Return to Field Report
9/14/95
MEMORANDUM
To: Subject Specialists
From: Mark Watson
Subject: Location & Call Numbers for Internet Resources
Since the last Collection Development Conference meeting when bibliographic control for Internet resources was discussed, staff in Technical Services have developed some ideas concerning the location and call numbers for these materials. In order to proceed with the cataloging of materials available over the Internet, we need to know what location to display and what call number, if any, to assign.
Location:
A number of location designations (e.g., REMOTE; INTERNET; WWW; TELNET; etc.) of up to ten characters were considered. The universal favorite in Technical Services is: INTERNET.
Call Numbers:
The discussion surrounding call numbers was less straightforward as the possibility of several different approaches was acknowledged:
- No call number:
An easily implemented option.
- Modified LC classification:
Resources could be given a class number with no cutter; this would facilitate call number browsing and put these resources on a virtual shelf-space next to other like items in the collection.
- Phrase call numbers:
- Use a phrase to direct patrons to see the "Mode of Access" note that contains the URL (e.g., See Mode of Access note for Internet address)
- Use a phrase to group all the Internet resources together and indicate that they are not available on-site (e.g., REMOTE RESOURCE)
- Use a phrase to indicate the protocol by which the resource can be retrieved (e.g., FTP; HTTP; GOPHER, etc.)
Observations on the various options:
- Supplying no call number would certainly be easy and might be least confusing; however, it offers no collocation by call number.
- LC classification would integrate these resources into the shelflist and enhance browsing by call number; however, call numberws are also used as shelf addresses and could mislead patrons (i.e., do most patrons understand the distinction between the class and the cutter number?).
- Phrases are attractive because they would not mislead patrons to the shelves, but they would provide a means by which to search and collect all the Internet resources very quickly; a common phrase would group the resources together; a phrase dependent on the type of resource would group "like" resources together.
Note:
The URL is stored in the 856 field. This field cannot function as both the call number and the "link," but it could be keyed into a 099 call number field. Given how the URLs are constructed, this would group resources together by retrieval protocol. URLs were not a popular choice for call numbers, however, as they can get very long and might suffer from truncation.
Collection Development Conference Decision:
Location: INTERNET
Call Number: See "Mode of Access" in NOTES above
(Return to Field Report) (Top)