Spring, Vol. 18, no. 1 (2004)

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From the Editors

Spring is here and it's time to take a break from our hectic schedules to visit Washington, D.C., and attend MLA where we can converse with our peers, refresh our knowledge, and bring some "spring" back to our workplace.  There are many interesting sessions to attend during the conference, surrounded by the beautiful sites and weather of Washington.  Don't forget to attend the open forum on the MLA dues increase, and the business meeting on Tuesday to vote on this proposal.  Also, remember to check MLANET frequently, as new items are added and information is shared.  There is a golden opportunity for someone to become the new MLANET editor.  Information on the responsibilities of this position can be found by clicking here: http://www.mlanet.org/tech_is/editor_search.html. 

Be sure to mark your conference agenda for the TSS meetings and sessions listed below. We hope to see all of you there (and we need volunteers to write about our sessions for the next newsletter!).  Buried deep within the annual report is a link to the new TSS recruiting brochure, put together by the Membership Committee (http://library.umsmed.edu/tss/TSSMLApdf.pdf).  Don't miss the opportunity to use this tool for recruiting  new members to our section.  We have always been a vital and active group of librarians and information professionals, so let's not miss the opportunities we have to advance or promote our Section.  Two other members have shared the mentoring experiences that helped shape their professional careers. Are there others out there who would like to share their experiences?

And for the hardcore catalogers among us, there is Leo's article on the new MeSH and it's impact on small automated catalogs.  Something we have all had to face, but are fearful of trying to do anything about!  He is to be commended for his ability to see this project to it's completion!

Connie Machado Head of Cataloging Rowland Medical Library University of Mississippi Medical Center cmachado@rowland.umsmed.edu

Jan Cox Head Librarian IU School of Dentistry Library Indianapolis, Indiana jcox2@iupui.edu

From the Chair                                                                                                         

Greetings to all TSS Members:

Washington in May should be beautiful and we have an exciting annual meeting planned.  Judy and the Program Committee have done an outstanding job with the program sessions, the “Morning of Innovation” sponsorship, and key speakers at our section business meeting on Sunday evening.  Pat Thibodeau, MLA’s current president will be joining Carla Funk, MLA’s Executive Director, to meet with our section at the business meeting.  More details are included in this issue.  It has been a pleasure working with all of the officers and committees this year.  The section annual report gives a brief summary of everyone’s efforts.  Judy, as incoming chair, would certainly like to hear from anyone who is interested in serving on a committee in the coming year.  In my opinion, the best aspect of getting involved in organizations like MLA, is meeting people.  Below are some highlights of other news from Headquarters.  “Happy Spring” and best wishes to all of you.  Hope to see many of you at MLA ’04.

    Virginia A. Lingle
    George T. Harrell Library - H127
    Penn State University College of Medicine
    Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
    val3@psu.edu or vlingle@psu.edu
    717-531-8581 (voice)
    717-531-8635 (fax)

News from Headquarters

 The MLA ’04 Website has been updated to reflect the most current information, including room locations and a link to an online Itinerary Builder. Also new: a PDF file of the 2004 National Program Committee’s Local Assistance Committee’s MLA ’04 Restaurant Guide.  Visit:  http://www.mlanet.org/am/am2004/. 

MLA DUES INCREASE PROPOSAL

A membership dues increase has been proposed by MLA, to be phased in over 2005-2006.  See complete information on MLANET:  http://www.mlanet.org/about/planning/dues_2005/index.html 

Members are invited to discuss the dues proposal on an MLANET forum beginning March 15, 2004. Also, the proposal will be the subject of an MLA ’04 Open Forum in Washington, DC, on Monday, May 24, 2004, at 2:30 p.m. We will conclude the discussion and vote at the business meeting on Tuesday, May 25, 2004, at 9:00 a.m.

* Dues increase about 10% in 2005 and 2006, rounded up to the nearest $5. † The annual salary amount to qualify for reduced dues will go up to $30,000, which will enable more members to qualify.

BRING PROMOTIONAL SAMPLES TO MLA ’04 SWAP AND SHOP 

While preparing to attend MLA '04, pack your promotional ideas for the fifth annual public relations Swap and Shop display in the MLA Connection Booth.  Designed to showcase creativity in library promotion, the booth will feature samples and giveaways of successful promotional materials. To participate, bring at least twenty-five samples. First, second, and third prize ribbons will be awarded in various categories. An overall Best in Show ribbon will also be awarded. Representatives from MLA's public relations consulting firm, PCI, will be in the booth to provide tips and advice on promoting your library, just in time for planning October's National Medical Librarians Month!  If you are bringing materials or would simply like to share information about your promotional event, please contact Tomi Gunn for a submission form at 312.419.9094 x11 or mlams@mlahq.org.

MLA SUPPORTS OPEN ACCESS INITIATIVES 

MLA has signed on to a statement by leading library associations and public interest advocacy organizations praising the Washington, DC Principles for Free Access to Science.  Developed and endorsed by a coalition of forty-eight nonprofit scientific, technical, and medical publishers, the principles encourage open access to research. A link to more information, including other signatories, and the statement itself is available at ttp://www.mlanet.org/government/info_access/. 

In February, MLA signed on to an Open Access Working Group Memorandum that served as evidence for the United Kingdom's Inquiry into Scientific Publishing. The memorandum was submitted to the UK House of Commons Science and Technology Committee by US library associations and the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition and addresses the issue of providing wide, affordable, and effective access to scientific research results. A link to the memorandum can be found at http://www.mlanet.org/government/info_access/. 

