Email list hosting service & mailing list manager


Cataloging Internet Resources (Willy Cromwell) Birdie MacLennan 11 Dec 1993 21:59 UTC

Date:         Wed, 8 Dec 1993 10:39:52 PST
From:         Willy Cromwell <CN.WIC@STANFORD.BITNET>

RE:  RESPONSES TO QUERY CONCERNING CATALOGING INTERNET RESOURCES

I recently posted a sent a posting to AUTOCAT and Emedia asking for
responses from institutions that are cataloging internet
resources. I want to thank all those who responded.  What I
learned is Stanford is not alone as we begin to think about
what will be involved in providing access to these materials.

Please find below an attempt to summarize the responses I have
received to date. I apologize if I have done violence to any
response throuugh my paraphrases.  This summary will be posted to
AUTOCAT and Emedia and will also be posted to SERIALST in response
to a request to do so.

Of the 15 responses I received, 10 were requests that I
summarize the responses I received for the lists. Many of these
requests came from people who indicated that their institutions were
just beginning to think about the issues involved in cataloging this
sort of item although they had not yet started to so so. A
respondent from Columbia University indicated that their Electronic
Text Center and Academic Computing division had lists of materials
that they would like to have cataloged.

4 responses indicated indicated early stges of experimentation with
handling such materials:

1) A respondent from Rice University indicated that they have
started to identify issues and problems involved in cataloging
internet resources and have cataloged 2 locally created resources
and 10 Project Gutenberg files.  They hope to have worked out the
"kinks" before their collection develoment librarians begin to
routinely request that they add records for such electronic
resources to their catalog.  The respondent questioned the use of
the MARC format as the most appropriate vehicle for providing
description and access to these resources and mentioned the Bunyip
project to provide more adequate description to the Archie.

2)  California Polytechnic has created five records associated with
the Synthesis Coalition NEEDS database, a database "the purpose of
which to provide access to engineering courseware modules, files,
texts, etc."  Prior to the creation of the NEEDS database, Cal Poly
cataloged five modules created by their engineering faculty.  They
have not yet decided whether or not to continue to put individual
records into their online catalog for local campus-created
courseware.  My respondent stated that she would prefer that their
system provide gopher access to NEEDS for access to such files.

3) A respondent from Blacksburg Virginia reports that they have
cataloged all the electronic journals published by their Scholarly
Communications Project and those from other sources to which they
provide local access.

4)  A respondent from Grinnell College said that they are
considering creating or downloading bibliographic records for
e-journals and adding a note telling patrons how to access it, e.g.
how to "telnet to such and such a gopher, etc."

The 15th respondent merely asked if I would mind if he posted my
query on SERIALST.

Finally, my own institution, Stanford University Libraries, has
cataloged three e-journals for which we provide access to our
patrons.  We are also working with our Academic Data Center to
catalog selected internet resources, most probably creating records
that will be maintained in a separate database within the umbrella
FOLIO database that also contains our main bibliographic catalog.

Willy Cromwell
Catalog Dept.
Stanford University Libraries
cn.wic@stanford.bitnet
cn.wic@forsythe.stanford.edu