Ex Libris MELvyl Tells (EL Mel Tells)!

Volume 1, Number 5, November 2002

In this issue:

• The Union Catalog Record in Melvyl-T
• Using Browse
• CDL Staff Profiles

The Union Catalog Record in Melvyl-T

All records in the MELVYL Union Catalog are entered into the catalog from files sent by contributing libraries. No records are created or modified within the MELVYL software. Most sources send files weekly; a few are monthly.

Each contributed record is stored in its entirety in the database. Records for the same item held at more than one library are brought together for display but in fact are separate records in the database.

MELVYL receives many record updates as well as records for new items in the input files. Record updates replace the earlier version of the same record in the database, but only the one contributed by that library. No library's record can replace or alter that of another library. Record updates use the system record number from the contributing system and the latest modification date.

The primary purpose of the Union Catalog is public access to the holdings of the University of California libraries. Unlike most library catalogs, MELVYL does not have library management functions such as acquisitions of materials, circulation, or serials check-in.

The content of the database reflects MELVYL's purpose: the database consists of all cataloged items from the libraries. The records are in MARC21 format and all bibliographic fields are retained when the records are loaded into MELVYL. The holdings information level is defined as "that which is needed to go to the shelf," and some normalization of local holdings information is done to bring as much consistency as possible to the union catalog's holdings display. Further detail, such as circulation status or detailed serials holdings, are retrieved from the library's local catalog for display when requested by the MELVYL user. This guarantees that the detailed information will be up-to-date, even for sources that send records on a monthly schedule.

Because the MELVYL catalog is very large and heavily used it is important that record design be as efficient as possible to avoid delays in searching and display. For this reason we chose to implement the holdings information as an embedded holdings field (MARC 852). Some catalogs store the holdings in a separate record but additional processing is required to retrieve those holdings records for each display.

The 852 holdings field has the following subfields (given below with their previous MELVYL 9XX equivalent):

The following subfields of the 852 have particular meanings in the MELVYL-T record (as compared to the MARC21 documentation):

852 $a - Location

This carries the source code that is used by MELVYL processing to identify the source of the record, i.e. GLAD for UCB Gladis, SBXL for UCSB Ex Libris. This replaces the NUC code which is institution specific but not system specific. The danger is that if an institution changed systems we could have records from both systems in the database with the same identifiers, so we need this extra specificity.

856 $p - Item Designation

We do not generally store item numbers (i.e. barcodes) in the MELVYL record with the exception of the barcodes from the Regional Facilities which are used as call numbers for those items. In the case of multi-volume works, only the first Regional Facility number is stored in the 852.

852 $3 - Summary Holdings

The standard MARC interpretation of this field is "materials specified" and summary holdings notes are carried in 866 fields. However, since the order of fields is not guaranteed in a MARC record, a record with multiple 852 and 866 fields could be ambiguous in terms of which holdings statement is associated with which location. To eliminate this ambiguity, we have stored the summary holdings statement in the 852 $3 subfield, where it cannot be separated from its related location data.

852 $D, $O - Collection Development Note and Code

These are local codes that were added to serials records for shared collection development decisions. The notes indicate whether the item is received, ceased, cancelled or scheduled to be cancelled.

Using Browse

Melvyl-T has a greatly expanded Browse functionality, allowing users to browse in several indexes not previously available in legacy Melvyl. Browsing an index can be very useful in many instances, such as when searching for a journal title consisting of common words, when browsing call numbers, or when searching for items by a personal author with name variations.

To understand the power of browsing, it is helpful to review the two types of indexes created within Melvyl-T: heading indexes and numerical “direct” indexes.