MLA SUPPORTS “CORNERSTONES FOR ELECTRONIC HEALTHCARE” CONFERENCE 

The Department of Health and Human Services is sponsoring the second National Health Information Infrastructure (NHII) conference, to be held July 20-23, 2004, in Washington, DC, at the Washington Convention Center.  This year’s conference, “NHII 04: Cornerstones for Electronic Healthcare,” will convene essential health care stakeholders to develop a consensus national action plan for moving NHII forward. MLA’s support of the meeting includes participating in a poster session on the first day. To learn more about the conference and to register, visit http://www.hsrnet.net/nhii/. 

HELP REFINE EVALUATION CRITERIA AND RATE HEALTH WEBSITES 

The Health Improvement Institute (HII), a charitable organization dedicated to improving the quality and productivity of America's health care, in collaboration with Consumer WebWatch, a three-year, grant-funded project of Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, seeks qualified individuals to participate in a project to refine evaluation criteria and rate health Websites. A description of the project is available on HII’s Website at http://www.hii.org/200.htm. Questions can be addressed to Peter G. Goldschmidt, president, Health Improvement Institute, at 301.320.0971.

TSS Program Update: 2004 Annual Conference, Washington, D.C.

Technical Services Section Organizational Meeting, Sunday, May 23, 8:30 a.m. 

For all officers and current committee chairs, to prepare for the section business meeting.  Please plan to meet by the main
doors entering into the Welcome Session on Sunday morning, May 23, at 8:30 a.m. We will find seating nearby to discuss details and any questions to prepare for the main business meeting that evening at 4:00 p.m.  I'll be at the doors with a sign for the Technical Services Section.  Please bring copies of your reports to share. Bring approximately 15 copies for the planning meeting on Tuesday and about 30 copies for the main business meeting on Sunday evening. 

Technical Services Section Business Meeting MLA ‘04, Sunday, May 23, 4 p.m. - Military Room

The TSS Annual Business Meeting will be held on Sunday evening, May 23 from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. (Business session #2) in the Military Room.  The meeting agenda will include:  section business - 30-40 minutes; update on NLM classification and other matters with Sharon R. Willis, Cataloging Section of NLM - approximately 30 minutes; Carla Funk session  - 15-20 minutes. 

Thanks to Judy Wilkinson, Carla Funk, the Executive Director of MLA, will be attending the Technical Services Section business meeting to briefly talk about any actions MLA is taking related to the new stresses in the serials industry … e.g. merging of vendors, publishers, chaos of tracking moving journals, wars over open access, new pricing models, journals that are partially open, standards, etc., dealing with the fallout from FAXON demise, and the like.  All members and interested parties are invited to attend. 

Technical Services Section Planning Meeting MLA ‘04, Tuesday, May 25, 7 a.m. - Independence Room

The TSS 2004/2005 Planning Meeting for both outgoing and incoming officers and committee chairs will be held on Tuesday morning, May 25 from 7:00-9:00 a.m. (Business session #5) in the Independence Room.  Breakfast will be available.  Bring your ideas and suggestions for the coming year. 

Please let me know if you will not be attending MLA and can send a report that I could share.

Opportunities for Professional Development

The purpose of this column is to list opportunities which may be of interest to our members.  While the column is not intended to be a comprehensive listing, the compiler/editor welcomes information on continuing education opportunities for possible inclusion in future editions of the column.  Although some of the courses listed below may indicate the awarding of continuing education units, only those specifically indicated as being MLA-approved have received prior approval from the Medical Library Association.

Spring ' 04 Learning Opportunities

Please help me improve this column! There are so many meetings, conferences, and workshops available, and I do not always know which ones to feature here. So, please send me any suggestions for events to include, and please also send me general feedback about this column. Is it helpful? How can I make it more helpful? You can reach me at the address/phone number/e-mail address listed below. Thanks!

We haven't heard from any of you with suggestions for these courses.  I get many of these unsolicited, and I would guess you do, too.  Please don't worry about duplicating offerings.  our committee members have found, to our mild surprise, that our combined lists had very few overlapping offerings.  And you may note that some of these are regional - if we're not in your region, we may never find out about your CE offerings.  So - we'd appreciate and enjoy your participation!  Thanks!

Your CE Committee,

Sue Trombley                        Lynne Bowman                        Kristin Sawyer
TSS CE Chair                        lbowman@email.uky.edu     ksawyer555@yahoo.com         
susant@ahsl.arizona.edu

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Calendar of Events

May ~ June ~ August
Planning Ahead
 

APRIL

New England Technical Services Librarians (NETSL), Spring 2004 Conference, April 30

"Keeping Up: What We Need to Know in Technical Services and Where We Can Learn It"

To be held at the Hogan Campus Center, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass.
Keynote speaker:  Michael Gorman, "Technical Services in the LIS Curriculum."
Also, Heidi Lee Hoerman, speaking on "Technical Services: the Possibilities of Distance Education."

Advance Registration is highly recommended:  http://www.nelib.org/files/netsl2004flyer.pdf
Addition information is found:  http://www.nelib.org/netsl/indexnew.html

May

MLA 2004,Washington, D.C., May 21-24, 2004, Washington Hilton and Towers

"Seize the Power"

Register before April 22 and save $60 !! Don't wait!! Register NOW!
Registration information:  http://www.mlanet.org/am/am2004/register/index.html
CE Offerings:  http://www.mlanet.org/am/am2004/ce/index.html

Ohio Valley Group of Technical Service Librarians, May 12-14, 2004, Galt House Hotel, Louisville, KY

"Technical Services 3D User Services: Making the Connection"

Keynote speaker:  Janet Swan Hill, other speakers Lee Van Orsdel and Glenn Patton.  Includes 12 mini-sessions on various aspects of technical services submitted by librarians from 6 states.

