August 08, 2023

WRLC has finalized our strategic Initiatives for FY 2023-24.  They are:

Creating Coordinated Collections

1. Assess our collections against our DEI mission and make recommendations for implementing these values in our collective collection development.

Assigned to: CCC

2. Maximize the lifespan of the 3 SCF modules by creating a deaccessioning plan.

Assigned to: CCC

Creating a Robust Infrastructure for Discovery and Access

3. Explore technology-based resource sharing opportunities or alternatives taking advantage of new innovations or developments with alternative platforms

Assigned to: RSAC

4. Explore additional avenues of inter-consortial lending and borrowing, such as expanding the peer-to-peer lending program with SUNY, reaching out to VIVA or USMAI, etc.

Assigned to: RSAC

5. Create an online central repository for documentation of policies, decisions, and workflows to the benefit of WRLC members. Identify the best way to start populating the repository and how to keep it up-to-date.

Assigned to: WRLC HQ

6. Explore the establishment of an informal or formal group to inform best practices around Primo VE.

Assigned to: SC

Preserving Physical and Digital Resources

7. The 5 institutions using Islandora 7 must select a new digital platform or platforms and create a timeline that includes a migration completion date no later than January 1st 2025.

Assigned to: Islandora Migration Task Force

Sharing Expertise

8. Utilize the 2nd year of the pilot OER grant project to assess the process and outcomes of the previous year and launch a second year of grant funding along with an accompanying marketing plan.

Assigned to: TAWG

For updates on these initiatives throughout the year, be sure to visit the WRLC Library Staff Intranet at: https://libraries.wrlc.org/strategic-initiatives/2023-2024-strategic-initiatives

Are you a new committee member or serving a new role on a WRLC committee for FY 2023-24? Here are some helpful tips to get you started:

• Your help makes the coordinated work of WRLC easier, more effective, and more responsive to the needs of the 9 partners. https://www.libraries.wrlc.org/welcome

• If this is your first time serving on a committee, the first step is to create an account on the WRLC intranet. The intranet is where you'll find most of the additional resources we discuss below. The link to the right will take you there. https://www.libraries.wrlc.org/user/register

• Every committee has a section of our WRLC intranet and you can find more about your committee here: https://www.libraries.wrlc.org/committee

• Committee and task force membership of any kind includes certain duties and expectations.  Learn more about those here:   https://www.libraries.wrlc.org/wrlc-committee-task-force-and-interest-group-operating-framework/expectations-all-committee-and

• If you are serving as a chair of a committee for the first time, you are officially an overachiever.  We're not sure who you're trying to impress, but it's us. We're impressed. Your additional duties are here: https://www.libraries.wrlc.org/wrlc-committee-task-force-and-interest-group-operating-framework/expectations-committee-and-task

• To learn even more about WRLC committees and how your committee fits into the overall mission and governance structure of our consortium, you can read more here: https://www.libraries.wrlc.org/introduction-participants-wrlc-committees-and-task-forces

You may find this information on the intranet in the top-right of the right sidebar of any committee page.

June Updates

Each month, members of the WRLC Reparative Cataloging Subgroup take turns sharing news related to reparative cataloging and recent updates to the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSHs). The Library of Congress does not have any updates or changes to LCSH for June 2023.  However, the Subgroup has a couple of subject heading updates for our consortial catalog:

• Last month the Subgroup reviewed a proposal to change the subject heading “Problem children” to “Children with behavioral problems” as this is more respectful language and follows the person's first language principle. This proposal was accepted by the Metadata Committee at their May 2023 meeting. A local authority record for “Children with behavioral problems” has been created and will be updated where possible in the consortial catalog when the Preferred Term Correction job is run in Alma. However, there is a slight glitch for this job that has been reported to Ex Libris and will hopefully be fixed soon, but you may still encounter the “Problem children” subject heading in the meantime.

• The preferred term correction job that ran in Alma most recently also brought to our attention that “Chinook jargon” was changed to “Chinook Wawa language.” 

There are also a few updates regarding reparative work around the library profession:

• Jay Weitz, a Senior Consulting Database Specialist at OCLC, has compiled a series of issues related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in a recent OCLC Research blog post:

  • Weitz, Jay. 2023. “Advancing IDEAs: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, 2023 June 13.” Hanging Together (blog). June 14, 2023. https://hangingtogether.org/advancing-ideas-inclusion-diversity-equity-accessibility-2023-june-13/.

• The July OCLC Ask QC virtual office hours will provide a forum for discussion about the inherent biases in the Dewey Decimal Classification System and the efforts that are being made to address these biases.

  • “Debiasing Dewey: Righting the past by rewriting the classification” - OCLC is working to address historic biases in the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) and ensure its continuing relevance. Hear from senior editor Alex Kyrios and editor-in-residence Kathryn Becker about some of the work in recent years, especially on topics related to LGBTQ people. 

    • July 11 registration

    • July 20 registration

As always, if you see headings or descriptions that you feel should be updated or changed, please submit the Reparative description heading reporting form created by the subgroup or join us at our next meeting on July 26.

July Updates

This month, the Reparative Cataloging Subgroup did not find any new headings approved by the Library of Congress Subject Headings, but were able to get a few exciting things done within the consortium!

