NOTSL Fall Meeting: Coming to Terms with Genre/Form Access

Northern Ohio Technical Services Librarians (NOTSL) is pleased to present a program on Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms. Traditionally, catalogers have assigned controlled vocabulary, such as Library of Congress subject headings to describe the content of works. Over the past few years, the Library of Congress has undertaken several projects to develop genre/form headings for library materials. Genre/form terms describe what an item is, not what it is about. Based on the initial success of its experimental moving image project, which created genre/form headings for films, television programs, and video recordings, the Library of Congress Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access (ABA) management team approved five new genre/form projects in July 2008 that would be undertaken by its Policy and Standards Division. The new areas to be covered were cartography, law, literature, music, and religion. These projects, now underway, include the identification of relevant thesauri, creation of the genre/form terms, changes to MARC coding, and the development of written documentation and training tools.

The implementation of genre/form terms has major implications for library cataloging processes. Library workflows and systems may need to be updated or changed to accommodate the use and control of the new terms. How will authority records for these terms work with local systems? What will happen to legacy data such as the GSAFD headings? Our speakers will address these issues, and more. They will speak from the perspective of the Library of Congress, from an established automated authority control vendor, and from a practicing library involved in the cartographic aspects of this project.

Our Presenters

Janis L. Young, senior cataloging policy specialist and the genre/form coordinator in the Library of Congress’ Policy and Standards Division (PSD), is our featured speaker.

Karen Anderson, Authority Control Librarian at Backstage Library Works in Provo, Utah, will present on the topic, “The LCGFT and Automated Authority Control: A Vendor’s Perspective.”

Paige G. Andrew, Associate Librarian at the Pennsylvania State University Libraries, is the Maps Cataloging Librarian and a member of the Maps Cataloging Team, Cataloging and Metadata Services Department. Mr. Andrew will discuss genre/form terms and their application in cataloging cartographic materials.

PLEASE SEE THE NOTSL WEBSITE FOR COMPLETE DETAILS.