Registration fee:  $95.00, deadline is April 15, 2005
Information:  http://www.library.louisville.edu/OVGTSL2004/home.htm

American Society of Indexers Annual Conference, Old Town, Alexandria, VA, May 13-15, 2004, Hilton Hotel, King Street

Continuing education program.  Learn how the MARC data in your catalog interacts with external search engines, browser-like interfaces PAC enrichment services, and other forms of metadata.   Registration $40.00, or Student $20.00.
Additional information:  http://www.notsl.org

June

NASIG Annual Conference, Milwaukee, WI, June 17-20, 2004, Hilton Milwaukee City Center

"Great Visions on a Great Lake: Growth, Creativity and Collaboration"

August

IFLA Annual Conference, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug. 22-27, 2004

"Libraries: Tools for Education and Development"  Registration information: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla70/index.htm

PLANNING AHEAD

Minnesota Institute for Early Career Librarians, October 16-23, 2004, U. of Minn., Minneapolis, MN

The goal of this Institute is to better equip librarians from underrepresented groups, who are early in their careers, with the knowledge and skills to obtain the positions they seek and to succeed as professional librarians. At the conclusion of this Institute, they will have gained expertise with critical areas, a better understanding of themselves and behaviors in complex organizations, and a long-term peer group for mutual support and networking.

 NISO News & Standards

The standards currently being reviewed by the MLA Technical Standards Committee are: Information Services and use: Metrics & Statistics for Libraries and Information Providers—Data Dictionary (NISO Z39.7-200X Draft: http://www.niso.org/standards/balloting.html) and the Information and Documentation-International Standard Book Number (ISBN) (ISO/DIS 2108; http://www.niso.org/standards/resources/ISO_DIS_2108_(E).PDF). 

In January the ISO Working Group for the ISSN revision met and drew up four potential scenarios: (1) Scenario A – ISSN’s assigned to each different medium; (2) Scenario B – ISSNs assigned to a serial publication at the “title” level to cover all versions; (3) Scenario C – a “base ISSN” assigned to a serial publication at the title level with standardized suffixes employed to differentiate between the different formats; and (4) Scenario D – a “master ISSN” assigned to a serial publication at the title level and separate “secondary ISSNs” assigned to different media and/or format versions.  See also: http://www.niso.org/international/ISSN-revision.html. 

Also in January, a call for participants in one of three groups for the “Metasearch Initiative” was sent out:  Access Management, Collection Description, and Search/Retrieve Options. For detailed information see: http://www.niso.org/committees/MS_initiative.html. Published in January, was the NISO-sponsored INFO URI scheme, which is “a consistent and reliable way to represent and reference such standard identifiers as Dewey Decimal Classifications [PubMed identifiers, OCLC control numbers, etc.] on the Web so that these identifiers can be “read” and understood by Web applications.” (Source: NISO Voting Members email, Wednesday, January 14, 2004). More information concerning the INFO URI scheme can be found at: http://www.niso.org/news/releases/pr-NISO_URL.html.  Lastly in early January, an announcement was made concerning the formation of a registration authority to support the international standard text code, a unique numbering system for the identification of textual works such as an article, essay, novel, poem, screenplay, short story, etc. This code does not cover physical products such as an edition of a book or an article printed in a journal. 

APPLICATIONS 

NISO’s Spring Workshop to be held on May 20, 2004 entitled “Metadata Practices on the Cutting Edge” will feature theoretical and practical perspectives of metadata applications such as syndication, digital archiving, quality assurance, etc. The keynote speaker will be Lorcan Dempsey from OCLC with other speakers from the Nature Publishing Group (Howard Ratner), Library of Congress (Rebecca Guenther and Morgan Cundiff),  JSTOR (Evan Owens), CrossRef (Chuck Koscher), MIT Libraries (MacKenzie Smith), Johns Hopkins University Libraries (Nathan Robertson), University of North Texas (William Moen), Inera, Inc. (Bruce Rosenblum) and Ex Libris (Jenny Walker). More information can be found at http://www.niso.org/news/events_workshops/MD-2004_workshop.html.

February’s library literature featured several articles dealing with standards. Roy Tennant, expounded upon the value and importance of standards, when he wrote in Library Journal (February 15, 2004, p. 32, “The Expanding World of OAI”) the following:  

“I recently called standards the “engine of interoperability” (LJ 12/03, p. 33), but I could have also called them
the “building blocks of innovation.”  Standards, when done well, provide an important foundation on which new
innovations can be built. Within the digital library community this is most evident in the development of the Open
Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH).” 

Computers in Libraries’ February 2004 issue (volume 24, number 2) featured a Standards Primer on pages 18-31. The standards described were: ARK, DOI, METS, MODS, NCIP, OAI-PMH, ONIX, OPENURL, RDF, RSS, SHIBBOLETH, SRW and SRU.  Janet L. Balas, also writing in the February issue of Computers in Libraries (p. 35-37) talked about standards adding stability in a changing world.  Balas wrote, “…in order to have all the pieces of our world of digital information work together seamlessly, we need well-developed, extendable standards.” (p.37) Looking at old and new standards in the library profession, Andrew K. Pace (p. 38-39) wrote an article entitled, “Bearing with Old and New Standards”.  Likewise in the February 2004 issue of Computers in Libraries Pace observed that “Librarians preach and preach the benefits of standards, but sometimes we acquiesce; sometimes we create them in vacuum and hold on to them beyond reason; sometimes we look down our noses at them because no one invited us to the table to develop them.” (p. 38) In the April 2004 issue of American Libraries (volume 35, no. 4), Pace’s column entitled “Technically Speaking,” supported standards, the work of NISO, and wrote that “… interoperability [for example in reference linking] without standards is impossible.” 

OPPORTUNITIES 

We are always looking for people interested in reviewing standards.   Please contact Leopoldo Montoya lm46@EXCHANGE1.DREXEL.EDU, Chair, Technical Services Section Medical Library Association’s Standards Committee, if you are interested in doing this as part of your professional growth on a continuing basis. 

