LIS 703 Midterm

Spring 2011

Jodi Wortsman

LIS 703-02
ORGANIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE
MIDTERM EXAM SPRING 2011
Michael Geeraedts, Instructor
(1) Define the following terms and provide a specific example illustrating the term.
(a) Chief source of information
Definition: The chief source of information is the preferred location where
bibliographic data is found. AACR2 describes an order of preferences for finding the
correct data, depending on the type of material (AACR2, Appendix D-2.)
Example: According to AACR2, 2.0B1, The chief source of information for a printed
monograph is the title page. If there is no title page or the title page contains
insufficient data, a substitute page from the book (e.g. cover, spine, caption, verso,
colophon) can be used (AACR2, 2.0B1.)
(b) Variable field
Definition: The variable fields are components of a MARC (MAchine-Readable
Cataloging) record. They contain descriptive cataloging data of variable length.
Variable fields are made up of tags (three-digit numbers from 1XX 8XX that
designate the kind of content entered into that particular field), indicators (two
positions following the tag that contain coded information supplementing the tag),
and subfield codes (a letter or number used to separate specific elements in the field
{Taylor 135-137}.)
Example: An example of a variable field for the monograph, The Book Thief, is:
245 1 4 The book thief / $c by Marcus Zusak
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The variable field 245 represents the Title Statement. This field can vary in length,
depending on the title. The first indicator (1) states that this is an added entry. The
second indicator (4) represents the number of nonfiling characters present (The_).
Subfield $a, which is assumed, if not explicitly noted, is the title, The book thief.
Subfield $c represents the statement of responsibility (author Marcus Zusak.)
(c) Fixed Field
Definition: The fixed field is made up of the Leader and 008 field (OCLC web site). It
contains fixed-length descriptive data, such as OCLC number, the date the record
was entered, language, and biographical level (Taylor, p. 134). This field is displayed
as a box at the top of a MARC record from OCLC.
Example: An example of a fixed field in the monograph, The Book Thief, is
Ills a
Ills is an abbreviation for Illustrations. The code a indicates that there are
illustrations in this book.
(d) Collocate
Definition: To bring together records and/or information resources that are related
in some way (such as the same author, subject, or title [in different editions or
formats], Taylor, p. 449.)
Example: A language arts teacher came to me and told me about an author study she
planned to do with her class. They were going to study Mary Downing Hahn, and the
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teacher was interested to find out which of her books we have in our library and how
many copies of each were available. I looked up the authors name in our library
catalog, and found that we have 13 different titles by that author. The records were
brought together, or collocated, by their personal authors. The catalog also
collocated different formats of the titles, and I was therefore able to tell from this
search that we have one title, Wait Till Helen Comes: a Ghost Story, in both book and
Playaway (MP3) formats.
(e) Register
Definition: A register is a retrieval tool similar to a catalog, but used mainly by
museum employees to record, store and retrieve data about their collections.
Registers include additional access points, such as title, medium, the donor, prior
ownership, or country of origin. Collections can be searched and accessed through
the register by employees and, in some cases, the general public (Taylor, p. 59.)
Example: An example of an on-line register available to the general public is found
on the Field Museum website. Under the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exhibition
heading, I was able to search their collections for objects by region of the world and
then by country. I chose Aruba and found pictures and descriptions of many artifacts,
including ancient knife blades and chisels (Field Museum website). The on-line
search was different from one done on a catalog in that I was guided through the
exhibit to narrow down my search until I was successful. The results were also
different. They were images of artifacts held by the museum.

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(f) Pseudonym
Definition: An alternate name used by an author to hide his/her identity (AACR2, p. D6).
Example: The popular childrens author, Dr. Seuss, is a pseudonym. His given name
was Theodor Seuss Geisel. He wrote under the names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and
Rosetta Stone (a joint pseudonym he used when writing with Michael K. Frith {Library
of Congress Authorities web site}.)
(g) ISBD
Definition: The International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD) is a standard
format for recording and cataloging bibliographic information. This internationallyrecognized standard determines which elements should be included in a
bibliographic record, the order of those elements, and punctuation specifications
(Taylor p. 205; Chan, p. 546.) ISBD is the basis for descriptive part of AACR2. ISBD
requires that the information about a resource be described using the following eight
areas: Title and Statement of Responsibility Area; Edition Area; Material Specific
Details Area; Publication, Distribution Area; Physical Description Area; Series Area;
Note Area; and Standard Number and Terms of Availability Area (Taylor, p. 206;
AACR2 pp. 1-1, 1-2.)
Example: In the book, Our Eleanor: a Scrapbook Look at Eleanor Roosevelts
Remarkable Life, ISBD requires the description to include the title and statement of
responsibility in Area 1. The punctuation prescribed includes a space-slash-space
following the title and preceding the statement of responsibility. ISBD also describes
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the capitalization rules, such as only capitalizing the first word in the title and proper
nouns (Taylor, p. 206) as follows:
Our Eleanor: a scrapbook look at Eleanor Roosevelts remarkable life /
Candace Fleming

