The case in point

jim Cole, ColumnEditor

T h e Case in Point

THE CASE IN POINT

Jim Cole SR E D I T O R ' S INTRODUCTION

Cole is associate professor and serials cataloger at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. THE CASE IN POINT - -

Every reader of Serials Review knows the old truism that necessity is the mother of invention. Although I have been handling serials acquisitions, collection development, public service, and union listing for about a decade, I have never done serials cataloging. About a year ago, however, I was asked to do the journal cataloging for my library. Since twothirds of my library's budget is spent on journals, this was no small favor to ask. Sure I know a little bit about AACR2 and the MARC Serials Format. I even know how to use OCLC. But creating a serial record from scratch, that is something else entirely. I pulled out my outdated library school books on the subject and ordered several up-to-date ones. I placed orders for The CONSER Editing Guide and The Library of Congress Rule Interpretations. I asked for advice from acquaintances who are serials catalogers, and I bothered friends at NLM and NSDP with my first stab at original cataloging. But I still found that I lacked someone to consult about my "difficult problems." One day it occurred to me that I was not in this boat alone. Surely a great many librarians responsible for serials cataloging learn and apply the rules pretty much on their own. So, I thought, wouldn't it be nice if ALL of us had someone to turn to with our problems. Even catalogers who work in large cataloging departments might enjoy a forum in which to discuss problem titles. Being editor of a professional journal that deals with serials, I decided to do something about SPRING 1991

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this: I decided to create a column where serials librarians could discuss specific cataloging problems and offer working solutions. No sooner did this brainstorm come to me then I also thought of the very person I would like to see handle this column. So, I wrote Jim Cole and offered him the job. Happily, he agreed to undertake this adventure! "The Case in Point" was born, and one of my own journal cataloging problems was his first challenge. For those of you who do not know Jim Cole, he is associate professor and serials cataloger at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Jim has been active in ALA for many years. He is currently secretary of the ALCTS Serials Section, and he has served as the RTSD Serials Section Liaison to CCDA and as a member of the ALCTS Serials Section Committee to Study Serials Cataloging. Jim has written numerous articles on serials cataloging, co-edited Serials Cataloging: The State of the Art (which was also published as v. 12, no. 1/2, 1987, of The Serials Librarian) and co-compiled the book Notes Worth Noting: Notes Used in AACR2 Serials Cataloging, published by Pierian Press in 1984. Jim has a special interest in contemporary German cataloging and the German cataloging code. He is a corresponding member of Verein Deutscher Bibliothekare and German Librarians' Association. Finally, some years ago Jim was a column editor for Serials Review. With volume 17, number 1, I am very pleased to welcome him back! Anyone with a specific serials cataloging problem is invited to submit it to Jim for discussion in the column. We ask that readers forward an explanation of their problems, together with appropriate documentation and any existing cataloging copy. Problem contributors will remain anonymous. However, as Jim points out in his first column, he and I both welcome readers with alternative solutions to share them with Serials Review for the benefit of all of our readers. Cindy Hepfer, Editor Serials Review

Welcome to the premiere column of "The Case in Point." This column was conceived as one that would provide serials librarians practical assistance with cataloging problems. While Cindy Hepfer and I have in hand several of our own cataloging problems that merit discussion, the future.of the column depends on the interest it generates among readers of Serials Review. Cindy and I encourage you to contact me directly at Parks Library, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011 with serials cataloging problems. I will try to respond to each problem individually and then use the problem (anonymously) for discussion in the column. We would like to include three to five problems in each quarterly issue of SR.

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Despite the refinement of the cataloging rules that has occurred over the past several years, cataloging remains more an art than a science. Especially for serials, there often seems to be within the framework of the code and the rule interpretations a multiplicity of possible solutions to any given problem. These may vary from library to library, depending upon such factors as the needs of the patron and the degree of sophistication of the catalog. The answers given in this column are my own. However, I would like to invite and encourage readers with alternative solutions to share them here.

Question: I have a journal run that on the title page shows the title as "Centralblatt fiir die Grenzgebiete der Medizin und Chirurgie." Our History of Medicine librarian, who is Danish, has informed me once again (this having come up before) that linguistically Centralblatt should be Zentralblatt and that therefore I should enter the title under Z and shelve by Z rather than C. She feels sure that eventually cataloging rules will reflect this linguistic fact. Is she right? Should I NOT transcribe the title as it appears on the title page? How do you and your German colleagues cope with this problem? Answer: Orthographic reform has occurred in a number of countries, among which are Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Netherlands. There may be no clearly defined time at which the spelling of a given language changes. For instance, in German-speaking countries, publications employing the old orthography adopted the new spelling at different times, typically near the turn of the present century. Following the Russian Revolution, a decree by the new government brought about orthographic reform in that country, but emigre publications were quite understandably reluctant to adopt the newer, simplified spelling. Patrons looking for a publication in one of these languages may not know the exact spelling found on the item because they don't know the date of its issuance, they aren't aware that an earlier orthography was ever employed, or the citation they have is in the modernized form (for example, a citation from the Bol'shaia sovetskaia entsiklopediia). Publications in the older orthography therefore present special difficulties for the cataloger in providing proper access for the patron. These problems are of two types: 1) those involving name headings, and 2) those involving titles. In establishing the heading for an issuing body, the cataloger is directed in Library of Congress rule interpretation 24.2C (Cataloging Service Bulletin 13 (Summer 1981): 34-35) to use the name in the earlier orthography (for instance, "Societat fiir Wissen (Continued on page 68) -- JIM COLE

