Frequently asked questions about joining the NACO program
- Who can join NACO?
Any institution may join NACO. The NACO Program is comprised of
libraries of various sizes, academic, public, special, and vendors. There are
NACO libraries from throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Latin
America, New Zealand, South Africa, and Asia.
Return to questions
- May individuals join NACO?
No, joining NACO is an institutional commitment.
Joining the PCC involves an initial investment of time in training
costs. (click here to see the NACO
training outline) An institutional commitment also assures
the continuity of participation in NACO long after an individual
cataloger has moved on.
- Are commercial agencies (i.e., vendors that
are for-profit agencies that provide cataloging services/products
to libraries) eligible to join NACO?
Yes, the PCC has approved applications from commercial
agencies to join NACO.
- When accepted into NACO will
commercial institutions also receive the free documentation?
No. Commercial institutions must purchase copies
of the required documentation from CDS.
- What does it cost to join NACO?
There is no cost per se to join. However, besides
the investment of time for staff to be trained, institutions
are expected to pay for the food, travel, and lodging for a NACO
trainer to come to their institution. The PCC has a cadre of regional trainers who are
available to provide this training so that travel costs, etc.
can be held to a reasonable amount. A prospective NACO library
may request a cost estimate for the travel expenses of a trainer
in the early stages of planning.
Return to questions
- Is there a schedule for NACO training
classes?
No, there are no regularly scheduled NACO classes.
NACO training is scheduled "on demand" for new participating
libraries. Once the PCC application is approved, the
PCC Secretariat at LC will assess the training schedule, the
availability of a trainer, and then contact the new participant
to schedule the training.
- Is sending a staff member or two to
the Library of Congress for training an option?
Yes it is. To maximize training resources at LC a
NACO workshop may be scheduled for a group of institutions
if each instituiton is sending only one or two staff members.
Note that each institution sending NACO trainees is responsible
for the travel and lodging expenses of its own staff.
- How many staff members can be trained
at the same time for NACO?
Twelve staff members is the optimum size of a class.
However, special arrangements or exceptions can be made on
a case by case basis. Please contact the
PCC Secretariat to discuss these special arrangements.
Return to questions
- Is it required that my library use
a bibliographic utility to participate in NACO?
At this time NACO participants belong to OCLC
in order to contribute authorities online.
A PCC Working Group is investigating other options.
Return to questions
- Will we need a password to create
new records?
OCLC requires separate authorizations
to contribute authorities to the NAF (OCLC members may contact
Luanne Goodson at (800) 848-5878, ext. 5274) after their PCC application has been accepted and training
arrangements are under way.
- Will my authority records be identified
by a MARC code or utility symbol?
Authority records use MARC organization codes in
the 040 field in order to identify the contributing institution.
If your organization does not have such a code, it
will be necessary to receive before the NACO Workshop.
This is best done by using the web form available on the MARC
Home Page.
- Is there a contract with the PCC
involved?
No, there is no formal contract with the PCC for
NACO participation. However, part of the application process
for NACO training or retraining is a commitment from the director
of the new institution to contribute the appropriate minimum
number of records and to maintain continuity in the institution's
NACO leadership.
Return to questions
- Is a NACO library contractually
bound to stay in the PCC or is it possible to withdraw?
No, there is no contractual bond, but we think that
the cooperative spirit that sparked the interest in joining
the PCC in the first place will win the day. Once a library
has been trained, the participant is expected to contribute
records and work towards independence within a one-year provisional
period. However, if circumstances prevent a library from reaching
independence or contributing sufficient records to the program,
the Cooperative Cataloging Team is available to help that library
work out a solution so the cooperative cataloging community
does not lose a valuable partner.
Return to questions
- Is there a minimum number of headings
we must submit annually or monthly?
In FY2003, the PCC adopted annual minimum contribution
standards for two reasons:
- in order to justify the cost of training, documentation,
and program support by both LC and the NACO library;
- and to maintain expertise and keep up with changes
in cataloging.
Large libraries (all ARL and national libraries) must contribute at least
200 new or modified name and series authority records. Small libraries
(state, public, college, special libraries, and those with specialized
collections) are required to contribute at least 100 new or modified name
and series records.