Headings indexes are created for fields that are generally considered “headings”: authors, titles, series, and subjects. These types of indexes include an entire heading. Additionally, Library of Congress name and subject authority records are available within the browse functionality, providing the display of “see” and “see also” linked references. For example, entering the browse command: Author (last name first) = Browse returns the following:

Brown, A.C. (Alexander Crum), 1838-1922 [more terms]
      See: Brown, Alexander Crum, 1838-1922.
Brown, A.G.
Brown, A.G. (Alan Geoffrey) [more terms]

Another instance where browsing is an efficient means of locating a record is when searching for a journal title containing common terms. For example, entering the browse command: Journal Title begins with = Science returns the following:

Science
Science & technologie alimentaire
Science: a weekly journal devoted to the advancement of science

Numerical “Direct” indexes include numbers (LCCN, ISBN), various codes and identifiers (GPO item numbers, reports numbers), and call numbers. Each number or code is treated as a single identifier that is searched from its left-most characters. For example, entering the browse command: Call number = QB20 returns the following:

QB20 .L63 1990 The dawn of astronomy: a study of temple worship and mythology of the ancient Egyptians /
QB23 .K52 1993 Astronomy in the service of Islam /
QB23 .M43 1998 Astronomies and cultures in early medieval Europe /

Tips on browsing complex number strings, such as government document numbers, are included in the Melvyl-T Help document Expert Searching: Complete List of Search Indexes.
http://athena.ucop.edu:8086/F/?func=file&file_name=help-expert-index-definitions-cdl90

CDL Staff Profiles

Jayne Dickson
	Jayne Dickson, CDL Helpline maven, has contributed to creating the Melvyl-T help screens, and is learning the 'Melvyl-T ropes' from Pam Daniels, Karen Coyle and Felicia Poe, preparing to answer Helpline and Feedback questions about the new Melvyl-T Prototype. In addition, she has done quality assurance (QA) testing for the new catalog. Jayne is also CDL's representative to the Systemwide Operations and Planning Advisory Group's (SOPAG) Library Privacy Liaison Group, an all campus group. She is currently working on Melvyl-T's privacy statement.
Jayne is, otherwise, pretty much "completely consumed" with the A & I journal database transition. Every job Jayne tackles, she does with great energy and attention to detail. Jayne will continue to respond with the same high level of advice and help that she gives catalog and database users via the CDL Helpline and CDL Feedback when the Melvyl-T production catalog is released. Jayne is wonderfully dramatic, and always brightens peoples' days with stories of her latest adventure or personal interaction. The CDL wouldn't have its unique character without Jayne Dickson on board.

Laine Farley
	Laine has had a long and intimate past with Melvyl. In pre-CDL times, when she originally came to the Division of Library Automation (DLA) from a reference/instruction position at UC Riverside, Laine worked on the user interface for legacy Melvyl. Among other things, she analyzed the indexes and display formats for non-book formats, plunging deep into Melvyl’s innards. She was one of the primary authors for the beloved Melvyl Reference Manual and the technical advisor to the Mynd of Melvyl.
Fast forward to the late 1990’s when a CAT/PE Task Force was put in place to examine what it would take to merge the Melvyl Catalog and Periodicals databases into one. Laine served on that committee, and also chaired the steering committee that wrote the RFP to identify possible vendors for the Melvyl catalog and A & I journal article databases. (There were no suitable takers on the latter, hence the current move to separate new vendors for those.) Laine then served on a committee that evaluated the RFP responses for the new catalog, and visited the possible vendors, and clients of the finalists. Laine also went on to chair the committees associated with the A & I journal databases transition, and at the same time continued to address policy issues and decisions related to Melvyl-T. She has worked with the non-UC contributors to Melvyl to ensure that their and UC’s needs are met with Melvyl-T. Laine insists that her heart is as an instruction and reference librarian, and she constantly bears the user in mind in her decision-making. Laine has an enormous bookmark collection, and you may not know that on all of her campus visits, Laine always goes to each campus’ libraries seeking out difficult to find books or articles on bookmarks. She knows those campus stacks intimately! (As well as special collections, the quality of photocopy machines, and of student help…) A native Texan, mild mannered Laine has been known to come up with some pretty spicy texanisms when her sillier side emerges.