(h) Access point (AACR2-based)

Definition: an access point is a name, word, title or code that makes it possible for
someone to find a desired bibliographic record (Taylor, p. 441.) In AACR2, an access
point is entered as either the main entry or an added entry. The main entry is the
primary access point and an added entry is any other access point. AACR2 prescribes
rules for determining the main entry and added entries. In the days of the card
catalog, this distinction was important so that a user could locate the card with the
bulk of the data. Today, it is not as important since a user can search for items on the
computer, or OPAC, using any access point.
Example: In the book, Our Eleanor: A Scrapbook Look at Eleanor Roosevelts
Remarkable Life, the main entry is the personal author, Candace Fleming. The author
is an access point for this book. Additional access points (from added entries) would
be the title of the book and the subject of the book, Eleanor Roosevelt.
(i) Title main entry
Definition: A title main entry indicates that the main entry for a resource is its title.
The title will be the primary access point. A title main entry is used in the following
situations: the personal author is unknown; the resource includes works of more than
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three people and principle responsibility is not indicated; it is produced by a

corporate body, but does not fall into a category noted in 21.1B2 of AACR2; or the
resource is a sacred work of a religious group (AACR2 21.1C1.)
Example: The book, Guys Read: Funny Business, is a compilation of short stories by
various authors. This book contains the works of more than three authors and
principle responsibility is not indicated. It does not, therefore, have an author main
entry (100 field.) It would have a title main entry. The various short story titles and
authors are listed in the notes (505 field) and there are added entries (700 field) for
the editor, Jon Scieszka, and the illustrator, Adam Rex (Library of Congress web site.)
(j) Corporate body
Definition: A group of people or an organization that acts as an entity and is
identified by its group name (AACR2, D-2.) It can refer to a corporation, association,
university, religious group, etc. If the corporate body produced a work that is
cataloged, its name is used as a main entry for that item.
Example: An example of a corporate body is the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
This quasi-governmental agency produces many publically utilized documents,
including economic research papers and white papers.
(2) What is the importance of authority control in a library catalog, be it for personal
names, corporate and government bodies, or subjects?

Authority control is the result of developing a compilation of consistent forms of

a personal name, title, corporate body, or subject. It also contains variant names and
titles, and their relationships to the authority record. An author may have various forms
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of his/her name (e.g. married vs. maiden name, initials, or a pseudonym.) A title may
appear differently in different places (cover, title page) or may be published in different
languages. Variants can also include synonyms, alterative spellings (or misspellings), or
related terms. These variants will lead the user to the chosen access point. Authority
control is important to users because it enables them to find all the works by a
particular author or corporate body, to find all works on a given subject, or to find a
particular title. It also increases the success rate for the search (Basic Creation of Name
and Title Authorities Slide show, Library of Congress web site.)
If there were no authority control, there could be confusion over exactly which
items are being retrieved. For instance, a search for all the works of Dr. Seuss would not
include his work written as Theo LeSieg and Rosetta Stone. Without authority control,
there would be no relationship between Theodor Seuss Geisel and his many pen names.
An incomplete list would likely be generated, possibly denying a user the pleasure of
some of his work.
Another example of the benefits of authority control can be found when looking
up a title. I searched the OPAC for the title Harry Potter. The result was a listing of all
seven books in the Harry Potter series. In addition, I found that we carry an electronic
version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and a Spanish copy of Harry Potter
and the Half Blood Prince. Authority control ensures that all titles in a series and all
versions of the title are connected and retrieved with the search.

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Jodi Wortsman

(3) What are Charles Ammi Cutters three criteria for the purpose of a library catalog? Do
you feel these criteria are still relevant today?
Cutters three criteria for the purposes of a library catalog are:
1. To enable a person to find a book by its author, title or subject.
2. To show what a library has in its collection by a given author, on a given subject or in
a given kind of literature.
3. To assist in the choice of a book as to its edition (bibliographically) or as to its
character (literary or topical) (Taylor, p. 45.)
I believe these criteria are still relevant today, particularly given the overwhelming
amount of data available. It is essential that a catalog allow a patron to sift through the
data in order to find relevant, useful information. While Cutter was referring to books,
his principles apply to all forms of media today. These principles predicate the idea of
access points. At the time, fewer access points were available (author, title and subject),
but the idea of helping patrons find an item based on whatever it is they know about it
is still very useful. Cutters principles also seem to coincide with main entries and added
entries that we use today. Of course, with the use of OPACs it is not really necessary to
distinguish between main and added entries, but during Cutters time, it would be
necessary to go to the main entry in order to find the full record of information sought.
Today we are looking for even more from a catalog. We want to use it like a search
engine so we can enter keywords and compile a long list of offerings. Also, catalogs
today can locate items at other locations, rather than just those housed on-site. Further,

