At the meeting where the Steering Committee was dissolved, it was also decided that the functional committee chairs should be elected. Michelle proposed having an election for SCCC chair in the late Spring.
Carol Kellett noted that the kind of reporting that would be taught, (basic reports using Microsoft Access), is not always useful for cataloging reports because the size of the data can exceed the MS Access field length limit. Carol noted it is sometimes better to have a specialist at the Systems Office run a bib blob report on the server, as there are times when the desired data is not indexed except via the bib blob. Carol added that even after access to reports is expanded, sites can still send report requests to the Systems Office. Report requests should be sent to assist@hawaii.edu.
Questions to be answered:
Carol reported that UH Hilo has established a firm order arrangement with Blackwell North America, which will involve bulk import of Bib, MFHD, Item and Purchase Order data. Because of the way in which bulk import works in Voyager 2001.1, Carol noted that the loads may be problematic in the UH Shared database, since Voyager bounces out all data for any record that matches an existing Bib record in the database. An operator then has to manually add the MFHD, Item and Purchase Order data that bounced out with the Bib record. The good news is that Voyager 2001.2 is supposed to have a new bulk import feature that will result in the creation of a MFHD, Item and Purchase Order record linked to an existing Bib in the database. Voyager 2001.2 is supposed to be released in Spring 2003.
Recent serials clean-up work in the UH Shared database brought to light a bug in WebVoyage. If too many MFHDs are linked to the same bib record, WebVoyage will fail to display the holdings records. Endeavor gave the bug incident report number 63889, but did not give a date when the problem might be fixed. Supposedly the problem occurs when 190+ MFHDs are linked to a bib, but in the UH Shared database, the problem occurred in arecord with 130 MFHDs. Carol said the problem mainly affects UH Manoa, UH Hilo and UH Law since they have the most extensive serials holdings.
The particular record that brought to light the bug was vid1942817 (Proceedings / Hawaii Papaya Industry Association Conference) which UHM treats as a subseries of a fully analyzed series, so that each number has its own holdings record. In order to decrease the number of MFHDs, Sharon Ouchi had to do a workaround, merging UHM holdings for locations and copies, that compromised call number searching of the series.
Carol asked the group what strategy should be used until the bug can be fixed. One option would be to tolerate duplicate records for the same title when deduplication would result in too many MFHDs on a single bib. Another option would be to combine holdings by locations and/or copies in the way UHM did to resolve the display problem with vid 1942817.
The proposed change to merge procedures was approved.
Nancy then demonstrated how the batch correction features in Cataloger's Toolkit, (an application created by Gary Strawn from Northwestern University which works with the Voyager cataloging module), can be used to make corrections that can't be made via Global Headings Change. The batch correction feature treats a heading as a set of data divided into subfields rather than a continuous data string. (In the Fire-brick to Firebrick example, all headings in which subfield a matched "Fire-brick" would be corrected, regardless of the presence of subdivisions.)
Additionally, the batch correction feature can be used to do batch authority clean-up work not possible with Global Headings Change. You can change headings that are references to the authorized versions. You can clean-up heading splits (such as when the heading Street music and musicians was split into the two headings Street music and Street musicians). You can make subdivision changes. In the case of subdivisions that have been changed to "may subdivide geographically," the program will move the subfield z so that it follows the subdivision.
The batch correction feature allows the operator to enter a correction by either manually filling out a batch correction window or by selecting a heading and pulling it in to request a batch correction. Clicking a button labeled "Correct" routes the correction request to a request review program. At present, Nancy handles the job of reviewing correction requests and implementing the batch corrections.
The Committee was greatly impressed (and extremely grateful) to learn that Nancy had used the batch correction features to clean up a lot of obsolete and changed headings in the shared database, such as the change of Afro-Americans to African Americans. Nancy asked that if anyone encountered 2 or more headings in need of the same correction, (headings that are references, headings that have been split, headings with consistently repeated typos), they notify her.
