| What is the name of your committee? | Cataloging Asian and African Materials |
| Your Name | Magda Gad |
| Your Email | mgad@stanford.edu |
| If your committee is part of a section, please select it (if applicable) | Metadata & Collections |
| Which report are you submitting? | May |
| How many times did your group meet during this reporting period? | 2-3 |
| First Activity | |
| Please summarize work accomplished, decisions made, and follow-up actions determined during the past 6 months. Your summary can be a narrative or bullet points, see below for reporting on specific areas. |
During the past six months, CC:AAM continued to support professional development and discussion around emerging cataloging standards and practices for Asian and African language materials. A major accomplishment was organizing the workshop “BCP 47 Language Tags in BIBFRAME and MARC: The What, Why, and How,” held on May 6, 2026. The program brought together experts from the Library of Congress, Kevin Ford, and the PCC Non-Latin Script Variants in NARs Task Group, Adam Schiff, along with participants of the cataloging community, to discuss the expanding use of BCP 47 language and script tags in BIBFRAME, MARC, and authority work. The workshop highlighted ongoing developments in linked data cataloging, multilingual and multiscript description, and encoding practices for non-Latin script variants in name authority records. Presenters addressed both the conceptual framework and practical implementation of BCP 47 language tags. Committee work during this period included planning and coordinating the workshop, identifying timely topics relevant to the CC:AAM community, and facilitating knowledge sharing. The event also supported continued engagement with PCC and Library of Congress initiatives related to linked data, multilingual metadata, and authority control. Follow-up actions include monitoring developments in BCP 47 implementation in MARC and BIBFRAME, sharing documentation and training resources with the cataloging community, and exploring future initiatives on linked data and non-Latin script cataloging practices.
|
| Second Activity | |
| If your committee has a specific strategic goal assigned, update any progress made on this goal. | |
| Third Activity | |
| Deliverables (Fill in bullet point and progress made) |
The committee’s appointee to the ALA-LC Romanization Review Board, Lia Consturi, played a key role in coordinating the successful recent revisions to the ALA-LC Hindi romanization tables, supporting the committee’s ongoing responsibility to review romanization tables for languages of Asia and Africa written in non-Roman scripts for use in library catalogs. Thanks are also due to Bela Gupta and other colleagues who participated in the review. |
| Ongoing Work (Fill in bullet point and progress made) |
The CC:AAM liaisons share reports on the activities of various related committees and working groups, providing a key deliverable of ongoing communication and information exchange across organizations engaged in cataloging standards and practices for Asian and African materials. |
| Fourth Activity | |
| What will your group be working on for the next 6 months? Write these goals in SMART goal format. |
|
| Fifth Activity | |
| How did your work contribute to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, or belonging within Core or the library profession? What areas of improvement do you see for your committee or Core in these areas? |
The committee activities, including holding the workshop on BCP 47 language tags in BIBFRAME and MARC; the review of ALA-LC romanization tables, such as the Hindi Romanization Table; and participation in related standards initiatives, support diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility by improving the representation and discoverability of African and Asian materials in library catalogs. The committee can participate in the Indigenous Headings Project managed by the Library of Congress to revise and improve Indigenous terminology within the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and the Library of Congress Classification (LCC). |
| Is there anything Core could have provided during this time that would have helped your group with its work? | |
| Please provide suggestions for future education topics, initiatives, publications, resources, or other activities that could be developed based on your group’s work. | |
| Please describe anything you need to bring to the Core Board or section leadership for discussion or action at their next meeting. | |
| Please share any additional comments, concerns, or suggestions you have. | |
| Today’s Date | 05/13/2026 |
Category: Cataloging Asian and African Materials
Cataloging Asian and African Materials – December 2025 Report
| What is the name of your committee? | Cataloging Asian and African Materials |
| Your Name | Magda Gad |
| Your Email | mgad@stanford.edu |
| If your committee is part of a section, please select it (if applicable) | Metadata & Collections |
| Which report are you submitting? | December |
| How many times did your group meet during this reporting period? | 2-3 |
| First Activity | |
| Please summarize work accomplished, decisions made, and follow-up actions determined during the past 6 months. Your summary can be a narrative or bullet points, see below for reporting on specific areas. |