As always, Nadine Ellero welcomes any communication regarding standards that are being developed, up for review, etc.  Please contact Nadine@virginia.edu. 

Note: URLS are accurate as of article submission, April 8, 2004.

Nadine P. Ellero
Head of Intellectual Access
University of Virginia Health System
The Claude Moore Health Sciences Library
Nadine@virginia.edu

The Nominating Committee is pleased to announce the results of the 2004 Technical Services Section election. We are grateful to those who answered the call to run for office. The Section depends on its members for leadership, so when you are asked to serve next year, please say "Yes!"

On February 2, 2004, the Nominating Committee sent out the 2004 Technical Services Section Ballot.  Deadline for return was February 25, 2004. 

Incoming officers for 2004-2005:

Mailing labels were supplied from MLA Headquarters and the ballots were distributed to 136 members.  Thirty-four (34) were returned by fax or postmark by the deadline for a 25% return rate.  A secretary in the Harrassowitz Library Services Office received the faxes, opened the mail ballots, and tallied the votes. 

The Committee appreciates the members who agreed to run for office and serve, if elected.  The committee also thanks the members who took the time to vote. 

Pat Rodgers, Chair
Sandy Arnesen
Virginia Lingle

Goal 1:  Recruitment, Membership and Leadership in the Profession.  An Ad-Hoc Task Force on Mentoring, chaired by Maggie Wineburgh-Freed, was established this year to promote mentoring within the section.  Ying Jia also served on the Task Force.  Activities included an article and tip sheet on mentoring published in the section newsletter; and a message was submitted to the section discussion list seeking those with mentoring experiences on either side of the process. 

Jan Cox, chair of the Membership Committee, with Committee members Cecilia Botero, Mary Holcomb, Ying Jia, and Hanna Kwasik, worked to promote section membership.  A renewal reminder was sent in December by email and placed in the Winter issue of the section newsletter.  The membership count for the section, as of March 24, 2004, stands at 148 with 15 new members this year.  A new online membership brochure was developed; see it at http://library.umsmed.edu/tss/TSSMLApdf.pdf.  The layout was done by Kirk Smith with input from the committee.   

Goal 2:  Life Long Learning.  The Continuing Education Committee, chaired by Susan Trombley, promoted continuing education opportunities for technical services librarians through a regular column in the section newsletter listing meetings, workshops, and distance education opportunities around the world.  This past year, the committee which also included Lynne Bowman and Kristin Sawyer, instituted a "between-the-newsletters" CE opportunity e-mailing to the TSS discussion list. 

Goal 3:  Advocacy.  Each year, the Standards Committee of the section, does an excellent job of reviewing and giving input into technical standards that are developed for our profession.  Chaired by Leopoldo Montoya, with members Jan Cox, Janet Crum, and Malgorzata Fort, this year the committee continued that process with the study of nine standards: ANSI/NISO Z39.19-1993, Z39.20-1999, Z39.88-200X, Z39.71-1999; NISO ZXX-200X, Z39.7-200X; ISO/CD 19005; ISO 2108; and NISO Press’ “The RFP Writer’s Guide to Standards for Library Systems.” 

Goal 4:  Creating and Communicating our Knowledge.  The section maintains excellent communication tools with the section Web site, managed by Walter Morton; a section discussion list managed by Mary Buttner; and an online newsletter edited by Jan Cox and Connie Machado.  Three issues of the newsletter have been published this year. 

At the section business meeting in Washington, D. C., Sharon Willis from the Cataloging Section of the National Library of Medicine, was invited to speak on the updated NLM Classification and other issues related to technical services.  A brief session for networking and a discussion of “hot topics” was also planned for the business meeting. 

Goal 5:  Building a Network of Partners:  Judy Wilkerson and the Program Committee, comprised of Mary Hawks and Junie Janzen, finalized plans for the Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. in 2004.  At the meeting, the section is the primary sponsor of the session “Lighting the Path: Digital Repositories in the Real World.”  Co-sponsors are the Educational Media and Technologies Section and the Health Association Libraries Section.  The TSS is also a co-sponsor, with the Collection Development Section as the primary sponsor, of the program session “Cease the Power: Libraries and the Open Access Movement.”  A segment of the new program concept, “The Morning of Innovation,” is being co-sponsored by the Technical Services Section along with the Collection Development and Public Services Sections.  The segment is titled:  “Cease the Power:  Returning Scientific Publishing to the Academy.” 

Several members of the section also served as liaisons for MLA to other professional organizations:   Karleen Darr is the ALA Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access liaison until 2005; Maggie Wineburgh-Freed is the NASIG liaison; Nadine Ellero is the NISO liaison; and Pat Rodgers is the liaison to the ALA Publisher/Vendor-Library Relations Committee. 

Sandy Arnesen, the Past Chair and Bylaws Committee Chair reported that there were no changes with the Bylaws this year.  Maggie Wineburgh-Freed also served on the committee.  Mary Holcomb served as the Section Representative to Section Council and will be replaced by Connie Machado at the end of this business year.  Robert Pisciotta and Mary Holcomb served on the Ad Hoc Task Force for Research and are preparing a proposal for a revision to section CE support.  Pat Rodgers chaired the Nominating Committee with members, Sandy Arnesen and Virginia Lingle.  The newly elected officers for the coming year are:  Janice Cox, Chair-Elect and Valerie St. Pierre Gordon as Secretary-Treasurer, replacing Karleen Darr.  This year’s nominee to the election for the MLA Nominating Committee is Marianne Burke. 

This report is informational and requires no action by the Board of Directors. 

