Newsletter of the IFLA Section on Serial Publications

No. 37,
June 2000

Editor of this issue: Elizabeth Gazdag, Information Coordinator for IFLA Section on Serial Publications

ISBD(S) WORKING GROUP REPORT

The ISBD(S) Working Group was created in 1998 by the IFLA Section on Cataloguing to revise the existing ISBD(S) standard which dates from 1988. The changing nature of serial publications, especially in the electronic domain, has made it imperative that the standard be revised to incorporate new types of serial publications. But perhaps more importantly, the Working Group was given the mandate to work cooperatively with the other major serials standards, namely ISSN and AACR, which are also undergoing revision work. This is a historic opportunity to harmonize the three major serial standards in use throughout the world, although certainly very complex and challenging.

The most recent meeting of the Working Group took place in San Antonio, Texas in January 2000. Much progress was made in agreeing to some key principles and changes. It is important to note that at all of the working group meetings, representatives of both the ISSN and AACR communities are also present so that the objective of harmonization is always present during the discussions.

Although work is not yet finished, and any recommendations so far developed by the Working Group have not yet been presented to the IFLA Section on Cataloguing for approval, there are some areas of agreement and consensus that have developed. Some of these areas are:

1. Scope of the ISBD(S): the scope will be expanded to include all types of continuing resources. The Working Group will recommend that the title of the standard be changed to ISBD(CR): International Standard Bibliographic Description for Serials and Other Continuing Resources.

2. New definitions for "Serial", "Integrating resource" and "Continuing resource" have been developed.

3. Criteria for Major and Minor title changes have been reviewed and revised. The trend is to reduce the number of title changes that are required. This approach is shared by both the AACR and ISSN communities.

4. The Working Group is developing the concept of the International Standard Title (IST). This proposed title would serve the current functions of the key title and the uniform title. The IST would be the means of reaching international agreement on what constitutes a major title change and when to create a new bibliographic record which, in turn, will facilitate record sharing throughout the world.

Much more work needs to be done on these and other issues that affect not only ISBD(S) but also the other serials standards. A subgroup of the main Working Group met in Ottawa in June 2000 to continue the development of the IST proposal. The next meeting of the entire Working Group will be held in August during the IFLA conference in Jerusalem. Finally, a meeting of serials experts is planned for the fall of 2000 in order to attempt to resolve the remaining differences that exist.

While all participants in the serials standards revision process firmly believe in minimizing differences in serials cataloguing policies, there are many factors that need to be considered in recommending changes to existing policies. Even though the work is complex and a challenge for everyone, the will to improve serials cataloguing standards is evident and ongoing.

The International Standard Title (IST): a new standard for sharing records internationally

Globalization, shrinking cataloging resources, and increased online access to international catalogs are just some of the factors that are driving the need for more standardization to facilitate record sharing. For serials, cooperation is nothing new. Since the advent of computerized cataloging in the 1970's, the Cooperative Online Serials Program (CONSER) and the ISSN Network have developed into successful programs. But when comparing records from the CONSER and ISSN databases, the differences in rules used - CONSER uses AACR2, ISSN follows ISBD(S) and ISSN guidelines - may mean that the same serial is covered by a different complement of records due to differences in rules for title changes. With increasing needs for more international cooperation and record sharing, the time seems right to find a way to standardize the creation of records for serials and other continuing resources. If all catalogers followed the same guidelines for when to make a new record, it wouldn't matter that the description was created according to differing cataloging codes, so long as the span of the serial covered was consistent.

With that in mind, the ISBD(S) Working Group, led by Ingrid Parent, is currently involved in the development of an International Standard Title (IST) that would replace the ISSN key title and, in many cases, the AACR2 uniform title. Reinhard Rinn of the Deutsch Bibliothek, Regina Reynolds of the US ISSN Center at the Library of Congress, Françoise Pellé and Alain Roucolle of the ISSN International Centre, and I have formed a subgroup to work on the various issues involved with the IST. To date, we have developed a draft set of guidelines for its construction and have identified a number of major challenges that will need to be addressed before it can be implemented. A meeting will be held in Ottawa June 14-16 to continue work on the IST and further discussion will take place at the Working Group's meeting at IFLA in Jerusalem.

As currently defined, the IST would serve with the ISSN as the principal identifier for a continuing resource, and, for resources cataloged according to successive entry, the IST would serve as the benchmark for determining major changes requiring new records.