The committee launched the 2025–2026 CC:AAM cycle and held its first virtual meeting on August 20, 2025. The group has outlined priorities for this cycle, including ongoing support of the PCC SCS working group on guidelines for evaluating references written in non-Latin characters in Script References in Name Authority Records by assisting with testing and submitting feedback, as the project is expected to begin soon. The committee also discussed potential solutions for several Unicode issues following the Library of Congress’s transition to the new Integrated Library Management System (FOLIO). In addition, the committee reviewed and discussed the liaisons’ reports. At the November 3, 2025 meeting, the committee discussed the implementation of adding the MARC field $7 (BCP47) in LC’s bibliographic records that are created automatically by the bibframe2marc conversions. The committee also discussed the “$7 Generated by AI” that was found in some 650 fields in some bibliographic OCLC records and evaluated whether its use aligned with current standards. Members also held in-depth discussions on font display problems in Connexion, particularly for Arabic, Korean, and Slavic/Cyrillic scripts, and evaluated the potential transition from Arial Unicode MS to Google Noto fonts. The committee also received comprehensive reports from OCLC, ALC, CEAL, CONSALD, CORMOSEA, CC:DA, and MELA. |
| Second Activity | |
| If your committee has a specific strategic goal assigned, update any progress made on this goal. | |
| Third Activity | |
| Deliverables (Fill in bullet point and progress made) |
The committee discussed font display issues in OCLC Connexion, particularly for Arabic, Korean, and Slavic/Cyrillic scripts, and evaluated the potential transition from Arial Unicode MS to Google Noto fonts. The committee will continue to monitor this issue and revisit the solution to confirm whether Noto is the best font choice, seeking additional expert opinions. The committee monitored the $7 Generated by AI subfields that were found in some 650 fields in some OCLC records. The committee discussed the AI enhancements in bibliographic records.
The CC:AAM monitors the South Asia SACO Funnel collaborations with the Middle East and Islamic Studies (MEIS) Funnel and the CJK (China-Japan-Korea) SACO Funnel on the “Oriental” Project. LC has given them approval to begin phase one in their project plan roadmap. Some of the committee members are active members on those funnels and participate in the project. The committee follows developments in the ongoing retrospective project, adding “Palestine question” LCSH headings to OCLC records managed by the MELA Committee on Cataloging. |
| Ongoing Work (Fill in bullet point and progress made) |
The committee appointed two members to the ALA-LC Romanization Review Board, who will participate in reviewing the proposed table revisions and report back to the committee on their activities. The Board is expected to hold its first meeting of the new cycle in January 2026.
|
| Fourth Activity | |
| What will your group be working on for the next 6 months? Write these goals in SMART goal format. |
|
| Fifth Activity | |
| How did your work contribute to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, or belonging within Core or the library profession? What areas of improvement do you see for your committee or Core in these areas? |
The Committee actively supports and participates in initiatives to promote more appropriate and inclusive terminology for describing Asian and African library resources, such as the “Oriental” project and the participation in reviewing and updating the ALA-LC Romanization tables through our nominees at the ALA-LC Romanization Tables Review Board. |
| Is there anything Core could have provided during this time that would have helped your group with its work? | |
| Please provide suggestions for future education topics, initiatives, publications, resources, or other activities that could be developed based on your group’s work. | |
| Please describe anything you need to bring to the Core Board or section leadership for discussion or action at their next meeting. | |
| Please share any additional comments, concerns, or suggestions you have. | |
| Today’s Date | 12/12/2025 |
Cataloging Asian and African Materials – May 2025 Report
| What is the name of your committee? | Cataloging Asian and African Materials |
| Your Name | Lia Contursi |
| Your Email | contursi@princeton.edu |
| If your committee is part of a section, please select it (if applicable) | Metadata & Collections |
| Which report are you submitting? | May |
| How many times did your group meet during this reporting period? | 2-3 |
| First Activity | |
| Please summarize work accomplished, decisions made, and follow-up actions determined during the past 6 months. Your summary can be a narrative or bullet points, see below for reporting on specific areas. |
The Committee sponsored and actively participated in the discussion of MARC Proposal No. 2025-05, which addresses the tagging of transliteration schemes, language of origin, and translation. The proposal was officially accepted by the MARC Advisory Committee on June 25, 2025. This marks a significant achievement, as it introduces an important source of information for non-Roman script languages. It will assist metadata librarians in identifying Romanization schemes beyond ALA-LC and enable the potential reuse of bibliographic description data contributed by agencies that do not conform to North American standards. Committee members also contributed to the revision and update of the PCC Guidelines for Creating Bibliographic Records in Multiple Character Sets—an essential standard for cataloging resources in non-Roman scripts. The recent updates support broader inclusion of non-Roman script data and allow for the omission of more parallel Romanized fields, thereby streamlining the cataloging process. Members of the Committee contributed also to the discussion at the ALA-LC Review Board level that led to the decision of the Library of Congress to provide earlier versions of the Romanization Tables, when available. This is a crucial tool that allows to identify obsolete forms that can be corrected and updated. |
