Prepared by Karl Fattig

Though not directly related to the work of the Bibliographic Control Working Group, the activities of this WESS Ad Hoc committee are important to the group and thus should be followed closely. Below are a list of action items taken from the minutes of the meeting. Most of these items are relevant to the work of the Working Group, and they may serve as starting points in building action items for the group's future work.  The following ideas came to the fore:

-- investigate issues regarding vendor-contributed records in the major bibliographic utilities (including educating catalogers about the purpose of these records)

-- determine the prevalence of WE language materials in our uncatalogued materials, our backlogs

-- explore the issues relating to the lack of access to individual holdings of large microform sets in foreign languages

-- survey the prevalence of minimal-level, and less-than-minimal cataloging for materials in WE languages

-- develop ways to increase the sense of being a part of a (German) cataloging community nationally

-- offer a forum where members of the anonymous community of catalogers of WE materials will get to know one another

-- initiate liaison relationship with ALCTS CCS

-- foster discussion of the compatibility of European cataloging and American cataloging.

-- examine possibilities for upgrading brief records supplied by microform set vendors to a higher standard of cataloging

-- increase awareness of bibliographic control related aspects of the ARL German Resources Project

-- demonstrate how some catalogers use Deutsche Bibliothek records as copy to base cataloging on, via z39.50 interface.

-- enumerate and discuss quality control issues for copy cataloging of WE language materials

-- discuss the interface of the economics of the research library with the need to maintain cataloging knowledge and standards

-- serve as a force for enlightenment/activism regarding the importance of good cataloging for WE materials

-- examine/compile lists of sources of funding for retrospective conversion of collections

-- play a continuing education role regarding the impact of new cataloging intiatives/directions on catalogers of WE materials; e.g. PCC initiatives, LC, outsourcing, etc.

-- survey language skills of WESS catalogers

-- develop an F.A.Q for cataloging WE materials

-- examine the cataloging treatment of materials in languages other than French, German and Spanish

-- evaluate the level of cataloging attained in general for WE materials (statistical sample), present research, encourage collaboration and offer helps to improve the general level of cataloging.