Particularly for serials catalogers, much of the work we do is related to record maintenance, rather than the creation of entirely new bibliographic records. I propose and defend this order of priority for record maintenance: 1. Correct what is wrong; 2. Supply what is missing. 3 Beautify what is ugly. This presentation has also been published as a closed-captioned video.

1. Three Priorities of
Maintenance

3. The (Sad) Reality
O Serial record maintenance is forever
O Some “bad pennies” will turn up again and
again….
O There is more work than we will ever
finish
O There will never be a perfect database

4. So We Must Set Priorities

5. 3 Priorities of Maintenance
the
wrong
Correct
the
missing
Supply the uglyBeautify

6. Correct
(Major) Title
changes
Holdings / items
moving
Typos in
searchable fields
ISSN
Correct

7. Supply
ISSN
Frequency
changes
Additional
corporate bodies
Numbering
notes
Supply

8. Beautify
Problems in
spacing Or,
punctuation,
British / Canadian
spelling in notes
Rephrasing notes
Variations in Desc.
area
Beautify

9. Judgment Calls
If you’re not sure …
O Does it affect access?
O Was it reported by a patron or staff
member?
O Will it cause problems
O for ILL, Acquisition, or Branch staff?
O Other state universities or FLARE?

10. Judgment Calls
Will it take longer to explain why you can’t
do it than it will take to do it?
No song and dance, please….

11. May I Suggest?
O Keep a list of “beautify” records that you
can pull up and work on, or assign to
student workers
O “Beautify” changes can be done at odd
moments, low-energy periods, or times of
frequent interruptions (desk time, chat
reference, etc.)

12. May I Suggest?
O If you see a lot of a particular error or
problem, speak to a supervisor
O Others may need training
O There may be a software error
O You may have misunderstood something
O Always record system nos. when reporting
a problem

13. Questions?
naomi@uflib.ufl.e
du