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National Library of Canada Records Save the Library Community MoneyLiz McKeen, Acquisitions and Bibliographic Services As a service to all Canadians, the National Library of Canada (NLC) compiles the country’s national bibliography, Canadiana: a listing of all titles from Canadian publishers, by Canadian authors, and on topics of Canadian interest. The bibliographic records for these titles are made available in AMICUS and in Canadiana on CD-ROM. Using either tool, Canadian libraries that collect Canadiana for their clients can take advantage of NLC source records for copy cataloguing, thereby reducing their overall expenditures. The question remains - does this indeed happen, and if so, how much money is saved? In January 2002, the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, McGill University, undertook a study on behalf of the NLC to answer this question. The study focussed on determining the dollar value of savings enjoyed by Canadian university and large urban public libraries as a result of using Canadiana cataloguing records for printed monographs (including federal government documents). The researchers were also asked to propose a methodology by which this initial study could be extended to other Canadian libraries and other types of records. Methodology The study was conducted between January and March 2002, using three methodological approaches: questionnaires were sent to 90 Canadian university and college libraries and to 30 member libraries of the Council of Administrators of Large Urban Public Libraries (CALUPL); follow-up telephone interviews were held with 18 university and 12 public libraries; and a sample of 100 bibliographic records for Canadiana printed monographs was selected by the NLC from its 1999 cataloguing production and then compared with records in a sample of 20 university and 10 public library Online Public Access Catalogues (OPACs) to determine the extent to which NLC records form the basis for copy cataloguing by other libraries. While no one methodology is perfect alone, the three methodologies worked well together to provide a fascinating, if approximate, composite picture. Results Analysis of the questionnaire (58 percent response rate) showed that by using NLC records as the basis for copy cataloguing, rather than producing original catalogue entries, results in an estimated average annual savings of $16 400 per library (for university and college libraries) and $7 800 (for large urban public libraries). Extrapolating these figures results in a combined annual savings of $1 476 000 to all Canadian university and college libraries and of $249 000 to all Canadian large urban public libraries. As a result of copy cataloguing, these Canadian libraries can save an estimated total of $1 725 000 per year. These figures must be interpreted as indicative only, as they are based on a number of estimates and approximations. However, it seems clear that the dollar value mentioned is only the tip of the savings iceberg, as there are many more Canadian libraries whose savings have not yet been counted (public libraries other than CALUPL members, special libraries, including government, and school libraries), and the monetary value of other NLC bibliographic services such as name, series and subject authorities, and the use of NLC records for other purposes (acquisitions, reference, ILL support and other cataloguing uses) has not yet been quantified. As well, foreign libraries also make use of ready-made Canadiana records to find out about, acquire and catalogue Canadian titles. The most frequently cited single source used by all the libraries in the survey is AMICUS online (75 percent), followed by printed CIP (Cataloguing in Publication) book entries at 56 percent. AMICUS, alone or in combination with one or more other sources, is by far the most used bibliographic resource for cataloguing Canadiana. The random sample of 100 records for printed monographs, including federal government documents, of necessity contained a fair number of ephemeral titles, due to the nature of legal deposit. Matching these records with library OPACs suggested that, overall, four percent of the Canadiana documents catalogued by the NLC find their way into university and large public library catalogues. University libraries hold on average seven percent of monograph titles and 11 percent of government document titles catalogued by the NLC; the comparable figures for large public libraries were two percent in each case. Comments The final question in the questionnaire was open-ended: "How might the NLC's bibliographic records be of more use to you for cataloguing purposes?" Several responses were complimentary:
Other responses contained suggestions for improvements, including the following:
NLC is continuing to work on improving its bibliographic products and services, and welcomes your help. (See Anne Draper’s article below on increasing the number of federal government publications receiving subject headings). For more information on the study, or to send your own comments or suggestions for NLC’s bibliographic products, contact: Liz McKeen |