Eileen Yara, the SCCC Acquisitions liaison, reported that despite everybody's best efforts, situations have arisen which result in duplicate records with purchase orders that don't come to light until after the point where they can be deleted without disrupting the Acquisitions module's fiscal record-keeping. Eileen said that such records have to remain in the database until fiscal audit rules say it is safe to delete them. She suggested that such records be flagged with a unique 591 term to indicate to other libraries that the record should not be used. Michelle proposed the term "badacq." The Committee approved the idea of adding "badacq" to the list of accepted 591 field terms. Michelle said she would work with Eileen on ironing out the details of when and how the term is to be used. (Note: see badacq.)
Michelle Sturges reported that the Voyager Steering Committee has been dissolved. The four UH Voyager functional committees (Circulation, Cataloging, Acquisitions, WebVoyage) that had reported to the Steering Committee will now report to the UH Library Council via the UH Voyager Coordinating Committee (UHVCC), consisting of the functional committee chairs and a Systems Office representative. James Adamson is interim convener of the UHVCC until a chairperson can be formally elected. The UHVCC will also be a subcommittee of the Hawaii Voyager Users' Group.
The decision by Kamehameha Schools to sign a contract with Endeavor for the Voyager ILS means that there are now two Voyager contracts in Hawaii, (the minimum number required of a regional users group by the Endeavor Users Group bylaws). The Hawaii Voyager Users' Group (HVUG) is now an officially recognized regional users group, which means that Endeavor will provide support for an annual meeting, including product updates and demonstrations. James Adamson volunteered the Systems Office to organize the first meeting of the HVUG.
Michelle reported that Sinclair had asked to make changes to the Circulation minimal bib template, (used to create conversion-on-the-fly and reserve records), so that the template could be used to create records for electronic reserves. The revised template is available at the Systems Office ftp server.
Michelle described the Global login feature that became available with the Voyager 2001.1 upgrade. While Global login makes it easier for an operator to use multiple modules simultaneously, it is also a security concern. Michelle reported that at Kapi`olani, they had decided to set Global login to NO on all staff machines in order to minimize chances of unauthorized users accessing multiple Voyager modules at unattended workstations. Carol Kellett reported that the Systems Office had made the same decision for its staff. She recommended that people with SysAdmin access take particular care in making sure Global login is set to NO on their workstations.
The Systems Office has begun taking steps to open up access to running reports in Voyager. ODBC drivers are being distributed to interested libraries. In anticipation of the expanded access, Hamilton Library decided it would be a good idea to arrange for formal Voyager reports training sessions. Diane Perushek sent a communication to the UH Library Council notifying the other head librarians that they could send staff to the training if they were willing to pay part of the cost of bringing in a trainer from Endeavor. Michelle told committee members that if any of them were interested in getting reports training, they should speak with their library director. Sophia McMillen suggested that the SCCC nominate a member to attend the training. Michelle agreed it would be nice if a cataloger could attend, but noted that any member the group chose could only go if their library could pay the fee. K.T. Yao from Hamilton Cataloging volunteered to attend reports training on behalf of the cataloging group.
Michelle demonstrated GIL Quick Connect, a product created by the University System of Georgia Voyager libraries that is available in the Resource Sharing section of SupportWeb. GIL Quick Connect eliminates the need to modify the voyager.ini file each time you move from the production database to the test database.
Michelle demonstrated the Pick and Scan feature that was introduced in the Voyager 2001.1 Cataloging and Circulation modules. Pick and Scan allows an operator to make batch changes to large numbers of item records and/or holdings records. The desired changes (to location, item type, media type, status and/or statistical category) are specified using pull-down menus in the Pick and Scan Item Options interface. Barcodes of the records to be changed can either be scanned in or a text file listing all barcodes of records to be changed can be used. Pick and Scan can also be used for batch deletion of item records. After a Pick and Scan session is run, a report is generated that lists each record and describes whether the change was successfully made. If a change was unsuccessful, the report lists the reason for the failure. Michelle noted that it is important to save, print out or review the report before running a new set of changes, as the report is overwritten each time Pick and Scan is run. She also pointed out that there is no Reset feature, so you have to be careful to clear out one set of changes before adding in another set of changes. If an operator can't make a change manually, (either due to lack of authorization or due to something preventing the record from being changed), then that same operator will be unable to make the change using Pick and Scan. Pick and Scan can be found in the File pull-down menu in Cataloging and the Functions pull down menu in Circulation.
