Yale / Spoken Arts LPs

June 14, 2008

I prepared a spreadsheet listing basic details about all items which have a Yale or Spoken Arts label.  There are 25 items in all.  It may be possible to request listening copies from Yale — Yale owns the copyright for these recordings.  Because all items which have a Yale or Spoken Arts label are LPs they are and will continue to be inaccessible to visitors until we obtain playable digital copies.

–cmw


CDs to be copied

June 14, 2008

For cd286 – cd311 (25 items) and cd338 – cd389 (51 items) master copies must be transfered to archival-quality cases and housed in archival boxes.  Reference copies should created to replace master copies.  Master copies are currently housed on the reference carousel.

–cmw


LP box labels

June 12, 2008

On June 12th, 2008 I applied labels to the boxes which house the LP masters and album covers. These labels measure 3 1/3″L x 4″W. Labels were printed using a laserjet printer. –cmw


miniDV Assessment

June 12, 2008

In July of 2007 we completed the transfer of all recordings housed on miniDV from miniDV to DVD. We worked with Charles Gerber at Aargil Video to complete the project. Every few weeks we sent Charles a batch of miniDVs. Once the transfers were complete, Charles returned those miniDVs to us accompanied by two DVDs. Master copies were separated from reference copies, housed in archival-quality containers and labeled with their corresponding catalog number. Reference copies were moved to crystal cases, labeled with their corresponding catalog number, and added to the collection.

On May 24th, 2008, I started adding holdings information about these DVDs to the FileMaker database. I’m keeping it simple: if we have a DVD copy of the original miniDV, I’ve noted that in the “Additional Copies” field using language which reads: “DVD (v300) available for consultation.”

I completed the capture of this holdings information on June 12th, 2008.

My next step will be to evaluate, label, organize and catalog the remaining miniDV -> DVD transfers.

-cmw


Rehousing miniDVs

June 12, 2008

On June 11th, 2008 I rehoused the majority of our miniDV collection in archival-quality boxes.

miniDVs continue to be stored in their original containers with their original liner notes. I applied foil-backed labels (5/16″H x 1″W) to the lower right-hand corner of the spine of each container.

Labels identify the catalog number assigned by Poets House (e.g. V188, V301) and were printed using a laserjet printer. In cases where an event was recorded using more then one miniDV, I applied labels with the same catalog number to each item.

I stored these miniDVs in deep lid, unbuffered, metal-edged, tan, barrier board boxes originally intended for slide collections ( Inside dimensions: 6 1/2″ W x 11 1/4″ L x 2 1/2″ D). The boxes are made of unbuffered acid-free, lignin-free, pH 8.0 – 9.0, 40-pt. barrier board.

Clear labels with collection details have been applied to the outside of each box.

–cmw


Rehousing LPs

June 12, 2008

On June 11th, 2008 I rehoused recently returned LPs in archival boxes and integrated them into the collection. All album covers have been stored in polypropylene bags.

Foil-backed labels (5/16″H x 1″W) have been created and applied to the upper right-hand corner of the poly bags.

Labels identify the original item number assigned by the record company (e.g. Caedmon = TC 1396; Library of Congress = PL 25) and were printed using a laserjet printer.

Master LPs have been stored in 12″ poly-lined sleeves, which have themselves been stored in 12″ cardboard jackets. These cardboard jackets have been labeled with the same foil-backed labels as those used to identify the album covers. Labels have been applied to the upper right-hand corner of the cardboard jackets.

Album covers and master LPs have been separated and stored in buffered, metal-edged, tan, barrier board album boxes (13 1/8″ H x 13 1/8″ W x 3″ D). Boxes are acid-free, lignin-free, pH 8.0 – 9.0, 60-pt. barrier board with 3% calcium carbonate buffer.

–cmw


Cataloging new donations

August 18, 2007

Catalog numbers cd312 – cd337 are blank.  Rennie is cataloging new CD donations.  She is using these catalog numbers before progressing the in the series.  By June 21st, 2008 all catalog numbers for CDs (cd1 – cd420 will have been used.)

–cmw


Cataloging miniDV -> DVD transfers

August 18, 2007

Added notes to field 530 (Additional Physical Form) in FileMaker database.  Stopped at v195.  Need:

*CD case inserts for labels.  (Use template established for digitized CD-Rs.)

*New foil-backed labels for: v155 & v154 in pile returned to office.

v188 (1999 Bridge Walk) should be viewed & relabeled.

–CMW


Reproduction Note (533)

August 11, 2007

 Use Reproduction Note (533) to catalog “reproductions”:

Per OCLC Bibliographic Formats & Standards, field 533:

A note that describes an item that is a reproduction of an original material. Describe the original item in the main portion of the bibliographic record and data relevant to the reproduction as a note in field 533 when the data differs from the information describing the original.

http://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en/5xx/533.shtm

-cmw


Control Numbers

August 11, 2007

The IMAP cataloging template requires that you enter a unique control number for each record. We’ll use this convention to create a code for each item:

Year-of-publication[4-digit-year]

- [dash]

Type-of-material[capitalized]

- [dash]

Old-catalog-number[4-digits -- add 0s before the catalog number if it lacks 4 digits]

For example, tape number 1324, published in 1982 would be assigned the control number:

1982-T-1324

[hold over issue from previous iteration of Control Number convention, to be edited 05/07/2008]

Unfortunately, the template doesn’t seem to recognize the distinction between numbers and letters. It interprets “1982.T.0083″ and 1982.CD.0083″ as the same number. To get around this, I’ve added a decimal point and number after the control number’s “old catalog number” element. The number after this last decimal point is related to media type.

Thus:

Audio cassette & DAT: nothing

CD: .1

Reel-to-reels: .2

Multimedia (e.g. CD-ROM, computer diskette): .3

miniDV & VHS: .4

DVD: .5

NOTE: The control number convention for reel-to-reel tapes needs to be examined and revised.

–cmw