CATALOG FORM AND FUNCTION COMMITTEE (CFFC)

ALA Midwinter Meeting

January 29, 1999, 4:30-6:30 p.m.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Convention Center, Room 305

Present: Patrick Callahan (chair), Kevin Furniss, Liz Icenhower, Ray Schwartz, Arlene Taylor, Carol Unger, Lydia Wasylenko (recorder), Karen Wilhoit.

Absent: Sarah Bryan, Shirley Coleman, Jim Maccaferri.

 Preliminaries. The CFFC meeting began with introductions of Committee members and guests and circulation of a sign-in sheet. The agenda was then approved, as were minutes of the two CFFC meetings at the ALA annual conference in Washington, D.C. in June 1998.

CFFC briefing paper series. There was a review of the status of briefing papers that are either in progress or planned for the future:

Barbara Tillett's paper on authority control, twelfth in the CFFC briefing paper series, was the first briefing paper published in the electronic version of the ALCTS newsletter. The Web address for this article is: http://www.ala.org/alcts/alcts_news/gateway.html

Publication of what was intended to be no. 13 in the briefing paper series, a paper on URIs, metadata, and Dublin Core records, has been postponed, as two different authors have now pulled out of the project. A search for a new author is underway, but a paper on the topic in question is not likely to be ready in time for the vol. 10, no. 6 issue of the ALCTS newsletter.

The paper originally planned as no. 14 in the briefing paper series, to be edited by Jim Maccaferri, will address multi-lingual interfaces and UNICODE. Patrick Callahan will inquire about the status of this paper and about the potential for meeting a March 18, 1999 publication deadline.

Kevin Furniss will be the editor for briefing paper no. 15, a paper on the application of disability technologies in OPACs. Jean Winkler, who is responsible for library technology applications for users with disabilities at Colorado State, has agreed to write the paper, and will probably be able to complete it sometime in the Summer of 1999. It is hoped that Ms. Winkler and Mr. Furniss will be able to meet a July 22, 1999 deadline for submitting copy to Dale Swensen.

If Arlene Taylor were to be able to recruit an author, a paper on the implementation of form and genre headings could become no. 13 in the briefing paper series, substituting for the URIs, metadata, and Dublin Core paper that is currently on hold. That latter paper could be published later as no. 16 in the briefing paper series.

Another potential paper topic that has been discussed in the past is OPAC interfaces and OPAC display guidelines. It was suggested that Martha Yee be approached about writing on this subject for briefing paper no. 17. Liz Icenhower agreed to serve as editor of such a paper, if Martha Yee accepts the invitation to serve as author.

Discussion of the CFFC briefing paper series concluded with consideration of new topics that might be suitable for future papers. Among the topics mentioned were XML, descriptive metadata, and access to aggregations of full-text electronic journals.

Updating of guidelines for CFFC briefing paper authors and editors. The guidelines that were written by Jane Greenberg are probably in need of some revision, given the ALCTS newsletter's change from paper to electronic format. It was pointed out, for example, that length constraints are less stringent since the change to the electronic format. In addition, it was suggested that editors begin to make a practice of "circulating" drafts of briefing papers via the CFFC members' list. Patrick Callahan will post Jane Greenberg's guidelines to the CFFC members' list for review.

Assignment of journal titles to CFFC members for review and for abstracting of relevant articles. The list of journal assignments was updated as follows:

P. Callahan -- Ariadne

S. Coleman -- Electronic Library

K. Furniss -- Knowledge Organization

L. Icenhower -- Advanced Tech Libraries

J. Maccaferri -- Info Tech and Libraries

R. Schwartz -- Alexandria

A. Taylor -- ASIS Bulletin

C. Unger -- Dig-Lib list

L. Wasylenko -- Cataloging & Classification Quarterly

K. Wilhoit -- Acqnet list

Sponsorship of a program at an ALA annual conference. It has been proposed that the CFFC sponsor a conference program, probably no sooner than the ALA annual conference in 2000, given the lead-time necessary for such an undertaking. Arlene Taylor suggested XML and RDF as possible topics; Kevin Furniss and Karen Wilhoit volunteered to do some preliminary work on the project, with Ray Schwartz acting as a "consultant." All CFFC members were asked to think about other ALA committees that might be willing to co-sponsor a program with the CFFC.

IFLA guidelines for OPAC displays. An IFLA task force chaired by Dorothy McGarry has produced draft guidelines for OPAC displays and is soliciting comments on the document (which is available at http://www.ifla.org/ifla/VII/s13/guide/opac.htm). Ms. McGarry has asked the CFFC to submit its comments by April 30^th.

It was agreed that individual CFFC members would post their comments to the CFFC members' list by March 15^th, thus providing an opportunity for group discussion. Patrick Callahan will compile the Committee's final response to the IFLA task force.

Co-sponsorship of a 1999 program with another ALCTS committee. Arlene Taylor conveyed an invitation from the ALCTS CCS Subject Analysis Committee (SAC) to co-sponsor a program SAC is preparing for ALA's 1999 annual conference in New Orleans. The program, entitled "Oh Say, Can We See? See Also?: Subject Referencing Possibilities in OPACs," will feature Joe Matthews as one of the speakers. CFFC members agreed to co-sponsor this program.

Respectfully submitted,

Lydia W. Wasylenko