But while the goal is worthy, the challenges to achieving the goal are not insignificant. Some of these challenges involve the use of the IST in place of the key title in the ISSN database and expanding the creation of ISTs to all catalogers. How would these 'provisional' ISTs reach the ISSN database? How would catalogers who do not use the same shared database know whether or not a record has been created and an IST assigned? Will all catalogers have access to the ISSN database? If not, or if not all catalogers can assign an IST, how could it be used as a benchmark for title changes?

Another challenge involves corporate bodies. While we are currently working to standardize title transcription and title change rules, there is no effort to standardize the way in which a corporate body is entered in the catalog in various cataloging codes. With so many serials needing to be qualified by corporate body, this means that the only way the body could be uniformly recorded in the qualifier would be to transcribe it as it appears on the piece. That is not always going to provide a useful form of entry and the AACR community may find that a uniform title will be needed in addition to the IST. How the record will be displayed in the public catalog will be another issue.

Should we expect the IST to be assigned for all continuing resources? With the ISBD(S) Working Group's recommendation to broaden the scope of the standard to include all continuing resources, this would mean that loose-leaf publications, updating databases, and Web sites would be subject to IST assignment. However, these resources will be cataloged according to latest (or "integrating") entry conventions which call for the use of a single record, so the benchmark function is not needed.

These are just some of the major challenges; there are many other questions that can be raised. But the goal of increasing our ability to use records from various sources is vital in today's economy and must not be forgotten as we tackle the various problems associated with implementation. Hopefully, the establishment of an IST will be the first step in greater international participation in programs such as CONSER, in making the ISSN database the authority for titles of continuing resources, and in uniting the world of serials cataloging.

ISSN Manual revision

The international standard serial number (ISSN) is widely used for unambiguous identification and control of serials by publishers, libraries, union catalogues, secondary services and databases, postal services, etc. The ISSN Network includes 68 national centres from different regions of the world and the database contains over 960,000 records of serials in 150 languages.

The ISSN Manual revision started in 1999 when the working group was set up. The members of the ISSN Manual Revision Working Group are: Ms. Francoise Pellé, Chair, ISSN IC; Ms. Francoise Boucheron, ISSN France; Ms. Jelka Gazvoda, ISSN Slovenia, Ms. Agneta Holmenmark, ISSN Sweden; Ms. Gudrun Kark, ISSN Germany; Ms. Regina Reynolds, ISSN USA; Mr. Alain Roucolle, ISSN IC, Ms. Jasenka Zajec, ISSN Croatia. The corresponding members are: Ms. Elizabeth Gazdag, ISSN Hungary; Mr. Alojz Androvic, ISSN Slovakia; Ms. Beata Katrincova, ISSN Slovakia; Mr. Taro Kawashima, ISSN Japan; Ms. Sinimarja Ojonen, ISSN Finland; Ms Aurelia Persinaru, ISSN Romania; Ms. Kari-Grethe Singsaas, ISSN Norway; Ms. Suwakhon Siriwongworawat, ISSN Thailand; Ms. Hanna Zawado, ISSN Poland; Ms. An Xiumin, ISSN China.

The aim of the revision is to update and adapt the cataloguing rules especially in view of the growing number of serials in new media and to harmonize with the ISBD(S) and AACR cataloguing rules. The principal issues under discussion are: seriality and scope of ISSN, basic definitions, registration of electronic resources, key title and other titles, title changes and other data changes, successive and integrating entries, first issue and latest issue as the basis for description.

The other two standards for serials cataloguing (i.e. ISBD(S) and AACR) are also under revision and our working group has been closely following their work and actively participating in the process of harmonization.

Although there are numerous challenges and problems some important conclusions were already made. Namely, the basic concepts underlying the new definition of serial, or actually continuing resource, are agreed upon and harmonized with other two standards. The final wording will hopefully be the same in all three standards. This new definition is also included in the new Strategic plan for the ISSN network for the period 2000-2004 because the scope of ISSN is a strategic as well as a bibliographic issue.

The ISSN record data elements were reviewed in view of the registration of electronic resources and new fields and subfields were added, or the already existing ones amended (e.g. physical medium code, electronic location and relevant linking fields). Moreover, national centres have already started partly implementing some of these decisions in practice (for instance assignment of ISSN to databases).

The key title is based on the title proper with a qualifier added when it is necessary to differentiate between same titles. The new developments pertaining to the concept of international standard title are discussed and the potential effects of its implementation are envisaged.

Discussion related to title changes and other data changes is directed towards decreasing the number of title changes and harmonization of rules in the three standards. Minor title changes will not result in new record but will be only recorded as variant titles.

