MARC: Is Playaway a Sound Recording or an Electronic Resource?

Do you speak Cataloguish?  Even in Libraryland, not everyone does.  I’m far from fluent myself, but I do have an MLIS degree, and I can speak it a little.  When questions about MARC records and cataloging practices come up at Playaway, they usually find their way to me.

In early 2007, the Cataloging Policy Committee (CAPC) of the organization of OnLine Audiovisual Catalogers (OLAC), working in conjunction with the Descriptive Cataloging Subcommittee of the Bibliographic Control Committee of the Music Library Association, formed the “Joint Task Force on Best Practice Guidelines for Cataloging Playaways.”  By the middle of 2007, the group had issued its guidelines and recommended practices.  These are available online at the OLAC website.

At the time, we at Playaway were overjoyed that our preloaded player had become a significant enough part of the library landscape to warrant serious cataloging attention.  Since then, however, it’s become clear that one of the group’s recommendations is causing confusion for library staff and patrons.

By the slimmest of margins, the task group decided to recommend that the GMD or “General Materials Designation” (the MARC 245 field, sub-field “h”) for audiobooks on Playaway should be “electronic resource” rather than “non-musical sound recording” (NSR).  Although I’ve talked to people who understand the reasoning that went into the decision, sooner or later, everyone I’ve spoken with admits that the decision doesn’t pass the common-sense test.

The problem, it seems, was that the task group consisted entirely of academic librarians, most of whom were not attuned to the world of audiobooks in public libraries.  Rather than thinking in terms of Playaway as a physical audio format that patrons and staff equate with other physical formats such as CD and cassette, the task group seems to have been trying to look ahead to the next generation of cataloguing standards, RDA – the supposed successor to AACR2, the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules.    

RDA – now there’s a complicated dialect of Cataloguish that I don’t speak very well, but then very few people do.   RDA is a much-delayed, much-debated standards framework that seeks to overcome the limitations of current MARC standards as embodied in AACR2.  But the earliest date at which anyone anticipates adoption of the standards to begin is late in 2010. 

In the meantime – and probably for a long time after 2010 – the problem with the GMD decision is significant.

Playaways are most often found in public libraries.  Public library patrons and staff (not all of whom are trained cataloguers by any means) are accustomed to seeing audiobooks on cassette and CD listed as non-musical sound recordings.   In fact, many Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs) display a special symbol that distinguishes audiobooks from their printed counterparts based on the NSR designation.  Downloadable audiobooks usually show up as electronic resources and may have a different symbol. 

Library patrons looking for audiobooks usually are not format-agnostic.  Those patrons who are interested in and comfortable with downloadable audiobooks will look for that format specifically and are accustomed to seeing them listed as “electronic resources.”  To the lay person, “electronic resource” most commonly means ONLINE resource.   If a patron isn’t interested in downloads, very often he or she will simply look for the symbol associated with the NSR designation. 

Take a look at this screenshot from the OPAC of the Rocky River, Ohio Public Library (they use Sirsi/Dynix’s iBistro software).  The first title in the list is actually on Playaway, but looking at it in this view, all that’s indicated is that it’s an electronic resource.  If you were a patron trying to get a copy of The Age of Innocence on a physical format, would this tell you enough to make you put a hold on this item, or would you assume it was a downloadable title and keep looking?

Playaway’s MARC records are produced to the highest standard, and naturally enough, we chose to follow the OLAC guidelines in full.  Under the guidelines, libraries can of course make whatever local changes to the record they like.  So for those libraries that prefer to use NSR, Playaway can make that change to the records we provide.  

But we’re getting so many questions and complaints on this issue, that I’m beginning to think that the DEFAULT for our records should be NSR.  

The bigger problem, however, is that currently only a minority of Playaway library customers get their records straight from us.   Far more get them from OCLC.   These are the same records (created by Playaway and uploaded to OCLC as a “contributing vendor”), but as a matter of policy, OCLC expects us to fully follow the OLAC guidelines. 

Yes, local libraries can make whatever changes they see fit, but not every library has the staff resources or expertise to make this happen.   And yes there are other entries in other fields in the record  that ndicate that a Playaway title is a non-musical recording, but again libraries often lack the expertise necessary to make custom changes to the way MARC fields are mapped to their OPAC listings.

As I see it, either OLAC needs to change the guidelines or OCLC needs to be convinced to accept our records with the NSR designation.  

At ALA Midwinter, I met with task group chair Heidi Frank of NYU and task group member Bill Anderson of the University of Connecticut at Storrs.  From talking with them, it’s clear to me that everyone on the group had the best of intentions, but in retrospect they may have made the wrong decision.  Like all good catalogers, the members of the Task Group aren’t interested in imposing rules that don’t work.  Heidi and Bill heard me out most respectfully, and they even agreed to re-open the issue with CAPC.  This could however be a lengthy process.   In the meantime Playaway will offer our library customers the ability to customize GMD to meet their needs (at no cost), and I will be investigating the possibility of submitting records to OCLC with the NSR rather than the “electronic resource” designation.

I’m very interested in hearing your thoughts on this.  Please feel free to post a comment here.