[okfn-discuss] Submitting comments to the Library of Congress?

Sat Dec 8 02:15:46 UTC 2007

Hi all,

The Library of Congress has asked for comments on a draft produced by a 
Working Group they initiated on the 'Future of Bibliographic Control'.

As some of you may have seen I recently blogged about this:

http://blog.okfn.org/2007/12/06/the-future-of-bibliographic-control-and-licensing-policies-for-bibliographic-data/

The deadline for public comments is 15th December. I think it would be 
great if we could submit some brief notes on the potential benefits of 
openly licensing bibliographic data!

Does anyone know if any groups or individuals have already submitted 
comments along these lines?

Can anyone think of any organisations/individuals who might be 
interested in helping out with this?

Regards,

Jonathan

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        BIBLIOGRAPHIC WORKING GROUP ISSUES REPORT
Date:   Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:13:26 -0500
From:   Public Affairs Office <pao at loc.gov>
To:     bbro at loc.gov

        NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington DC 20540
Phone: (202) 707-2905
Fax: (202) 707-9199
Email: pao at loc.gov

November 30, 2007
Press contact: John Sayers (202) 707-9216; jsay at loc.gov
Public contact: Beth Davis-Brown (202) 707-3301, bbro at loc.gov

        WORKING GROUP ON THE FUTURE OF
        BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL RELEASES DRAFT REPORT

The Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control has released
its draft report on the future of bibliographic description in light of
advances in search engine technology, the popularity of the Internet and
the influx of electronic information resources.

In November 2006, Deanna Marcum, associate librarian for Library
Services at the Library of Congress, convened a group made up of
representatives of several organizations—American Association of Law
Libraries, American Library Association (ALA), Association of Research
Libraries (ARL), Coalition for Networked Information, Medical Library
Association, National Federation of Abstracting & Indexing Services,
Program for Cooperative Cataloging and Special Libraries Association—and
vendors (Google, OCLC and Microsoft)— to examine the role of
bibliographic control and other descriptive practices in the evolving
information and technology environment, and to make recommendations to
the Library and to the larger library community.

The group's recommendations, available at its Web site at
www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/
<ttp://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/"> , emphasized the role of the
Library of Congress not as a sole supplier, but rather as an important
leader in the cataloging world. "We recognize that you do not have the
resources to do everything," said Olivia Madison, representing ARL.
"These recommendations are not for the Library of Congress alone but are
intended for the entire library and library vendor communities."

The report highlights five general recommendations:

      * Increase the efficiency of bibliographic production for all
        libraries through cooperation and sharing of bibliographic records
        and through use of data produced in the overall supply chain.
      * Transfer effort into high-value activity. In particular, provide
        greater value for knowledge creation by leveraging access for
        unique materials held by libraries that are currently hidden and
        underused.
      * Position technology by recognizing that the World Wide Web is
        libraries’ technology platform as well as the appropriate platform
        for standards. Recognize that users are not only people but also
        applications that interact with library data.
      * Position the library community for the future by adding
        evaluative, qualitative and quantitative analyses of resources.
        Work to realize the potential of the Functional Requirements for
        Bibliographic Records (FRBR) framework.
      * Strengthen the library and information science profession through
        education and through development of metrics that will inform
        decision-making now and in the future.

“I am very pleased with the approach taken by the working group," Marcum
said. "Instead of focusing solely on the Library of Congress, the
members of the group looked at the bibliographic ecosystem and thought
deeply about the contributions that can and should be made by all of its
parts. We are already doing in an experimental way many of the things
suggested by the Working Group in its presentation. Once the final
report is received, our challenge will be to analyze the
recommendations, decide on which ones should be implemented and move
beyond pilot projects and tests.”

The report is available for public comment through Dec. 15. The final
report will be released by Jan. 9, 2008, in time for the midwinter
meeting of the American Library Association.

# # #

PR 07-244
11-30-07
ISSN 0731-3527