Return to questions
- Traditionally it is said that authority
work is the most costly aspect of cataloging. What additional
research is required before contributing headings (e.g. calling
publishers, consulting biographical sources)?
Research is required only in the event of a conflict
(e.g., you are establishing a heading and you discover that
another heading with the exact same elements already exists
in the NAF) and for the few cases specified in AACR2 and
the LCRIs (e.g., geographic names per 23.4, authors who
work in a nonverbal context (cf. LCRI22.1B), etc.)
- What are the procedures for feedback
from LC/NACO on our performance in the program?
This is discussed in detail on the last day of NACO
training. Generally, for the first 3-6 months after a
library's training, the newly trained library submits
newly created or newly modified records to their NACO trainer/reviewer
and that person provides feedback. The ultimate goal is to
make the library independent for NACO record contribution
within the one-year probationary period for PCC membership.
Return to questions
- Will we be penalized for mistakes
and for duplicates?
No, during the training phase/probationary period,
all errors in authority record will be reported to a library
for correction. During the "formal" quality review phase only
errors in access points (1XX, 4XX, 5XX) and incorrect transcription
of names in the 670 are noted. Once independent status is
achieved, contributions fall under the provisions of the
low production or quality seciont of the PCC Governance
Document.
Return to questions
- Will headings from local catalogs
with many cross-references be accepted for NACO contribution?
A participant may contribute headings with as many
cross-references as deemed necessary as long as they are allowed
by AACR, the LCRIs, and do not create a conflict situation
(due to normalization).
Return to questions
- Does the NACO workshop cover series
and music uniform title authority records contributions?
Series are excluded from the basic workshop,
because the creation of series authority records is complex and often
requires expertise in the creation of corporate names. However, there are
regularly scheduled series institutes
held at LC and other venues that all independent NACO contributors are
encouraged to attend.
Review and training for the creation of authority records of
music uniform titles are handled by the Music Sections of LC and consequently are not covered as part of the basic NACO
workshop. NACO participants who wish to contribute in this area
will need to discuss what options/alternatives are available
with the PCC Secretariat and/or their trainer before the NACO Workshop.
Please note that personal and corporate names of musicians, musical
groups, etc. are covered in the NACO workshop and all NACO participants
may contribute these without any additional training or review.
Return to questions
- May we also submit headings for
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean names (CJK)? If so, are there
any differences in procedure?
Yes, you may submit these headings, but remember
you are not obligated to do so. The procedure is the same
as for other headings except that you may be asked to provide
title page surrogates to your reviewer for these and other
non- Roman or non-cyrillic languages. If the library creates
non-Roman headings infrequently, they will remain under review
for these headings indefinitely. If a library wishes to contribute
non-Roman headings regularly in large quantities, they may
ask to be reviewed with the goal of NACO independence for specified
languages, usually after they have achieved general NACO independent
status.
- We do our CJK cataloging on
OCLC--are headings generated from that cataloging submitted through
OCLC?
You may submit CJK headings through OCLC. The NACO training is the same for both, but remember
that you will then need to contact OCLC for authorizations
and utility training. You should also let your NACO liaison
at LC and the PCC Secretariat know so that your MARC organization code can be added to the statistical
table to enable statistical reporting.
Return to questions
- Will LC accept alternative romanization
schemes for cross- references?
Yes, as long as they do not create a conflict situation
with an existing heading or references.
- What reports does LC provide to
the NACO libraries?
Statistics showing the contributions of all institutions
in the PCC programs (NACO, BIBCO, and SACO) are compiled twice
during the LC fiscal year. Midyear statistics cover October
1 to March 30 of the following calendar year. Annual statistics
cover October 1 to September 30th of the following year. In
addition, monthly NACO contributions are posted online alphabetically
by MARC organization code so that libraries can monitor their
own contributions throughout the year. These statistical reports
are displayed online through the PCC
homepage.
- Is there a NACO listserv, newsletter
or meeting at ALA?
There is a regularly scheduled PCC Participants' Meeting held
at ALA Midwinter and Annual, usually on Sunday evenings. There is also the
PCCLIST listserv.
We use the PCCLIST, LCCN, and the PCC Website to post notices of general
interest and to distribute documentation.
|
The
Library of Congress
>> Cataloging >> PCC
Home 
Top
of Page