MLA is Still Accepting Proposals!

MLA is still accepting proposals for the 2011 conference. Deadline for program proposals is April 29th!!!

Please click here for more information on submitting session proposals.

The 2011 Annual Conference will be held at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center from October 12-14th. We hope to see you there...

Technical Services Section members, I hope you're looking forward to and planning on attending the MLA annual conference. This year's conference title is: SERIOUS PLAY. It begins at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 6th, at the Kahler Grand Hotel in Rochester with registration opening. Then we make our way to a continental breakfast as we prepare for the first pre-conference session. This is followed by keynote speakers, great sessions, exhibits, the silent auction, business meetings and so much more. And, we wrap up at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, October 8th.

TSS is sponsoring the following sessions:

Wednesday, October 6th, 8:30 AM - 11:30 AM
"RDA: an introduction" with Mark Ehlert
Resource Description and Access (RDA) is the new cataloging code designed to succeed AACR2. This pre-conference will use AACR2 as a point of departure to introduce attendees to the structure and content of RDA. Instruction will present an inspection of the new rules, their FRBR-inspired language, and their practical application in MARC-encoded bibliographic and authority records. Opportunities for hands-on cataloging will be offered. The session will end with a period for questions and discussion.

Wednesday, October 6th, 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM
"Web-scale for libraries" with Mike Morey
Join us to learn how OCLC's new web-scale service model-similar to widely used web services like eBay, Orbitz and mint.com-will impact libraries in a positive way by expanding community and sharing at the network level, reducing costs for individual libraries and streamlining operations. Also learn about OCLC's project to move to web-based services for all library management system activities-from selection and acquisition to discovery and delivery.

Wednesday, October 6th, 4:00 PM - 5:15 PM
"Cataloging and OCLC previews and reviews" with Carla Urban
Come learn about important developments in cataloging and OCLC products and services. Minitex staff will whet your appetite for Resource Description and Access (RDA,) the new cataloging code that will replace AACR2, with discussion of the RDA testing process, OCLC's work with RDA (revisions and additions to OCLC-MARC, updates to Worldcat's user interface, etc.), and previews of Minitex training opportunities.
We will also review changes in OCLC's e-content services (NetLibrary and FirstSearch databases), OCLC's Rights and Responsibilities for the OCLC Cooperative, and other hot topics. Everyone's invited! Bring your questions.

Thursday, October 7th, 8:00 AM - 9:15 AM
"Test-driving Resource Description and Access: Minnesota experience"
with Bobby Bothmann, Mark Ehlert, Mary Huismann, Sara Quimby As part of the U.S. National Libraries' test of RDA, catalogers from three Minnesota libraries spent their summer using RDA to catalog items from their normal workflow. Bobby Bothmann (Minnesota State University, Mankato), Mary Huismann (University of Minnesota), and Sarah Quimby (Minnesota Historical Society) will share their experiences with preparing for, learning, and first impressions on using this new library content standard. Mark Ehlert (Minitex, BATS) will discuss training staff to use RDA and highlight upcoming training opportunities from Minitex.

Thursday, October 7th, 3:30 PM - 4:45 PM
"ECRL, PALS, and Evergreen: rules of play for a successful OS ILS migration" with Andrew Nordin and Jennifer Turner
What do play and open-source ILS migrations have in common? Quite a lot, actually! To be successful, both require all participants to have adventurous spirits, enthusiasm for the task, communication skills, and a shared willingness to work as a team. At this session, Jennifer Turner (PALS) and Andy Nordin (ECRL) will describe their experiences in implementing Minnesota's first large-scale open-source ILS system
(Evergreen) for the East Central Regional Library System. Come hear first-hand accounts of how the "rules of play" translate to the ingredients for a successful open-source migration and implementation.

Thursday, October 7th, 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
TSS business meeting
The MLA annual meeting is from 5:00-6:00 PM and the MLA reception is from 5:00-7:30 PM. In the spirit of Serious Play, the reception and cash bar will start simultaneously with the MLA business meeting this year! If you wish, after the MLA business meeting, grab another hors d'oeuvre, refresh your drink, and stroll off to the division, section, round table, or committee meeting of your choice. We'll keep the reception humming until 7:30 PM - just in case the meetings leave you wanting another round. (Our other choice for a business meeting time was 7:00-8:00 AM Friday; I opted for the evening time.)