Beverlee French
	Most of Beverlee French's contributions to the Melvyl Project came during the period in which she served as Interim University Librarian for the CDL. One of her major responsibilities then was communicating both in writing and in person to the University Librarians, the Faculty Senate and SLASIAC. Bev has also had important roles in negotiating with Ex Libris at various points in the process of building the catalog, and in providing direction on knotty policy issues (she continues to contribute to this latter area).
She was also involved in shepherding the hardware contract towards completion. Bev gained her tough negotiating skills in the four and a half years that she has been Director of Shared Content and Associate University Librarian for the CDL. (She was, by the way, the second person hired at the CDL after Richard Lucier.) Bev had illustrious careers at UCSD and UCD prior to coming to the CDL, and has wonderful stories about both these places, her colleagues there, and particularly about lady librarian bike trips. Bev has a great interest in bicycling and has found that the lessons she learned in bicycling have been transferable to the Melvyl-T project. She proffers this advice for both bike riding and working on such projects, gleaned in part from Frances Willard’s A Wheel within a Wheel; How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle (1895): Keep your eyes on the road ahead, keep on pedaling or you will fall off, and (Bev adds), check your rear view mirror from time to time. Yes, this is great advice for those of us working on Melvyl-T!

Cate Hutton
	Cate Hutton is the Director for Business Development at CDL and works on the business end of the Melvyl-T Project. Among other things, she worked on the Request for Proposal (RFP) that resulted in our purchasing the Ex Libris Aleph 500 software product. She has been involved in every step of the way in this project: purchasing of the software, hardware and disk storage space, staffing for the Melvyl transition, and the negotiation with the Data Center which hosts the hardware for Melvyl-T.
Cate makes sure we had and will continue to have the funding for this and other CDL projects -- she has projected out 10 years to plan for the Melvyl project's future technology replacement cycle, including software, hardware, support and all of the other things needed by the CDL that the rest of us don't have to think about. Cate attributes part of her success in this function to the wonderful support she receives from Ellen Dunn, the CDL's Manager for Business and Human Resources. Where did Cate learn these skills? Most of them she learned while serving as a Research Manager for Andersen Consulting, which despite its current infamy, was a true learning organization. There, she engaged in strategic planning and forecasting, for which she received a great deal of excellent in-house training. Cate has had an interesting career path, and seems to have condensed several lifetimes into a very short period of time. In addition to her employment at the CDL and Andersen Consulting, she has also worked on a doctorate in Tibetan Language and Literature at the University of Virginia, as a technical services librarian at a small social science research organization, as Researcher and Assistant Director for UC's University and External Relations, and been an ALA Library Fellow in Tibet. (Pop quiz: what other CDL staffer was part of the ALA Library Fellow Program?) Cate's passions are competitive horseback riding and travel in Tibet. Ask her about Happily Ever After, or anything about Tibet, and you're in for a real treat!

David Loy
	David Loy is a Senior Development Programmer in the Access Group at the CDL. His chief contribution to the Melvyl-T project is as a programmer for Request, or interlibrary services. The programming for Request, written in C, was embedded in the current Melvyl, and works differently in the new version. In Melvyl-T, it is written in JavaServer Pages (JSP). With a BA from the University of New Mexico in psychology and math, and an MLS from UC Berkeley, David took additional classes to become proficient in Java.
David has had an interesting career, working at such organizations as Autographics in Los Angeles, at ULAP (UC University-wide Library Automation Program) in its early years, at Dialog, at a start-up dot com, and now back again at UC. David is also the technical lead for the eScholarship program, and likes the challenge that working on these projects brings. When not programming, David loves movies and reading (a true librarian!), especially in the areas of general science, religion, biology, archeology, and anthropology.

Got a burning question? Tell us what topics you want to see covered here. CDL Feedback