The following announcement was forwarded to us from AUTOCAT and
contains information that some of SERIALST's subscribers may also
be interested in.   -- Birdie
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:         Fri, 15 Jan 1993 15:27:50 -0500
Sender:       "AUTOCAT: Library cataloging and authorities discussion group"
              <AUTOCAT@UVMVM.BITNET>
From:         David Williamson <dawi@SEQ1.LOC.GOV>
Subject:      New LC Cataloging Newsletter

----------------------------Original message----------------------------

                        LC CATALOGING NEWSLINE
            Online Newsletter of the Cataloging Directorate
                          Library of Congress
Volume 1, no. 1             ISSN 1066-8829                 January 1993
*****************************************************************
                             EDITOR'S NOTE

      Welcome to LC CATALOGING NEWSLINE.  This issue inaugurates the
Cataloging Directorate's electronic newsletter.  It is being issued
to take advantage of the timeliness available through electronic
transmission.  The newsletter will be compiled at least quarterly
(January, April, July, and October).  Additional issues may be
created to transmit information of immediate interest or for which
the directorate is seeking immediate opinions or feedback.  LC
CATALOGING NEWSLINE will contain generally brief statements related
to activities of the Library of Congress in the area of cataloging
that may be of interest or concern to the library community, such
as new or revised policy decisions (actual or developing),
technological developments that may affect the community, new
publications, meetings, reports, and/or exhibits at ALA
conferences, and employment opportunities in cataloging.  Full
statements on such matters as new or revised policy decisions will
continue to be distributed through established publications as
CATALOGING SERVICE BULLETIN, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS RULE
INTERPRETATIONS, and the various parts of the SUBJECT CATALOGING
MANUAL.  Posting this newsletter to Autocat is a temporary measure
until such time as the Library of Congress can bring up its own
Listserv.  When this happens, notices will be posted on appropriate
lists to announce availability.
                                                        Robert M. Hiatt
                                   Cataloging Policy and Support Office
*****************************************************************
        RESULTS OF THE CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION PROGRAM SURVEY
                   TO BE DISCUSSED AT ALA MIDWINTER

      Librarian satisfaction with the Cataloging in Publication
(CIP) program is generally high.  The more titles included in the
program the better.  MARC tape recipients want CIP data in advance
of a book's publication, and the more in advance the better.
Publishers can live with a ten working day turn around time to
obtain the CIP data, but the faster the better.

      These were some of the findings from a survey of uses of CIP
data by publishers, libraries, and MARC tape subscribers done by
the Library of Congress, confirming the CIP program's central role
in the bibliographic control of monographs published in the United
States.  The survey was designed to assess the program after its
first 20 years and to identify possible future directions for CIP.
Separate surveys were sent to MARC tape subscribers, libraries of
all types, and publishers in late 1991.  This major study of the
CIP program was funded by the Council on Library Resources, and the
surveys were designed by SKP Associates of New York and Myers
Consulting Services of Adelphi, Maryland.

      SKP will report on the results of the survey at the American
Library Association Midwinter Conference in Denver at the CIP
Advisory Group Meeting which will be held on Sunday, January 24,
from 4-6 p.m.  The meeting will be held
*****************************************************************
            NATIONAL COORDINATED CATALOGING PROGRAM (NCCP)

      Some seven years since the seminal meetings were convened to
initiate planning and four years since the program was actually
launched, NCCP is at a crossroads that will eventually determine
the program's fate within the larger arena of cooperative
cataloging.  At the end of LC's fiscal year , September 30, 1992,
the Library called a temporary hiatus in NCCP activity.  This
decision was precipitated by several factors, but primarily the
high telecommunications costs.  To discuss the hiatus situation and
options for the future, LC hosted a meeting in November held in
conjunction with the CONSER Policy Committee meeting and attended
by representatives from the NCCP institutions.  The group drafted
a mission statement and goals, and identified a group of volunteers
from among the participants who will meet in Denver immediately
prior to ALA Midwinter to continue planning the future direction of
the project.  An update will be provided at the NACO Participants
Discussion Group meeting, noted above.
*****************************************************************
                              AUTHORITIES

      The LC NACO meeting held at the ALA Annual Conference in San
Francisco featured a discussion of alternative models and policies
related to national cooperative name authority files.  As a follow-
up to that meeting, LC hosted a day-long seminar on July 13
attended by invited guests from the research library community
which focused on 1) procedure and policy changes that will improve
cooperative authority programs; 2) the technical underpinnings of
the programs which would encourage contributions; and 3) governance
issues related to cooperative programs.  The LC Cooperative
Cataloging Discussion Group (formerly the LC NACO Discussion Group)
to be held at Midwinter on Sunday, January 24 at 7:00, will include
announcements regarding the steps the Library has already taken to
effect improvements in the NACO project, and a continued discussion
of the more general topic concerning the future of cooperative
cataloging facilitated by Carol Mandel of Columbia University.
*****************************************************************
                             ISBD CONCISE