Updated Headings

After confirming with the Metadata Committee, the term “Miscegenation” has been approved to be updated, and 283 records have been changed to Interracial relationships. 88 records in the CZ have the updated term added to the local heading, 690 $5 CAO. Another heading “Problem Children”, with 1,064 records, has been updated to Children with behavioral problems. 

If you see headings or descriptions that you feel should be updated or changed, please submit the Reparative description heading reporting form created by the subgroup. 

Also, The “Local WRLC Subject Headings” section of the “NZ Bib Policies” document is being updated. The spreadsheet the subgroup uses to keep track of replaced and supplemental headings will now be included in the document.

As always, the subgroup sends a big shout out and thank you to Jackie Saavedra for her continued work with updating these records in our NZ and CZ and her detailed documentation!

- Asheleigh Folsom

Unit Head for Metadata Services, Georgetown University Library
On behalf of the Reparative Cataloging Subgroup

The Alma Primo Advisory Committee completed the Alma NERS voting for this year.  Unfortunately, only one Network Zone or Automated Fulfillment enhancement request made it to the final round of voting. However, our group was pretty excited about the following three enhancements (including the long fulfillment network issue) and decided to split our votes equally among them.

Additionally, you'll find our Idea of the Month below.  You may notice that this is the same one we recommended last month.  Unfortunately, we forgot to include the link to that idea on the Ex Libris site, so we're running it again.  We apologize for the confusion.

The subgroup is interested in setting up a SACO (Subject Authority Cooperative Program) funnel for the consortium, and after checking with the Metadata Committee, the momentum has continued to grow! 10 respondents have expressed interest and there are already over 10 subject headings to propose.

The next step is to reach out to Paul Frank at the Library of Congress to get more information on setting this up and proper training. As one of our members wonderfully put it, “Our subgroup work aligns with their work – we’re already making proposals to the Metadata Committee, why not make them change at the LC level.”

A huge thank you to Jen Froetschel and Asheleigh Folsom for working on this. 

Want to Learn More?

Each month, the subgroup shares helpful, fun, interesting things they’ve come across that relates to our work. This can be anything from a webinar to a blog post. This month, check out “Critcatenate” from the Cataloging Lab! July 1 critcatenate.

Our meetings are open to the public and we welcome anyone who's interested in hearing more! Keep a lookout for our invitation to our next session on August 23rd on the “E-Resource” or “Metadata” Basecamp. Hope to see you there!

- Alisha Strother

Metadata Librarian

Howard University, Founders Library

Disaster Training at GW

On July 12th, George Washington University hosted Disaster Preparedness Training for 25 staff from the WRLC community. The all-day class was led by Rebecca Kennedy, founder of Curae Collections Care and a preservationist with nearly 20 years of experience. The training included initial response and damage assessment: how to assess the scene, stabilize, and control the incident. This included how to organize the staff for salvages and evacuations as well as learning how incident command systems work and how hierarchies can work depending on the situation. The class also covered when and how to salvage, including all the documentation and tracking that should be done before trying to triage the materials. Finally, those in the class got hands-on experience doing salvage and triage with a variety of water-soaked (discarded) materials that were supplied by our attendees.

Report from the WRLC Metadata Committee Retreat 2023

On August 1st, WRLC Metadata Committee had its first retreat at GW Gelman Library. Organized by Matthew Bright (GW) and Yoko Ferguson (UDC), the unconference style retreat began with an icebreaker where the participants shared interesting stories about the coolest/weirdest/most challenging item they’ve ever cataloged. The group then identified themes and topics for the day by placing sticky-notes on the white boards under three categories: “What is working well”, “What could we be doing better”, and “What questions do you have”. 

For “What is working well”, several noted about the Metadata Committee and its effective collaborative work, as well as its use of Basecamp, reparative cataloging work, and training sessions offered last year. Also recognized and thanked was Jackie Saavedra (WRLC)’s continued help and expertise with Alma at the institutional and consortium level. 

For “What could we be doing better”, many expressed an interest in getting input and representations from all Institutional Zone libraries, sharing workflows and expertise across the consortium, bridging the gap between Metadata and Primo, and providing better onboarding process to the WRLC committees.

As for “What questions do you have”, the group raised and discussed a wide range of questions, including local staffing and projects, digital repositories and ETDs, eResource management, and consortium subscriptions to cataloging tools and services.

The fruitful retreat concluded with a group photo and a list of several action items for the Metadata Committee.

--Yoko Ferguson, Metadata and Cataloging Librarian (UDC)

From top left to right: Linda Wen (AU-Law), Alayne Mundt (AU), David Heilbrun (GM), Jackie Saavedra (WRLC), Robert Bratton (GW-Law), Chelly Tavss (GU), Peter Goodman (CU), Laura Khouvongsavanh (MU), Matthew Bright (GW); Sara Hoover (GW-HS), Yoko Ferguson (UDC), Alyssa Koclanes (GT-Law)

• Assistant Director for Resource Management Services - Jacob Burns Law Library

• Head of Legal Technology & Instructional Services - Jacob Burns Law Library

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