Abstract: Smiraglia, Richard (1997). Describing Music Materials: A Manual for Descriptive Cataloging of Printed and Recorded Music..., 3rd ed.

Richard Smiraglia's manual is the long lost cataloging aid that I wished I had when I was learning AACR2 for the first time. Although the book is slightly dated (almost 10 years old now), and although some of the rules and LCRIs have changed since publication, Smiraglia's book is a great primer for learning about the steps involved in the process of describing an item and choosing access points for it. The book's strengths are in his ability to concisely provide lists of steps to take to accomplish a particular task. Take this list for example:

The steps in description of printed music are as follows:

1. Technical reading of the music, to determine the format and use of the item and to select the chief and prescribed sources of information;
2. Transcription of the title and statement of responsibility area from the chief source of information;
3. Consideration of transcription of data into the edition and material-specific details areas to indicate the presentation format of the music;
4. Transcription of the publication, distribution, etc., data, often found in several parts of the item;
5. Physical description of the music;
6. Transcription of series data;
7. Making notes as appropriate.

These helpful lists appear at the beginning of each chapter of the book, followed by detailed instructions and interpretations of each activity in the lists, followed by examples and a summary that concentrates the major points of the chapter into a few salient points to remember. This book was published before Cataloger's Desktop existed, and the tedious process of reading AACR2 for rules, then turning to the voluminous LCRI for interpretations of those rules made a book like Smiraglia's convienent for the cataloger, who could look in this source for both rules and LCRIs on most aspects of cataloging practice. While that type of convenience is superceded by links provided in Cataloger's Desktop, Describing Music Materials is still an important work for the beginning cataloger for providing a basic framework of cataloging practice, onto which the cataloger can build.

Abstract: Weitz, Jay (2004). Cataloger’s Judgment: Music Cataloging Questions and Answers from the Music OCLC Users Group Newsletter

Jay Weitz is one of the most respected catalogers for music, and has been responding to catalogers' questions in the Music OCLC Users Group (MOUG) Newsletter since 1989. Many have noted his ability to communicate ideas succinctly and perspicaciously, tackling complex cataloging conundra, while maintaining an approachable, friendly, often witty tone. The book is designed to provide the cataloger with answers to many of the most persistent dilemmas faced by catalogers of music. It is arranged into topics, with questions on these topics arranged in reverse chronological order. Topics include "When to input a new record", "Sound recordings", "Main and added entries", "Titles", "Notes", "Subject Access", etc., and are further divided into subcategories under each. The editor acknowledges that many references in the questions and answers refer to outdated rules, dead websites, old forms of headings, bib and authority records that have changed, and old practices that have been superceded, but they have been included to provide historical perspective. Often the counsel Weitz gives doesn't change much over time, but other times new practices or rules change his advice. The reverse chronological order of the questions helps the reader find the most current answer quickly.

I met Jay at the last MLA meeting in Memphis. Ralph Papakhian invited me to lunch, and I ate at some greasy diner with Ralph, Jay, Mark Scharff and a few others. He was very nice and unassuming. While at that conference, I sat through my fair share of dry, esoteric presentations on cataloging. It amazes me to read through some of his answers because they explain hard concepts so effortlessly, and never seem stodgy or overly intellectual. I definitely plan on using this and his other work, Music Coding and Tagging: MARC 21 Content Designation for Scores and Sound Recordings, 2nd ed., as ready references in my work as a cataloger.

Abstract: Tutorials for Cataloger's Desktop and Classification Web

I'm not one for tutorials, but I thought I would give these two a try to possibly discover some of the less-obvious features available in these two cataloging utilities. Cataloger's Desktop is an online computer database produced by the Library of Congress Cataloging Distribution Service. It includes most of the resources needed for cataloging most media types. It includes online (and searchable) versions of AACR2, LCRI, LC Subject Cataloging Manuals, NACO Participant's Manual, MARC Standards, and more, including links to other important cataloging references online. I was already fairly familiar with Desktop, having used it extensively throughout my internship, and in my other jobs in cataloging. The tutorial was most helpful in creating bookmarks and notes for future reference, and for tailoring the desktop to include only the resources I frequently need in the rather long list of resources available.

As for the Classification Web tutorial, I found that there are many features of this site that I imagine I will never need to use. The tutorials weren't really helpful because they laid the jargon on pretty thick, forcing the novice cataloger to chew on thick syntax just to understand what the classification web site was tell you it was capable of doing. For seasoned catalogers, this would be less of a problem, but for those who do not have as much exposure to the lingo, it has proved off-putting, at least in my case. I use Classification Web mainly as a means of understanding the LC Classification schedule for M, ML, and MT. I check the LCC in an existing bib record I find in OCLC against the schedule to make sure I want to class an item in the same place or not. The other features of this resource could be important to others, however.