[DCRM-L] Including Cataloging History information in public interface

[Erin Blake]

Many changes to our OPAC records get done incrementally, or through
automation, so the machine-readable history of the record can be misleading
(which is one of the reasons I log out of my "Blake" account and into my
"BlakeGDC" account when making "Global Data Changes" -- If the ILS shows
that "Erin Blake" made an edit, it must have been something I was doing
consciously, record-by-record. If the ILS shows that "Blake Global Data
Change" it was a bulk update of some kind, so if the note says "Provenance:
Manuscript Ellen Smith" you can be pretty sure it used to say "Provenance:
Ms. Ellen Smith", and the change was part of a batch update to expand
abbreviations).

We track cataloger's initials in a non-displaying MARC 583 Action note
<https://folgerpedia.folger.edu/MARC_583_Action_Note>. Usually the
information is only administrative, but if the revision is a change that
would make a researcher returning to the same item wonder if it really was
the same item, we'll give details. Some examples:
583 __* |a *revised* |c *2020-05* |k *EB* |x *Title and description
reverted to Two gentlemen. Had been misidentified as the Tailor scene from
Taming of the Shrew in 2012* |2 *local* |5 *DFo
and
583 0_* |a *revised* |c *2020-07* |k *EB* |x *Former owner heading and note
changed based on info in MEI Owners of Incunabula database. Previously
"Olirocchi, Josephus Carolus Crotta" and "Carolus Crotta Olirocchi [?]"
* |2 *local* |5 *DFo
and
583 0_* |a *revised* |c *2017-02* |k *EB* |x *Other* |x *Updated
description of ART Vol. b72: 5 drawings are by Gravelot; previously all
were said to be by Hayman* |2 *local* |5 *DFo

As for catalogers writing blog posts about what they do.... that's exactly
what I'm supposed to be doing right now, but instead I'm advancing the
mission of the Folger Shakespeare Library by participating in a discussion
about special collections cataloging!

See https://collation.folger.edu/category/cataloging/ for Folger blog posts
with the "Cataloging" tag.

EB.

______________________
Erin Blake, Ph.D.  |  Senior Cataloger  |  Folger Shakespeare Library  |
201 E. Capitol St. SE, Washington, DC, 20003  |  eblake at folger.edu  |
www.folger.edu
<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/-t5RCjRgpBtArRXC7R7_2?domain=urldefense.com>
  |  Pronouns: she/her/hers




On Thu, Mar 18, 2021 at 11:00 AM Christine Megowan <cmegowan at gmail.com>
wrote:

> In most of the institutions where I've worked, if cataloguers' intials
> were recorded at all, they were primarily used to track productivity and
> for quality control, especially during training.
>
> In light of recent conversations on prejudicial language in both resources
> and catalogue records, however, I'm wondering whether a publicly visible
> date of cataloguing might help to contextualize some of the language
> appearing our records. Internally, it could certainly help to identify
> records which are most likely to contain language which has not aged well.
>
> Christine Megowan
> (Cataloguing Librarian: Rare Books, Cardiff University | Llyfrgellyd
> Catalogio: Llyfrau Prin, Pryfisgol Caerdydd)
>
> On Thu, Mar 18, 2021 at 2:48 PM Piscitelli, Felicia A <
> f-piscitelli at library.tamu.edu> wrote:
>
>> Our practice is like LC's, at least since the early 2000's. We use a
>> locally-defined field 948 that includes date, time, abbreviated name of
>> cataloger, and whether the item was original or copy cataloged. It is
>> accessible to patrons if they use the "Technical view" (it does not display
>> in the "Full view") and know what the codes mean, but frankly, this
>> information is more useful for staff than for the public.
>>
>>
>> The idea to showcase the work of catalogers dovetails into another recent
>> thread. Instead of having the public see every record a cataloger works on,
>> one can write a blog post or write-up in a newsletter about particular
>> items of interest, or a problem solved successfully. Most folks interested
>> in rare books would find a Sammelband containing three works by Erasmus
>> printed in the 1520's more fascinating than a technical report on asphalt
>> pavements from the 1980's. :-)
>>
>>
>> The problem is, when do catalogers have time to write about interesting
>> stuff they've cataloged?
>>
>>
>> Felicia Piscitelli, M.M., M.L.S.
>> Associate Professor
>> Rare Book and Special Collections Cataloger and Italian Resources
>> Librarian
>> Cushing Memorial Library & Archives
>> Texas A&M University
>> f-piscitelli at library.tamu.edu
>>
>> 5000 TAMU | College Station, TX  77843
>> Tel. 979-458-7880 or 979-845-1951
>> Fax: 979-845-6238
>> http://library.tamu.edu
>>
>> <snip!>
>>
>>
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