Author: Lisa Rowlison
Introducing BadCat, the Catalog Record Help Desk
On Monday, August 23, 2010, the Catalog Department will implement the new process (see the July 21st blog entry: Catalog Record Help Desk – Internal Pilot) that will allow Library staff to submit catalog record problems via a web form that will feed into the FootPrints ticket system. Each FootPrints ticket will be distributed to an appropriate cataloger for resolution.
The name ?BadCat? was chosen through a Catalog Department vote, and may be defined as follows:
BadCat 1. Errors in the Library?s catalog; 2. Slang: an acknowledgment of such errors, as in ?Yeah, that’s my bad.? 3. Slang: ?cool, excellent person?; 4. Homage to Michael Jackson song about proving one’s toughness: ?Who’s bad?? 5. An epithet directed at a misbehaving cat or catalog.
The BadCat form will be accessible via the OskiCat Help Portal link on the Library Web Staff page.
Clicking on the OskiCat Help Portal link will take you to a page that contains links to forms used to report problems with electronic resources, Millennium problems and OskiCat issues, and beginning Monday, a link to BadCat: Catalog Record Help Desk.
Another option for accessing BadCat to report catalog record problems will be through the Staff View of OskiCat. Once BadCat has gone live, log in to MyOskiCat, search for a record, and then use the “Report a Problem” link at the top of the page.
The “Report a Problem” link takes you to the Help Portal, and from there you will be able to select the BadCat web form. The form will be partially populated with your contact information and the record number and/or title of the item.
Note: Unfortunately, there is no mechanism, at this time, for feeding information from the Millennium client directly into the BadCat catalog record help desk form.
The Systems Office will put BadCat into service this coming Monday, August 23rd. On Monday please wait to report any catalog record problems until you receive an email notifying Allusers that the system is ready.
Bernie 8/20/10
Catalog Record Help Desk: BadCat Coming Along Swell
After two months of BadCat going into production, we?re happy to say the project is experiencing success.
If you recall, during the pilot phase (July 21-August 20), Cataloging staff worked on old ?DCU? maintenance requests. During this phase, more than half of these back-logged requests were resolved. The remaining ?DCU? requests are being slowly incorporated into the ongoing current BadCat workflow.
Of the current BadCat workflow, more than 85% of new tickets are resolved within 2-5 days. Waiting for additional information from the ticket submitter is the primary reason other tickets take longer to resolve.
Tips for efficient maintenance requests:
· Use the BadCat form that’s linked from the OskiCat Help Portal on the Staff Web homepage.
? do not send maintenance requests to individual catalogers as this will only delay your request.
? Take advantage of using the auto-fill feature via MyOskiCat. See the BadCat FAQ for more details. http://sunsite3.berkeley.edu/wikis/TechServices/index.php?n=Main.EverythingAZ?action=download&upname=BadCatFAQ.pdf
· Respond in a timely fashion when asked for additional information or for material relating to your BadCat request.
· Do not use the BadCat form to request purchase, cataloging, access assistance, or URL correction for electronic resources. These should be submitted to the Eproblem Report Form that’s linked from the Staff Web homepage.
BadCat Stats:
Average number of tickets received per week: 27
Number of tickets closed in past 12 weeks: 372
Number of active tickets: 72
How are we doing?
The Catalog Department encourages you to tell us about your experience using BadCat. Please add a comment (or a question) to this posting, or send an email to Lisa Rowlison de Ortiz, lrowliso@library.berkeley.edu
Update to Tracing Material Within the Catalog Department’s Workflow
I’m pleased to say that since the service went live in August 2011, the Catalog Department has been able to keep up with the many tracing requests that come in each week. As a result, we have enhanced both the BadCat tracing form and the Tracing Policy.
The form has been updated to include a 7th scenario for tracing urgently needed items, namely those not yet cataloged which have a Millennium order record received date 6 months prior to the current date. The form also now includes a field to include the Millennium order record received date. Both changes are reflected in the revised policy document which can be found either from the BadCat tracing form, or via the Catalog Department’s website.
Note: if you have recently viewed this document, you may need to hit the “reload” button on your browser to load the newest version, which is dated 2013/04/10 at the bottom of the document.
Thanks very much to Robert Smith, Michael Meacham, and Lisa Weber for working to get the web and procedural changes into place.
Regards,
Lisa
BadCat: What to Expect During the Authority Load Bibliographic Editing Freeze
Beginning today, Monday, July 9th and continuing for approximately 8-12 weeks, editing (including overlaying) of cataloged bibliographic records in Millennium will halt until the Marcive authority sending/processing/re-loading project is completed (for details on this project, please see Lynne Grigsby’s Allusers email with subject “Authority Control for Millennium records” sent on Monday, 11 June 2012 at 10:48 am). Within the Catalog Department, the primary effect of the bibliographic editing freeze will be a limitation on fulfilling bibliographic maintenance requests.