| Second Activity | |
| If your committee has a specific strategic goal assigned, update any progress made on this goal. |
In light of the recent accomplishments—namely, the approval of new tagging for transliteration schemes and the updates to the PCC Guidelines for records with multiple character sets—the Committee could consider organizing a workshop or presentation to explain the proper application of these new standards and policies. At least two presentations are possible and could be offered during the academic year 2025-2026. |
| Third Activity | |
| Deliverables (Fill in bullet point and progress made) |
The most significant progress was made in the participation to the larger discussions and advancement of the metadata description of non-Roman script languages. Thanks to the new tagging in MARC records and to the streamlining of non-Roman script data, the work of metadata librarians will become more efficient. |
| Ongoing Work (Fill in bullet point and progress made) |
Contribution to:
|
| Fourth Activity | |
| What will your group be working on for the next 6 months? Write these goals in SMART goal format. |
Immediately important topics will have to be further discussed by the entire Committee, but 2 possibilities are:
|
| Fifth Activity | |
| How did your work contribute to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, or belonging within Core or the library profession? What areas of improvement do you see for your committee or Core in these areas? |
The care and interest in minority languages such as the Rohingya is a great example of a valuable contribution of the Committee to the interests of DEI. |
| Is there anything Core could have provided during this time that would have helped your group with its work? | |
| Please provide suggestions for future education topics, initiatives, publications, resources, or other activities that could be developed based on your group’s work. | |
| Please describe anything you need to bring to the Core Board or section leadership for discussion or action at their next meeting. | |
| Please share any additional comments, concerns, or suggestions you have. | |
| Today’s Date | 06/26/2025 |
Cataloging Asian and African Materials – December 2024 Report
| What is the name of your committee? | Cataloging Asian and African Materials |
| Your Name | Lia Contursi |
| Your Email | contursi@princeton.edu |
| If your committee is part of a section, please select it (if applicable) | Metadata & Collections |
| Which report are you submitting? | December |
| How many times did your group meet during this reporting period? | 2-3 |
| First Activity | |
| Please summarize work accomplished, decisions made, and follow-up actions determined during the past 6 months. Your summary can be a narrative or bullet points, see below for reporting on specific areas. |
The Committee met in on August 19 2024 and discussed the possibility to sponsor a program on the application of the PCC Guidelines for the ISO 693-3 language code. These relatively new codes are applicable to the bibliographic description of resources of less represented languages and were made available in November 2023, but are used infrequently still. The Committee discussed the possibility to offer a presentation online to metadata librarians, to encourage more use of such codes. However, there is not full clarity on how the guidelines should be used. The Committee will re-discuss the idea after gathering some clarifications. The Committee discussed the practical applications of the proposals submitted in the MARC Discussion Paper no. 2024.DP11, which presents a method to tag transliteration schemes and BCP 47 in data provenance subfields in the MARC 21 Authority and Bibliographic Formats. Many members of CC:AAM are involved in this proposal. At the meeting on November 18, 2024 we discussed the progress and challenges of the evaluation guidelines for the non-Latin script references in name authority records. A Committee member directly involved in the update of the Khmer Romanization table reported on the progress of the work, while a new proposal to the Romanization Review Board for the Ho Romanization did not get traction due to the lack of expertise of this language in the larger community. |
| Second Activity | |
| If your committee has a specific strategic goal assigned, update any progress made on this goal. | |
| Third Activity | |
| Deliverables (Fill in bullet point and progress made) |
Members of the Committee are directly involved in the ongoing review of the adjustment to the LCC Classification of the Japanese period called Heisei (1989-2019). This project will allow to assign a specific space in the LCC classification scheme for all the resources that describe this period in history in general and in the arts. Members of CC:AAM are also working on a collaboration across cultural regions in Asia to eradicate the term “Oriental” in subjects headings. Far East and Middle East specialist within the Committee are committed to this plan. Committee members active in the MELA Association continue to work at the retrospective application of the “Palestine question” headings.
