Once I finished assignment two I came down with a flu. As much as I'd rather be laying on the couch sleeping it off, I am trying to use my free time wisely. As a result, I have been able to complete lessons 9 and 10 of the course!
I found lesson nine to be very enjoyable because I was able to see how the CIP information and AMICUS records correlated with regards to books our students would be using at my school. It really shows how many different types of records exist for books/resources. Considering the variety of record types I was very surprised at how accurate they were in relation to one another.
Below is my discussion post for the week...
I greatly enjoyed the activity of selecting three juvenile items from our school’s library for further study. Part of the enjoyment came from the fact that I went through the library selecting history books about evil rulers of the world including Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Napoleon Bonaparte. The look on students’ faces was priceless while I hopped around the library on crutches, selecting books on the evil fascist dictators of our past.
The three books I selected were Napoleon Bonaparte and Imperial France by Miriam Greenblatt, Adlolf Hitler and Nazi Germany by Earle Rice Jr., and Joseph Stalin: Dictator of the Soviet Union by Brenda Haugen. In comparing these items to the CIP information on the inside of the title pages as well as MARC records found on AMICUS I was surprised at their accuracy.
With regards to the Napoleon book, I found that the item in hand appeared to match the information entered into the school library catalogue. Furthermore, when reading through the CIP it was clear that this information was accurately recorded in the school catalogue system. I also compared this book to the MARC records and noticed that all of the information was accurate. Even the DDC number on the MARC records matched the DDC number in the CIP. There were no glaring omissions in the library catalogue or MARC records when examining this book in hand.
Similar to the Napoleon book, both the Hitler and Stalin books had accurate descriptions in the MARC records, CIP and library catalogue.
While there were no mistakes or glaring omissions, there are a few field notes I would add to the MARC records or directly into my school library cataloguing system.
Firstly, I would try to match the DDC number in the MARC records and CIP to that of the school catalogue system. I think if this could be done it would stream line the cataloguing process and would help users find books/items in the same location no matter what library they were in.
Secondly, I would include information about the cover/binding of the book. While there is information on the measurements of books, would it not be helpful to include information about whether the book is hard or soft cover? I think that this information would be much more helpful when a user is scanning the shelves for their book. In my opinion knowing whether you are looking for a book which is hard or soft cover would be much more useful than knowing if it is five centimetres or eight centimetres thick (this would be most helpful with younger students who don’t understand measurement).
Finally, I would include information in the records about the colour of the book. This may be difficult as the publisher may release the book with multiple covers. However, when searching for a book on the shelf it would be helpful to know what colour it was. This would make both the user and librarian’s job more efficient when it comes to selecting or shelving books.
The task of comparing MARC records with library school catalogue records and the CIP information of an item was very enlightening. I was surprised at how accurate and consistent the information was between records. While none of the information was inaccurate or incomplete, some minor notes could be added to assist users and librarians in locating, selecting and shelving items.
In reading my peers discussion posts I am realizing that CIP records are not always present or detailed enough to use for library cataloguing.
ReplyDeleteThis was a bit of a surprise to me as I had selected books which had very detailed CIP records that matched our own library cataloguing system records.
Realizing that not all books have CIP information makes me appreciate the need for finding other sources of information about resources. AMICUS and the Library of Congress are two such ways that would help provide TL's with the necessary information.
In completing assignment two I learned first hand about a book not having a CIP. It made it so much more difficult to "catalogue" as I had to find records online to fill in the blanks that were not provided by the publisher/author within the cover of the book. It should be noted that this book was from the early 1900's. This leads me to a final question which I hope to have answered:
Were CIP records not mandatory or expected "back in the day"? Is there an expectation that books will have more detailed CIP records today?