PCC Participants' Meeting summary

ALA Annual Conference June 22, 2003
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Welcome and state of the program address

Bob Wolven opened the PCC Participants' Meeting at the ALA Annual Conference with remarks that focused on the state of the PCC program and provided highlights into the previous six months of PCC activity. He welcomed the opportunity to have the conference held outside the U.S. in conjunction with our professional colleagues in Canada who came to Toronto to also participate in the joint conference of the ALA and CLA. He emphasized that the prime focus of the evening's meeting was to honor the achievements of CONSER's 30 years of existence.

Wolven welcomed the new NACO and new CONSER Enhance libraries and especially noted the addition two new NACO funnels; the 12 member NACO-MEXICO and the 7- member Virginia NACO Project. He announced the new PCC Policy Committee members: Cynthia Shelton ((CONSER) University of California, Los Angeles) and Judith Nadler ((BIBCO) University of Chicago).

Wolven reported on PCC training initiatives and remarked that continual expansion/refresher NACO training, series training, and SACO training have been provided during the past half year. He made a special note in commenting that LC has taken the NACO training materials and adapted them for training of cataloging staff at LC. In another collaborative area, at this ALA conference the joint SAC/SCT Task Group co-sponsored a pre-conference program on basic subject analysis training.

Wolven announced future training to include a Train-the-PCC-Series-Trainer scheduled for October 28th, 2003 at LC, followed by a PCC Series Institute, October 29th - 31st at LC, two train-the-trainer sessions on Basic Serials are scheduled for the Fall 2003 in Atlanta and Denver, and a 1-day Series workshop for BIBCO liaisons scheduled for ALA Midwinter in San Diego, 2004. The SCCTP Integrating Resources workshop materials are now available from the Cataloging Distribution Service and an integrating resources listserv has been established. The results of a recent assessment survey is available on the CONSER Home Page.

The international arena was a platform to announce current outreach efforts. Wolven stated that Hirons had attended the Trans-border Forum (Foro Transfronterizo). Other efforts took place at the Seminar on the Acquisitions of Latin American Library Materials conference held in Cartagena, Colombia in May 2003. Wolven mentioned that the TG on International Participation in the PCC (John Wright, Brigham Young University, chair), will issue its preliminary findings soon [now available on the PCC website].

PCC task groups occupied a portion of the update presentation, both those that had been newly formed as well as those who had submitted final reports. These include: TG PCC Role in Metadata Training (Bill Garrison, Syracuse U., Chair); the Linking Entries Task Group, (Mechael Charbonneau, Indiana U., Chair); the TG on Cataloging of Remote Access Electronic Resources (Jackie Byrd, Indiana U., Chair), and the TG on Assessment (Jim Stickman, U. Washington, Chair). The reports from the Task Group on Conference Publications (David Van Hoy, MIT, Chair) and the Task Group on the Function of the Authority File, (Manon Théroux, Yale, Chair) are now available on the PCC Web site. The PCC Secretariat has been charged with devising a mechanism for follow-up actions to be reported to the PoCo at the November 2003 meeting.

Wolven highlighted the BIBCO/CONSER Operations Committee meetings. An important development at BIBCO OpCo was the reconciliation of LC and PCC practices in the cataloging for integrating resources and the concern about coding records as PCC based on the order of notes, which was resolved and reported on in the BIBCO OpCo minutes. At the CONSER OpCo meeting the aggregator- neutral record was discussed for electronic journals (e-journals). Wolven announced that OCLC, in response to a request from the BIBCO and CONSER coordinators, has agreed in principle to creation of parallel records in different languages as an interim measure and will be announcing the procedures to its members later this year.

Wolven noted that the PCC Strategic Plan for 2002-2006 is now available, this document incorporates the PCC Tactical Plan covering 2002-2004. One plank of the plan addresses membership growth. This will serve as the focus of two additional task groups; the Task Group on SACO Program Development, (Jimmie Lundgren, U. Florida, Chair) and the Task Group on CONSER membership.

Wolven reported that at mid-year FY03, there are about 40 libraries whose contribution levels warrant concern. He noted that NACO institutions may monitor their goals via the monthly statistics available on the PCC Web site. He also presented a summary of the BIBCO cost study undertaken at the behest of the Policy Committee.

In conclusion Wolven stated that while it may appear that the program is headed in many directions and lacks focus, he feels that the contrary is true; his view is that the program is quite self-aware, practical, and is focusing on where to harness its program energies for the future.

CONSER at 30: the Canadian Connection

The PCC Participants' Meeting focused its attention on CONSER on the occasion of its 30th anniversary celebration, the international flavor of the program, and on Jean Hirons, CONSER Coordinator, on the occasion of her retirement. PCC participants were treated to exposés about the CONSER program and its training model (SCCTP) by Canadian colleagues.

