annual0708

Cataloging and Metadata Department

FY08 Annual Report

The Cataloging and Metadata Department takes seriously its role in providing access to scholarly collections in a research university setting and is committed to maintaining and promoting standards with the recognition that standards-based metadata greatly facilitates data processing, harvesting, merging, and navigability. The department's longstanding and extensive involvement in the Program for Cooperative Cataloging demonstrates a strong adherence to bibliographic quality and places the department among a select group of libraries nationally. As such, the department bears a special burden, particularly within the state, to lead and contribute expertise even though this may be labor intensive at times. The department is recognized for workflow innovations and automates processes to the fullest extent possible.

Cataloging activities in FY08, as in recent years, were focused in the areas listed below. The department cataloged newly purchased material as well as resources from a variety of other sources - the Digital Library Center, the Special and Area Studies Collections Department, and the Acquisitions and Licensing Gifts Unit. Shelf-ready material represented 30% of the library's purchased monographic resources and was processed through a unique workflow developed with the Acquisitions and Licensing Department, which involves post-receipt review of file loads by department staff to assure bibliographic quality.

E-resources (including ETDs)
Print-based cataloging to support local digitization efforts
Special collections
Foreign firm orders and approvals
Gifts
Reclassification projects
OPAC data review and correction
Batchloads

For detailed unit and program reports, see the links below:

Copy Cataloging Unit
Science and Social Science Cataloging Unit

Humanities and Special Collections Cataloging Unit

Authorities and Metadata Quality Unit

Principal Serials Cataloger (including CONSER)

NACO
BIBCO

SACO

Baldwin NEH Cataloging: Phase 2 and Phase 3 (department cost share: .40 FTE)

The FY08 statistics for the Copy Cataloging Unit, Humanities and Special Collections Cataloging Unit, and Science and Social Science Cataloging Unit reflected a heavy emphasis on copy cataloging this year coupled with a reduction in original cataloging due to a number of factors:

Participated in the implementation of Aleph 18 and Endeca

Although not as dramatic a change as the migration from NOTIS to Aleph, the Aleph 18 upgrade resulted in significant modifications to the Cataloging Module. This required staff to learn and adapt practices to a new interface. Department staff conducted functionality testing and data review, while the CatMet Training Committee planned and led librarywide training sessions. The introduction of the Endeca interface also required in-depth data review and feedback and brought to light the need for various data clean-up projects. FY08 Goals: Participate in Aleph version 18 upgrade process and Support Endeca implementation, providing technical expertise and doing data clean-up as needed

Cataloged the Ray and Cary Cooper Science Collection
Original catalogers completed a 13 month project in January 2008 to catalog the Cooper Collection, which consisted of over 1,000 monographs, serials, and ephemeral items. The bulk of the collection involved copy cataloging with limited, but complex, original cataloging. Per the curator, "These items were carefully and completely described, creating many access points for patrons seeking information on the history of science. The cataloging was done very quickly, which not only made information accessible to patrons sooner, but also set a positive example of careful, expedient attention paid to large donated collections, a possible selling point for future donors."

Ingested and partially cataloged the Coastal Archives collection
The department ingested 4,500 print publications from the Coastal Archives affiliated library collection and cataloged 55% of the collection with the balance to be completed in FY09. Ordinarily, the Copy Cataloging Unit would have played a major role in distributing and cataloging this material, but other demands made this impossible. As a result, original catalogers assumed primary responsibility for this activity. FY08 Goal: Participate in transfer of Coastal Archives satellite collection to the library

Reclassified material from the Dewey Decimal classification to the Library of Congress classification
The Copy Cataloging Unit collaborated with staff library-wide to reclassify close to 1,200 titles from storage. Additionally, the Authorities and Metadata Quality Unit coordinated the reclassification of 11,000 AFA items utilizing automated methods as much as possible with IT assistance. Original catalogers contributed to the manual review and call number assignments. FY08 Goal: Contribute to ALF and other reclassification projects

Worked closely with the Digital Library Center to provide access to the UF Digital Collections through the catalog
The department considers it a priority for UFDC resources to be represented in the catalog. To that end, the department provided DLC with crosswalks from the UFDC METS Schemes to MARC, built MARC records directly from METS metadata, and attended numerous meetings to brainstorm alternatives. In addition, the department revised dLOC metadata using DLC's homegrown editor (see department procedure) and performed print-based cataloging for items targeted for digitization. FY08 Goal: Improve UFDC/CatMet workflow

Adjusted FTE assignments to compensate for vacancies and evolving needs
- Database Maintenance Librarian: When Lawan Orser retired from the Acquisitions and Licensing Department, the Database Maintenance Unit functions she coordinated were transferred to the department's Authorities and Metadata Quality Unit. The search to fill her position was cancelled for budgetary reasons. Randy Jewett, an original cataloger, was given a .30 FTE assignment in the Authorities and Metadata Quality Unit to assist with catalog maintenance and batchloads. FY08 Goal: Determine organizational needs in light of expected retirements and fill positions accordingly
- Digital Projects Metadata Librarian: Haiyun Cao's resignation in Summer 2007 was a setback re. the department's efforts to forge closer ties to the Digital Library Center and develop workflows for UFDC resources. Jorge Gonzalez, an original cataloger, was assigned .10 FTE as a liaison to the Digital Library Center in order to supplement interactions led by department faculty.
- Humanities and Rare Books Cataloger: Steve Fuquay's retirement in December 2007 was a loss of a longtime department member and naturally affected the department's cataloging output of both Humanities material and rare books. His departure dovetailed with a cessation of rare books cataloging mandated by the Special and Area Studies Collections Department as a result of the resignation of the Interim Rare Books Curator. The ban was partially lifted in May 2008, but there is an expectation that rare books cataloging will be in greater demand in the future. FY08 Goal: Determine organizational needs in light of expected retirements and fill positions accordingly
- Technical Support and Training Librarian: When Nancy Williams' phased retirement in the department ended in January 2007, her position was reconfigured and transferred to the Acquisitions and Licensing Department. Although her leaving impacted authorities maintenance activities, the department looked forward to having a new faculty position to assist with technical support and training needs. Budget constraints this year prevented moving forward with filling this position. The department Training Committee along with the department managers and faculty share responsibility for addressing staff training needs and documenting procedures. FY08 Goal: Review and update training procedures for new employees in consultation with the Technical Support and Training Librarian

Prepared by: Betsy Simpson
September 2008