CC:AAM keeps abreast with proposals for new, or updated Romanization Tables, which are essential to access resources in non-Roman script languages. A few members of the Committee are active members of the Romanization Review Board. CC:AAM is also following the undergoing update of the Khmer Romanization Table. |
| Ongoing Work (Fill in bullet point and progress made) |
MAny members CC:AAM are involved in this proposal and participate in the discussion to make changes required by the MAC Committee with the objective to make the proposal of addition new codes for use with MARC data provenance subfields to accommodate transliteration scheme codes and BCP 47 tags in the MARC 21 Authority and Bibliographic Formats. If accepted this proposal will facilitate the work of Romanization for the description of resources in non-Roman script languages. |
| Fourth Activity | |
| What will your group be working on for the next 6 months? Write these goals in SMART goal format. |
Follow the activities of all the affiliated organizations and contribute to their initiatives, such as the collaboration of the elimination of the term Oriental in metadata describing resources related to cultural heritage all across Asia. Support proposal of new or updated Romanization Tables, through the active participation in the Romanization Board. Create the conditions the encourage more use of the available guidelines that facilitate access to resources in less known languages of Africa and Asia. |
| Fifth Activity | |
| How did your work contribute to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, or belonging within Core or the library profession? What areas of improvement do you see for your committee or Core in these areas? |
CC:AAM is supporting the update of anachronistic language in metadata description. We encourage the application of new language codes such as the ISO-693-3, which provide ways to tag more languages of minorities and are committed to find ways to promote their use. |
| Is there anything Core could have provided during this time that would have helped your group with its work? | |
| Please provide suggestions for future education topics, initiatives, publications, resources, or other activities that could be developed based on your group’s work. | |
| Please describe anything you need to bring to the Core Board or section leadership for discussion or action at their next meeting. | |
| Please share any additional comments, concerns, or suggestions you have. | |
| Today’s Date | 01/22/2025 |
Cataloging Asian and African Materials – May 2024 Report
| What is the name of your committee? | Cataloging Asian and African Materials |
| Your Name | Robert Rendall |
| Your Email | rr2205@columbia.edu |
| If your committee is part of a section, please select it (if applicable) | Metadata & Collections |
| Which report are you submitting? | May |
| How many times did your group meet during this reporting period? | 2-3 |
| First Activity | |
| Please summarize work accomplished, decisions made, and follow-up actions determined during the past 6 months. Your summary can be a narrative or bullet points, see below for reporting on specific areas. |
The Committee met virtually on February 6, 2024. We discussed succession planning for the Committee next year and called for volunteers to be next year’s Vice-Chair. We reviewed the list of diversity & inclusion initiatives within our area of responsibility that we have been monitoring in anticipation of planning a panel on the topic sponsored by our Committee. Updates were available for several, including a new initiative to replace the word “oriental” from LC subject headings and efforts to research appropriate terminology to use for indigenous communities in South Asia. We discussed current efforts to revise the Lao and Khmer ALA-LC romanization tables, and reports were presented to the Committee on the activities of CEAL, MELA and CC:DA. The Committee met again virtually on May 17, 2024. Current Vice-Chair and incoming Chair Lia Contursi announced changes to the Committee’s membership for next year, including Charlotte Lynn Cotter as a new generalist member and Hassan Mortada as the new Middle Eastern Specialist. Current Middle Eastern Specialist Magda Gad has accepted appointment as the new Vice-Chair. Updates on diversity & inclusion initiatives at this meeting included efforts initiated by Princeton University to replace the term “Berber” with “Amazigh” in LC subject headings, and the organization of a new Working Group on Palestine by MELA. The Committee reviewed the new LC best practices for non-Latin script input for bibliographic descriptions and a draft MARC proposal for transliteration scheme codes and BCP 47 tags. Written or oral reports were presented to the Committee on the activities of CEAL, CONSALD, MELA and the ALC. |
| Second Activity | |
| If your committee has a specific strategic goal assigned, update any progress made on this goal. | |
| Third Activity | |
| Deliverables (Fill in bullet point and progress made) |
The Committee’s appointees on the ALA-LC Romanization Review Board played leading roles in the recent successful revisions of the ALA-LC romanization tables for Oriya and Sindhi. |
| Ongoing Work (Fill in bullet point and progress made) |
We continue to monitor a growing list of diversity & inclusion initiatives in our area of responsibility in anticipation of sponsoring an online panel discussion on this topic when they are sufficiently advanced.