National Library of Canada's participation in CONSER

  Liz McKeen, Director of Bibliographic Access, Library and Archives of Canada (LAC), welcomed the PCC participants and expressed pleasure that the Library and Archives of Canada was asked to participate in celebrating CONSER's anniversary. She stated that the National Library of Canada has been involved with the CONSER Program since the program's inception, beginning in 1973 as one of the founding members.

McKeen offered an historical perspective on LAC's involvement with the CONSER program. In the early 1970s, when CONSER began, and appropriately noted in Toronto, it envisioned the ambitious goal converting key files of serial records to machine-readable form, hence the name Conversion of Serials. As it came to be realized, this idea has achieved a giant leap forward in bibliographic control of one of the most challenging of kinds of publications, What began as a two-year project is now still growing 30 years later and has created a database numbering close to one million records.

McKeen stated that from a strictly Canadian perspective, the country has benefitted enormously from the CONSER program. Since 1973, NLC has been contributing records for Canadian serials to the CONSER database in OCLC, so that now there are close to 80,000 Canadian serial records in the file. Canada is in the happy position of being a country whose serial imprints are widely captured in one of the most complete, most high quality, and most accessible databases in the world. On a fundamental level, CONSER has assisted the spread of Canadian thought and ideas throughout North America and the world. In her concluding remarks, McKeen expressed gratitude to the diligent and forward-looking standards work that has formed the foundation of the CONSER program and remarked that the CONSER record has become a symbol of bibliographic quality.

SCCTP in Canada

  Carol Baker, serials cataloger at the University of Calgary, addressed the PCC participants and spoke about the Serials Cataloging Cooperative Training Program (SCCTP) in Canada. She reported that Canadian trainers have been involved in SCCTP since the first train-the-trainer sessions were held in 1999. Providing these sessions in Canada or close by has facilitated the number of catalogers that are Canadian. There are now trainers from coast-to-coast and over a dozen workshops have been held across Canada which has enabled Canadian librarians to participate in and contribute to the CONSER program.

Baker also stated that with the recent addition of new workshops on electronic serials, advanced serials cataloging and integrating resources, the need to hold these SCCTP workshops has grown exponentially. She noted that plans are underway to have an official French translation of the basic serials cataloguing workshop in the near future.

In her concluding remarks, Baker claimed that SCCTP has been well received in Canada. Participants have gained increased confidence in their ability to catalog continuing resources. The SCCTP program has brought effective, affordable and highly desired cataloging training to the Canadian library community. Baker finished by expressing gratitude to Jean Hirons for initiating and implementing this program.

CONSER at 30: Challenges for the future

  Jean Hirons, CONSER Coordinator provided her perspective for future directions for the CONSER program and the challenges to be faced by her successor. She stated that the cataloging environment is constantly undergoing change and the program's vitality depends on its ability to change with the environment and proceeded to outlined five strategies:

1. Find that which is shareable and avoid duplication. Shared records, maintenance, and training programs have been the strength of CONSER and will continue to be in the future.
2. Be creative in solving problems. When a new challenge presents itself, decide first what it is that must be accomplished, and then consider if the rules need to be changed or amended. The materials cataloged, particularly electronic resources, force us to remain flexible and think outside the box. We need to acknowledge when an approach we've taken doesn't work and must be willing to change.
3. Periodically redefine the program. Early on in CONSER's history, a retreat was held to redefine the program's goals, membership, even its name. CONSER, once again, is redefining itself by reviewing membership levels, CONSER's international role, and the role of the bibliographic record in world of serials management systems. The baseline of quality records and documentation that CONSER has established are a good foundation for this.
4. Leadership. CONSER has played a leading role in many areas, the revision of AACR2, development of SCCTP, refining standards for e-serials. We are not just about serial records, but everything that goes along with the business of cataloging and CONSER needs to continue its leadership role in these areas.
5. Retain the personal touch. Collegiality has been a key to CONSER's success, and this cannot be overvalued. The program has drawn on the talents, connections and discussions of its members to solve problems.

Hirons' final remarks included heartfelt thanks to her many PCC and LC colleagues. Her full speech and comments are available at: Hirons' farewell

Concluding the program, Wolven presented a certificate of appreciation to William Garrison, Syracuse University, for his participation in a myriad of training venues including, NACO, BIBCO, and SACO training workshops. Hirons presented certificates of appreciation to CONSER members Steve Shadle, Trina Grover (Ryerson University), and Ann Ercelawn in recognition of their contributions to SCCTP. Chair-elect Carlen Ruschoff (U. Maryland) presented certificates and gifts to Wolven for his efforts in leading the PCC and to Hirons' for professional contributions.

The meeting participants were then invited to enjoy the cake and beverages in celebration of the CONSER Programs 30th anniversary. The cake was contributed by the National Library of Canada and the beverages by TDNet, which is a unique leading electronic journals management system produced by TDNet Ltd, a subsidiary of Teldan Information Systems.