All is not lost. Other types of maintenance (e.g. holdings, item, URL) can be done during this period. The Catalog Department would like you to continue to send in your BadCat requests as usual during the freeze. The tickets will be triaged into those that can be resolved during the authority load project, and those that must wait until after the project is completed. Tickets in the latter category will have the status: Project Hold. This status means the requested maintenance cannot be performed until after the authority project is completed. These tickets will be put into the BadCat workflow once the freeze is lifted.
Shelving locations will continue to receive new materials. New catalog records (locally created, as well as records loaded from PromptCat and vendors other than SCP) can be added to the database during this period. SCP record loads will not occur due to the mixture of new, updated, and deleted records in their files. SCP loads will resume after the freeze is over.
As always, please write to the BadCat manager (Michael Meacham, mmeacham@library.berkeley.edu) before starting a project that is likely to result in more than a few maintenance requests. By letting us know about your project before filling in a multitude of BadCat forms, we will be better able to work your project into the maintenance workflow, resulting in better service to you.
Questions about Catalog Department services during the authority load project, should be sent to me at: lrowliso@library.berkeley.edu
Regards,
Lisa Rowlison de Ortiz
March 2012 Update: Next Generation Technical Services
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NGTS updates may be found at the NGTS blog
Power of Three (POT) Groups UpdatePOT 1: Build the UC Digital Collection infrastructure POT 1 has adjusted its task list and timeline to reflect feedback from the NGTS Management Team, and is preparing to charge lightning teams. The lightning teams to be created in the near term will focus on gathering requirements for a system-wide Digital Assets Management System (DAMS) with discovery and display options and developing an aggregation strategy that ensures existing UC digital assets will be available for discovery and display as part of the UC Library Digital Collection.
POT 2.1 Lightning Team 1 has completed and submitted its report on the current shelfready environment to the POT. POT 2.2 is evaluating responses from the Heads of Technical Services (HOTS) and Cataloging and Metadata Common Interest Group (CAMCIG) regarding the acceptability of the BIBCO Standard Record (BSR) and has begun drafting the framework and guidelines for applying the BSR.
POT 3 has completed several steps in drafting a UC-wide implementation plan for Archivists’ Toolkit, including identifying a proposed infrastructure, identifying support needed to facilitate migration to AT, and defining services available to users of the CDL-hosted service. POT 3 has also completed drafting a minimal record specification for collections and will be working with POT 2.2 to solicit feedback. POT 4: Simplify the recharge process A key milestone was achieved in this fiscal quarter as remaining campuses (UCD, UCSB) implemented the deposit system for CDL co-investments. POT 4’s Lightning Team 1 has completed its analysis of the survey results on implementation of the deposit system thus far. A key assumption to be tested by the POT was that using deposit accounts for CDL co-investments would minimize the number of transactions and result in overall efficiencies and cost savings. The assessment finds that while implementation of a deposit account system has reduced the number of recharges between CDL and each campus from numerous times per year to about four or five times per year, those savings have been offset by the work campus accounting units perform to track expenditures against deposit accounts. So while there have been efficiencies gained for the CDL acquisitions unit, the overall library workload has not been reduced, but changed. The POT will be digesting and communicating the findings in further detail. Lightning Team 4.1 further recommends gathering input from campuses on the process after the end of the fiscal year.
POT 5: Maximize the effectiveness of Shared Cataloging POT 5 Lightning Team 1 has begun drafting a report on Shared Cataloging Program (SCP) record distribution based on analysis of survey results. A second lightning team has compiled data that would ascertain the monetary and staffing costs of SCP record distribution and identified three use-case scenarios to guide their analysis of the costs of campuses obtaining records on their own. POT 6: Develop system-wide Collections Services Operations POT 6 Lightning Team 1A has completed its report of existing shared staffing agreements and projects. The POT is completing the compilation and analysis of survey results on campus staffing needs; needed tools; and existing backlogs. POT 7: Transform collection development practices POT 7 has completed and posted its “Current Inventory of UC Cooperative Collection Development Activities” on the Collection Development Committee (CDC) website to collect and provide as much information as possible on these activities for collection officers, bibliographers, and other library staff. (Note: the document is intended for internal staff information and may be viewed with the CDL password.) NGTS Communications
You can also subscribe to the RSS feed or track #ucngts on Twitter. Do you have questions or feedback about NGTS? Feel free to e-mail Emily Lin, NGTS Communications Manager, at elin@ucmerced.edu. You can also post your feedback on Twitter with #ucngts or submit a question on the blog anonymously. All feedback will be reviewed and responded to by the NGTS Management Team. |
New Catalog Department Website
On behalf of the Catalog Department Managers’ Group I would like to introduce the new Catalog Department Website. The website has a clean look and is easy to navigate. Former TS wiki content has been updated and in some cases relocated (e.g. to Asktico). There is also new content which includes a well-developed training section, and a neat “Cataloging News” newsfeed.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/catalog_dept
Lead by Armanda Barone, the site was developed with help from Lisa Weber and Robert Smith. Please take a look through the website and let us know what you think! If you have suggestions for additional content, links you would like added, or information you can no longer find, let us know these things too.
