Friday, June 27, 2014

resource of the week: cataloging tools

 My Cataloging instructor was brilliant with a capital B, but not the best at translating that brilliance into something my non-brilliant self could understand.  As a result, I have always felt inadequate at searching the catalog or browsing subject headings.  I stumbled across this article by Tracy Wasserman.  It is geared more toward LIS students, but has some excellent resources to help those of us not completely comfortable with cataloging:
  1. Use online cataloging tools:  Understanding MARC fields and the RDA cataloging code can be a lot easier with the online help tools published and maintained by the Library of Congress.  These include the MARC Standards homepageand the Cataloger’s Learning Workshop RDA training materials.  Also check out the Cataloger’s Reference Shelf, a one-stop shop of cataloging reference sites.  For cataloging “cheat sheets,” there’s the Cataloging Calculator and the Cataloging Cheat Sheets of the SLC (Special Libraries Cataloguing).  The OCLC Library Cooperative, of WorldCAT fame, provides support and training in bibliographic formats and standards, and many resources for learning the Dewey Decimal Classification system, including a WebDewey tutorial where you can “build” classification numbers online.
  2. Follow AutoCat and other cataloging listservs: You can follow the discussions of catalogers on cataloging listservs (via weekly digests or daily feeds to your email inbox), to get a feel for the triumphs and tribulations of the profession.  When the new RDA cataloging code was implemented by the Library of Congress in March of 2013, the AutoCat listserv posted tips, best practice and helpful advice from professional catalogers to those of us fledging catalogers brave enough to ask for advice on the listserv (alas, I was not one of these brave souls but I certainly admired the tenacity of my fellow confused colleagues).  You can also get cataloging news on these listservs, such as information on upcoming professional technical services conferences, available job opportunities in cataloging and related fields, technical service publication announcements, and cataloging online tutorials and webinars.
  3. Practice / Save your work:  Ask your professor for practice examples prior to any quizzes or exams, then discuss the answers in detail, saving all your work.  This last bit cannot be overstressed.  It is very disconcerting to build the correct Library of Congress Classification number for a practice fictitious title by locating the correct subject classification heading, subclass, country table and Cutter number, but not noting for future reference in solving similar examples how you navigated the tables to get the answer – or worse, having to explain your answer for possible credit ( as it is said no two catalogers will come up with the same “right” way to catalog a resource – see Shera’s Two Laws of Cataloging:  Law #1: No cataloger will accept the work of any other cataloger; and Law #2:  No cataloger will accept his/her own work six months after the cataloging).
  4. Embrace the humor:  You have to appreciate the unintentional cataloging humor to be found in some Library of Classification subject headings.  Are you an introvert?  LC has a subject heading for vocational guidance resources for you, even cataloged geographically:
*Introverts—Vocational guidance   (May Subd Geog)Here are other subject heading finds:*Boating with cats*Cattle – Housing – Odor Control*One-leg resting position*Plants – Effect of prayer on
For more cataloging humor, read Radical Cataloging: Essays at the Front edited by K.R. Roberto, or follow a cataloging blog, such as First Thus by James Weinheimber (check out Cataloging Matters Podcast #12 (Updated): A Conversation Between a Patron and the Library Catalog

So take heart, don’t give up, and gain inspiration from a recent article by INALJ Utah Head Editor, Heidi Greathouse, The Learning Curve on her experience as a new cataloging librarian.  And, If you fall in love with cataloging, help start up a new website forum showing library technical services. You CAN have fun with this!

On a related note, the Library of Congress has announced improvements are on the way for the Cataloger's Desktop, which will be available in September.  - ALA Direct, 05/14/14

Friday, June 20, 2014

resource of the week: career headlight

Career Headlight enables users to find in-demand local careers and where to get training all on one website.  Joann Diggs of the Salisbury Rowan Community Action Agency, Inc. finds Career Headlight to be "easy to navigate, informative, and a nice eye-catching presentation for any job seeker."  Check out this new career tool here or find it on our website under Online Tools > Jobs.  (thanks to Rebecca for sharing this resource)

Friday, June 13, 2014

resource of the week: compressor

If you need to reduce the file size of a large image on the fly, head to Compressor.io to freely shrink the file with minimal quality loss.  It supports JPG, PNG, GIF, and SVG files (up to 10 MB in size).  Just upload the file and Compressor will process it in a few seconds, free of charge.

Friday, June 6, 2014

resource of the week: free high-res, copyright-free images

I know I've done this topic before, but I (selfishly) love it!  Below is a list of some of the best websites where you may find high-quality photos for free:

high quality photo

1. unsplash.com (Unsplash) – This is my favorite website for downloading high-resolution photographs. Subscribe to the email newsletter and you’ll get 10 photos in your inbox every 10 days. All images are under the CC0 license meaning they are in public domain and you are free to use them in any way you like.
2. google.com (LIFE) – The Google images website hosts millions of historical photographs from the LIFE library. You can add source:life to any query in Google image search to find these images and they are free for personal, non-commercial use.
3. flickr.com (The British Library) – The national library of the UK has uploaded over a million vintage photographs and scanned images to Flickr that are now in pubic domain and they encourage re-use.
4. picjubmo.com (Picjumbo) – Here you’ll find exceptionally high-quality photos for your personal and commercial use. The pictures have been shot by the site owner himself and all he requests for in return is proper attribution.
5. pixabay.com (Pixabay) – All the images on Pixabay are available under the CC0 license and thus can be used anywhere. Like Flickr, there’s an option to browse photographs by camera model as well.
6. publicdomainarchive.com (Public Domain Archive) – This is an impressive online repository of public domain images that are neatly organized in categories. It contains only high quality photos though the collection is limited at this time.
7. commons.wikimedia.org (Wikimedia Commons) – The site hosts 21+ million images under some kind of free license or in the public domain. The images are arranged in categories or you can find images through search keywords.
8. superfamous.com (Super Famous) – Another great resource for finding high-res images for your websites and other design projects. The images are licensed under Creative Commons and require attribution.

old historical photos

9. nos.twnsnd.co (New Old Stock) – Here you will find a curated collection of vintage photographs from public archives that are free of any copyright restrictions. If you are trying to create a twitter feed like @HistoricalPics, this might be a good source for images.
10. freeimages.com (Stock Exchange) – This is one of the biggest repositories of free images and graphics that you can use for almost any purpose. You do however need to sign-in to download the images. The site, previously hosted on the schx.hu domain, is now part of Getty Images.
11. morguefile.com (Morgue File) – The site hosts 300,000+ free images and you are free to use them in both personal and commercial projects even without attribution. The image gallery has a built-in cropping tool and you can even hotlink the images from your website.
Related: Protect your photos from Casual Copying
12. gettyimages.com (Getty Images) – If you are looking for professional images for your website but without the expensive license fee, Getty has something in store for you. You can embed pictures from Getty Images for free on your website though in future, the embeds may carry ads.
13. pdpics.com (Public Domain Photos) – The website contains thousands of royalty free images that can be used in both personal and commercial projects but with attribution. Unlike other sites that merely curate content, the images found here have been clicked by their in-house photographers.
14. imcreator.com (IM Free) – A curated collection of outstanding high-quality photos on all subjects that are also free for commercial use. The images have mostly been sourced from Flickr and require attribution.
15. photopin.com (Photo Pin) – Flickr is among the biggest repository of photographs on the web and Photo Pin helps you easily find photos on Flickr that are available under the Creative Commons license. You get the embed code as well so you don’t have to host the images on your own server.

- ALA Direct, 05/14/14, originally posted here