Must See Sites for Technical Services
This list was compiled for a workshop hosted by WMRLS on December 4th, 2008. The workshop was conceived by Dodie Gaudet (who also provided the foundation for this list). Please feel free to add to the list by leaving a comment here or contributing to the version on Delicious.
The Basics
ABLE (Alternative Basic Library Education)
A collection of excellent web based training modules on the basics of technical services, collection development, and reference work.
Free access to American Libraries.
Collection of free course materials for technical services classes.
Internet Library for Librarians
One of the best links pages for librarians.
Library of Congress Authorities
Search engine for the LoC’s authority records.
Library of Congress: Cataloging and Acquisitions
Homepage of the recently merged cataloging and acquisitions department at the LoC.
Library of Congress Online Catalogs
‘Nuff Said.
Web 2.0 entry into the library world, as well as the source for a great deal of data entering catalogs.
OCLC: WorldCat and Cataloging Documentation
OCLC’s cataloging guides.
A free online preservation course produced by the Northeast Document Conservation Center.
A collection of easy to follow cheat sheets for special cataloging projects, including scores, pamphlets and migrations.
Professional Development resources funded by the Gates Foundation
MARC
Comprehensive guide to MARC21
The LoC’s guide to MARC
OCLC: Bibliographic Formats and Standards
The OCLC’s comprehensive guide to MARC
A condensed guide to the most frequently used MARC fields.
Understanding MARC Authority Records
The LOC’s brief guide to authority records
Item Types
Comics: Grand Comicbook Database
A stalled attempt to gather bibliographic data for all published comics and graphic novels.
Electronic Resources: DCMI (Dublin Core Metadata Initiative)
Main page for Dublin Core information.
Electronic Resources: Dublin Core Best Practices
Condensed guide to Dublin Core
Government Documents: ALA/GODORT Toolbox
Guide to cataloging state, federal, and international government documents.
Maps: WAML Map Librarian’s Toolbox
One stop site for Map cataloging resources.
All you could possibly need to know about movies.
All you need to know about music.
Serials: SCCTP Workshop Materials
Serials cataloging training materials
All you need to know about television.
The Future
Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control
The homepage of the LoC sponsored group behind On the Record, a must read on RDA.
Barbara Tillett’s brief synopsis of FRBR
Joint Steering Committee for the Development of RDA
Home for the development of RDA
A summary of the controversy to date regarding the new OCLC record use policy, via Code4lib.
Build the Open Shelves Classification
Get Involved
Home Page of the ALA’s Technical Services Section
Homepage for the IFLA Cataloguing Section
MLA Technical Services Section
Homepage of the MLA’s Technical Services Section
Home page of the Technical Services section of NELA
Program for Cooperative Cataloging
Homepage of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging
Mailing Lists/Blogs/Forums
The archives of the Autocat mailing list, plus the link for joining the list, which should be mandatory for all catalogers.
Heidi Hoerman’s blog on the future of the profession.
Library E-Mail Lists and Newsgroups
Collection of cataloging listservs.
Forum for Librarians and library supporters on LibraryThing.
An aggregater of cataloging blogs.
Tools
Collection of printable CD and DVD covers.
A somewhat decent auto translator that can understand 13 different languages.
See how your site looks across browsers and operating systems.
How to form cutter numbers
Free program for generating Cutter numbers
Receive an e-mail when a dead website is fixed.
Learn if a website is really down or if the problem is just with your computer.
Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
Number one source of geographical information. Use it to find geostationary coordinates for metadata.
Change 10 digits ISBNs to 13 digit ones and vice versa.
Table that maps DDC to LCC
Table mapping LCC to DDC
Use this tool to discover the distribution of call numbers assigned to an item by OCLC member libraries.
Crossword Puzzle solver, great for hard to read handwriting.
Convert numbers to Roman Numerals and vice-versa.
A hassle-free way to remote access a computer.
Outside the Field
The #1 blog on the internets. For our purposes it has a large concentration on publishing, copyright, and freedom of speech issues.
Wired magazine’s blog concerning privacy and security matters.
Just For Fun
How to use LCSH for insults.
A fun photo pool of unusual object discovered in books, to which you can contribute your own findings.
The one webcomic you should read daily.
November 11, 2008 at 12:00 pm
[...] got the first draft of my tech services links page up and running. I’ll be fiddling with it for a while still, and adding annotations [...]