Out with the old, and in with the new … In addition to sharing the new website, we also need to say good-by to the TechServices Wiki. As of 30 November 2011 it has been removed from service.
Many thanks go to Armanda, Lisa, and Robert for their good work.
Regards,
Lisa Rowlison de Ortiz
Catalog Department
Tracing Material Within the Catalog Department’s Workflow
The Catalog Department is pleased to resume tracing for urgently needed material that is within the Department’s usual 14-week workflow.
The service will be a part of BadCat, and tracers will be initiated through the BadCat webform. Under “Request Type”, select the “Trace Material” radio button. This will alter the form slightly so you may supply the information necessary to trace a particular title.
The tracing guidelines have been revised and updated. Please see the document “Tracing Material Within the Catalog Department’s Workflow.” The revised guidelines require that the material has been received (not merely on order), that a hold has been placed by the user, and that the BadCat form be filled out.
The BadCat FAQ has been updated to include information on placing a tracer. See especially page 4.
Finally, a very sincere thank you to Linda Kwong, Lorelie Crabtree-Mansur, and Michael Meacham for their stellar work. Updating workflows, policies, the BadCat web form, and the BadCat Footprints system are just a few of the many, many tasks that needed to be completed and integrated in order to get this project off the ground.
Thanks very much!
Lisa
Authority Control Coming to OskiCat
Bernie Hurley, Director of Cataloging, has recently charged a committee to perform the groundwork needed to have authority control in OskiCat.
The Authority Control Task Group (ACTG), chaired by Randy Brandt of the Bancroft Library is charged to:
- Investigate Millennium Authority Record maintenance and processing and the authority control needs of Technical Services and the self-cataloging units, including the Affiliated Libraries
- In consultation with Library Purchasing, write and execute a Request for Proposal (RFP) to outsource authority control functions to a qualified vendor
- Submit draft RFP to the Cataloging Management Group (CMG) and Technical Services Council (TSC) for review
- Develop scoring criteria for evaluating qualified RFP’s
- Evaluate qualified RFP’s based on cost per quality point
- Make recommendations to CMG and TSC
ACTG’s complete roster is:
- Randal Brandt, The Bancroft Library (chair)
- Kai Stoeckenius, The Catalog Department
- Karen Yu, East Asian Library
- Dana Jemison, Library Systems Office
Although their work has just begun, our hope is OskiCat will have authority control up and running within the coming year. Thank you and good luck ACTG!
11/8/10 Lisa Rowlison de Ortiz
Analytic Cataloging Procedures for Monographic Series
Revised procedures for cataloging analytics for monographic series are now available on AskTico under the “Cataloging” rubric. An earlier version of these procedures were reviewed and approved by the Technical Services Council in October/November 2009. The current document has been reformatted and now stands alone as a single procedure (it has been separated from the procedures for analytics of multi-volume monographs).
Procedures for analytics of multi-volume monographs (MVMs) will be available within the next several weeks. Procedures for sets within sets and in-analytics are forthcoming, pending the work of an as yet un-convened Technical Services Council sub-committee.
Questions about using the monographic series analytics procedures may be directed to Kai Stoeckenius (kstoecke@library.berkeley.edu) or Bob Talbott (rtalbott@library.berkeley.edu) of the Catalog Department.
Questions about specific problems with an analyzed title may be directed to the Catalog Department’s maintenance staff through the monograph and serial maintenance request form.
Important Update to the Accompanying Materials Procedures
TO:
All staff who create item records for accompanying materials (e.g. CD-ROMs or DVDs that come with books), please note a crucial change to the procedures for processing Accompanying Material.
BACKGROUND:
Because Millennium cannot distinguish between an item record for accompanying material and the item record for the primary material, a distinction must be imposed between the two using the volume field within the item record for the accompanying material. The purpose behind making this distinction is so users may place a hold specifically on either the primary or accompanying material. Without the imposed distinction in the volume field, the system may not even allow the hold, or it may fulfill the hold with whichever piece is available first (e.g. the book or the CD) – which may or may not be the piece the user wants.
IMPORTANT:
The change takes place in section 5. Processing Procedures for Subject Specialty Libraries (SSL). Specifically, please read section 5.2.1.3 Volume Field.
The document is available on AskTico: Accompanying Material Cataloging and Processing for Monographic Materials, in the “Cataloging” section.
ACTION ITEM:
Comments regarding this change or suggestions for clarification or identification of potential problems, etc. should be directed to Lisa Rowlison de Ortiz (lrowliso@library.berkeley.edu) and Tom Raftery (traftery@library.berkeley.edu) no later than Friday, April 2nd.