousa (tmdousa@uchicago.edu); Elizabeth Baus (eebaus@umn.edu)

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The Technical Services Managers in Academic Libraries Interest Group features roundtable discussions on topics of interest to technical services managers and practitioners. The subjects come from the members’ own experiences, and it’s a chance to meet people and share some practical ideas about the challenges we’re all facing.

Learn more about the Technical Services Managers in Academic Libraries Interest Group.
Contact: Lauren DeVoe (led2150@columbia.edu); Greg Ferguson (greg.ferguson@nyu.edu)

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Join your ebook colleagues from throughout the industry – librarians, publishers, distributors, authors, experts – for our inaugural discussion in our new home in the Core Division. Co-conveners Stephen Spohn of Ocean State Libraries (RI) and Michael Blackwell of St. Mary’s County Library (MA) will facilitate a discussion of the purpose of the group, updates from attendees and 2021 goals for ebooks. All are welcome!

Learn more about the Ebooks Interest Group.
Contact: Stephen Spohn (sspohnjr@gmail.com)

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Join a discussion on intersecting interests between publishers, vendors, and libraries and how we can work together to promote better communication and collaboration. We will also consider ideas for topics of upcoming ALA programs.

Discussion Leaders: Ellen Amatangelo and Ajaye Bloomstone

Learn more about the Publisher-Vendor-Library Relations Interest Group.
Contacts: Ellen Amatangelo (ellen_amatangelo@byu.edu); Carolyn Morris (carolynm95@yahoo.com)

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Learn more about the Authority Control Interest Group.
Contact: Melanie Polutta (mpol@loc.gov)

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Presented by the Metadata Interest Group.

Faced with campus closures, a University of Houston Libraries team developed plans to engage student employees in creating closed captions for hundreds of archival videos on the Libraries’ Audio/Video Repository. Panelists will describe the project and address unique challenges related to transcribing archival content, including dated and offensive content.

Presenters

• Emily Vinson, Audiovisual Archivist at University of Houston Libraries
• Andrew Weidner, Digitization Operations Coordinator at University of Houston Libraries

Learn more about the Metadata Interest Group.
Contacts: Darnelle Melvin (darnelle.melvin@unlv.edu); Anne Washington (awashin8@central.uh.edu)

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TSWEIG’s charge is to provide a forum to exchange information and discuss techniques in workflows associated with the evaluation, selection, acquisition, and discovery of library resources.

As we explore these topics during 2021 Core Interest Group Week, TSWEIG is excited to feature two presentations:

Michael P. Williams, Head of Global Studies Technical Services, University of Pennsylvania Libraries & Beth Picknally Camden, Patricia and Bernard Goldstein Director of Information Processing, University of Pennsylvania Libraries present Batch is the New Bespoke: Integrating Web Scraping, Batch Metadata Tools, and Streamlined Cataloging Workflows into Technical Services. The Global Studies Technical Services unit has adopted tools and processes that get metadata into records in batch and put resources in the hands of users as quickly as possible. Internally, this involves adopting web-scraping tools using Google Sheets’ various capabilities; and, externally, we have worked with technology experts at other libraries to test, improve, and integrate their tools into our workflows. These batch tools, plus others, have transformed cumbersome copy-and-paste transactions into holistic activities that support library catalog metadata through its lifecycle and provide diverse and inclusive language data. By embracing efficient tools and emphasizing product over process, we have begun to create sustainable procedures that will clear backlogs and ensure our diverse users find what they are looking for.

Jennifer M. Eustis, Metadata Librarian, University of Massachusetts Amherst will present Collaborations, Consortia, Conundrums, where she will talk about the different types of collaborations necessary to ensure that the migration to FOLIO, their consortium’s new library service platform, is as successful as possible. The University of Massachusetts Amherst is part of the Five College Consortium, where as a consortium they will migrate to the open source library service platform FOLIO.

Learn more about the Technical Services Workflow Efficiency Interest Group.
Contacts: Jesse Lambertson (lambertson@uchicago.edu); Sarah Cruz (sarah.cruz@library.gatech.edu)

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The New Core Preservation Administration Interest Group will discuss where we go from here now that ALCTS is part of Core. Bring your ideas on how we fit into Core, how we distinguish our group within this new division, and who we might collaborate with for Annual/Midwinter meetings. We are open to anyone in ALA who is interested in preservation issues in libraries. You do not need to be a member of Core to join us.

Learn more about the Preservation Administration Interest Group.
Contacts: Beth Doyle (b.doyle@duke.edu); Sabrena Johnson (sjohnso6@tulane.edu)

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Deep Learning for Librarians presented by John Hessler

This short talk hosted by the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Libraries Interest Group will provide an introduction to deep and machine learning for librarians and offer information on the upcoming plans as this new interest group starts its first year of work and programming.

Learn more about the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Libraries Interest Group.
Contacts: Jay Forrest (jay.forrest@library.gatech.edu); John Hessler (jhes@loc.gov)