Tag Archives: metadata

New look for the data block!

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By Tyler Ostapyk

Have you ever flipped through one of your books and noticed a block of text on the back of the title page that starts with “Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication”? This is what we at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) call the CIP data block, and we are pleased to announce we have recently released a new format for the data block! Read on to find out what, exactly, the data block is and what these changes will mean.

What is the CIP data block?

Before the days of online catalogues, electronic databases and embedded metadata, libraries would record detailed information concerning each book on a separate catalogue card. This information allowed library patrons to find and access library materials.

A catalogue card – the original cataloguing record

Catalogue card containing ordered details about the book The Invasion of Canada by Pierre Berton. The name of the author appears at the top of the card, followed by title information and additional details about the book. Relevant subject headings are included near the bottom and the classification number is included in the upper left corner of the card.

A catalogue card for the book The Invasion of Canada written by Pierre Berton.

To help libraries record this information, the CIP Program at Library and Archives Canada would produce CIP data blocks, which were included on the back of the title page of Canadian publications. These data blocks served as a visual representation of cataloguing data created by LAC prior to a book’s publication. By asking publishers to include the data block in the book itself, LAC was able to ensure that cataloguing information was literally at the fingertips of anyone who had access to a copy of the book as soon as it was published.

A card catalogue – the original cataloguing database

A brown card catalogue with one drawer open. The drawer contains several catalogue cards. A catalogue card with an author’s name and date of birth printed at the top is visible. It reads Bishun, Cyril, 1922-.

A single drawer in one of Library and Archives Canada’s many card catalogues.

Today, the CIP data block still serves as a visual cue. It indicates the availability of cataloguing data at LAC and is used by libraries as a basis for replicating LAC’s cataloguing information in their own, local catalogues. In this way, the CIP data block continues to help libraries classify and catalogue their materials quickly, helping them make these materials available to their patrons in a timely manner.

Why is the data block changing?

As libraries moved away from card catalogues toward electronic databases, the data block remained the same, retaining its original catalogue card format.

The old CIP data block – notice how similar it is to the catalogue card above

An image of the back of the title page from the book Toronto’s Fighting 75th in the Great War, 1915-1919. The page contains a logo for Wilfrid Laurier University and an aknowledgementof support from various funding organizations, followed by the logos for the Government of Canada, Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council. Below this information is a CIP data block for the book in the old CIP data block format. It begins with “Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication,” followed by the author’s name, the title of the book, notes and identifiers, subject headings, classification numbers, and Canadiana authority control numbers. The section below the data block contains additional copyright information.

A CIP data block as it appears on the back of the title page within the publication Toronto’s Fighting 75th in the Great War, 1915-1919.

To bring the data block more in line with developments such as online catalogues and electronic databases, LAC has followed the precedent set by the Library of Congress by designing a new data block that is better suited to today’s information environment.

What will the new data block look like?

Like the Library of Congress’s new data block, LAC’s new CIP data block uses a labelled display that groups data elements by category in a way that is familiar to the public and similar to popular online information resources. Through the addition of these labels and the reordering of the data block, LAC has attempted to make the data block more user-friendly with the hope of better assisting libraries in their use and interpretation of LAC’s cataloguing data and allowing them to get new materials into the hands of their patrons as quickly as possible.

The new CIP data block

A CIP data block for Toronto’s Fighting 75th in the Great War, 1915-1919 appears in the new format. The heading “Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication” appears at the top. Below the heading, each section of the data block contains a label. These labels appear in the following order: Title, Other titles, Names, Description, Identifiers, Subjects, and Classification. Detailed information about the book appears under each label.

Library and Archives Canada’s new CIP data block for the book Toronto’s Fighting 75th in the Great War, 1915-1919.

The CIP Program at Library and Archives Canada is excited and eager to share this new data block with readers and libraries worldwide. Keep your eye out for this new format, as it is likely to make an appearance in your personal reading material sometime soon!

Want to learn more?

Check out the detailed description of our new data block on the Cataloguing in Publication section of LAC’s website.

Want to see more?

Questions about the data block?

Tyler Ostapyk is a cataloguing librarian at Library and Archives Canada

Library and Archives Canada releases two revised classification schedules

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Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is pleased to announce the completed revision of two classification schedules: Class FC: a classification for Canadian history, 3rd edition, and Class PS8000: a classification for Canadian literature, 4th edition.

Both classifications are compatible with the U.S. Library of Congress Classification used by many libraries, while allowing for more specific and comprehensive treatment of subjects in Canadian history and literature. In other words, these classifications can be used by libraries with extensive collections in Canadian history and literature to improve access to their collections and better meet the needs of their user communities.