The international character of the ISSN Network must be taken into account at all times because the rules must be applicable in different environments (linguistic, cultural, etc.) For this reason the input from different national centres is extremely important. The ISSN network also seeks input from other partners and users of the ISSN database. The process of the revision takes into account all these elements, prepared to face new challenges and developments.

A new Strategic Plan for the ISSN network

The ISSN Network has been working under a strategic plan for the period 1995-2000. In order to develop a similar set of strategic directions for the first four years of the new century, the ISSN IC held a series of meetings in 1999 to gather input from experts, from partners and stakeholders, from within the Network and from IC staff.. Based on those discussions, a new Strategic Plan has been developed. It is intended to provide a view into the future of both the information environment in which the ISSN will exist and the ISSN's future. Some major trends in the serials environment and some major orientations of the Strategic Plan are presented here.

It is beyond question that the world of serial creation, publishing and usage is undergoing major change which is likely to continue if not accelerate during the period 2000-2004, and that will impact the future of ISSN.

How is the serials environment evolving?

First of all, editorial and publisher processes are changing. Electronic publishing has already resulted in new forms of publication, which are today rather continuously updated than issued in discrete parts; those new types of publication are more and more complex and will continue to evolve to new forms and genres, such as multimedia and interactive publishing.

What are the main characteristics of those new forms of publication? Is even the word publication still adequate?

It was felt that a new set of definitions, and new wording were needed in order to reflect those changes. The harmonization efforts undertaken by the AACR, ISBD(S) and ISSN communities have resulted, among others, in a set of new definitions: "continuing resources" have been defined as bibliographic resources that are issued over time with no predetermined conclusion. Continuing resources include serials and integrating resources. A serial is issued in discrete parts; an integrating resource is updated or added to periodically or continuously.

The main consequence of this new set of definitions is that the ISSN Network has to broaden the scope of the material to which ISSNs are assigned to continuing resources - and therefore to uniquely identify continuing resources.

Simultaneously, the roles of major users of the ISSN, such as libraries and bibliographic databases, are changing as well. As the roles of these stakeholders either diminish, change or as others join them in that function, it is important for the ISSN Network to make itself known and visible to new players. This is needed to ensure that the ISSN continues to be used and expands as a unique identifier for continuing resources.

Other important changes are introduced with electronic commerce. Electronic-commerce-based subscription transactions do increase. In order to provide electronic-commerce-based services, subscription agents will continue to develop secondary services and more robust transaction-based systems. These systems require a unique identifier at both the journal title and the article level.

The way the content of documents is accessible also undergo major changes. Electronic journals routinely include hyperlinks between the references in the articles and the documents to which they refer. The technologies for reference linking become increasingly automated, with links being created "on-the-fly". The use of this technology will improve as URN namespaces are created to support various types of information services. In this environment, persistent identification becomes more important, especially for the users who find it increasingly difficult to determine what continuing resources are available as more are made available on the Web.

In this context, the emphasis had to be put on the role of the ISSN as a unique and persistent identifier for continuing resources. The mission of the ISSN has therefore been reworded: the ISSN Network has to provide tools and services related to the unique identification of continuing resources, whether past, present or to be published in the foreseeable future regardless of the medium of publication. The primary tool remains of course the assignment of unique and persistent identifiers: the International Standard Serial Numbers.

Based on the ISSN traditional mission of unique identification, the new Strategic Plan provides the ISSN Network with a vision for the future: the ISSN will become an integral part of services that need online identification of publications of a continuing nature. The ISSN will be used by a variety of stakeholders and will be both visible to users as a tool and invisible in the actual process of providing services. The ISSN will facilitate services/interactions between others in the publication/use chain. It will be a significant part of information life cycle management.

The major changes in the serials environment also represent major opportunities for the use of the ISSN. New and exciting challenges are faced today by the ISSN Network, in co-operation with its partners and stakeholders, which should benefit to the whole information community.

The ISSN Strategic Plan is accessible at http://www.issn.org

Serials interest groups all over the world: an outlook

Czech Republic

PhDr. Hana Nova
Head of Task Force for Authority Cataloguing of Printed Periodicals
(National Library of CR)
hana.nova@nkp.cz

In the early 90's, cataloguing in Czech libraries underwent large-scale changes which were due to the introduction of complex automated library systems, often of foreign origin. Further, to make the best of the newly open possibility to co-operate with western countries, it was necessary to upgrade certain library activities to reach technological levels common in other developed countries. This was particularly true of document cataloguing, and, within this category, shared cataloguing was especially important. After a short discussion, library professionals embraced new cataloguing rules - AACR2 and UNIMARC - as an exchange format. Both instructions were translated into Czech. Under the auspices of the National Library of the Czech Republic, which initiated these changes, task forces were set up to spread the knowledge of the new coming standards, to organize training in these new activities and determine the minimal record for the emerging union catalogue.

