Date:         Tue, 6 Sep 2005 08:33:33 -0400
Reply-To:     Subject Coordinates Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Sender:       Subject Coordinates Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
From:         Jimmie Lundgren <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: tools for coordinates entry in catalog records
Comments: To: Subject Coordinates Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Content-Type: text/plain

Hi Mary and All: 
	I would be very interested in hearing more about tools for
facilitating entry of coordinates in records. I am so far unable to find the
tool Mary mentioned at the MARC 21 website, but maybe I'm just missing it?  
	At my library before we migrated to a new system we had a tool given
to us by librarians from NIMA (before it became the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency or NGA) and then tweaked for our old NOTIS
system by our systems programmers. That tool allowed one to enter either the
034 or the 255 field coordinates and have the other supplied automatically.
We cataloged directly in our system and exported records to OCLC. 
	Since we migrated to a new online catalog system last year, we have
begun doing our original cataloging in OCLC and have not been able to use
that tool. Does anyone have a CONNEXION macro that does something like that?

	Also, I wanted to mention that while we don't do it for other
places, we have included coordinates in 034 fields for maps of counties in
our state based on a list we had when the map itself failed to provide
coordinates, so Mary is not alone in this practice. 
	On a different tangent, I was trying to visualize the results of
including coordinates as subject browse terms for non-map resources.
Sometimes I think too many hits can be as bad as no hits at all, so I was
wondering if anyone was thinking of using the subfields after the
coordinates? Possibly we could consider the subfields we use with place
subject fields already and also subfields for scale and year of situation
for maps? 
	I'm looking forward to your replies. Thanks and best regards,
Jimmie