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==== Cataloguing Notes ====


=== To-dos from Friday, 10 January 2014 ===

  * check existing catalogue entries for errors and improvements
  * preliminary pass on all remaining ephemera
  * tags and collections
  * catalogue and library hints

  * <del>going through</del> labelling the huge boxes

  * sorting and making space for cards, games, and other weird items
  * propaganda sorting, organisation, making space
  * cd/dvd/floppydisk sorting, organisation, making space

  * archival boxes as needed
  * **bookends** (Michka?)

  * übercleanup

{{http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3736/11099862944_5bca2325a2_c.jpg}}

=== Diary of an archivist ===

== Digital cataloguing: first steps, April 2013 ==

We agreed to use the [[http://www.zotero.org/|Zotero]] desktop and [[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.ale.scanner.zotero#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDIxMiwib3JnLmFsZS5zY2FubmVyLnpvdGVybyJd|mobile]] apps to make a first pass of cataloguing FoAM's small but esoteric library. Aside from a few annoying glitches, we were able to go through the library quite rapidly, scanning the barcodes with the [[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.ale.scanner.zotero&hl=en|mobile app]] while setting aside those items that could not be scanned, or needed special attention (such as all the periodicals, magazines, etc.). A second pass involved manually looking up the ISBN numbers from within the [[http://www.zotero.org/download/|desktop application]], or searching online for the bibliographic data via [[http://www.worldcat.org/|WorldCat]] or similar and importing these citations into Zotero via the [[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/zotero-connector/ekhagklcjbdpajgpjgmbionohlpdbjgc?hl=en-US|browser plugin]], for the items that had no barcodes or could not otherwise be scanned.

[[http://www.zotero.org/support/groups|Zotero online group libraries]] would seem to offer flexible options for extending our cataloguing initiative into a collective, inter-organisational library database for some fairly unusual and rare books. Moreover, since Zotero catalogues can be exported in several formats (BibTex export works very well, for instance), if we decide to use another system in future it should be quite easy to transfer the database over.

== Sorting and consolidating: June 2013 ==

After the heavy lifting of the initial pass, there remained what seemed to be an infinite regress of small items – journals, magazines, random books and journals that slipped through the dragnet, a vast pile of grey literature. And it was all a mess. I ripped everything off the shelves and out of the boxes and dumped the lot on the floor. From there I attempted to reassemble the material into the most basic and easy-to-use categories that were still somehow useable. I don't think this has been quite successful – but I think it's on the way.

== Information plumbing: January 2014 ==

In my absence over summer some amazing assistants tackled and substantially resolved the most serious nightmare of this library – the ephemera. Thanks to them, this mass of the greyest of grey literature has now been sifted, sorted, and boxed by year for neat filing away on shelves.

However, we must rally our efforts. The deluge of ephemera is unstoppable and will require ever-renewed vigilance to ensure that the forces of greyness do not completely overwhelm us. But do not despair – together we shall conquer! Per aspera ad astra!

The next step is to attend to the information plumbing.

=== Organisation: the sections ===

  - separate the more from the less "substantial" -- in practice, **books** constitute the major substantial category
  - **periodicals** cover any more-or-less substantial publication issued periodically; but I would avoid mixing these with the ephemera
  - an **unperiodicals** section that incorporates all types of items such as exhibition openings, reports, yearbooks, etc. that are semi- or un-periodical: I'll probably catalogue these with the canned Zotero item type as "Conference proceedings"
  - an **audiovisual** section at some point
  - an A–Z **fiction** section (of mostly trade paperbacks, thanks to the N&M library bequest)
  - an **ephemera** section, due to the vast quantity of brochures, leaflets, postcards, flyers, etc. that has accumulated; these are more transient and ephemeral than any of the preceding, but may be of value to retain in many cases
  - at any time, the library can expand or contract with **temporary autonomous subsections** (such as Luea's specialised (and largely German-language) section of all manner of medical, medicinal and metaphysical books)

=== Zotero catalogue notes ===

  * need to decide on convention for the "Language" field.... 
    * either use ISO 639-3 three letter codes. multiple languages separated by commas (e.g ''nld,fra,eng'' > ISO 639-3 > http://www-01.sil.org/iso639-3/codes.asp
    * or use the more expansive/descriptive (but not always consistent) english name for the language as supplied by Open Worldcat (e.g. "The book is primarily in English; prefaces in English, German, French.")
    * //(I've tended to favour the 3-letter codes.)//
 
=== General notes ===

  * in the case of books, I have chosen to file them alphabetically by **name** of the first author/editor/etc., falling back on **title** in the absence of an explicit author
  * linking to/from the [[:reading_notes]] and [[https://www.zotero.org/groups/foam_library/items|catalogued items]] may prove interesting and useful, particularly as files can be attached to Zotero items
  * often it's unavoidable that you'll have to manually enter and amend data in Zotero where automation fails: this can be time-consuming
  * Zotero is more geared to cataloging individual references (e.g. articles in journals) rather than whole issues; one solution is to catalogue them as "books," with a note indicating what volume/issues are in the library; important individual articles within these periodicals could then be added as separate items
  * I'm using the following format to note the individual issues of periodicals: **''year [volume:issue] additional info''** (additional info can be season/month(s), thematic name of the issue, etc.); using the notes field like this is a bit kludgy, but at least in this format they will sort by date and issue

=== New books ====

  - find an interesting book
  - add to the 'book orders' group
  - buy it
  - transfer to libray group once it arrives
  - read (or otherwise absorb)

==== Further entangling ====

  * distributed collections (c.f. connected libraries)
  * ISBN -> BibTeX with Ottobib: http://www.ottobib.com/ and http://manas.tungare.name/software/isbn-to-bibtex/
  * "The Little Library" project for CC digital collections
    * https://github.com/rwadholm/The-Little-Library
    * http://www.thelittlelibrary.com/
    * collection of etexts we could upload as adjuncts to physical items 
      * http://grr.aaaaarg.org/txt/
      * http://gen.lib.rus.ec/

<blockquote>

A library -- including its physical and digital arrangement and cataloguing system -- should aspire to be simple, elegant, and beautiful. Visitors should be able both to browse and search in the greatest ease and comfort. A library thus becomes a pataphor for the art of living itself. I have striven to follow these principles in approaching the sometimes daunting task of coming to terms with, managing and (re)organising the FoAM archive.

This particular collection, where each book can in principle lurk at the interstices of the connection of everything to everything else, demonstrates most acutely the issue with filing items according to a single -- or even predominant -- topic or subject area. At the same time, with items digitally catalogued and instantly searchable by any field (including tags), the physical arrangement becomes less critical for indicating an item's subject, class, or other characteristic. The library is also small and seems unlikely to grow rapidly in the foreseeable future. Therefore, after some (uneven and random) thought, and a close perusal of [[library_notes|existing notes]] on this question, I decided to take the semi-organic organisational approach as indicated below.

 --- //Armoracio "Bud" Minuez, Archivist//</blockquote>