3 messages, 133 lines:

(1)----------------------------
Date:         Wed, 22 Oct 1997 13:37:00 -0400
From:         "Kathi L. Jakubowski" <klr@gml.lib.uwm.edu>
Subject:      Re: Marc holdings information needed

Donna, we have been in the midst of a retrospective conversion/holdings
cleanup project full time since July.  We have been given 18 months to
convert our holdings to the MARC standard.  We estimate that a
well-trained, competent staff person (not a student or newly-hired
inexperienced person), can process between 30 and 40 titles per day on
average.  However, many of the titles we are dealing with have large gaps
in holdings, errors in information, item records that need to be linked,
etc.,which take time to investigate and resolve.  We are fortunate that
the majority of our serial titles and holdings information are already
online (due to tape loads when we installed our automated system in 1987).
However, there was basically only one full-time person (me) who worked on
database cleanup of the serial records (we have over 35,000 current and
inactive titles).  We had a major departmental reorganization in January,
and now there are two full-time staff, plus one full-time and one
part-time project staff who are working almost exclusively on holdings
cleanup and retro.  (We don't know if we'll make the Dec.  1998 deadline
or not).

To make a long story short, it will take much longer than you
initially anticipate to do the project.  The MARC holdings format
takes time to learn and assimilate, but once you do, it is a
very handy tool.  If you have one person working 8 hours every day on
your project, you may be lucky to finish in 3-4 months.  It's not an
easy task, but hang in there

Kathi L. Jakubowski
Head Serials Cataloger
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Golda Meir Library
P.O. Box 604
Milwaukee, WI  53201
OFFICE: (414) 229-4752
FAX: (414) 229-6791
Internet: klr@gml.lib.uwm.edu

(2)---------------------------
Date:          Wed, 22 Oct 1997 12:02:02 EDT
From:          "Diane Lewis" <DILEWIS@IGSRGLIB01.ER.USGS.GOV>
Organization:  U.S. Geological Survey
Subject:       Re: Marc holdings information needed

Hi, Donna and everyone else!

Off the top of my head, the first question is: "Have your serials holdings
been verified and noted down for each title?"  That's the time consuming
part!  Depending on the software you use, following the guidelines for
serials holdings and putting your data into that format should be
relatively straightforward.  Problems could arise, however, when you try
to record gaps:  making sure that the correct punctuation is used for gaps
as opposed to publication hiatuses is tedious.  For the you-know-what
retentive among us only.

Diane M. Lewis
USGS Library
<DILEWIS@IGSRGLIB01.ER.USGS.GOV>

(3)--------------------------
Date:         Wed, 22 Oct 1997 12:31:02 +0600
From:         Frieda Rosenberg <friedat@EMAIL.UNC.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Marc holdings information needed
Comments: To: Donna Bible <BibleD@DOAKS.ORG>

Donna,
  Your time spent will depend on
    1. your system--its coding requirements (paired fields? free text?),
       its ease of input
    2. the scope of the detail--are you creating patterns to interface
       with a checkin system? are you barcoding for circulation?
    3. what records (and how many different kinds of records) you are
       using to input from, and whether handling physical volumes is
       necessary.
    4. how many people are working how many hours at the task
    5. the length of your 2000 serial runs

  If your holdings involve creating patterns, barcoding, or doing any of
the complicated, but very useful, things, that the MARC format allows you
to do (whether you can do them depends on your implementation) I would
guess your estimate is much closer than the estimate of your
administrator.

  Yes, by all means, you need to study the format, evaluate the possible
levels of detail in terms of your goals, and study your own system so that
you can make the best use of it to meet your goals.

  Feel free to write me back if you wish.
        Regards, Frieda
-------

Frieda Rosenberg
Serials Cataloging
Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
friedat@email.unc.edu

On Wed, 22 Oct 1997, Donna Bible wrote:

> Hello fellow subscribers,
>
> We are a medium sized academic library in the process of implementing
> our first integrated library system.  We intend to create detailed
> holdings records for approximately 2,000 serials using the LC MARC
> holdings standard.  I have ordered the documentation and anticipate that
> it will take me several months at least before the project is complete.
> Yesterday one of our library administrators suggested that this is an
> easy task that should be complete in a matter of weeks, and  should not
> require much effort or preparation.
>
> Have any of you ever had to justify using the MARC standard?  How long
> should it take to create MARC holdings records for 2,000 journals and,
> of equal importance, is this not an endeavor for which a fair amount of
> study and preparation is justified?
>
> I would deeply appreciate any opinions or recommendations on this
> matter.  Your response would help me to justifiably take the time I need
> to complete the project.
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> Donna Bible
> Library Systems Administrator
> Dumbarton Oaks
> 1703 32nd Street NW
> Washington, DC 20007-2961
>
> e-mail:  bibled@doaks.org