Sandy Arnesen                   Past Chair and Bylaws Chair
Mary Buttner                      Discussion List Manager
Jan Cox/Connie Machado    Newsletter Editors
Jan Cox                             Membership Chair
Karleen Darr                       Secretary/Treasurer
Mary Holcomb                    Section Council Representative
Connie Machado                 Section Council Representative Elect
Leopoldo Montoya              Standards Committee Chair
Walter Morton                    Web Site Editor
Bob Pisciotta                     Ad-Hoc Research Committee Chair
Pat Rodgers                       Nominating Committee Chair
Pat Rodgers                       Nominee to MLA Nominating Committee
Susan Trombley                  Continuing Education Chair
Judy Wilkerson                   Chair-Elect and Program Chair
Maggie Wineburgh-Freed     Ad-Hoc Mentoring Committee Chair
Virginia A. Lingle                 Chair  (submitted report)

More than a year ago I was privileged to conduct the reconstruction of MeSH subject cataloging at a very small behavioral health library in the East Coast.(2)  I had felt increasingly uncomfortable when watching the daily loads of NLM records into OCLC’s Worldcat, with subject fields reprocessed to imitate the chains of headings and subheadings (topical, geographic, form, language) to which medical catalogers became accustomed in recent decades.  Dealing with a mix of older and newer records in the database and having to instruct paraprofessionals about it all was not an easy matter. 

This new phenomenon was inadvertently caused in 1999 by NLM librarians when they implemented their Library’s new, integrated Voyager system, which allowed them to do subject cataloging in a new way that is more logically correct and congruent with their indexing practices.  The novelty first led to a wave of optimism. Later medical library technical services librarians started to discover that there were many unwanted consequences of the change and that their local library systems did not do well handling the recommended changes.  Soon representatives of many libraries told NLM that they needed to stay within the parameters of their old practices. A deal was made between NLM and OCLC to provide bibliographic records with subject fields reconstructed in the style of chains.  However, further practice at the various libraries and successive annual adaptations of the MeSH vocabulary and the rules for its usage by NLM specialists have definitively shown that things are not well with the new MeSH.  There is plenty of inconsistency among records with medical subject headings in the OCLC catalog.  The chains of the newest records include details that confuse paraprofessional staff and library catalog users.   Older records are sometimes wrongly updated in automated fashion. 

Given this alarming state of affairs, when completing the automation of the mentioned library catalog, I decided that I should try to fully adopt NLM’s new ideas about subject cataloging and completely revamp the subject file.  I thought if I did so, I might reach a conclusion as to whether it is or is not possible to use NLM’s new MeSH outside of NLM.  The good news is that I believe I fully succeeded.  The collection was small enough for me to be able to examine in detail all terminology used in the bibliographic records, to make each year all changes introduced by NLM with each edition of the print MeSH volumes, and to resolve any apparent absurdities in line with the architecture of the vocabulary.  I found no insuperable obstacles in the end.  I am also convinced now that I could make the new MeSH work in all the local systems with which I am familiar, if I were given a large amount of time, funds, and staff’s help.

In order to convey to my colleagues a feeling of how I did my conversion, I would summarize the procedure in the following steps:

1. I took out all geographical subdivisions of topics and added inserted 651 fields for every single one, while taking
   a quick look at the titles and descriptive notes of each bibliographic record.(3)
    
2. I eliminated all language subheadings included in the subject fields of all bibliographic records.
    

3. After becoming clear about the fact that only about one half of the old “form subheadings” had been reconstructed
   by NLM into the new category of  “genres,” while the other half of the old list remained the same (if newly called
   “publication types”) and could still be used in chains of headings and subheadings,  I deleted all terms in the genres
   list used earlier as subdivisions and I added instead 655 fields to the bibliographic records.
    

4. Next I attacked the vexing problem of the “age group” topical subheadings.  I started with “in pregnancy”,
   which requires particular care because of the existence of MeSH headings that include the term “Pregnancy”. 
   Then I deleted “in old age” subheadings while perusing the bibliographic records involved, in order to distinguish
   between “Aged” and “Aged, 80 and above”.  Then I tackled “in middle age” and “in adulthood” with minimal
   difficulty.  Then I labored with the many records that had “in infancy & childhood” as subheadings in some field
   and divided as best possible “Infant,” “Child, Preschool” and “Child.”(4)  I finished with the revision of the
   nightmarish “in adolescence” (when I was done and upset with the continuation of “Adolescence” in the 2002 MeSH,
   I received the good news that at last NLM had decided to replace “Adolescence” with “Adolescent” in 2003,
   to parallel linguistically “Infant,” “Child, Preschool,” “Child,” “Adult,” “Aged” and “Aged, 80 and over”).  That allowed
   me to make some changes in the subject analysis of a number of titles in order to take advantage of the new
   opportunities created by the acceptance of the term “Adolescent.”  At last one can parallel the use of
   “Adolescent,” “Adolescent Behavior,” “Adolescent Health Services,” “Adolescent Medicine,” “Adolescent
   Nutrition,” “Adolescent Psychology” or “Adolescent Psychiatry” to the same terms for “Infant” and “Child,”
   as in fact one needs to do with many texts that cover the range of ages from infancy to youth. (5)
    
5. Finally, I revised all subject headings used in the library’s card catalog from A to Z against the latest edition of
   the Annotated MeSH, and I made all the corrections needed to fully bring it up to date.  I repeated this early in
   2003, and I am due to do it again for 2004.

