NLM Request for Comments on proposed cataloguing change Joanne Jahr 09 May 2005 16:52 UTC
Please excuse any duplication **************** NLM is proposing to discontinue distributing its bibliographic records with artificially reconstructed subject strings. Records will continue to have MeSH headings combined with the appropriate topical subheadings, but age group and pregnancy subdivisions, geographic locations, and publication types would be in carried in separate fields in the record, rather than as subfields of the MeSH heading. This would mean that records distributed to bibliographic utilities and other licensees would be identical to the records in LocatorPlus. NLM's understanding is that many medical libraries would prefer to establish their heading in the same manner that NLM does internally. Where libraries are still using the complete subject string, they often are still making local adjustments to the current strings to make them compatible with the older headings in their databases, so they are not using the strings as found in the utilities. By no longer distributing reconstructed subject strings, NLM will be able to streamline its cataloging process by avoiding the complex tagging andcoding needed to properly reconstruct the strings on output. This will avoid the creation of sometimes nonsensical subject strings that occasionally are automatically generated by the reconstruction program. In the online environment, deconstructed subject headings provide more simplicity and semantic interoperability. Example: Current licensee receive records with the following data: 650 _2 $a Main heading $x topical subheading $x age group $z geographic location $v Publication Type/Genre $x language In the future, distributed records would contain the following data: 650 _2 $a Main Heading $x topical subheading 650 2 $a Age group 651 _2 $a Geographic location $x topical subheading 655 _7 $a Publication Type/Genre $2 mesh NLM is interested in hearing if libraries would like to continue to have $x language appended to the subject string on distributed records when one of the following publication types is used: Dictionary, Encyclopedias, Phrases or Terminology. The proposed change would be reflected in NLM bibliographic records distributed to licensees and would begin to appear in bibliographic utilities, e.g., OCLC, RLIN, in December 2005, when NLM resumes MARC record distribution after internal year-end processing to implement MeSH 2006. Please send comments on this proposal by August 15, 2005 to: Diane Boehr Head, Cataloging National Library of Medicine 8600 Rockville Pike, Room 1N11 Bethesda, MD 20894 boehrd@mail.nlm.nih.gov ************************** Joanne Jahr jjahr@nyam.org