A Long Journey

In my alphabetical list of possible duplicate records, I've reached titles beginning with the word "long". The titles begin specifically with "long" - not "a long" which were listed in the beginning after the numbers. And not "the long" which will come much later. The sorting program does not recognize initial articles.

In the process of finding and merging duplicates in the MassCat catalog, I'm also finding and reporting duplicates in other catalogs. As I've written before, I key in a word, sort by title A-Z and then begin looking for problems.

One of those problems is CIP (Cataloging in Publication) records. Generally, they are pretty good, but because the record was created while the book was in the process of publication, they lack information such as the number of pages, the height, and whether or not there are illustrations.

When I find such a record, I go to the C/W MARS catalog and look at their bib record to find the missing information. Sometimes I find 2 exact records, which I then report to the cataloging staff at C/W MARS. Given the size of their catalog, they have very few duplicates. I find maybe one or two in a month. Compare that with MassCat where I find 20 in a day. Well, that's what I'm there for.

When C/W MARS started, it had one catalog for all of its members. Then, it moved to different software that couldn't handle the size, so it was split between CMARS and WMARS. When they moved to yet different software, the catalogs were once again combined. But not all the duplicates were automatically merged. Human intervention is needed for those last few stragglers.

The other place I find duplicate records is in OCLC. That is such a HUGE catalog, there are bound to be "issues". And so much of the information is loaded automatically, there are bound to be even more "issues". I think I find a duplicate record nearly every time I search the catalog. It is not unusual to find 2 or 3 of the exact same thing. Those I report to the cataloging staff at OCLC.

Sometimes I get the feeling my purpose in this world is to find and merge (or report) the duplicate bib records in every catalog on Earth.

Keeping My Spirits Up

It's been over 2 weeks since I had to go to work. While I was still working, I had great plans for all the things I was going to do while I was unemployed. I've done almost none of them.

Partly, it's because the weather has been so hot and humid it's hard to do anything but sit. I'm still trying to find a schedule that will keep me moving but allow for a lot of flexibility. I've decided that Yoga first thing every morning is a good way to get started. I tried a walk a few days ago and even with a light-weight hooded sweatshirt and long pants, the bugs were too bad. And even in the early morning the clothes were too hot. The walk is a good, strenuous one. I live on a dead end street so I only have one option: Walk to the end of the street (about a mile) and back. It's all downhill from where I live which means it's all uphill on the way back. It's a pretty walk and a really good aerobic workout.


Yoga will keep me moving until we've past bug season.


While I was still working, I ordered a book via C/W MARS which I just received this week. I'm not certain why I ordered it. It was probably an impulse order while I was reading a review. The book is What to Wear for the Rest of Your Life: Ageless Secrets of Style. For the first few pages, I thought it was silly and frivolous and why was I reading it. But I kept going. The author talks about how our bodies change as we get older and the clothes we once wore and looked great on us no longer work. It's not just weight-gain; even at the same weight, the shape of our bodies shifts.


Being the frugal person I am, I have clothes that are over 20 years old. I find I like them less and wear them less often. As a result, I have a closet full of clothes that don't inspire me. It's kind of depressing. Kim Johnson Gross, the author of the book, found the same thing. She offers really good tips for selecting the clothes to keep, how to update them, discarding those you no longer want, and things to look for when buying new clothes. I feel as if I've found a new friend. While I'm not going about the process exactly the way she recommends, I've adapted it in a way that's been working for me.


I'm finally be able to say good-bye to some lovely clothes that for the last few years I've been thinking I might one day be able to fit into again. It's not going to happen. They will find a good home.


And I will have one less thing weighing me down and that is good.

Day one - sort of

Wednesday, June 30 was my last day at the Central Massachusetts Regional Library System (CMRLS). For the last 5 years I have been the Consultant for Bibliographic and Technical Services. I loved the job.

It was my responsibility to keep up-to-date with all of the happenings in the field of Technical Services in libraries: collection development, acquisitions, cataloging (my specialty), and processing. Technical Services librarians are now often involved in metadata (a fancy word for cataloging) and digital projects.

With all of the information I gathered, I would develop workshops to present to the library staff in the Central Region. I would also visit individual libraries and talk with staff about the Integrated Library System (ILS) they used (many were members of C/W MARS) and ways they could organize their workflow to make the best use of the ILS.

Many very small libraries are not part of C/W MARS. In that case we would discuss their options. I encouraged public libraries to be a part of that system, but for some it was not economically feasible. In that case, there was MassCat or one of the many stand-alone systems. In my opinion most libraries are better off as part of a network. Very small libraries generally don't have the technical expertise on staff to maintain on online catalog and with C/W MARS or MassCat, the network takes on that responsibility.

Shortly after I started working at CMRLS, I became involved with Digital Treasures, a digital repository for libraries in central and western Mass. The purpose of DT is to expose the multitude of historical photographs and documents that libraries have but are usually unavailable to the public. Most of the time these great pictures and other memorabelia are stored in boxes in closets or attics. Possibly the boxes are organized and labeled; often they're not. I've worked with many libraries giving them guidance in selecting images.

When I first became involved in this project, I attended some conferences on digitization. I also took a workshop on a metadata schema called Dublin Core which is one of several standards used in describing digital images. I spent time on other sites and extracted information on Dublin Core which I synthesized into a simple workshop to present to area librarians. I also visited individual libraries and worked with staff as they practiced using the Dublin Core principles to describe their photos.

Using my experiences with the Digital Treasures project, I've co-authored a chapter in a book tentatively titled Digitization in the Real World. I believe it is due to be published later this year.

So now I'm trying to parlay the above skills (plus a lot of others I have) into a new job. Fortunately, because of a severance package and unemployment insurance, I'm not in a panic to grab the first vacant job I see.

But first I have to file an unemployment claim and so far I'm running into obstacles.

I have a packet of information about filing for benefits. The instructions say (and I'm good at following instructions) to file the first full week that I'm not working. That's this week. The instructions say that if things are busy, I may be asked to call on a specific day according to the last digit of my social security number (SSN). Putting all of this together, I was to call yesterday (Tuesday). I wondered if the Monday holiday would shift the schedule. I guess it did.

The first time I called: busy signal. I called back a few minutes later, listened to the polite recorded messages and entered my SSN. I was told given that number, I needed to call back on Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday.

So now it's Wednesday. I called, listened to the polite recorded messages and entered my SSN. Then I listened to a few more messages, entered more data and was told by a recorded message that everyone was busy. I can call back later today or Friday or Saturday.

Since I had intended to start this blog to help me work through my options, posting is a good way to bide my time until I can call the Department of Unemployment Assistance again.

I'm happy to have company on this journey. Feel free to offer advice and point me in interesting directions. I'll let you know what happens next.