Carol Kellett reported that the load of LCSH authority records from the year 2000 had been completed in November. The load of LCSH authority records from 2001 was underway with an expected completion date of December 31, 2002.
Carol reported that ODBC drivers had been distributed to selected staff at UH Manoa Hamilton/Sinclair, Kapi`olani, Leeward, Hawaii Medical Library and the Law Library. Distribution of the drivers to remaining sites would probably be completed by January 31, 2003.
Carol asked SCCC members to begin considering the possible distribution of three products developed by Gary Strawn: Catalogers' Toolkit, Correction Review, and Correction Receiver.
Who wants the products? Who needs the products? Who will train operators on the products?
Carol reviewed the current bulk import rules being used to add records to the UH shared database: Bulk import resulting in the creation of a Bib and a MFHD, bulk import resulting in the creation of a Bib, a MFHD and an Item, bulk import resulting in the creation of a Bib, a MFHD and a Purchase Order, bulk import resulting in the creation of a Bib, a MFHD, an Item and a Purchase Order.
[NOTE: Endeavor notified UH Systems that the bug described in the following discussion should be fixed in the Unicode version of Voyager.]
Hamilton Cataloging had proposed a change to the existing merge procedures. The agreed upon procedures relied on the use of a 024 tag to guarantee the intended record is overlaid. (The 024 tag is included in the UH database merge profile as a match point for purposes of exact match merge operations. The agreed upon procedures require that a 024 field with an identical number be entered in both the incoming and existing records to protect against false matches that might result in an incoming record overlaying the wrong record in the shared database.) Hamilton catalogers had observed that they are sometimes prompted that a record is an exact match without the presence of a 024 tag because the merge profile has matched on another number such as the 035 tag. Hamilton Cataloging proposed that use of the 024 tag as a match point be optional when it has been verified that another match point already in the record will result in the intended record being overlaid.
The original guidelines for multiple version records had stated that libraries which choose to include 007 fixed field data must put the data in the holdings record, but have the option of also putting the 007 data in the bibliographic record. Hamilton catalogers had proposed that the 007 guidelines be changed since Voyager supports more than one bib-level 007. (At this time, only the first 007 is used by WebVoyage when a format limit is used in a search.) It was proposed that the guidelines be revised to eliminate the requirement that 007 data be put in the holdings record. The proposed change was approved. The revised guidelines will now be that if a library chooses to include a 007 fixed field, it must be included in the bibliographic record, but including it in the holdings record is optional.
The Committee commended the Systems Office for having loaded 1 and 1/2 years of LCSH tapes in a few months. Carol Kellett stated that Systems hoped to be caught up with the accumulated backlog of files in 2003, at which point LCSH loads should happen about once a week.
Nancy Sack demonstrated how the Global Headings Change feature works in Voyager. Headings to be changed are first entered, then a Preview Queue listing records with headings that will be changed is generated for review. Nancy explained that the usefulness of Global Headings Change is hampered by the fact that Voyager treats combinations of headings and subdivisions as complete strings. For example, if Global Headings Change is used to change the heading Fire-brick to the heading Firebrick, it will miss a combination of Fire-brick plus a subdivision, so that a heading like Fire-brick--Hawaii will not be changed.
Committee members discussed whether existing shared database cataloging rules might need to be revised to better accommodate the inclusion of electronic resources. The group reviewed the proposed changes to NISO's standard Z39.7 for keeping statistics on electronic media. While members were surprised by the level of detail in the proposed standard, the feeling was that existing cataloging rules would not hinder the collection of statistics under the proposed changes. The group also discussed whether the revisions to chapters 9 and 12 in AACR2 might require changes to existing cataloging rules. Mike Chopey expressed the view that there was no conflict between the revised chapters and existing shared database rules. The Committee decided there was no need to revise existing rules to better accommodate electronic resources.
Acquisitions and Cataloging staff at the UH libraries have been doing their best to maintain a deduplicated database without overly inconveniencing each other. To the extent that it is possible, Acquisitions staff at the three libraries using Voyager Acquisitions are doing their best to avoid adding duplicate records with purchase orders to the database. Cataloging staff follow deduplication rules that say any duplicate record with a purchase order automatically becomes the keeper record.