During the process described above, I made the key decision to refuse NLM’s alternative practice of using the age terms as “check tags,” paralleling their indexing practice.  I do see now those tags in many OCLC records, obviously the result of computerized batch conversions of “in infancy & childhood” to “infant” plus “child” (another problem raises its head here, as not all converted titles cover both ages),  “in adolescence” to “adolescent,” “in adulthood” to “adult”, “in middle age” to “middle aged”, and “in old age” to “aged” (same extra problem as for “in infancy & childhood” but in reverse).  I also see them missing in some other OCLC records, however.  My reason is simply, that tags do not work well in cataloging and that it is better to use instead the terms as regular subject headings.  I have consulted with a number of experienced searchers.  The unanimous reply is that they really do not bother using most tags in practice when doing subject searches.  I am not surprised because I think of tags as a device that would fit faceted classification and post coordinate subject analysis, an approach to cataloging of library materials that has never been applied in American library science systems. (6) 

III 

Now it is a year and a half since I did the conversion at the aforementioned small behavioral science library.  The “green” MeSH annual editions have been terminated in favor of continuously updated online access to the vocabulary via the MeSH Browser. Another annual set of changes has appeared in the “black and white” MeSH and clearly not much has changed concerning record distribution practices in conjunction with OCLC.  It seems that we have reached a new status quo whereupon NLM does its work for itself while the rest of the medical libraries (with or without Voyager local systems) are fetching for themselves as best as possible.  Many libraries apparently have decided not to edit subject fields in OCLC records any longer. 

Without the benefit of a survey, I am under the impression that many libraries now have a divided catalog as a result, one more time, with older records that contain chains of subject headings (including obsolete terminology) and subheadings in the traditional order and with the traditional capitalization, and newer records that contain topical subject headings (including new terminology) with topical subdivisions and check tags, and separate geographical subject headings and genres, in the new NLM style and with capitalized subheadings.(7)  When this impinges on the subject analysis of several editions of one same work, the catalog displays must look ugly no matter what local system is used.  And, in general, this and many other features of such divided catalogs must be having a negative impact on their confused (and probably silent) users. 

The worst aspect of this problem is that everybody is going to figure out that, if we already have lived a couple of years in these conditions, we well could continue to live with them indeterminately.  After all, the young patrons are not burning our libraries’ terminals.  Some people still borrow print and audiovisual materials without protesting and anyway the only concern seems to be more and more if we can offer free of charge an electronic version of everything. (8) 

But the fact is, I repeat, that we cannot explain to our paraprofessional colleagues why some OCLC records look so different from others.  Which way is right?  How can they learn to convert from chains of headings and subheadings to new NLM analysis, etc.?  Some of us think of addressing our administrators with an intelligent request for the conversion of all subject headings, but a prudential strand of our personalities tells us to forget about it before we make it out of our offices.  So we live in the peculiar circumstances that I know experientially that the conversion recommended by NLM a few years ago is in principle desirable and feasible, but in practice is forbidden for the larger libraries.  Personally I continue to work at two libraries, part time at one small and already converted and full time at another big one yet unconverted.  I have to shift my thinking about the structure of MeSH when I start the day at each.  But that is not all.   

IV

 As if what is discussed above was not enough trouble, NLM continues to surprise us all with specific novelties each year which appear to make no sense at all.  Small as each one appears to be, when cumulated they add up to other significant problems in the catalogs of each medical library that both staff and patrons use in their search for information.    

Let me mention a few examples concerning subheadings – and I hurry to add that I do not look for such difficulties with a malicious spirit when the new MeSH versions are published each year.  They just come our way as we struggle to practice consistently and when we least expect them:

1.        The form subheading ”case studies” (plural) was replaced first with the check tag “case report” (singular),
and this year it has become the publication type “case reports” (plural).

2.        “Dictionaries,” “directories” and “interviews” were kept as publication types, but for some unknown
reason they were changed to their singular forms “dictionary,” “directory” and “interview,” differently from
“encyclopedias,” “handbooks,” etc.  We would welcome the return of the plural form for much needed
consistency of terminology, even if it means more corrections of five years of bibliographic records.  A
number of well-known local systems do not retrieve the singular and the plural forms of nouns together.

3.        Several new genres added in 2003, like “Patient Information Handout” and “Textbook” (historical only)
are also in their singular forms, unfortunately.

4.        “Guidebooks” and “resource guides” (in the plural) are publication types, but “guideline” and “practice
guideline” (in the singular) are genres.  I think that most of us do not know their differences and how
to use them correctly. (9)

5.        “Annual reports” first appeared in 1999 as a new publication type, but since this year it is instead
a genre for historical materials and “materials cataloged by outside database producers” only.  Can
anybody figure what that is about?  And what are we supposed to do with the large quantity of annual
reports published by organizations in the present?  

In addition, there is the continuous cleaning of subject headings in honor of contemporary political correctness.  This started in 1998 with the replacement of terms like “Drugs” with “Pharmaceutical Preparations” (which makes no sense as long as other terms remain like “Drugs, Generic” or “Drugs, Non-Prescription” and “Drug Labeling,” “Drug Resistance,” etc.) and “Drug (later Substance) Addiction” and “Drug (later Substance) Dependence” with “Substance-Related Disorders” and other health euphemisms.  At first I thought, it must be that I am imagining bias interference.  But the changes have continued slowly and surely and by now I am sure that it is not just my imagination.   