Committee discussions facilitate coordination and information sharing between cataloging communities that have independently initiated efforts to improve subject access and terminology. |
| Fourth Activity | |
| What will your group be working on for the next 6 months? Write these goals in SMART goal format. |
Monitor progress on diversity & inclusion initiatives in the area of Asian and African materials cataloging and plan a panel discussion of these activities. Receive and share reports on the activities of affiliated organizations in the area of the Committee’s responsibility. Support the ongoing review of two ALA-LC Romanization Table revision proposals through our Romanization Board nominees and by submitting comments when they are released for public review. |
| Fifth Activity | |
| How did your work contribute to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, or belonging within Core or the library profession? What areas of improvement do you see for your committee or Core in these areas? |
The Committee encourages and participates in efforts to promote more appropriate and inclusive terminology for the description of Asian and African library resources. The Committee strives to support and engage with cataloging efforts for Asian and African materials equally in all geographic/cultural areas, some of which are better resourced than others. |
| Is there anything Core could have provided during this time that would have helped your group with its work? | |
| Please provide suggestions for future education topics, initiatives, publications, resources, or other activities that could be developed based on your group’s work. | |
| Please describe anything you need to bring to the Core Board or section leadership for discussion or action at their next meeting. | |
| Please share any additional comments, concerns, or suggestions you have. | |
| Today’s Date | 05/31/2024 |
Cataloging Asian and African Materials – December 2023 Report
Part of the Metadata & Collections Section
The group met 2-3 times this quarter.
Committee Work
Summary of work accomplished, decisions made, and follow-up actions determined during the past 6 months
On August 23, the Committee cosponsored the online program “Developing ALA-LC Romanization Tables Alongside New Technologies for Improved Discovery: Case Study ADLaM,” with 338 registered participants and 222 live attendees.
The Committee met virtually on August 29. We reviewed the recent program, and also discussed written reports from the Library of Congress, OCLC, the Middle East Librarians Association and Core’s Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access. We initiated discussion of ideas for future programs, and began a list of diversity & inclusion initiatives within our area of responsibility to monitor in anticipation of inviting participants in them to participate in a panel on the topic sponsored by our Committee.
The Committee met again virtually on December 6. We reviewed and discussed written reports from the Middle East Librarians Association and the Committee on South Asian Libraries and Documentation. We also received an oral update on the recent activities of the ALA-LC Romanization Table Review Board. We reviewed our list of diversity & inclusion initiatives and what we know about developments related to them since our last meeting. A successful program will depend on several of these initiatives having made further progress, but we tentatively decided to try to arrange a panel for an online event sometime in summer 2024.
Progress on Deliverables
- Reviews tables for Romanization of languages used in these areas that are written in a non-roman script, for use in library catalogs
This deliverable should be updated to correspond to the 2023 revised charge for the Committee: “To nominate two members to serve on the ALA-LC Romanization Tables Review Board and to support participation in the review of Romanization tables of languages that are written in a non-Latin script, for use in library catalogs.” CC:AAM’s two nominees on the ALA-LC Romanization Table Review Board are participating the review of two new proposed table revisions and have reported back to the committee on their activities. One of them is chairing the Review Subcommittee for the proposed revision.