and electronic mail systems has rapidly closed the gap between faraway places. Other articles in this first issue suggest that this journal is valuable reading for those interested in ways to cut the cost of scholarly publishing. "'Do-it-Yourself Publishing'--Launching The British Review of New Zealand Studies (BRONZS)," by Guy M. Robinson, and "Monographic Series--Scholarly Record Trying to Become Consumer Product," by Geoff Gregory, both explore methods of disseminating serious scholarship at affordable prices. These authors both seem to have grasped the economic realities of such endeavors and both touch on marketing and production concerns. The other major article in this issue, "New Home for Old Journals: The Role of ACPAD," by Prue Watters, describes a clearinghouse somewhat similar to the Universal Serials and Book Exchange (USBE). The aim of ACPAD, which stands for Australian Centre for Publications Acquired for Development, is to "collect surplus books and journals available in Australia for distribution to tertiary institutions in Southeast Asia and the Pacific." The goal of sharing

materials in order to enhance library collections of Third World countries on the Pacific Rim is challenging and commendable. The overall impression received after reading through the first issue of Australian & New Zealand Journal of Serials Librarianship is that the articles are well-written and the information is timely and pertinent to the intended audience. Future issues will include pieces on exchange rates and cost indexes for the region, data onjournalpublishers, international efforts, serials cataloging, and other topics of relevance. The design of the journal is a familiar format to those who read The Serials Librarian and other Haworth publications. The only weakness in this format is that the reviews section may be redundant for some readers. However, the solid focus on Australian and New Zealand scholarship makes this journal a unique and welcome contribution to the library literature.

(Continued from page 64) schaftliche Kritik zu Berlin") and to make a reference from the name in the reformed orthography ("Sozietat...") until an item is received that gives the name in the new form. At that time the established heading and reference are to be reversed; for example, the heading would then become "Sozietat f/Jr Wissenschaftliche Kritik zu Berlin," with a reference from "Societ~it.... "Suchorthographicdifferences are always to be treated as variant names, never as actual changes in the wime of the body. Title access is governed by two rule interpretations, LCRI 25.3A (Cataloging Service Bulletin 44 (Spring 1989): 65) and, by extension, LCRI 21.30J (Cataloging Service Bulletin 49 (Summer 1990): 21-29). LCRI 25.3A speaks directly to the problem of orthographic reform, instructing the cataloger to "record the data appearing in the area[s] preceding the physical description area and in the series exactly as found in the source of information with regard to orthography." As your History of Medicine librarian is undoubtedly aware, it then directs the cataloger when creating a bibliographic record for any edition of a monograph whose title proper contains a word in the old orthography to "provide a uniform title reflecting the new orthography, although no edition with the reformed orthography has been received." However, for serials, one is told to apply rules 21.2A and 21.2C--here referring to the older, now inoperative, provisions of

AACR2, not those found in the 1988 revision, where changes in spelling are no longer considered title changes. (This is an example of an LCRI not keeping pace with the rules themselves because a serial in an older orthography was not cataloged at the Library of Congress since the revision of the code.) How, then, is one to handle the problem of the title of a serial? According to LCRI 25.3A and rule 12.OBI, the title proper is recorded as found on the first issue of the serial, using the older spelling. If the serial adopts the new orthography, that spelling, in accordance with the current 21.2A1, is treated as a variant title rather than a title change, and a title added entry (MARC field 246) is made for the newer spelling. For those serials that never adopted the new orthography, LCRI 21.30J may be applied. This LCRI does not specifically deal with orthographic reform, but it does cover such matters as abbreviations and numerals in titles proper and in these instances allows for the inclusion of added entries for the spelled-out forms. The Library of Congress states in the LCRI that "situations not addressed here should be left to the cataloger's judgment .... " In cases of orthographic reform, the patron's need for access to the title in the new orthography is as strong as the need for access to titles with spelled-out forms of abbreviations or numerals. Thus, an added entry (MARC field 246, indicators of 1' and 0) is to be included in the record to provide the needed access.

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Cook is serials librarian, Serials Department, Belk Library, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina.

-- MARYCASE--