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items can be ordered and shipped from other locations. This significantly expands the
scope of Cutters criteria.
(4) The primary components of a MARC record are fields, indicators, and subfields. Define
these three terms and provide specific examples explaining what they are and how they
are used.
A field can be of fixed or variable length and represents a line of data in a MARC
record. It is denoted by a three-digit number from 0XX 8XX that indicates the kind of
content to be described (Chan, p. 545.) Indicators are found in the two positions
following the field tag and contain coded information about the field. Subfield codes
provide more information within the field and are indicated by a letter or number used
to separate specific elements in the field (Taylor 135-137.)
Following are examples of a field, indicators and subfields found in the MARC
record for the book, Our Eleanor: A Scrapbook Look at Eleanor Roosevelts Remarkable
Life:
245 1 0 Our Eleanor : $b a scrapbook look at Eleanor Roosevelts remarkable life / $c
Candace Fleming.

The field tag, 245, describes the Title Statement. It contains the main title,
other title information, and the statement of responsibility.

The first indicator, 1, tells us that this is an added entry.

The second indicator, 0, tells us that this title has no nonfiling (disregarded)
characters in the beginning of the title. This means that the title does not begin
with an article (e.g. The, A.)

LIS 703 Midterm

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Jodi Wortsman

The first subfield, Our Eleanor (subfield code $a implied), is the Title Proper. It
includes the part of the title preceding the first mark of punctuation.

The second subfield, $b a scrapbook look at Eleanor Roosevelts remarkable life

/, is the remainder of the title information.

The third subfield, $c Candace Fleming., is the statement of responsibility. It

includes all the information following the first slash (/) in the entry.

(5) Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs) are designed for library patrons to search and
access information/items held by libraries or made accessible by libraries. [] Discuss
three ways OPACs are evolving to address *users+ expectations.
Patrons today often use web search engines, such as Google, to search for and
locate information. These search engines are user-friendly. OPACs are not generally as
easy to use. One way the functionality of OPACs has been improved is by the
development of interfaces between the user and the catalog. An example of this is the
Aquabrowser, which allows users to easily search for items using natural language and
also provides a cloud of related terms to help the user explore the catalog. If a search is
unsuccessful, there is an option to refine the search. This makes the catalog easier to
use technically and is a comfortable format for todays web-savvy users.
Another improvement in OPACs is the development of WebPACS, which offer
access the catalog and also connect directly to the web. This provides access to the
internet much like search engines do and greatly expands the information available
from the OPAC. Thirdly, the development of integrated on-line systems has allowed
users to access many functions of a library, such as circulation, collection acquisitions
and cataloging. This allows users to find out more precise information about an item for
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which they are looking, including its availability or planned purchase date (Chan, p. 24.)
There is also a call for more standardization of design of OPACs (Taylor, p. 49.) Currently,
formats of on-line catalogs vary greatly from institution to institution, as we saw in our
class presentations of library visits. If the OPAC design were standardized, it would make
it easier for a patron to search for items from various locations.

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Works Cited
Chan, Lois Mai. Cataloging and Classification: An Introduction. 3rd ed. Lanham, Maryland:
Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2007. Print.
Field Museum. Collection database. N.p., 2007. Web. 6 Mar. 2011.
<http://fm6.fieldmuseum.org:8080/WCE/WorldAreaQuery.do>.
Joint Steering Committee for Revision of AACR, ed. Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules. 2nd
ed. Chicago, IL: American Library Association, Canadian Library Association, and the
Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, 2005. Print.
Library of Congress. Basic Creation of Name and Title Authories. Library of Congress. Web.
17 Mar. 2011. <http://www.loc.gov/fedsearch/metasearch/
?cclquery=authority+control#query=(authority%20control)&filter=pz:id=lcweb|ammem|
catalog|ppoc|thomas>.
- - -. Library of Congress Authorities. Lib. of Congress, n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2011. <http://loc.gov>.
OCLC. Input Standards for Fixed Field Elements. OCLC. OCLC, n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2011.
<http://OCLC.org/bibformats>.
Taylor, Arlene G. The Organization of Information. 3rd ed. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries
Unlimited, 2009. Print.

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