- Makes a continuing assessment of the state of the art and suggest the direction of change in the field of descriptive cataloging
We are developing a list of diversity & inclusion initiatives in our area of responsibility to make contact with and monitor in anticipation of sponsoring an online panel discussion on this topic in 2024.
What will your group be working on for the next 6 months?
Monitor progress on diversity & inclusion initiatives in the area of Asian and African materials cataloging and plan a panel discussion of these activities for summer 2024.
Receive and share reports on the activities of affiliated organizations in the area of the Committee’s responsibility.
Support the ongoing review of two ALA-LC Romanization Table revision proposals through our Romanization Board nominees and by submitting comments when they are released for public review.
Review and update the Composition and Deliverables sections on the Committee’s Core website page.
Meets Core’s strategic goals for Career Building and Recognition, Membership and Value to Members
How did your work contribute to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, or belonging within Core or the library profession? What areas of improvement do you see for your committee or Core in these areas?
Our cosponsored public program on August 23 “Developing ALA-LC Romanization Tables Alongside New Technologies for Improved Discovery: Case Study ADLaM” featured work to better represent and support an underserved African script and language in library work, and provided models that could be applied to other similar scripts and languages in the future.
In its ongoing work the Committee strives to support and engage with cataloging efforts for Asian and African materials equally in all geographic/cultural areas, some of which are better resourced than others.
Submitted by Robert Rendall on 12/22/2023
Cataloging Asian and African Materials – May 2023 Report
Part of the Metadata & Collections Section
The group met 2-3 times this quarter.
Recent Activities
First Activity
We voted on the revised charge of the committee. The major revision was to make it more reflective of our current practice and engagement with the Library of Congress Romanization Table Review Board. We continued to work on developing the spring/summer program. The decision was made to develop proposals for transliterations tables, using ADLaM table as an example. The committee also agreed to keep all Meeting notes in one GoogleDoc on the ALA CC:AAM SharedDrive.
Meets Core’s strategic goals for Membership and Value to Members
Second Activity
Several dates were proposed for the CC:AAM program but the operational details were delayed so we pushed the event until a later date. The program was then postponed for late mid-summer.
Updates and reports shared out from various groups represented in the Committee: Library of Congress, OCLC, CC: DA, MELA, CONSALD, CEAL, ALC, and CORMOSEA
Meets Core’s strategic goals for Evaluate and Adjust Core’s Structure
Third Activity
Other dates were selected for a revised program that includes the collaboration with the Library of Congress Romanization Board, Neil Patel, and Erin Freas-Smith. Charles Riley will be leading the discussion. The committee accepted that the goal of the program would be to present an overview of how the Review Board works with ADLaM as a case study.
We also worked on the members' composition for the year 2023-24. An East Asian language specialist and vice-chair were missing. We also work on selecting a second reviewer as a participant in the Romanization Table Review Board.
Updates and reports shared out from various groups represented in the Committee: Library of Congress and OCLC.
Meets Core’s strategic goals for Career Building and Recognition
What will your group be working on for the next 6 months?
The first priority is to secure an efficient number of representatives on the LC Romanization Review Board. The second priority is to nominate a representative liaison for the CORE DEI committee from CC: AAM.
Submitted by Boutsaba Janetvilay on 06/02/2023
Cataloging Asian and African Materials – December 2022 Report
The group met 2-3 times this quarter.
Recent Activities
First Activity
We met twice already, on Sept 20 and Nov 15. The nature of the meeting is structured to include various reports from members who liaison with other committees, namely: the Library of Congress, OCLC, ALC, CEAL, CONSALD, CORMOSEA, MELA, and CC:DA. At our first meeting, we agreed to a bimonthly meeting. The conversation about some possible programs for the summer continued during our second meeting. We are also in the process of revising a minor revision on our charge.
Meets Core’s strategic goals for Evaluate and Adjust Core’s Structure
What will your group be working on for the next 6 months?
We are working on coming up with a relevant program to the mission of the Cataloging: Asian and African Materials committee.
Is there anything Core could have provided during this time that would have helped your group with its work?