Friday, October 8th, 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM
"PALS and open source" with Stephen Elfstrand, Mary Ann Greenwald and Linda Richter PALS has been working with open source library technologies, including a discovery tool, an integrated library system (ILS), an openURL link resolver, and an electronic resource management (ERM) system. Learn why PALS decided to move in this direction, what our current focus is, and what our plans are for the future. Get a glimpse of some of the open source products we are currently working with--including VuFind and the reSearcher products from Simon Fraser University-- and hear about how well these products have met our expectations. You might decide that an open source product is in your future, too.

I hope to see you there. Stop by and introduce yourself. It's a wonderful time to network as well as gather some great information at the sessions.

Marcia Semerau
TSS Chair-Elect

Call for MLA 2010 Conference Proposals

This message is being posted on behalf of Marcia Semerau, Chair-Elect of the Technical Services Section and representative to the 2010 MLA Annual Conference Program Committee.

"Serious Play"

From: Minnesota Library Association / Technical Services Section
To:  All members

There's a wonderful opportunity waiting for you.  The officers of the section invite, actually we encourage you to submit a proposal to present a session at the MLA annual conference being held October 6-8 in Rochester.  To help you get the creative juices flowing, here are topics that have been suggested:

1.  Digitization
     A.  How are members involved in digitization projects?
     B.  Project(s) start to finish
     C.  Technical services roles in digitization

2.  Discovery layers - issues and preparedness (legacy data exposed, preparation and cleanup)

3.  MnPALS Plus, AquaBrowser, etc.: using the new interface and how are others using this format

4.  Open source ILS's - Evergreen

5.  FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records)

6.  MarcEdit

7.  RDA (Resource Description and Access) - training on new cataloging rules

8.  Technical Services 2.0 (internal and patrons) - using blogs, wikis, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

9.  Contextual identification

10.  The future of cataloging
       A.  Where are we going?
       B.  Can we abandon cataloging as more resources move to the web?

Please consider doing this as an individual or with a panel.  Pick a topic from this list or come up with your own idea.  Then go online to http://www.mnlibraryassociation.org/mlaconference10/sessionproposals to submit your proposal. 

If you plan to present at the conference, copy me with the session information (msemerau@duluth.lib.mn.us)  Or, maybe you've already sent in your proposal, please share that with me too.  I'd like to keep the Technical Service Section members aware of some of the choices they'll have when they attend the annual conference. 

Session proposal deadline is April 23rd.

Thanks,
Marcia Semerau, TSS Chair-Elect
218-723-4230
msemerau@duluth.lib.mn.us 

2009 TSS Business Meeting Notes

Thanks to our Secretary, Stephanie Quinn, for compiling the minutes from our 2009 TSS Business Meeting!

View the 2009 Minutes

MLA Handouts!

For those of you who just attended the preconference: Cataloging Streaming Media, I've posted the following:

Slides (with images - not included on conference cd)

Handout

And if you're planning to attend the TSS Business Meeting, here are the slides for the RDA update portion of the session:

RDA Update Slides

All of the TSS sponsored session handouts will be posted after the conference here.

Join Us at MLA Annual Conference 2009

This year, we are trying something new. On Thursday, Oct. 15, from 10:00 - 11:15, we'll have a combined program of a cataloging/technical services update on trends and changes in the profession and the last half of the session will be a business meeting of the Technical Services Section.

Click here to access the agenda for our business meeting.

Copies will be provided at the meeting, but note that we would like to vote on a change to the MLA Procedures Manual.

In the manual on page 42, you will find the following information:

5.4 TECHNICAL SERVICES SECTION

Immediate Past Chairperson

Section 13. The immediate past Chairperson shall serve as a member of the Executive Committee.

We would like to define further the role of the past chairperson of the Technical Services Section. The executive committee of the Technical Services Section recommend the following addition to this section:

Section 14 The past Chairperson shall coordinate submission of TSS content on the MLA website and the blog of the Technical Services Section.

We hope to see you at MLA!

Sara Ring
TSS Chair

TSS MLA 2009 Sessions

If you’re attending the MLA Annual Conference on October 14-16 in St. Cloud, MN, be sure to check out the upcoming sessions:

WEDNESDAY

Preconference: Cataloging Streaming Media Wednesday, Oct. 14, 8:00 -11:30 a.m.

Confused about cataloging streaming media? Join us for a workshop that will cover basic descriptive cataloging for streaming audio and visual materials, based on AACR2 and "Best Practices for Cataloging Streaming Media," published by the Online Audiovisual Catalogers. There will be an opportunity for hands-on practice!