A Task Force for Authority Cataloguing of printed periodicals was set up in 1997, and its members represented a selection of academic, public, and large specialized libraries. The group convened to agree on a benchmark source of data. They took into account the frequent changes (of titles, periodicity etc.) affecting newspapers and magazines and agreed on the ISSN Database as a suitable benchmark. A conversion program was then used to duplicate the ISSN records into the emerging union catalogue, and from there a library that owns the title in question may take the record and incorporate it into its own catalogue. In 1998, a draft proposal of a minimum union catalogue record was completed and submitted for review and comment to the library community. In 1999, after working in the ensuing comments, the minimum record proposal was approved by the Cataloguing Policy Board of the National Library of the Czech Republic. The National Library then published it in print in its Standardization series, and it became a standard for all libraries that intend to contribute to CASLIN - The Union Catalogue of the Czech Republic (http://www.caslin.cz). Document of Standard series is also available at National Library's website: http://www.nkp.cz. The task force meets two to three times a year and now it deals with practical cataloguization problems, it helps to provide Czech interpretations of AACR2 and UNIMARC, and prepares a handbook for those who specialize in cataloguing periodicals. The group is preparing trainings for other libraries to make the use and knowledge of the new standards commonplace among Czech library staff.

This year, some libraries have acquired funding that allows them to purchase electronic data sources or, to be more specific, full-text databases of scientific and scholary periodicals, for example the EBSCO Database acquired thanks to the EIFL Direct project funded by Open Society Institute. For readers and users it is an exceptional opportunity to search and find data in a huge pool of periodical sources which are not available in print in any Czech library collection.

Finland

Sinimarja Ojonen and Irja Laamanen

The Finnish Serials Group (FSG) was founded in 1981 as a Working Group of the Finnish Research Library Association. (Web site: http://www.jyu.fi/~library/STKS/english/english.htm)

The main activities of the Group include the organising of 1-2 seminars or training days annually. In the past years the development of electronic journals has been an endless learning process and a source of discussion in Finland and also the core idea of our seminars and training days. Usually there has been a hundred or even more participants per event.

The Group also observes international developments in the serials field and attends the UK and European serials conferences. The Group co-operates with other associations and groups within the serials field.

The Group contributes actively to Signum, a membership periodical published by the Finnish Research Librarary Association.

The main event in the Group's schedule for Autumn 2000 is the Seminar Day (October 9th). Its topic is "Libraries as a portal to the network services". The Seminar will be attended by representatives of various academic and scientific libraries as well as bookstores and publishers.

The lectures and panel discussions of the Seminar will deal with the mediator role of libraries in giving access to and making available articles and other kinds of online resources. The Seminar will bring under discussion examples of different kinds of portal services created to serve the Finnish scientific and educational community.

The present members of the Group are:

Tiina Eklund, Turku University Library
Tiina.Eklund@utu.fi

Ulla-Maija Frilander, Member of the Administrative Board of the Finnish Research Library Association. Jyväskylä University Library
Ullamaija.Frilander@library.jyu.fi

Leena Innanen, STUK-Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority Library
Leena.Innanen@stuk.fi

Pälvi Kaiponen, University of Helsinki, Topelia Library
Palvi.Kaiponen@helsinki.fi

Tuulikki Korhonen, Secretary. University of Oulu, Medical Library
Tuulikki.Korhonen@Oulu.fi

Irja Laamanen, Chair. The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Information Service Centre
Irja.Laamanen@occuphealth.fi

Sinimarja Ojonen, Helsinki University Library, Library Network Services
Sinimarja.Ojonen@helsinki.fi

Kari Saari, BTJ Kirjastopalvelu Oy
Kari.Saari@BTJ.fi

Germany

Hartmut Walravens
Chairman (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin)
walravens@sbb.spk-berlin.de

This SIG was founded at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1999 and is designed as a platform - a forum - of people who deal with or are connected with serials in the German language area. All aspects of serials - from the creation to publishing, from distribution to acquisition, from cataloguing to document delivery shall be covered, and that means that authors, publishers, agencies, and librarians of different specialisation get together to discuss problems and work on solutions together.