No, not yet.
Please provide suggestions for future education topics, initiatives, publications, resources, or other activities that could be developed based on your group’s work.
Here are a few topics that we are considering:
1. A presentation that highlights all of the work related to the development of the AdLam script romanization table, including the CODE POINT program that was used.
2. A program that features OCLC giving an update on using Bibframe with non-Latin script.
3. A program that addresses DEI issues in cataloging Asian and African materials. We could focus on specific topics such as DEI issues that need to be addressed when working with Middle Eastern materials.
Submitted by Boutsaba Janetvilay on 12/28/2022
Cataloging Asian and African Materials – May 2022 Report
Part of the Metadata & Collections Section
The group met 4-6 times this quarter.
Recent Activities
First Activity
Sharing updates and reports from various groups represented in the Committee: Library of Congress, OCLC, CC: DA, MELA, CONSALD, CEAL, ALC, and CORMOSEA
Meets Core’s strategic goals for Membership and Engagement
Second Activity
Following and discussing development in Romanization tables. Sharing the progress of the romanization review submitted to the Review board. Continuing to stay actively connected with committees and organizations that share common goals and objectives as CC:AAM.
Meets Core’s strategic goals for Advocacy and EDI, Membership and Engagement
Third Activity
Organized a workshop: Libraries and Internationalization on Thursday, June 9 at 2:00pm-4:00pm EST.
The workshop will look at how standards and internationalization facilitate or impact multilingual cataloguing and how that data is exposed in discovery layers. It will provide an overview of relevant standards, cataloguing practices, and internationalization principles in web services library patrons use.
Presenter: Andrew Cunningham is a consultant specializing in internationalization and technical support for community and refugee languages. He has a long history of work in the Australian library sector including support and management of Library IT systems, web development, digital diversity, community informatics, and training. He has specialized knowledge of electronic multicultural library services, deployment of government information in community languages, and ICT enablement for minority and lesser used languages.
Andrew has been involved with internationalization issues for web standards and authored government guidelines on community language content in Government web services
Meets Core’s strategic goals for Advocacy and EDI, Continuing Education
Fourth Activity
Organized a Panel: Non-Latin Scripts in/and Library Linked Data: What to Expect?
Date: Thursday, June 16, 3:00-4:30 pm EST
Section1: LC BIBFRAME Project:
Opening remarks. Beacher Wiggins: Director For Acquisitions And Bibliographic Access
• Beacher Wiggins will open the session with a brief status and overview of LC’s BIBFRAME work, with emphasis on the activation of bf100 and what it portends.
• Non-Latin script in LC BIBFRAME editor: issues and updates. Sally McCallum
Sally McCallum: Chief, Network Development & MARC Standards Office in ABA
Summary: To open, a brief look back at the history of non-Latin scripts in our Latin script environment and the possibilities that opened to the community in the last 20 years. Followed by information on identification of languages and scripts in BIBFRAME, transliteration options, and ways that Marva editor is striving for to assist the cataloger.”
• Demos by a developer/trainer and a non-Latin script tester. Possible coverage of different types of scripts. Paul Frank and Elaine Kim
Elaine Kim: Librarian, Asian and Middle Eastern Division, Paul Frank: Cataloging Policy Specialist
BIBFRAME is a foundation for the future of bibliographic description, but the Library of Congress BIBFRAME Pilot is also a foundation for testing and evaluating current bibliographic cataloging policies. In this presentation, Elaine Kim and Paul Frank will highlight experimentation in the Library of Congress BIBFRAME Pilot with non-Latin script descriptions, illustrating areas where existing policies on romanization of non-Latin data may benefit from change in a linked data environment.
Section 2. LD4P Sinopia Project:
Magda Gad, Metadata Librarian for Middle East Resources, Stanford University; Nancy Lorimer, Associate Director, Metadata Services, Stanford University
The Sinopia RDF editor is an open-source editor for use by the library community developed as part of the Linked Data for Production grant series. With the input and guidance of LD4P member library non-Latin script catalogers and the LD4 Non-Latin Scripts Affinity Group, support of diacritics and non-Latin script has been continuously enhanced. Magda and Nancy will highlight recent enhancements to Sinopia, helpers we have found for entry of non-Latin scripts and transliterations of those scripts, and issues and questions that have arisen as we move toward non-Latin script production cataloging in Sinopia.
