Sorry, but the Emma Museum at the ACT is as fictional as Emma Woodhouse herself! So why does this website exist?
This website was created by Alexis Kantor together with Cynthia Eller and Tianna Mignogna as a part of a final project for Syracuse University’s IST 616 class (Information Organization and Access) for the Summer 2019 quarter.
From the syllabus, the final project entails:
The final project is the capstone assignment for this course. You will be able to practice the skills you learned as well as the principles and theories to develop your final project. The final project should be worked in a group of 2-3 people, as if you were a task force in a library setting to conduct a study for developing procedures and policies for cataloging a particular set or type of library materials. Examples of material sets are listed below to give you some ideas: • Children’s books that come with toys, 3-D moveable pictures, or accompanying audio/visuals • Born-digital resources such as research/technical reports from reputable learned societies, professional associations, and other organizations • Forums of online communities • Donated archives of retired professors’ collections of manuscripts, samples of species or other natural materials • Game sets • … While choosing your collection, you should take these factors into consideration: multiple types of materials (books, manuscripts, video/audio recordings, etc.), for a particular user group or groups (children, senior, high school students, cancer patients and families, etc.), and theme/subject that is significant and has a large number of publications/materials.
Here is how to proceed: 1. Resources to be cataloged: You can name your final project as “XXX Cataloging Project”, where “XXX” can be any collection of published or unpublished information objects. For example, if you are to create cataloging procedures and policies for a collection of language learning materials in a public library, you may choose to name the project as “Conquering the Babel Cataloging Project”. 2. Choose 3-4 examples (or 5-6 if you’re a group of 3) from the collection to create a “copy” or original cataloging record for each of them. It is fine to search a library catalog and copy the record for the item example, but when you do this, you want to check for data accuracy, errors, typos, and missing data from the record. Make any improvements as needed and document the improvements (or highlight them with color). Remember there are several sources you need to verify with: person name in LC name authority database, subject headings in LCSH, and any additional sources that you need to consult to ensure accuracy and correctness of data entry. 3. The records should be in BOTH RDA and MARC formats. a. For RDA records, you are recommended to use the template used in Skill Workshop 1. b. For MARC records, you may use either OCLC Connexion or MARC template from Skill Workshop 1. 4. Carefully summarize the procedures and issues you ran into in cataloging the items. You may cite the rules from standards (RDA and MARC) when necessary. If there is an uncertainty, make a decision for how to handling the uncertainty in future and document it in your cataloging policy. In a separate note, you will provide the rationale for why you make this decision. Again, you can use research literature and standards documents to provide support for your decision. 5. Write a one-page essay (600-1200 words for groups of 2, 900-1200 words for groups of 3) to reflect on the issues of cataloging that you feel most strongly about. 6. Create a website to include items 1-5 as the final project presentation and post your website link to the discussion wall for the final week. You may use your SU personal website or any web space (e.g., http://www.wix.com/, or https://www.weebly.com/), for publishing your final project as long as you share the link on the discussion wall and can be viewed by the class. 7. Submit the website link to the final project in the online learning system for grading.
The Students Involved
Cynthia is a library student hoping to specialize in data curation. Her website can be found at http://cynthiaeller.com
Cynthia Eller
Alexis earned her MS in Mental Health Counseling before deciding to become an MSLIS student. She is a published author, a volunteer, and an avid crafter. If you would like to see her full resume, you can contact her on her LinkedIn.
Alexis Kantor
Tianna is an MSLIS student living in Rochester, NY. Her top three priorities are writing fiction, finding the perfect iced coffee, and petting her fluffy cat Alfie. She hopes to pursue a career in either a public or academic library.
Tianna Mignogna
The Emma Museum at the ACT 