STANDING COMMITTEE ON AUTOMATION

ANNUAL REPORT
OCT. 2005-SEPT. 2006

The committee had two task groups at work during the year: the Monographic Aggregator Task Group and the Task Group on Normalization. Both task groups submitted draft documents that were posted to the PCC web site for comment from the membership. Comments having been received, the two task groups should be able to produce final versions in short order.

The draft version of the Monographic Aggregator Task Group’s MARC Record for Monograph Aggregator Vendors received favorable comments from several members of the Policy Committee; in the opinion of the SCA chair, it will probably be ready for distribution after some rather minor revisions. The Policy Committee will need to decide on how best to make vendors aware of the existence of this document so that they make use of it. Members of the task group are Kate Harcourt, Columbia (chair); Becky Culbertson (UC San Diego), and Kit Herlihy (California State San Marcos).

The Task Group on Normalization had specifically asked for comments on two different possible options for comparing fields in name and subject authority records for purposes of normalization. Chair Gary Strawn (Northwestern) reported that as of Sept. 13th he had received a total of six comments indicating no consensus as to which was the better option. Those comments were forwarded to the task group members, who were asked to submit any final reactions or comments by Sept. 22nd. Other members of the task group are Tatiana Barr (University of Florida), Robert Bremer (OCLC), Larry Dixson (Library of Congress), Helen Gbala, and Ed Glazier.

The full Standing Committee on Automation did not meet at Midwinter since, at the time, draft reports from the task groups were still pending and there was no pressing business to discuss. The Committee met at ALA Annual in New Orleans to discuss the draft reports.

Respectfully submitted,

Gary Charbonneau, chair
Sept. 24, 2006