Presenter: Mary Huismann, Music/Media Cataloging Coordinator, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

The Effect of Controlled Vocabulary on Keyword Searching Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Tina Gross will present preliminary results from an ongoing study being conducted with Arlene Taylor and Daniel Joudrey. The study is a follow-up to Gross and Taylor’s 2005 study, "What have we got to lose? The effect of controlled vocabulary on keyword searching results," which found that more than a third of records retrieved by keyword searches would be lost if subject headings were not present in the records. The initial study was performed in the online catalog of the University of Pittsburgh library system before that institution began utilizing a vendor service to enhance its bibliographic records with tables of contents and summaries. The new study repeats the search process utilized in the 2005 study in the University of Pittsburgh’s now TOC-enriched online catalog to discover what proportion of results retrieved by keyword searches would continue to be lost if subject headings were not present, even with the addition automated enriched metadata.

Presenter: Tina Gross, Catalog Librarian, St. Cloud State University

Shared Authority Control 101: Hints, Tips, and Tricks Wednesday, Oct. 14, 4:00 - 5:15 p.m.

Even if you’re not part of a consortium, there are ways of sharing authority that work within a library or among like-minded catalogers. A panel of cataloging staff from the CLIC Authority Control group will present what they have learned by working together over the years. They will discuss how they help and mentor each other, how they set priorities, what special projects they have collaborated on, what tools they use for authority maintenance, and what tips they have to offer on saving time and improving efficiency. As time permits, the presentation will include advice on music and other specialized topics of authority work.

Presenters: Barbara Brooks, Cataloger/Metadata Librarian, St. Catherine University; Pam Jervis, Catalog Librarian, Bethel Seminary Library, Bethel University; Betty Joyce, Cataloging Coordinator, Augsburg College; Cathy Lutz, Cataloging Librarian, University of St. Thomas; Amy Reinhold, Technical Services Librarian, Bethel University Library

THURSDAY

PALS Innovations: Budget Friendly Open Source Solutions Thursday, Oct. 15, 8:00 - 9:15 a.m.

Learn about PALS’ open source R&D efforts, product offerings, and future directions. PALS’ goal is to become a full-service, open-source solutions provider. This session will highlight innovative services such as:

• MnPALS Plus–An affordable next-generation discovery experience for patrons
  
• OpenURL Link Resolver–Speeds delivery of full-text resources to your patrons
  Electronic Resource Management (ERM)–Streamlines management of your digital subscriptions
  
• Open Source Integrated Library System–Lower cost and increased flexibility means that an OS/ILS may be in your future
  
• Proxy Services–Provides off-site access to licensed digital resources

Presenters: Mary Ann Greewald, Support & Training, PALS; Stephen F. Elfstrand, PALS Executive Director, PALS; Jennifer Turner, Support & Training Specialist, PALS

Trends in Techinical Services / Technical Services Section (TSS) Business Meeting Thursday, Oct. 15, 10:00 - 11:15 a.m.

This will be a combined program of a cataloging/technical services update on trends and changes in the profession and a business meeting of the Technical Services Section.

Presenters: Emily Asch, Head of Technical Services, St. Catherine Univesrity; Mary Huismann, Music/Media Cataloging Coordinator, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Sara Ring, Coordinator, Bibliographic and Technical Services, MINITEX

Workflows for Outsourced Techincal Services Thursday, Oct. 15, 1:30 - 2:45 p.m.

This panel discussion on workflows for outsourced technical services work will include benefits and problems encountered by libraries, vendor-supplied or purchased MARC records, WorldCat Cataloging Partners, and ILS limitations. The discussion will also include what questions need to be asked when considering vendor records. For example, what does the library need? What can the vendor provide? Is there a workable middle ground?

Presenters: Dianne Narum, Catalog/Electronic Resources Librarian, Bemidji State Univesrity; Robert Bothmann, Electronic Access/Catalog Librarian, Minnesota State University, Mankato; Christopher Getz, Technical Services Specialist, Great River Regional Library; Mic Golden, Collection Development Coordinator, Great River Regional Libraryl Paddy Satzer, Associate Director for Technical Services, University of St. Thomas

FRIDAY

MINITEX/OCLC Update Friday, Oct. 16, 8:00 - 9:15 a.m.

The session will include a short update on Minitex budget, interlibrary loan, delivery, and other services Minitex provides to Minnesota libraries. The remainder of the session will include important developments in OCLC’s products and services and a discussion of changes in OCLC’s relationship with member institutions.

Presenter: Carla Dewey Urban, Bibliographic & Technical Services, MINITEX

Another announcement with details about the TSS Business Meeting will be sent out very soon.
For a list of other TSS sponsored sessions, see the MLA Annual Conference Program online: http://mnlibraryassociation.org/uploads/conf09/MLA_AnnualConf09_Agenda.pdf