DCRB Core Task Group

Task Group Members: Jain Fletcher (UCLA), Chair; Eric Holzenberg (Grolier Club), Bob Maxwell (Brigham Young University), Jerry Wager (Library of Congress); Bill Garrison, PCC Standards Committee liaison (University of Colorado, Boulder)

Chronological report of Task Group activity:
At a meeting of the ACRL, Rare Books and Manuscripts Section, Bibliographic Standards Committee (BSC) at the 1996 ALA Annual, Jain Fletcher proposed that the development of a core record standard for rare books be considered by its members. A more far-reaching hope, that this venture could eventually lead to the standard's approval by the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC), was also expressed. The main reasons for making this proposal were:

1. that a core standard could be a viable and more widely recognized alternative to the minimal level standards found in Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Books (DCRB), Appendix D;
2. that a core level would be another option for institutions seeking achievable cataloging solutions for large backlogs of older or rare books;
3. that core standard would create a national database of records that could be used dependably by copy catalogers.

BSC agreed that Jain should take the period between ALA meetings to investigate the possibility and its ramifications, then report back to the BSC for further direction. At the same ALA meeting, various PCC committee members heard of this impending investigation and were sufficiently interested to begin discussion of a more formal charge. In the next few months, Willy Cromwell- Kessler, the Chair of the PCC Standards Committee, worked closely with Jain and Eric Holzenberg (Chair of the BSC) in drafting a charge and in putting together the members of the task group.

By ALA Mid-Winter in January 1997, Jain Fletcher was able to report to the BSC that a charge had been drafted by the Chair of the PCC Standards Committee and that the Task Group had been formed, comprised mostly of RBMS members.

The Task Group spent the next few months trading ideas over e-mail, in preparation for its first full-fledged meeting at the 1997 ALA Annual. When it met, the Group hoped to identify potential obstacles to agreement in order to begin work on their resolution.

During their first meeting at the 1997 ALA Annual, the Group found itself to be in basic agreement that the existing Books Core was mostly sufficient for adoption. As they saw it, the real work would be in reconciling the primary difference between the two, which was that, instead of following AACR2 rules, the "rare book core standard" would comply with DCRB rules. The group identified a number of areas where the difference in these rules might call for divergence between the Books Core and the rare book core standard. Of these, two were expected to cause much discussion on the road to acceptance. One of these was the decision to attempt to put forth a more simple approach to the I/J and U/V transcription rules found in DCRB, on the premise that this could considerably shorten the cataloging time needed for rare material. The other was the decision to try to put through a PCC standard in which a call number was not mandatory. Each member went home with assignments to complete, with a view towards assembling a first draft of this standard. As to the Group's commitment to disseminate viable drafts to the rare book community for comment, Bob Maxwell volunteered, in his capacity as incoming Chair of the BSC, to be the focal point for the wider discussion on this issue. In addition, he volunteered his Website as a location for the draft and himself for taking responsibility for updating its various manifestations. The Task Group's progress at this meeting was reported at the BSC meeting the next day. One issue the Task Group had discussed, but not resolved, was the name of the proposed standard. Discussion at the BSC meeting on this topic lead the Group to finalize its name as DCRB Core Standard.

The period between the 1997 ALA Annual and 1998 ALA Mid- Winter was especially busy. By mid-November 1997, the draft was in sufficiently good form to put on the Website. Its arrival was announced on ExLibris and on Autocat and welcomed comment from all interested parties. The issue of the I/J and U/V transcription did indeed engender much discussion from the rare book community, most of which was in opposition to the Task Group's proposal for simplification. The numerous reasons given for disagreeing with the proposed transcription change were so articulate and well-reasoned that the Task Group essentially dropped it from further consideration (although the draft core did not reflect this for a while longer). Conversely, the concept of not requiring call numbers caused none of the anticipated consternation and instead, was greeted with widespread approval by the community.

