LCCN, July 23, 2013
ISSN 2324-6464 The Children's and Young Adults' Cataloging Program at the Library of Congress, Part II By Angela Murphy-Walters, Senior Catalog Specialist, Literature Section In the earlier installment of this article, [The Children's and Young Adults' Cataloging Program at the Library of Congress, Part I <http://listserv.loc.gov/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1303&L=lccn&T=0&P=54> ], Linda Geisler gave a general introduction to the Children's and Young Adults' Cataloging Program (CYAC). Today I will be giving you a more detailed look at the daily work of a juvenile literature cataloger in the Literature Section, of which a significant part is CYAC. When Linda wrote her report, there was a separate Children's Literature Section, but a recent reorganization at the Library led to our merger with the Literature Section in the new USPRLL division, which stands for U.S. Programs, Law, and Literature Division. The CYAC Program is still going strong, though, and our fundamental work has not changed. With more than thirteen years experience in the Children's Literature Section, I have seen quite a few changes, including the elimination of annotations and CYAC headings for juvenile non-fiction records. One thing has remained constant, however. Electronic Cataloging in Publication records, or ECIPs, are our highest priority materials, and the section receives one of the highest volumes of ECIPs in the Library. An ECIP is an electronic galley submitted by a publisher for a book before it is published. The librarian creates a bibliographic record from the galley for the Library of Congress database and a copy of the record is sent to the publisher, who prints it on the verso of the title page in the published book. Two full-time catalogers catalog the ECIPs received each week. Our descriptive cataloging is much like that done in other sections, with the following differences noted here. We add the code "lcac" to identify the program in the 042 field, a MARC authentication code that identifies that record as adhering to CYAC cataloging policies. We provide a specific one letter code for the audience level in the fixed field of the record and add a special Audience note (521 field) when possible. For subject cataloging, CYAC catalogers apply current Library of Congress subject cataloging policies and practices, supplemented by CYAC policies. We start subject analysis with the extensive list of authorized Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), supplemented by the list of Children's Subject Headings (CSH). The subject headings on CYAC records represent three categories: Children's Subject Headings, modified LCSH, and standard LCSH. The MARC 21 coding is used to distinguish between the three types of headings. Children's Subject Headings and modified LCSH are coded 650 #1, while standard LCSH is coded 650 #0. An important task in subject cataloging is to provide an annotation, or summary, for most titles. And though it might sound like it, we do not read each book! When we do read or review the text, it is for content. For example, to summarize a picture book, we may read all the pages (which may total 32 words). Many middle-grades novels, though they may have more words, may be parts or series or formulaic, so we only need to know what makes the particular book different. We use publisher-supplied summaries, or summaries found online when possible, but we still need to read enough to know the summary is correct-often what we find is inaccurate or incomplete-and to supply subject headings. For example, the summary may read, "A young girl goes on a road trip to learn the truth about her past." To provide subject access, we have to know something of why she began the trip; if she is crossing the country, her county, or Europe; or whether anything noteworthy happens along the way. We read just enough-usually a little at the beginning and a little at the end-to provide accurate subject analysis. Once the summary is written, the call number and subject headings are usually obvious. Children and young adults often seek fiction about a place (New York City), a topic (horses, dinosaurs, middle school), or characters like themselves (Hispanic Americans, brothers and sisters) so we add subject headings, many of which are simpler than the standard Library of Congress Subject Headings, for many topics. We even have policies on using broader terms to provide better access, such as always including "Dogs" when a specific dog breed is used. When the published book arrives, the section's three technicians provide CIP Verification. The verification process includes checking the printed work against the online catalog record, adding the physical description, and looking for anomalies. It is an opportunity to confirm that the data provided in the original ECIP galley remains accurate. It is not unusual for the publisher of a children's book to use a different title, illustrator, series, or even author than they expected to use when they sent the ECIP data. The characters we thought were human might be worms! This part of our work is critical. The librarians add a note in a local MARC field that they wish to see the published book when it arrives if they feel the galley in the CIP application lacks key information to provide accurate access to the book. We often need to view the illustrations in published picture books since the illustrations are not part of the ECIP galley. Section technicians also work on copy cataloging for those books we receive through the Copyright Office that have catalog records available online created in other libraries. Most of what is in those records is accepted as is, with editing done as needed. We accept the Library of Congress Subject Headings on the records assigned by the other libraries, coded appropriately, and of course confirm the accurate usage of the subject headings. We don't catalog them according to the CYAC Program standards as detailed above, so the records don't necessarily have summaries or Children's Subject Headings on them. Books that don't have copy available are shelved for the section's catalogers to address as time permits, with the exception of those we select for minimal-level cataloging. These are often movie tie-ins for which subject access is less important than the movie's title. When catalogers work on books received from the Copyright Office, we generally don't include an annotation and may add fewer subject headings. The exceptions are books by noteworthy authors or illustrators, award-winning books, and those that stand out in some other way. Having specialized in non-book and curriculum materials before coming to the Library of Congress, I particularly enjoy the toy and movable books. Whether we are cataloging from copy or providing original records, these require some extra effort to describe the unique characteristics. Some have panels that play music or sounds, some open out into dollhouses, and some have puppets attached. Each of these features must be noted in the description and made accessible through subject headings. I hope you've enjoyed this glimpse of some things that make the CYAC program and the work of the Literature Section's juvenile literature catalogers and technicians different. I hope, too, that you see how similar our work is to that of other Library of Congress catalogers! _____ At end of posting: Disclaimer: This message does not represent official Library of Congress communications. Links to external Internet sites on Library of Congress Web pages do not constitute the Library's endorsement of the content of their Web sites or of their policies or products. Please read our Standard Disclaimer. (http://www.loc.gov/global/disclaim.html) LCCN is available in electronic form only and is free of charge. To subscribe, send a mail message to [email protected] with the text: subscribe lccn [firstname lastname]. Please be sure that the text is the body of the message, not the subject line. And if you wish to see previous postings from this listserv, go to http://sun8.loc.gov/listarch/lccn.html Melanie Polutta Library of Congress LCCN Editor