As of this year we will replace not only “Blacks” and “Eskimos” with “African Americans” and “Inuits” respectively, but also “Whites” and “Caucasoid Race” with the phrase “European Continental Ancestry Group.”(10) Frankly, given the direction this game has taken at NLM, I can think myself of other outrageous political corrections to propose for other terms.  Is 80 years not discriminatory as to differentiating between “old” and “very old”?  Is “preschool” not a bias against children who will not attend school in certain cultural groups?  Is “allied health” not a demeaning way of referring to some professions in comparison to others?  How about replacing “Nursing Homes,”  “Poverty” or “Suicide, Attempted” with phrases like “Late Life Real Estate Organizations”, “Insufficient Income Syndrome”, or “Final Religious War Act?”  etc.  I am puzzled because I used to believe that MeSH represented a scientific thesaurus with the inevitable antiquated features of such academic tools that time always adds.  But it now appears that MeSH has to be first of all an up-to-date social vocabulary that each and every group of people will be comfortable with according to the latest and always changing political dictates, and only second a medical vocabulary for clinical practice. (11) 

V

In conclusion, I have addressed above a set of pending issues because it seems to me that if some of us do not raise our voices, we will continue to receive the same inadequate service from NLM and OCLC.  MeSH practice in cataloging as it now stands, is unsuccessful and we medical librarians need help with straightening out the reconstructed OCLC records we find in WorldCat every day, while we wait for conversion programs that will set every medical library on the same path as NLM.  We want all subdivisions of topical subject headings not capitalized, we want no check tags but real subject headings, we want all pre-coordinated subject headings eliminated, (12) we want no ideological interference in the name of political correctness, and we want all records that contain medical subject headings in WorldCat updated as soon as possible.  It is a great deal to ask, but it is urgent and necessary.  In 1999 Christa Hoffmann said in reply to my mentioned earlier article “we are getting there, but we are not quite there yet.”  I am wondering if, instead of “getting there,” we all have gotten lost.

NOTES: 

1. This is a continuation of my earlier article in this newsletter, available online at http://www.library.umc.edu/ttrends/tt-12-3.html.
 
2. The library of the Devereux Foundation in Villanova, Pennsylvania, which serves the entire organization across the U.S.  
    I thank its director, Joyce Matheson, for allowing me the time and the freedom to carry out the project.  Unfortunately
    the library’s online catalog is not available to the public in the Internet. 

3. In the “Application of MeSH for Medical Catalogers” of 1999, after stating that geographic subheadings were no longer
    used (p. 1), it said: “Libraries may not wish to add a geographical subheading to terms like Epidemiologic Methods” (p. 13)! 

4. The exact ages according to NLM are 0-1, 2-5 and 6-12 years respectively, while 13 to 18 years is Adolescent and
    19 to 44 is Adult, a fact that is not always realized by catalogers everywhere. 

5. Further good news was the recent announcement that as of 2004 we also have available the term “Middle Aged”, thus
    completing the set of nouns for persons of all ages across the life span.  One problem is that the term is not common
    in natural language English, but at least it parallels linguistically “Aged.” 

6. Since I ended with too many cases of the words “Child,” “Adolescent” and “Adult” as subject headings, I used discretion
    to change a number of them to more adept phrases like “Child Psychology,” “Child Psychiatry,” etc., according to the nature
    of each work. 

The poverty of the subject analysis in the new records provided by NLM is painfully obvious when using WorldCat routinely each   day.  My examples below are psychological or psychiatric because they were found at the Devereux Behavioral Health Library, but I see others in any field of medicine regularly.  When you get to a terminal, please check OCLC record nos. 49594373, 49512095 and 36597664.  The first is a entitled Handbook of serious emotional disturbances in children and adolescents, but the subject analysis tells us that it is about Affective Symptoms, Mentally Disabled Persons and Mentally Ill Persons (in adolescence and childhood).  The second book is similarly entitled Serious emotional disturbance in children and adolescents, but the subject analysis tells us that it is about Mood Disorders, Adolescents and Socioenvironmental Therapy (in childhood).  (Surprised?)  The third book is: The spirit catches you and you fall down : a Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures, but the subject analysis tells us it is first about Children (in Laos) and Epilepsy (in infancy), and then about the Attitude of Health Personnel (in Laos – wrong), Cross-Cultural Comparison (in Laos – wrong) and Emigration and Immigration (in Laos –wrong).  I had to redo the subject analysis of all three records, and the check tags did not help.

7.  I quote from an electronic message received from a colleague who works with a SIRSI catalog on November 1, 2002: 
    “When you search, say, ‘Heart Diseases’ … to actually do a search with subheadings you have to know them and
    add in your search string ‘in adolescence’ for the older way of cataloging, and for the new you have to do a coordinated
    search of ‘Heart Diseases’ and ‘Adolescence.’  And this is actually a poor example because ‘Adolescence’ has stayed
    the same …  However, with ‘in infancy & childhood’ we now have the ‘Infant’ and ‘Child’ terms and so that is a
    big searching problem.” 

8. We were promised by NLM in 2003 that the 2004 “black and white” MeSH would detail better cataloging practice
    at their library, but the new print MeSH has a very short (4 pages) section “Use of Medical Subject Headings for
    Cataloging,” as usual year after year.  

9. A similar obscurity at the level of headings is that “Animal” becomes “Animals” in 2004, and “Animals”
    becomes “Animal Population Groups” (paralleling the new human “Population Groups”!).  One wonders about
    this perversity with grammatical number. 

10. I am all for the elimination of “Race” in scientific vocabularies since Ruth Benedict demonstrated that it is not
    a viable concept.  But, similar to it's use of the term “Drugs,” the 2004 MeSH has deleted a number of subject
    headings that included the word “Race,” it preserves “Race Relations.” 

11. As a maximum example of oversights in the clinical instead of the political context, MeSH still fails to include
    Sildenefil citrate as a chemical, so that the mass of literature on Viagra can still be analyzed only by means
    of the heading “Impotence.”  What happened to the principle of literary warrant?  This is in the tradition of the
    incomprehensible selection of  many other chemicals in other areas of therapy, for example antidepressants
    and antipsychotics.  Some individual names do get added to MeSH while others equally well known and used do not. 

12. To be fair, NLM catalogers are doing much better recently as concerns the subject analysis of new editions
    of works that they cataloged earlier using pre-coordinated terms inappropriately.  See for example the two editions
    of Principles of molecular oncology in OCLC record nos. 41573048 and 52086182 respectively.          