So far Germany has had quite a number of individual working groups and associations, e.g. Deutsche Fachpresse for publishers of serials, or a committee on acquisitions for librarians in that field. The new thing is that the different kinds of librarians and the commercial sector, and also scientif associations ("Fachgesellschaften") are supposed to get together. This is really not a new idea - for years especially the British (UKSG) and North American (NASIG) SIGs have done excellent work. They organise their special meetings, run seminars, publish a journal (UKSG) and are involved in the development of the serials sector. And indeed, the goals, or missions, of the individual partners are rather similar: Publishers and distributors want to provide the customer with information, just like libraries.

The main difference used to be that the commercial side asked for payment and did not want any returns, while libraries offered gratis services and wanted the items back. The situation has changed a bit: Many libraries have to ask for (nominal) fees now; and customers ordering documents from journals usually get xerox copies, at no or a nominal charge. And customers are asked not to return the xerox copies! The growing importance of electronic publications led to an even graver change: Nowadays it is mostly a matter of licenses not acuquisition, and subjects like conditions of use, price development, royalties, authenticity of documents, archiving are themes of interest for the whole serials sector.

The main point of controversy is money as library budgets are shrinking. But confrontation will hardly lead to good solutions - discussion and cooperation seems a better approach. That does not exclude clear and critical analysis and positions, also with regard to the policy makers and funding authorities.

GeSIG offered a programme at the German Library Convention in March, 2000, and they will organise an event at the Austrian Library Convention in Vienna (Sept., 2000). The next business meeting will take place at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Oct., 2000. Currently a working group explores the options of closer cooperation between distribution agencies and libraries. Just now an initiative to support serials producers and customers by doing away with the higher VAT for electronic journals and by increasing library budgets comes to a close. Many librarians and members of the scholarly community signed an appeal to the respective authorities.

GeSIG's homepage is maintained by the University of Contance: http://gesig.ub-uni-konstanz.de. It will certainly take a little time for the new SIG to grow and consolidate. But we hope to be able to do our share to improve the serials situation and international cooperation in this field!

The Netherlands

Mathieu Sikkema, Secretary, Dutch Serials Group
Interpretation and summary by: Adriaan Lemmen
Original title & source: Verslag van de SG Workshop Digitale Serials, http://www.kb.nl/nvb (in Dutch)

Summary:

The report contains general information about the informal workshop (for the third time) and contact between 15 persons from the field of subscriptions agents, libraries and the multinational publisher Kluwer Academic concerning the subject electronic serials. All above mentioned parties are preparing and searching with respect to the visible development towards a growing number of electronic serials, which raises still more and more questions and ideas. This with respect to the fact that nothing is completely clear yet about market developments (concerning publishers, universities, subscription agents, libraries and end-users and their demands) and on the other and about the relevant new technologies. For publishers it is obvious that they will have to invest in new technologies and consequently in the education of their staff. For libraries it is clear that the switch to electronic serials (most of the time besides a still existing printed version) still costs more time instead of saving time; furthermore staff education in this context is relevant too.

All in all a period with interesting changes concerning electronic developments including the impact it has on people working in this surroundings.

Other planned activity of the Dutch Serials Group:

A different kind of workshop (discussion session) of the Serials Group has been planned 28 June 2000 in Kopenhagen (during the Annual Conference of LIBER) with the following overall theme: A disaster in disguise: the Breakdown of the Traditional Serials Chain.

Professional Programme at the 66th IFLA Conference, Jerusalem, Israel

Saturday, 12 August, 08:30-11:20

Saturday, 12 August, 14:30-17:20

Tuesday, 15 August, 15:30-18:00

Theme: "Models for Acquiring Electronic Resources"

1. Libraries without resources: towards personal collections
   J.S.M. SAVENIJE (Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands) and NATALIA GRYGIERCZYK

2. Toward worldwide resource sharing: collection development in China's higher education institutions
   YAFAN SONG (Cataloguing Department, Library of Renmin University, Renmin, China)

3. Some consortial models for acquiring electronic resources in Germany
   DIANN RUSCH-FEJA (Library and Research Information, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany)

Wednesday, 16 August, 08:30-11:00

Theme: "Serials of the Near East"

1. Serials management at Haifa University Library
   JAIR DE MARCAS

2. The German-Jewish press
   JOHANNES SCHWARZ

3. The future of serials: utopia or realism?
   HARTMUT WALRAVENS (Bibliographic Services, Berlin State Library, Berlin, Germany)

Wednesday, 16 August, 15:30-18:00

Theme: "Digitization of Newspapers"

Speakers:

RON ZWEIG (University of Tel Aviv)
YOSSI BARDOSH (Yedioth Technologies)
GRAHAM JEFCOATE (British Library)
MARK HOLLAND (Gale Group Reading)
Representatives from Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post

Friday, 18 August, 10:30-12:15