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Cataloging lexis.com: An Idea Whose Time Has Come!
By Gayle Lynn-Nelson, LexisNexis Sr. Librarian Relations Consultant
Now I actually get it: after 20 years of being a librarian, I finally understand the importance of cataloging!
Following Julie Webster-Matthew’s March 2007 article on FRBR, the proposal for a national level bibliographic record of all types of objects, this article will highlight a cataloging alliance between LexisNexis® and Cassidy Cataloging.
For a long period of time there was a de-emphasis on the need for traditional cataloging. But now with law schools focusing more and more on distance learning, and consequently making more resources available remotely to students and faculty, cataloging and other metadata applications have moved to the forefront of librarianship. We at LexisNexis® are doing what we can to support those initiatives.
While in library school, I took cataloging just like everyone else—and, to tell the truth, I never really “got” it. As a library director for the Morris and Sussex Vicinage, and while working for Fulbright & Jaworski, I never once cataloged a book. I guess that’s not really that unusual. It just wasn’t emphasized in library school.
Now that I am becoming more and more involved with Knowledge Management, I actually understand the role—and importance—cataloging makes within a library and within the larger institution. It’s all about making resources available to those who are seeking it by providing the “metadata” that helps the searcher locate the relevant item. Without this metadata, the researcher is dependent upon blind luck to stumble upon the right resource—and with the information explosion, “luck” is getting harder and harder to find! As I began to realize the importance, I also knew I needed to learn a bit more, so I turned to a good friend and expert in the field, Joni Cassidy, of Cassidy Cataloging. What follows is an interview I had with Joni that outlines the details of this partnership project.
Gayle: What is the name of your project?
Joni: We refer to it as the WLX Project.
Gayle: Where did the idea for the project come from?
Joni: Representatives from two law schools called on the same day right before Christmas 2005 to ask what I thought about creating MARC21 records for the treatise titles in lexis.com®. I told them both it was a fine idea and I would put them together with two other law schools that had inquired about the very same project some time before. That way, four institutions could split the cost. We posted messages on the law directors’ list-serv and the technical services list-serv to solicit other interest. We ended up with seventeen other starter libraries.
Gayle: How did you implement the idea?
Joni: Once I had an agreement with each of the law schools involved to commit to a nominal fee, I then approached the Senior Director of the Librarian Relations Group at LexisNexis®, Cindy Spohr. When I approached Cindy, I hoped she would allow me to set up an account which I expected to pay for. She far exceeded my expectations by providing me not only with a courtesy account, but also a representative and access to members of the Librarian Relations Group. Thus our cataloging partnership was born.
Gayle: How has the project been received?
Joni: By February of 2006 we were creating new catalog records in earnest, and participating law libraries increased from 17 to 54. By early September of 2006, catalog records for all the treatises, including Matthew Bender® imprints and directories were distributed—and all but one participating law library subscribed to our monthly updating service. We consider this to be a resounding success.
Gayle: What are the benefits to catalog users?
Joni: Each MARC21 record contains a hotlink. One click takes the user to the lexis.com® login screen. The next click takes them directly to the resource they are seeking. What could be faster or easier? Best of all, the user is searching concurrently with traditional library resources and newly integrated in-house content, encompassed under the Knowledge Management umbrella.
Gayle: Where are you now in the project?
Joni: We have just begun a lexis.com® primary law sources collection project, which is expected to be ready for use by the end of the year. Following that will be the lexis.com® for Law Firms collection. This is the body of work on lexis.com® which is only available to commercial users.
If you want or need any more information about these projects please feel free to contact Joni Cassidy at Cassidy Cataloging.
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