“Describe a Project You Have Executed from Concept to Completion.  How did

the Metadata Make the Material Discoverable?”

Amanda Xu

At Florida Gulf Coast Univ. Library 

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Project: Batch Loading Bibliographic Records for

Electronic Resources• Background: St. John’s Univ. Libraries, Serials Solutions, Ex Libris Voyager in 2004

• Project Implementation• Project for Metadata and Discoverability

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Background (1)St. John’s University

Libraries• Serving five undergraduate schools and six graduate schools with about 20,000 enrollment in six campuses

• Maintaining i) subscription profiles of 185 e-packages and ii) e-j portal through Serials Solutions

• Receiving monthly updates of MARC records for e-journal titles

• In 2004, just implemented Ex Libris Voyager as ILS through WALDO Library Consortium

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Background (2)Serials Solutions 360 MARC Updates for

Electronic Journals • MARC Record Profile defines standardized customization for each record

• Choose order of priority for record selection

• Customize each URL taking users to e-j portal

• Customize local notes for OPAC display

• Update Process: monthly files sent containing new, updated, delete, supplemental brief records in MARC format

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Background (3)Voyager in 2004

• Voyager ASP Hosted by Ex Libris

• Access permission to Voyager training and production databases remotely

• Access to Voyager Systems Administration Module for Cataloging Configuration for bib/hlds/items

• e.g. bibliographic duplicate detection and bulk import rules

• Access permission to search configuration

• e.g. headings index searches, keyword index searches, Left-anchored index searches

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Background (4)Voyager in 2004

• Access permission to Systems, e.g. defining item types, locations, cataloging profiles

• Access permission to Reporter via Web Admin for bulk import and export MARC records, system admin log files

• Access permission to prepackaged and ad-Hoc Access Reports for mining info in Voyager database

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Project DefinedBatch loading bibliographic records for electronic journals supplied by Serials Solutions 360 MARC Updates Service in Voyager databases, and enable the electronic journals either subscribed or free to be discoverable through the Libraries’ OPAC

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Project ImplementationPlannin

gOrganiz

ing

Staffing

Controlling

Directing

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Project Planning (1)SJU Serials Solutions MARC Title List Implementation Team

• Director of Collections and Information Division

• Head of Cataloging Dept. • Heads of Acquisitions/Serials departments

• Associate Director for Systems and e-Services

• E-resources Librarian • Serials Solutions Product Specialist in MARC format

• Ex Libris ASP Hosting Service Coordinator

• Electronic Resources Cataloging Librarian

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Project Planning (2)• Had weekly team meetings during initial loads, identifying change needs to the following:1. MARC record profile2. Workflow communication, e.g.

subscription profile update, proxy server and e-j A-Z list update, MARC title list update

3. Data delivery and staging area preparation

4. System configuration, e.g. OPAC, System Admin for bib duplicate detection, bulk import rule

• Reviewed and approved the test and production loads

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Project Organizing (1)• Determined standardized customization for each record, e.g. classification, location, item type, genre, access note

• Determined order of priority for record selection

• Customized each URL taking users to e-j portal

• Followed national cataloguing guidelines for record creation, e.g. use separate bibliographic records, and complied with CONSER Aggregator Neutral Record Guidelines

• Submitted MARC record profile to Serials Solutions

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Project Organizing (2)• Prepared staging areas for monthly file handling, e.g. Archive, Ingest, Modified, Merged

• Obtained bibs for e-resources from Serials Solutions according to update process, e.g. new, update, delete

• Prepared initial loads and made changes to Voyager Systems Admin, e.g. Cataloging Configuration for bib/hlds/items; defining item types, locations, cataloging profiles

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Project Organizing (3)• Completed the System Admin bibliographic duplicate detection, bulk import rule, and search configuration setup

• Performed test load for the initial loads in training database and then production database

• Reviewed the test load in training and production databases, and log files

• Performed production loads for initial loads in Voyager databases

• Ran ad-hoc Access Reports for evaluating the loads in Voyager databases

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Project Organizing (4)• Evaluated the initial loads in Voyager and obtained approval from project team

• Refined bibliographic record customization and provided quality control by cleansing data and sending feedback to Serials Solutions and project team

• Performed monthly updates for production loads

• Ran ad-hoc Access Reports for evaluating monthly updates in Voyager databases

• Reviewed, approved, and provided quality control for monthly updates

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Project Staffing (1)Electronic Resources Cataloging Librarian

