DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGING ADVISORY WORKING GROUP (DCAG) Annual Reports
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2015 - 2016 REPORT FROM DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGING ADVISORY WORKING GROUP (DCAG)
CATALOGING AND CLASSIFICATION STANDING COMMITTEE
ANNUAL REPORT 2015-2016Submitted by George Prager, DCAG Chair.
June 22, 2016
The Descriptive Cataloging Advisory Working Group (DCAG) is a working group under the aegis of the TS-SIS Cataloging and Classification Standing Committee. DCAG works closely with the AALL representative to the ALA Committee on Cataloging: Description & Access (CC:DA), currently Robert Bratton. The working group has nineteen members, and is chaired by George Prager. The group’s web page explains DCAG’s mission, and gives its current roster and charge.
LC-PCC PS REVISION PROPOSAL: DATE OF PROMULGATION OF A LAW
DCAG prepared a revision proposal for LC-PCC PS for 6.29.1.29 on date of promulgation of a law. When establishing a new authorized access point for a law, etc., and there is an existing access point with the same or similar title without a date of promulgation, policy is now to add the dates of promulgation to both the new and existing access points. Formerly, policy was to just add the date to the new access point. The proposal was accepted by the Standing Committee on Standards and appeared in the February 2016 release of the RDA Toolkit.
LC-PCC PS REVISION PROPOSAL: RE-BASING OF INTEGRATING RESOURCES
DCAG proposed a revision to LC-PCC Policy Statement for RDA 1.6.3.3 concerning the re-basing of an integrating resource. The main change proposed was not to create a new bibliographic record, whenever the cataloger was unsure if a new iteration of an integrating resource constituted a new expression. This revision was incorporated into the April 2016 release of the RDA Toolkit.
LC-PCC PS REVISION PROPOSAL: TREATING EU AS A GOVERNMENTAL BODY
In early 2016, DCAG prepared a revision to LC-PCC Policy Statement for RDA 11.2.2.14.6 to treat the European Union as a governmental body for the purposes of establishing subordinate bodies. This is similar to the treatment of the United Nations. The proposal was submitted to the Program for Cooperative Cataloging’s Standing Committee on Standards, and will be discussed by LC’s subject and law colleagues in late June 2016.
APPROVAL OF RDA REVISION PROPOSAL TO DISCONTINUE “LAWS, ETC.”
The JSC approved DCAG’s proposal to discontinue the use of “Laws, etc.” as the basis of the preferred title for all general compilations of laws. (The major parts of RDA affected were 6.19.2.5, 6.19.2.5.1, and 6.29.1.2). The cataloger is now instructed to record in this order of preference:
- the official short title or citation title of the compilation
- the unofficial short title or citation title used in legal literature
- the official title of the compilation
- any other designation by which the compilation is known.
This change was effective with the April 2016 release of the RDA Toolkit.
RDA REVISION PROPOSAL: INDIVIDUAL LAWS THAT GOVERN MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS
The AALL representative to ALA’s Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access (CC:DA), Robert Bratton, supported by DCAG, prepared a revision proposal for RDA concerning individual laws that govern multiple jurisdictions, such as laws that govern multiple colonies of one country. This proposal (RDA 6.29.1.3) will be discussed at the CC:DA meeting in late June 2016. The text of the proposal is available here: http://alcts.ala.org/ccdablog/?p=2783.
RDA REVISION PROPOSAL: INTERNATIONAL COURTS
Bratton also prepared a revision to RDA 11.2.2.21 to add a provision for international courts. The proposal was discussed at CC:DA in January 2016 and submitted to the RDA Steering Committee (RSC). A decision on the proposal is expected in July 2016.
BEST PRACTICE DOCUMENTS
DCAG completed or revised three cataloging best practice documents: Distinguishing authorized access points for law materials, Dealing with existing non-RDA authorized access points for treaties, and Recording extensive statements of responsibility (SORs). These documents are all available on the TS-SIS website under the “Resources” tab.