Section 3. OCLC and the SEMI Project (Shared Entity Management Infrastructure)
Charlene Morrison, Database Specialist at OCLC, Becky Dean, Product Manager at OCLC
The goal for Charlene and Becky’s program is to share some of challenges related to languages using WorldCat bibliographic and VIAF data, respectively, to create work and person entities for the SEMI (Shared Entity Management Infrastructure). They will also identify specific challenges related to scripts, and how the data sources shaped some of those decisions
Meets Core’s strategic goals for Advocacy and EDI, Continuing Education, Membership and Engagement
What will your group be working on for the next 6 months?
Organizing and archiving the committee documents, reports and resources in ALA connect
Is there anything Core could have provided during this time that would have helped your group with its work?
CC:AAM appreciates the support of Core in organizing this year's programs.
Submitted by Iman Dagher on 06/02/2022
Cataloging Asian and African Materials – December 2021 Report
Part of the Metadata & Collections Section
The group met 4-6 times this quarter.
Recent Activities
First Activity
The committee created a Shared Google Drive for its members to organize its documents and resources: agendas, meeting minutes, as well as meeting recordings.
In order to facilitate the process of an easy transfer in July 2022, the committee agreed to create the position of a Vice Chair. Boustaba Janetvilay volunteered to fill this role. She is the current co-chair of CC:AAM, and has been assisting the chair in various aspects. With the help of Core, the roster has been updated with all members and their specialization and liaison information
Meets Core’s strategic goals for Membership and Engagement
Second Activity
The committee reviewed the committee charge. The adjustments reflected the new guidelines for the Romanization table review process, and we updated certain texts and terms to align with the current standards and use. With the help of Core, the revised charge is now posted on the Committee online and has replaced the abridged version.
Meets Core’s strategic goals for Membership and Engagement
Third Activity
The committee opened a discussion regarding the role that CC:AAM can play on the use of certain existing LC subject headings related to African and Asian materials, as well as on the current guidelines to update so they can represent and reflect the topic per Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion considerations. A CC:AAM member, Bela Gupta, presented to the committee the EDI in the LCSH for the tribes of India.
The presentation demonstrated the need to changes some of these LCSHs so they can better represent the tribes.
Meets Core’s strategic goals for Advocacy and EDI
Fourth Activity
The committee discussed the new role of CC:AAM in light of the implementation of the Revised procedural guidelines for proposing new or revised Romanization Tables. CC:AAM has currently one member representing the Committee on the Review Board, Haiqing Lin. Haiqing and the LC liaison to CC:AAM, Jessalyn Zoom, have both been updating the Committee on the status of the proposals. The committee chair and members also contribute to sharing the new proposals to pertinent communities for comments.
Meets Core’s strategic goals for Advocacy and EDI, Membership and Engagement
Fifth Activity
The CC:AAM is currently in the process of organizing a virtual program that will be held as part of the ALA Annual in June 2022. The topic will be BIBFRAME and non-Latin data. The plan is to have speakers from the Library of Congress who will cover updates on the LC BIBFRAME editor, issues related to non-Latin script materials, development of the tools, as well as a demo of the editor. It will also have speakers from Stanford Library presenting on the use of Sinopia, another BIBFRAME editor, and the issues found with entering non-Latin data and possible developments.
Meets Core’s strategic goals for Advocacy and EDI, Continuing Education
What will your group be working on for the next 6 months?
Organizing the CC:AAM program scheduled for June 2022.
Discussing reports and updates submitted from liaisons: OCLC, LC, CC:DA, Middle East Librarians Association (MELA), Council on East Asian Libraries (CEAL), Committee on South Asian Libraries and Documentation (CONSALD), The Africana Librarians Council (ALC), Committee on Research Materials on Southeast Asia (CORMOSEA)
Is there anything Core could have provided during this time that would have helped your group with its work?
The Committee appreciates Core assistance in updating its online space, and with planning its 2022 program
Submitted by Iman Dagher on 01/25/2022