      The draft of "Concise Guidelines for Bibliographic Description
of Monographs" is now available for world-wide review.  Prepared by
the IFLA Section on Cataloguing Working Group, the document is
based on the ISBD(M): INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLIOGRAPHIC
DESCRIPTION FOR MONOGRAPHIC PUBLICATIONS and is intended to make
the ISBD(M) stipulations more accessible to smaller libraries by
reducing the number of separate instructions within each area of
bibliographic description, by simplifying the wording of the
instructions, and by relegating to appendices unusual cataloging
situations (e.g., data elements appearing in multiple languages).
Copies of the draft are available from: Marie-France Plassard,
Programme Officer, IFLA UBCIM Programme, c/o Deutsche Bibliothek,
Zeppelinallee 4-8, D-6000 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (fax: 49-69-
7566-476).
*****************************************************************
                     NEW SERIAL TITLES DOWNSIZING

      Because of changing priorities and budget constraints at the
Library of Congress, the editorial staff of NEW SERIAL TITLES will
be reassigned to work on reducing the Library's arrearage.  This
will mean that beginning early in 1993 NUC location symbols of non-
CONSER reporting libraries will no longer be printed in NST.

      The publication will continue to be distributed by the
Cataloging Distribution Service.  It will contain all of the
serials cataloging of the Library of Congress and other CONSER
Program participants.  It will also continue to include pre-
publication records created by the National Serials Data Program
staff and reports of new microform masters or serials reported to
the Library of Congress.
*****************************************************************
                           ELECTRONIC DEWEY

      OCLC Forest Press, publisher of the DEWEY DECIMAL
CLASSIFICATION, will unveil its newest product, ELECTRONIC DEWEY,
at the ALA Midwinter Conference in Denver.  This CD-ROM version of
DDC 20, with its interactive electronic format, affords users quick
and efficient searches of the DDC and provides classifiers new ways
to access DDC numbers.  ELECTRONIC DEWEY includes one compact disc,
software, and documentation (user guide, setup guide, quick
reference guide, set of exercises).  Equipment requirements:  IBM
PC 386sx computer or compatible (with 640K RAM and a hard disk) and
a CD-ROM drive.  It is priced at $400, including postage and
handling, and is available from OCLC Forest Press, 6565 Frantz
Road, Dublin, Ohio 43017-3395.  Updated replacement discs will be
issued (price to be determined later).
*****************************************************************
                         NEW PRODUCTS FROM CDS

CATALOGING CONCEPTS: DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGING

      This is a new training tool designed for use in a classroom
setting for in-house training of technical services staff and other
staff members who need familiarity with standard bibliographic
records.  Trainees will learn to interpret and use current (AACR 2)
catalog records, define the purpose and scope of descriptive
cataloging, define the standard terms used in processing
activities, identify tools used for descriptive cataloging of books
and non-book materials, identify MARC tags, etc.  Includes
instructor and trainee manual.  Prices: 1 instructor's manual and
1 trainee's manual: $145 (North America), $155 (outside North
America); trainee manual only: $47 (North America), $51 outside
North America); special discounts: 10-99 copies, 10% off single
order; 100-199 copies: 20% off single order; 200 and more copies:
25% off single order.

CDMARC SERIALS

      CDMARC Serials~the complete CONSER database on CD-ROM~contains
approximately 600,000 serial records, including contributions from
the U.S. Newspaper Program.  It features 16 search and 14 browse
indexes.  Users can view citations in five display formats.
Records can be saved in DOS format for word processing or by
exporting them in full USMARC communications format for use in an
automated database.

      A reference manual, quick reference guide, keyboard template,
binder, and installation and retrieval software are included.  The
1992 subscription is $330 (North America) or $360 (outside North
America).  Subscriptions may be placed with Cataloging Distribution
Service/Dept. AE, Customer Services Section, Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C. 20541-5017; telephone:  1-800-255-3666 (toll-free,
U.S. only) or (202) 707-6100; FAX:  (202) 707-1334.

MARC DIAGNOSTIC SERVICE

      This service is designed to meet the needs of library system
vendors and other users of the MARC format who request LC to
evaluate their adherence to standard USMARC.  The service offers
two evaluation options: 1) the vendor sends LC's Cataloging
Distribution Service (CDS) a representative sample file of its
USMARC records on magnetic tape or floppy diskette for evaluation
or 2) CDS sends the vendor a representative file of LC USMARC
records, which are then processed through a vendors's system and
returned to CDS for evaluation.  For both options, CDS returns a
summary report based on a structural edit report, a diagnostic
print of each record, and a statistical tabulation analyzed by the
Library of Congress's Network Development and MARC Standards
Office.  Please note that LC cannot guarantee that a vendor's
entire database contains 100% full USMARC records nor that a
vendor's software is fully MARC compatible under all conditions.
This service analyzes the representative sample of records a vendor
submits to LC.

      If you won't be at ALA Midwinter and want complete details,
availability, and prices of either of the above products, contact
Library of Congress, Cataloging Distribution Service, Customer
Services Section, Dept. AY, Washington, DC 20541-5017; Telephone:
1-800-255-3666 (toll-free in U.S.) or (202) 707-6100; Fax: (202)
707-1334.