AALL 2016 ANNUAL MEETING
DCAG will be meeting during the annual conference in Chicago on Sunday, July 17, 2016, from 5:15-6:30, in the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Skyway 260.
ACTIVITIES FOR 2016/2017
DCAG will continue to fulfill its core mission to support the work of our CC:DA liaison Robert Bratton. We will be analyzing whether any additional LC-PCC PSs or best practice guidelines are needed as a result of the discontinuation of “Laws, etc.” as a preferred title. DCAG plans to to form a new task group to revise the problematic RDA instructions for use of the relationship designators for “Enacting jurisdiction” and “Jurisdiction governed.” Last but not least, DCAG will continue to assist to the fullest extent possible Melody Lembke and Melissa Beck, two of its members, in their crucial work on the new edition of Cataloging Legal Literature.
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2014 - 2015 REPORT FROM DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGING ADVISORY WORKING GROUP (DCAG)
CATALOGING AND CLASSIFICATION STANDING COMMITTEE
ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015Submitted by George Prager, DCAG Chair.
July 16, 2015
The Descriptive Cataloging Advisory Working Group (DCAG) is a working group under the aegis of the Cataloging and Classification Standing Committee. DCAG works closely with the AALL representative to the ALA Committee on Cataloging: Description & Access (CC:DA), currently Robert Bratton. The working group has fifteen members. George Prager replaced Melissa Beck as chair of the working group, shortly after the 2014 AALL Conference. The group’s web page explains DCAG’s mission, and gives its current roster and charge.
DCAG ACTIVITIES IN 2014/2015
JSC Instruction Revision Proposal to Discontinue Laws, etc.: In fall 2014, DCAG assisted Robert Bratton with developing an RDA instruction revision proposal for discontinuation of the form heading “Laws, etc.” With the recent development of law genre/form terms, form headings such as “Laws, etc.” are no longer needed. Moreover, most patrons find this uniform title confusing. John Hostage, former liaison to CC:DA, was very helpful in compiling the revision proposal. It was endorsed by CC:DA at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in January 2015, and will be on the agenda of the Joint Steering Committee’s November 2015 meeting. If, as expected, the proposal is approved, it will be added to the April 2016 release of the RDA Toolkit. The complete text of the proposal has been posted to the TS-SIS homepage, and is also available directly at: http://www.aallnet.org/sections/ts/Documents/Resources/Technical-Services-Links/Cataloging/20141216AALL-RDALawsRevisionProposal.pdf.
Melissa and George established 5 teams within DCAG to work on different projects. Highlights of the projects are given below.
Dealing with existing non-RDA authorized access points for treaties: (last revised 12/16/2014).This document offers guidelines for NACO catalogers “that need to use an authorized access point for a treaty that is in the authority file in a pre-RDA form, or that has been coded for RDA but does not follow current standards.”
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PeeJzWabYIPjHDJwGX_p61hB5MxhaqolhVb2Omv4pnk/edit#Language of Treaties in Access Points for Treaties: (last revised 11/21/2014). This document offers guidance on providing access to variant names of treaties in different languages, as well as to different language expressions of treaties.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wcEEO5BkWCnTfDsxTJjbQ-JqUSsFa-l7MyD4gp99hCs/editDiscussion Paper for Law Catalogers: Distinguishing Authorized Access Points: (last revised June 2015). Authors: Jean Pajerek (chair), Melissa Beck, and Ted Pitts. “This document addresses the RDA guidelines for distinguishing authorized access points (AAPs), primarily for monographs, and specifically in cases of interest to law catalogers.” The authors honed their discussion paper over many months and many iterations, and will be discussing their final (or almost final) product at the Cataloging and Classification Standing Committee Meeting and Roundtable on Sunday, June 19, 2015. There may be a follow up discussion at the DCAG meeting, later the same day. This discussion paper should be made available online soon after the 2015 AALL Conference.
