Serials sisters/brothers in arms...

Last week I took a cataloging sound recordings class. I never knew that there would be another group in the library world like serialists...who are thrown into just as many odd situations and subjected to the quirks of publishers as we are.


Apparently, most of the cataloging for sound recordings is done from the piece in hand and not just copy cataloged. The information that is mandatory for each piece is sometimes not available since the cataloger is supposed to rely on the item itself (i.e. the cassette, CD, etc) and then go to the container and lastly resort to any printed material that accompanies it. We did examples of several different types of sound recordings and you would think that the industry would display the "standard" items like title, series and such on each piece or container. But, like serials, we had a merry chase determing these things on some of the items in question.


As if that was not enough to drive any sane person to distraction, the sound cataloger has to decide if it is a collection of works, if the sound recording is dominated by a principal peformer or the work of one person or a corporate body. There is a decision tree for this, but 2 catalogers looking at the same piece might, justifiably, arrive at different conclusions.


It would seem that the largest print might be the title, right? Wrong. Apparently the largest or most prominent typeface may just be a performer or narrator and not actually the title itself.


Then we come to dates. Now, here is where things parallel serials quite well. In serials there is publication date and cover chronology. Publishers do not feel compelled to make sure these match. In sound recordings they have something similar -- there might be an original recording date and a release date. And to throw one more twist in, if the item is a spoken version of a book or play, there is also the date of the publication for the print item. And it is often left up to the mercy of the cataloger to figure out which is what. Again, there is the emphasis on using the piece in hand as your primary source of information. If there are dates with no notes next to them it can be tricky to figure out which date goes to the recording, the book/play and the release date.


As for mediums, the sound cataloger has more types to be potentially tortured by than serialists do. There is something called a playaway, which is a self-contained sound recording. They also have to deal with items on the internet, as well as 8 tracks, cassettes, something called dual discs, mini cds, dvd audios, cd-roms, midi files, mp3 files and shaped discs. Unlike serials, though, they might have to catalog each piece separately, even if it is in a series. The poor cataloger working with each of these items also has to describe the physical item as well, sometimes in a note when measurements do not make things clearer.


Oh, and did I mention that if it is a musical sound recording there are different rules for if the piece is an artist's interpretation of the work, like popular music, rock and jazz or if the performer is merely executing the work, like classical music? Or that if it is a book with a readalong sound component...it is up to the cataloger which is primary -- the book or the audio....And on it goes...!


I think there should be a retreat for befuddled serialists or sound catalogers. Those who strive valiantly in the cause of making items accessible to patrons, but who are inevitably driven to distraction or even insanity due to the publishers and distributors who endeavor to make themselves and their works as clear as mud as often as possible...!

Newsflash...

If you work in serials, please sit down. You will not believe what I am about to relate!


I have worked in the quirky realm of serials with all of its oddities for just over nine years now. I have never come across a journal that changed its title AND a) warned its subscribers in advance b) warned them again when the first issue of the new title was sent and c) provided the new ISSN as well as d) information about the publication frequency and e) advised the subscribers about the changed appearance (size) too.


Normally, I try not to name journals by title, since I do not want to incur the wrath of the publishers...but since this is a miracle and the publisher shows not only forethought, but consideration of its subscribers...I will name the journal. The old title was Australian Meteorological Magazine and the new title is Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Journal.


There is yet another strange twist to this. Apparently this journal is published by a *gasp* government department! Not only did the journal pre-plan its title change, but it was done in an efficient and timely manner by a government department....!


Sorry, just fell off my chair in disbelief as the realization of that last bit hit me.... The terms "efficient, timely, organized and journal" do not usually fall in the same sentence. Even much less likely is the linking of the phrase "published by a government department" to occur in the same sentence as well.


I do think that if a foreign government department can do this (warn subscribers of a title/size change AND publication frequency) in a mere insert that the other journal publishers should aspire to do so as well...! But alas, we all must have dreams...!

Cover chronology

There are days I think publishers enjoy torturing library staff with some of their odd decisions. I just received a journal that has the cover chronology v. 12 no. 2 Fall 2005. In the inside, of course, it admits to being published in 2009. At what point should publishers give up and send out a note to libraries and subscribers -- "sorry, we didn't publish between 2005 and 2009. We are now going to restart out cover chronology with v. 13 Spring 2009" and let the catalogers put a note in the record....and move forward....


That said, though, I am still waiting on a journal that suspended publishing back in 2003. It resumed publishing recently and changed publishers. It plans to keep its old cover chronology as well. *Sigh*

Most Creative Use of Numeration Award goes to...!

I understand that some journals are not doing well financially and that submissions have not kept up with publication schedules. However, I do not think creating bizarre enumeration is the answer.


I have in hand a math journal that was behind in publishing. Instead of just waiting and publishing one issue and creating the cover chronology of v. 46/47 2008-09, which would have been the most sensible thing to do, they came up with a creative (read nightmarish) solution of their own.


Each new issue now says v. 46/47 Jan/Feb 2009 no. 1, v. 46/47 May/Jun 2009 no. 2 and such. I am grateful that I bind this journal and as soon as number 4 is in my hands, off it will go...and I will also change the MARC record to collapse these two volumes into one. Only math geniuses could be this creative in creating enumeration.

Recycling old journals

Due to space issues, we are recycling old journals that we have available through JSTOR and MUSE. It has been an interesting process. I felt badly, though, about all of those old journals being chopped up...and the beautiful buckram bindings going to waste. In a stroke of great luck, while reading a professional journal, I happened on a story about someone that makes old books into purses. So, as I have been weeding the stacks and recycling the journals, I have been keeping some back to make journal purses for presents. If you would like the instructions, just type "book purse" into a search engine and all sorts of great sites pop up...once I make my own this summer, I will post a photo.