 Leopoldo M. Montoya 
Librarian for Collections and Technical Services
Health Sciences Libraries, Drexel University

I've always felt that mentoring for librarianship is a vital of part of being a librarian.  Thanks to having mentors at an early age, I am now working as a medical cataloger.  My experience started in junior high school (now middle school) when the librarian allowed me to assist during my study hall.  She made the work interesting and fascinating to a young mind that loved to read.  While I was in high school, she passed away from cancer, but I've never forgotten her devotion to the students.  I then worked in the high school library with the same librarian that taught my father (yes, it's a small, small town). She retired, but we remained friends until her death, in her 90's!  She was always so proud I had chosen this profession, and couldn't wait to hear about what I was doing, about my children or anything else in a career that she loved for many, many years.  My 3rd mentor in high school was also the mother of one of my best friends.  We formed a library club, recruited people to work in the library, and enjoyed our times of not having to be quiet in study hall!  I obtained my masters to work at the university level, another high school co-worker is certified and works at a public library, and the librarian's daughter also has a masters and works at a state library.

During college it was only natural that my work study job was in the library, where I spent 4 years assisting the cataloger (who was close to retirement).  I actually handled reclassification conversion problems from Dewey to LC.  This became my love of cataloging for the challenges it presents, as well as the resolutions!  We were also one of the early users of OCLC.  Upon graduation from college, knowing I wanted to pursue a masters and not yet able to relocate, I continued in the undergraduate library as a library clerk.  My major was in voice, with a piano and library science minor (thus the graphic above, and yes I have red hair!), but I was content to work in the library.

Eleven years after obtaining my MLS, I secured my first real cataloging position at Xavier University in New Orleans.  But, as luck has it my husband gets transferred to Jackson, MS.  When trying to find employment here I first accepted a reference position in a law library (where I had some experience) but found it did not fulfill my need to catalog!  Opportunity knocked, and my current position became available at Rowland, where I've been ensconced in the same office for 14 years and still going strong!

Since I had not worked in the medical arena, and with encouragement from the Director, I joined HSOCLCUG and attended annual meetings, where I met peers that I still call upon today.  Many past presidents of HSOCLCUG have moved on to become officers in MLA/TSS.  So, it was a natural stepping stone to this venue.  I am thankful for all the TSS members I have called upon in the past and will in the future to ask questions and bounce information around.  Most medical catalogers are singular in their work environment and it is helpful to be able to contact someone else in the same situation and environment.

I've learned that we are mentors to those we don't even know, or are not aware are watching.  As a singer and cantor I often sing at churches, funerals or weddings.  Later I will learn that some child looks up to me for being up there and singing.  I'm certainly no Britney Spears, but experience, composure and self-assurance is often the key to making a lasting impression.

So, please, if asked, go out and let people know what an interesting, challenging and fun career librarianship can be, even in technical services.  I try to mentor to new professionals who may not have chosen the path they wish to take in their career, and turn them toward technical services.  Currently I try to attend Career Day at my son's high school and encourage those that love computers, reading, and writing to look into librarianship as a career.  I help them realize they will certainly not get through college without spending time in libraries!

Connie K. Machado
Assoc. Professor, Head of Cataloging
Rowland Medical Library, Univ. of Mississippi Medical Center

Mentoring has helped me these past 20 years, both as one being mentored (a mentee) and as a mentor (a counselor).  In ancient Greece, Mentor was Odysseus’ trusted counselor, under whose disguise Athena (also known as Minerva in the Roman pantheon) became the guardian and teacher of Telemachus, the son of Odysseus and Penelope.  I am happy to say that in my 20 years none of the drama of my mentoring has played out with the dramatic intensity of Odysseus, Penelope and Telemachus. 

When I began as a librarian, informal mentors helped me feel welcome at state, regional and national meetings. They also gave me ideas on library operations or answered the question I would have about a reference resource or a technical services process.  These informal mentors were truly counselors, helping me to understand the dynamic relationships among librarians and our work.  As good counselors, they encouraged my learning.  I think of a library director who encouraged my taking a week’s course at Oxford University on Medieval art and literature, tangentially related to my art collection development, my art department relationships, and my undergraduate major. 

I have tried to encourage librarians in similar ways.  I have served as both a formal and informal mentor to colleagues.  I have done my best to make my colleagues feel welcome at meetings by introducing them to others who know the field better than I and answering their questions or making suggestions when asked. 

Beyond the personal relationship of a formal mentoring program is the greater role mentors play in encouraging colleagues.  We mentor others when we write for publications, serve on committees, organize functions, participate on list discussions, or moderate a discussion at a meeting.  Often this part of mentoring is overlooked.  Whenever we can engage in a personal interaction with a colleague, we have a chance to be a mentor. 

In all of these interactions, it benefits us to keep a sense of humor, too.  We are all busy, have much going on in our lives, and have the stress of dealing with people in need.  I like to laugh during the mentoring relationship as we wonder, “Are you the mentor or the mentee? 

Thomas W. Hill
Self Regional Healthcare
thill@selfregional.org

Technical Trends is published electronically three times a year by the Technical Services Section, Medical Library Association (TSS/MLA).   Statements and positions expressed in the newsletter do not necessarily represent the official positions of the Section, the Section Board, or the co-editors.  Contributions from all Technical Services Section members are invited and encouraged. 

 Articles may be edited for brevity, clarity or style.  All copy should be submitted in Arial, 10 pt., via email to the co-editors:
Jan Cox                    Connie Machado
jcox2@iupui.edu        cmachado@rowland.umsmed.edu

The Technical Services Section/Medical Library Association website is located at http://www.library.umc.edu/tss/