Subject: [NGC4LIB] Recent Trends in Catalog Architecture, ALCTS Catalog Form and Function Interest Group

From: "Guajardo, Richard R." <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 2010 16:50:24 -0600

Recent Trends in Catalog Architecture

ALCTS Catalog Form and Function Interest Group
Saturday 16 January,  10:30 am-12:00 noon
HYATT, Grand Ballroom A
ALA Midwinter Meeting, Boston, MA

To Fix A Leaky Sink: Envisioning The Potential of Discovery Layers
Joshua P. Barton & Lucas Wing Kau Mak, Michigan State University

Abstract: Michigan State University Libraries was an early development
partner and implementation site of Encore from Innovative Interfaces, Inc.
Our local catalog has been maintained in parallel with Encore. Up to and
since our Encore implementation we have taken the "kitchen sink" approach to
the local catalog: we have included as much of our owned and licensed
content as possible. This presentation will examine how the continuing
development of "discovery layers" like Encore could allow libraries to
reassess the role and scope of the local catalog, contingent on how the
technology is applied. We will compare the potential of using discovery
layers for searching across aggregated metadata to that of using federated
searching. In addition, we will discuss the hopes we have for discovery
layers and the benefits and efficiency that we expect they could yield in
the facilitation of access to owned and licensed library resources.

LENS: Catalog records and Additional Data Sources in the Aquabrowser
Implementation at the University of Chicago
Frances McNamara, University of Chicago

Abstract: The Aquabrowser system has allowed mixing of Catalog 5.7 million
MARC records: Hathi Trust 238K MARC records; e-Resources from SFX and
Metalib 73K records; Archival Photofiles via OAI harvesting from a local
digital library system of 8K records; Library Website via spidering of the
library web site to add 4K records; American Environmental Photofiles via
OAI harvesting from a local digital library system 4K records; Archives and
Manuscript Finding Aids from a local EAD system 1K records plus First
American West 731 records. In addition, LC authority file records and
records from the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography have been added.

Issues in workflow, synchronization and benefits will be discussed.

Automated Metadata Repurposing Using eXtensible Catalog Software
Jennifer Bowen, University of Rochester River Campus

Abstract: Libraries need an easy, automated way to harvest their ILS and
Institutional Repository metadata and prepare it for reuse in a variety of
discovery interfaces and applications.  Using open-source software developed
for the eXtensible Catalog, libraries can automate the harvesting of
metadata from their existing systems, clean it up (normalize it), transform
it from one schema to another, aggregate metadata from multiple
repositories, and make the resulting metadata available for harvesting by
other applications.  Through the use of the OAI-PMH protocol, XC software
allows libraries to keep their various metadata repositories ³in sync² 
automatically  by tracking and managing new, updated, and deleted records
between data stores.  Metadata services already developed for XC enable MARC
data to be cleaned up, converted to MARCXML and other schemas, and reused,
while still maintaining much of its original granularity. This presentation
will include a live demonstration of the XC Metadata Services Toolkit, which
manages the movement of metadata between systems, and describe its potential
uses.

Equality of retrieval: leveling the metadata playing field in big indexes
Aaron Wood, University of Calgary

Abstract: The University of Calgary's Libraries and Cultural Resources
became a beta partner with Serials Solutions¹ unified discovery service,
Summon, in the spring of 2009. Since then it has worked to include metadata
from numerous disparate systems in a single index to drive discovery in a
Google-like environment. The University of Calgary has examined how MARC and
other metadata schemas are mapped into Summon with an eye to ensuring the
maximum possible population of index fields representing facets in addition
to adhering to the established standards for cross mapping metadata schemas
and indexing. The University of Calgary has investigated existing standards
and worked closely with the Summon team to create mappings that reflect how
MARC and other metadata can ultimately be used in big indexes. Combined with
the normalization or collapsing of metadata records representing the same
resource into a single metadata-rich record, fully leveraging MARC and other
metadata in big indexes should not only level the metadata playing field but
make competition between records a non-issue.

NB: This agenda, plus those for previous and subsequent CFFIG sessions, can
be viewed on the Interest Group Wiki at:
http://alcts.ala.org/cffigwiki/index.php?title=Main_Page.

-- Richard Guajardo
Head, Integrated Library System
University of Houston
114 University Libraries
Houston, TX  77204-2000
713-743-9984
[email-masked]