Exploring Wikidata’s Potential for Managing Artist Identities at the National Gallery of Art Library
Speakers: Jung Soo Bae, Amy Watson, Emily Sawyer
The Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) has traditionally offered centralized, standardized authority control of artist names, artwork titles, and subjects in library metadata. Built on human-readable, string-based access points and controlled vocabularies, these legacy records are less adaptable to today’s interconnected information environment. Furthermore, the training and review process required to contribute to the LCNAF can pose barriers to participation and slow innovation.
In response, libraries have begun working collaboratively to explore a shift from traditional authority control toward more flexible, URI-based entity management within a Linked Open Data (LOD) framework. The Entity Management Cooperative (EMCO) Early Adopters Program supports this transition by promoting interoperability and discoverability of authority data in LOD ecosystems, developing shared data models for entity description, and supporting community-driven experimentation.
As part of this program, the National Gallery of Art Library conducted a pilot project to assess the potential for the management of artist identities in Wikidata in comparison to LCNAF. This presentation outlines our workflows and highlights key findings, including challenges encountered and opportunities uncovered, and provides practical insights for institutions considering similar approaches.
Enhancing Records, Expanding Access
Speakers: William Blueher, Daisy Paul
Cataloging is a shared enterprise. A bibliographic record created by one cataloger in Connexion can be added to and enriched by catalogers around the world. But if your library catalog is not synched to Connexion, many of these bibliographic enhancements – things like summary notes and tables of contents – won't ever appear in your records. We work in one such library, so we developed a process for adding these enhancements (specifically the 505 and 520 fields, though the process could be adapted to work for other fields as well) from Connexion records into our integrated library system.
Since implementing this workflow, we’ve enhanced thousands of records in our catalog, greatly increasing the accessibility and discoverability of our collection. While it is an involved process, we have broken it down into manageable steps that other libraries will be able to replicate and modify to their own needs. In addition to Connexion, we relied on open-access tools such as MarcEdit and Notepad++ to efficiently batch edit data.
We will provide a detailed report on the impact this workflow has had on our library catalog. We will examine not only the number of enhanced records but also provide a breakdown of what types of records have the highest probability of having available enhancements, allowing for a more targeted implementation of this workflow. We will also provide access to step-by-step documentation so that the audience can replicate this work at their institutions.
Just as cataloging is a shared enterprise, we believe these sorts of technical workflows ought to be as well.
Hidden in History : Curating a Featured Collection for Indigenous Architecture Library Materials
Speakers: Aubree Tillett, Tina Gross
There are few books documenting the architecture of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas from an Indigenous perspective. Last year the Design Librarian experienced difficulty locating enough materials related to Indigenous architecture to create a robust book display that had been requested to support the Minnesota American Institute of Architects (AIA) Indigenous Design Camp. A more comprehensive search of the library catalog was initiated and colleagues with subject and cataloging expertise were consulted. Through this process it became clear that most of the books with information about Indigenous architecture in the library collections are not assigned a Library of Congress Classification of NA for Architecture. Instead they were cataloged with LC classifications for E and F: History of the Americas. Academic libraries' indiscriminate adoption of LC cataloging tools and practices, such as ""collocating"" resources about Indigenous Peoples' practices in specific areas (such as architecture, astronomy, education, medicine, etc.) with resources about that Indigenous group rather than with the specific endeavor, has significant drawbacks. Within the University of Minnesota Libraries, books classified as history and social sciences are held in different libraries spanning three distinct geographic locations. Additionally, the items related to architecture in E and F are not next to each other on the shelves in the same library; the materials are first organized by Indigenous community then architecture. The separation of related items creates barriers to browsing and the serendipitous discovery of books related to Indigenous Architecture.
This session will explore one solution to overcoming these barriers, a digital featured collection created to showcase Indigenous architecture. Presenters will share their process for identifying and selecting items in the library catalog for the featured collection They will share the inclusion criteria; item review process; and their observations of items ultimately comprising the final collection. Many of the resources in the final list are archaeological, anthropological, or historical sources rather than design-focused materials due to the destruction, appropriation, and subjugation of Indigenous Peoples, knowledge, and cultural practices. The authors will address the ethical considerations of choosing to include books in the collection that document cultures and civilizations with a historical and often colonialist lens when the Indigenous perspective is not available.
DIY In the Stacks: Building a Circulating Zine Collection from Scratch to Success
Speakers: Claire Payne, Amanda Tillapaugh
In summer 2024, Amanda, the new serials acquisitions specialist at RIT Libraries, approached Claire, the art and design librarian, with an idea: could we circulate zines at the library? Claire had asked herself the same question a few times in the preceding few years, as it had become clear that zines were a popular format for student expression on campus. However, it had seemed like creating a new collection would make unwelcome or impossible demands on staff time and library resources. Amanda, as a serials specialist, had a suggestion: what if zines were treated like serials? Instead of being cataloged individually, zines could come in and out of the collection more casually, reflective of the often ephemeral nature of the publications themselves.
In this presentation, the speakers will detail how a change in cataloging approach allowed us to ideate and develop a circulating zine collection from scratch to success in a one-year time frame. By bringing together a small cross-departmental team and using existing resources creatively, the library has built a (still-growing) collection of approximately 150 zines that successfully engages our campus community. While not a no-cost project, this talk will provide a model for creating a worthwhile collection on a shoestring budget through creative collaboration.