At the next ALA (1998 Mid-Winter), an extra BSC-sponsored meeting was convened. This was intended to draw a larger audience than the usual BSC meetings, being a hearing on two impending issues with an expected impact beyond cataloging. One of the issues was the new DCRB Core Standard. In preparation for this hearing, Jain Fletcher prepared a small array of cataloging examples positing various conditions where full or core cataloging might be applied. In this demonstration of the differences which the levels of cataloging obtained, the Group hoped to elicit further discussion about remaining issues of concern to the community. The meeting was gratifyingly well-attended and there was certainly some good discussion there, but not as much as expected. This could have been taken as a sign of decisive approval for the core, but the Group did not want to presume such a thing. Instead, in case the lack of discussion was a result of the need for more time to study the examples, the Group resolved to allow for more time by loading the examples onto the Website soon after this meeting.

Logistics of loading the examples were more difficult than anticipated, but this was finally accomplished about three months prior to the next ALA. By this time, the PCC Standards Committee had begun discussion of the DCRB Core draft and conveyed some of its ideas for changes, mostly for purposes of clarification and presentation. After these changes were made, the Committee gave its approval.

At the 1998 ALA Annual, the BSC was able to express some of the few remaining concerns about the core draft. Working closely with Bill Garrison, the PCC liaison, the Task Group was able to address the BSC's concerns without compromising the PCC's approval.

Components of the DCRB Core Standard:
In an unprecedented decision by a PCC Core Task Group, the DCRB Core Standard was designed as a companion piece--or supplement--to the Core Bibliographic Record for Books (called here the "Books Core"). This was not an immediately apparent option, but it became more evident as an option as work on the standard progressed. It evolved from the Group's early determination that the Books Core was viable as the basis of DCRB Core, with the exception of the difference in rules to be followed. Working from that premise, the Group identified relatively few areas of divergence between the two core standards. From there, it made sense to give prominence to those differences by keeping the standards separate. This decision has the practical outcome of forestalling a reexamination of the DCRB Core Standard every time there is a change in the Books Core standard. It also has the long-term value of emphasizing the compatibility between the two standards, with its essential requirement that anyone who intends to apply the DCRB Core must also be wholly cognizant of the Books Core.

The Introduction to the DCRB Core Standard serves to explain that the two standards are intended to operate together. It also gives the extent of the material to be covered by DCRB Core. In addition, it briefly discusses where cataloger's judgment comes into play in the application of the various options provided in DCRB. A list of these optional areas has been compiled and is available for perusal as another aspect of the information provided in the Introduction. Another useful adjunct to the standard is the examples page, the set of full and core examples showing how the core standard might be applied in various instances.

Outstanding issues:
The most obvious outstanding issue is for the DCRB Core Standard to receive official approval from the PCC Standards Committee. Following that, the DCRB Core Standard, along with its Introduction, will need to be moved from its current location at http://www.lib.byu.edu/~catalog/people/rlm/bsc/core.htm to the PCC Website.

Once these two steps take place, the Task Group recommends that the PCC Standards site provide links to the site where the "list of optional areas" and the "Examples" are located. The latter two documents will be continue to be maintained (into the foreseeable future) by Bob Maxwell.

Finally, the Task Group strongly recommends that a phrase be added to the Books Core Standard for catalogers of books printed before 1800, directing them to the Introduction of the DCRB Core for guidance on how to proceed.

It should probably be noted here that the RBMS Bibliographic Standards Committee has recently initiated a revision of the DCRB. As that revision reaches its conclusion, it is possible that another review of the DCRB Core will be necessary. It is furthermore worth noting that the current expectation for the DCRB revision is that the DCRB Core will be included in that publication, thus not only incorporating it into the PCC standards, but into the rare community's standards as well.

Appreciation:
As the preceding report shows, the work of the Task Group could never have been accomplished without the excellent input and cooperation of the rare book community. In fact, it could never have been done at all if the DCRB rules had not been in existence in the first place. The rare book community deserves high praise for having such active, thoughtful and articulate colleagues.