• Led cataloging and metadata initiatives for the Libraries, including designing, implementing, and assessing a wide range of processes that relied on cataloging and metadata to provide access to the Libraries’ scholarly resources in all formats

• Performed original cataloging, and ensured bibliographic integrity by using authority control

• Edited and updated database records using batch processing tools

• Provided quality control for processed e-resources using cataloging and metadata standards

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Project Staffing (2)• Explored how to accommodate electronic resources features through standardized use of metadata schemas and interface configuration

• Designed good metadata to support intended users, including end users, and stakeholders who developed and managed the electronic resources

• Assessed metadata needs based on types of systems and functionalities of the systems

• Implemented MARC Title List for initial loads and monthly updates, and delivered e-resources with correct character encodings, languages, data types, formats, and sizes

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Project Staffing (3)• Led in exploring innovative tools and methods to streaming process for metadata creation, extraction, mapping and transformation, and validation

• Evaluated, adopted, and implemented appropriate metadata standards and schemas in order to create and maintain descriptive metadata

• Defined basic and enhanced metadata element templates for e-resources, and designed how metadata elements were to be indexed, browsed, displayed, interchanged and reused as defined and agreed upon

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Project Staffing (4)• Used standards, the rules, and good practice guidelines consistently, including standardized use of metadata schemas, specified formats, tools, interfaces and protocols. Made metadata elements to be crosswalkable and associated values to be correctly converted and interchanged

• Provided leadership, training and expertise in metadata production; measured and controlled metadata quality; documented detailed cataloging guidelines; and coordinated metadata workflow management

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Project Controlling• Prepared test load of initial loads in training database and determined progress stages

• Tested data recovery plan, e.g. obtaining bulk import and export files in .mrc format from Web Admin

• Evaluated: determining cause of and possible ways to act on significant deviations from planned performance, e.g. reporting and analyzing the load

• Corrected: taking control action to correct an unfavorable trend, e.g. sending feedback to Serials Solutions on data quality and access issues

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Project Directing• Maintained single version of the truth of the data via Serials Solution Client, and Knowledgebase

• Kept data in sync, e.g. subscription profile, Proxy-server, e-j A-Z list, MARC title list

• Enforced the principle by coordinating the workflow, and providing counseling to library admin, faculty, and staff

• Served as data quality control evangelist 21

Project for Metadata and Discoverability (1)

• Successfully loaded, maintained, and integrated 30,000 bibs into Voyager, and made electronic journal and book collections whether free or subscribed accessible via the Libraries’ Catalog in 2007

• Made e-j full-text, abstracting and indexing from aggregators and subscription databases available in MARC format in a library catalog, which can be part of the unified index for discovery layer, the user interface and search system for discovering, displaying, and interacting the resources in library systems

• Allowed electronic resources, e.g. e-j to be found by relevant criteria in the library catalog and discovery services

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Project for Metadata and Discoverability (2)

• Were capable to identify the electronic resources and collocate similar electronic resources

• Removed ambiguity of similar electronic resources

• Provided location information in the library catalog and discovery services

• Made it possible to unbundle the electronic resources from collection level to article level or vice versa through identifier, e.g. ISSN

• Provided means to expose and reuse metadata appropriately for harvesting by external resource discovery systems, e.g. search engines

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References

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CARLI. (2013, May 30). Batch loading bibliographic records for electronic resources. Retrieved from http://www.carli.illinois.edu/sites/files/i-share/documentation/ eresbatch.pdf

ExLibris. (2011, November). Voyager 8.1 System administration user’s guide. Retrieved from http://gil.usg.edu/gilhome/docs/downloads/V8-Administration.pdf

Hoeppner, A. (2012, April). The Ins and outs of evaluating Web-scale Discovery Services. Information Today, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag /apr12/Hoeppner-Web-Scale-Discovery-Services.shtml

Kerzner, H. (2006). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling and controlling. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

National Information Standards Organization. (2001). Understanding metadata. Retrieved from http://www.niso.org/publications/press/UnderstandingMetadata.pdf

ProQuest. (2014, June). 360 MARC updates. Retrieved from http://www.proquest.com /products-services/360-MARC-Updates.html

Xu, A. (2014, Feb. 12). Role of cataloger in the Twenty-First-Century academic library. Presentation delivered to Georgia Institute of Technology Library, Atlanta, GA. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/elephantsmith/interview-presentation- roleofcataloger21stcenturyacademiclibrary

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Questions and Answers