Discussion Paper: Best Practices-Recording Extensive Statements of Responsibility (SORs): (last revised July 2015). Authors: Melissa Beck (chair), Suzanne Graham, and Christina Tarr. The authors conducted an in-depth investigation of issues regarding extensive SORs in fall 2014, followed by a report and draft recommendations. “Based on feedback received, the … guidance is a list of recommended best practices for the law cataloging community engaged in original cataloging.” This report will be discussed at the DCAG meeting.
Use of Relationship Designators (especially law-specific ones): Relationship designator issues have been discussed throughout 2014/2015, and it is expected that some discussion paper will be produced in fall 2015 or later. A subgroup in DCAG is deciding on what areas it should focus. There are several areas of interest: Law-related relationship designators used for relationships between Group II (persons, families, and corporate bodies) and Group I FRBR entities (bibliographic resources); relationship designators used in access points for laws and other legal instruments in bibliographic records; relationship designators used on authority records to indicate relationships between laws.
DCAG Meeting: This year’s DCAG Meeting will be held in PCC Room 105A, Sunday, July 19, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
ACTIVITIES FOR 2015/2016
DCAG will continue to fulfil its core mission. At this time, there are no definite plans for any new law-related RDA instruction revision proposals, but if our proposal to discontinue “Laws, etc.” is accepted by JSC, we may need to work with our CC:DA liaison Robert Bratton in developing any LC-PCC PS or best practice guidelines needed as a result of the change in cataloging rules. DCAG members will also be completing the two afore-mentioned discussion papers, as well as continuing to work on relationship designators. Last but not least, DCAG will assist to the fullest extent possible Melody Lembke and Melissa Beck, two of its members, in their work on the new edition of Cataloging Legal Literature.
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2013 - 2014 REPORT FROM DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGING ADVISORY WORKING GROUP (DCAG)
CATALOGING AND CLASSIFICATION STANDING COMMITTEE
ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014Submitted by Melissa Beck
Melissa Beck is current and outgoing Chair of DCAG, and George Prager is the incoming Chair. This group’s primary mission is to advise and make recommendations regarding descriptive cataloging policies and standards. DCAG also works closely with the AALL representative to ALA’s Committee on Cataloging: Description & Access (CC:DA), providing feedback on continuing changes, updates, and new developments in the current cataloging code, Resource Description & Access (RDA).
Our outgoing CC:DA representative, John Hostage, continued to keep us updated on additional minor changes to the already-approved revisions of the RDA instructions for cataloging treaties, which were incorporated into the RDA Toolkit in April 2014. Our incoming CC:DA representative is Robert Bratton.
As part of the reorganization of the three working groups serving under the Cataloging & Classification Committee, the DCAG mission, structure, and membership responsibilities were greatly revised, and the word “Policy” was removed from its name. An invitation for new (and renewing) members to the committee was issued in October 2013, and most of the former members responded along with several new ones. The current roster of members, together with the updated description of the Working Group’s activities.
In response to a request from the Chair of DCAG, several members contributed to a list of descriptive cataloging issues that need addressing, either because of the changes brought about by RDA or because they are long-standing problems in law cataloging.
The primary concern listed by almost all DCAG members is the use of the conventional collective title “Laws, etc.” This issue goes beyond “best practices,” and will need a small number of dedicated catalogers to work with Robert Bratton to submit a revision proposal to the Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA.
Other concerns that were identified by DCAG as requiring documented guidance were:
- Constructing and qualifying preferred titles
- Extensive statements of responsibility (and corresponding access points)
- Use of relationship designators
- Handling revised editions
- Handling commentaries and similar works that may be construed as collaborations
The two goals for the past year were:
- To re-establish and maintain a core group of expert descriptive catalogers who are willing to actively assist in further possible revisions to RDA;
- To develop best practices for the cataloging of legal materials.
While we successfully recruited willing and knowledgeable members to serve on DCAG, and identified key areas of descriptive cataloging that need addressing, there is still much work to be done in the coming year to achieve our second goal.