---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 12:04:10 U
From: Eric Morgan <eric_morgan@LIBRARY.LIB.NCSU.EDU>
Subject: Mr. Serials Visits Catalogi

Mr. Serials Visits Cataloging
by Eric Lease Morgan, NCSU Libraries
(http://dewey.lib.ncsu.edu/staff/morgan/mr-serials-and-cataloging.html)

Abstract

This text describes how access and bibliographic control can be applied to
collections of electronic materials through World Wide Web (WWW) servers and
browsers.

Mr. Serials and the 856 Field

At the 1994 Annual Meeting of NASIG, I formally described the Mr. Serials
process for collecting, organizing, indexing, and disseminating electronic
serials. You use the link
http://dewey.lib.ncsu.edu/staff/morgan/mr-serials-at-NASIG.html to read an
outline of the presentation.

During the Meeting I became more aware of the proposed MARC 856 field. This
field is intended to describe the locations and holdings of electronic
documents. It has provisions for things like the name of remote files, the
operating system of the remote computer, the protocol used to communicate with
the remote computer (FTP, telnet, or other), the directory where the remote
file resides, et cetera . I learned about the 856 field by reading "Proposal
No: 93-4", USMARC Format: Proposed Changes 1993, No. 2 . prepared by the
Network Development and MARC Standard Office. ("How do as a person cite such a
thing?")

I thought it would be a good idea to catalog Mr. Serial's collection of
electronic journals and newsletters, as well as include a Universal Resource
Locator (URL) in an 856 field. This way users could search our OPAC, select the
URL from the screen, and paste it into their favorite WWW browser.

Searching OPACs with WWW Browsers

At the same time I had been working with Tim Kambitch of Butler University on
scripts to search our OPACs with WWW browsers. These scripts, both form-based
and non-form-based, allow the user to specify Boolean queries to be applied to
user-selected databases (book and journal catalogs, catalogs of government
documents, and potentially bibliographic indexes like Academic , Business , or
Newspaper Index ). Tim has really done all the work in this area; I only
contributed incessant needling and cosmetic changes. "Thanks Tim!"

Thus you can search our catalogs through your WWW browser by using either one
of the following URLs:

 * Butler University - http://www.butler.edu/drabin/niso.pp
 * North Carolina State University - http://library.ncsu.edu/

Bringing It All Together

Since I could now search my OPAC with a WWW browser, and since I could now list
an access points to electronic items in my catalog, the next logical conclusion
was to provide a hypertext link from my catalog to the electronic item itself.
This is just what I did, as well as the point to this article.

I proceeded to download two MARC records from OCLC (OCLC record numbers
26226155 and 20987125). These records describe ALAWON  and Public Access
Computer Systems Review  (PACSR ), respectively.

I then imported these records into our OPAC's database.

I then edited the records to include 856 fields. (Shown below.)

 * ALAWON - 856; ; a <A
HREF=http://dewey.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/alawon-index.html>http://dewey.lib.ncsu.ed
u/stacks/alawon-index.html</A>
$
 * PACSR - 856; ; a <A
HREF=http://dewey.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/pacsr-index.html>http://dewey.lib.ncsu.edu
/stacks/pacsr-index.html</A>
$

Notice how I not only included the URL's in the 856 field, but I also made
those URL's hypertext links by surround them with HREF's (<A
HREF=http://dewey.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/alawon-index.html></A> and <A
HREF=http://dewey.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/pacsr-index.html></A).

By adding these URL's and HREF's to my MARC records, and by searching my OPAC
for these records, the user then has the opportunity to navigate directly to
the electronic resource after located items of interest.

(Disclaimer: I know I have not edited these 856 field correctly. Nor have I, by
including HREF's conformed to the proposed standard for the 856 field. My
rational is, "This is for demonstration purposes only!")

This worked so well I went on to edit a record describing the North Carolina
State University's recent self-study (North Carolina State University, self
study report ) which exists not only in paper form but electronically as well.

"Show me."

To see the results of these labors in action:

 1. Use your WWW browser to access http://library.ncsu.edu/.
 2. Choose either the forms-based or non-forms-based searching methods.
 3. Search for:
  * "alawon", or
  * "public access computer systems review", or
  * "ncsu self study".
 4. Display the results in "full" or "MARC" format.
 5. Look for the links in the resulting texts and give them a try.
 6. Think (and thinque) of the implications of this process.

Sum Questions

This process demonstrates the possibility of bibliographic control as well
access access methods for Internet-based resources. But when, if ever, should
this process be applied? Under what criteria will Internet/electronic items be
cataloged? Who will maintain these records? What do we do when a new protocol
"rears its head on the Internet horizon?"

I leave the answers to these questions to you.

Eric Lease Morgan, Systems Librarian
NCSU Libraries
Box 7111, Room 2316-b
Raleigh, NC 27695-7111
(919) 515-6182
eric_morgan@ncsu.edu
http://dewey.lib.ncsu.edu/staff/morgan/morgan.html