Revising and re-issuing classification schedules is an important undertaking for Library and Archives Canada – and a lot of work! What are some of the differences between the new editions of Class FC and Class PS8000 and their previous editions? Librarians revise classification systems to bring them up to date with the present, adding new concepts and new examples for biographical and other topics. Class FC, for example, includes a new classification number for 21st Century Canadian history and a place for the territory of Nunavut, which did not exist when the 1994 edition was published.

How is the Class PS8000 different from other classifications for literature? While some classifications separate literature by language, PS8000 brings together literature written by Canadian authors in English, French and other languages and places it side-by-side on library shelves. It also keeps the novel together with other literary forms.

As any scientist knows, attempting to classify the world is a difficult and complex undertaking! Library classifications must also evolve constantly to adapt to new ideas and new kinds of knowledge. For the first time, LAC has published new editions of Class FC and PS8000 exclusively in electronic format, which will allow them to be modified more frequently. LAC welcomes suggestions and feedback on these schedules. To make a suggestion, please email us at BAC.Normesdecatalogage-Cataloguingstandards.LAC@canada.ca.

Subject Headings emblazoned with maple leaves

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Subject access to Library and Archives Canada’s collection is made primarily through the use of Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). A list of these headings has been actively maintained by the Library of Congress since 1898. But if the topic fits a Canadian like a warm winter toque, it is probably found in the Canadian Subject Headings (CSH) or its French equivalent in the Répertoire de vedettes-matière (RVM), published by the Bibliothèque de l’Université Laval.

CSH and RVM are designed to be used in tandem with LCSH and follow the same principles for the structuring of the headings and most of the same policies as LCSH.

The former National Library of Canada first developed a list of access points to Canadian topics not covered by the Library of Congress in 1968, to address Canadian terms and subjects from a Canadian point of view. Canadian Subject Headings have been found on the Web since 2000 in conjunction with AMICUS, Library and Archives Canada’s database of bibliographic and authority records. The list is constantly updated to reflect subjects discussed from a Canadian perspective, including those recently in the news.

The scope of Canadian Subject Headings is mostly limited to the Canadian cultural, economic, historical, literary, political and social experience. Subject areas include Canadian history, Canadian literature, Canadian government, Canadian geography, social and economic history, the Canadian legal system, Canada’s approach to second languages, bilingualism and multiculturalism, and Aboriginal or Native peoples.

Screen capture of a Canadian Subject Heading search result for the search “Hudson’s Bay blankets.”

Example of a Canadian Subject Heading search result showing a uniquely Canadian subject heading.

Here are some examples which reflect our unique identity:

Native youth [CSH]
Jeunesse autochtone [RVM]

Native peoples—Canada—Residential schools [CSH]
Internats pour Indiens d’Amérique – Canada [RVM]

Hudson’s Bay blankets [CSH]
Couvertures de la Baie d’Hudson [RVM]

Canada—History—War of 1812 [CSH]
Canada—Histoire—1812, Guerre de [RVM]

Italian Canadians [CSH]
Canadiens d’origine italienne [RVM]

European Canadian authors [CSH]
Auteurs canadiens d’origine européenne [RVM]

Voyageurs [CSH]
Coureurs de bois [RVM]

Habitants—Canada [CSH]
Agriculteurs—Canada—Histoire—18e siècle [RVM]

Goods and services tax—Canada [CSH]
Taxe sur les produits et services [RVM]

Band membership [CSH]
Nationalité indienne [RVM]

Films for second language learners [CSH]
Films pour allophones [RVM]

Sugar bush—Canada [CSH]
Érablières [RVM]

Do you have a suggestion for a new subject heading? We welcome your ideas! Send them to the Editor, Canadian Subject Headings at: standards@bac-lac.gc.ca.

A page in every Canadian book: Cataloguing in Publication

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In your hurry to start reading a new book, you may occasionally have noticed on the back of the title page a rather strange arrangement of words and numbers headed by the caption, “Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data.”

Image showing the first recto page of a book with the CIP information.

Example of Cataloguing in Publication information for The Night Before Christmas (AMICUS 41951076)

Did you ever wonder why and how Library and Archives Canada (LAC) puts its stamp on your personal reading material, and on pretty much every publication published in Canada? The answer is simple. Cataloguing in Publication, or CIP as it is commonly known, is prepared by librarians ahead of a book’s launch date. CIP allows Canadian libraries to pre-order a book, catalogue and classify it quickly, thus putting it into the hands of library patrons faster than if each library had to do all the cataloguing and classification work themselves.

Nearly 9,000 new Canadian publications a year are catalogued by the CIP team, a group of about ten cataloguers in LAC’s Description Division. The team works closely with dozens of publishers across the country in an effort to share metadata about Canadian books worldwide. The Canadian CIP Program, which has been in existence since the 1970s, is one of the great success stories of LAC, and one that keeps repeating itself, one book at a time.

To find out more about the program, visit Cataloguing in Publication.