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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 49| February 2001


Cataloguing on Kinetica

A recent study comparing cataloguing activity over time carried out by the Technical Services Branch of the National Library may be of interest to other libraries using Kinetica.

The National Library catalogues directly on to Kinetica. Following the changeover from the Australian Bibliographic Network (ABN) to Kinetica, library managers in Technical Services were interested to discover whether there were significant differences in the use of Kinetica compared with ABN.

An initial study assessed the effect of the introduction of Kinetica on the availability of copy cataloguing data on the National Bibliographic Database (NBD). We were also interested in whether there was as much Australian data being contributed directly as before. Prompt and full cataloguing of Australian publications is a high priority for the National Library, and one we share with a number of other Australian libraries through cataloguing agreements.

We compared the ratio of original to copy cataloguing carried out in the Technical Services Branch for current Australian legal deposit publications. We were also interested in assessing Kinetica’s effect on the overall level of cataloguing activity.

We compared cataloguing activity in these areas for the financial year 1998-1999 with that for 1999–2000. The study showed that for current Australian monographs, 30 per cent of items were given original cataloguing in 1998–1999 and 70 per cent were copy catalogued. In 1999–2000, 34 per cent received original cataloguing and 66 per cent were copy catalogued. The result showed a slight increase in the required amount of original cataloguing for current material. The actual number of items catalogued was approximately 11 500 in 1998–1999 and 12 200 in 1999–2000.

For overseas and Australian cataloguing combined, however, the study showed no change in the ratio of copy and original cataloguing carried out¾it stayed the same from 1998–1999 to 1999–2000. In other words the increase in original cataloguing for Australian monographs in 1999–2000 was offset by decreases elsewhere. We found these results interesting, and will monitor the ratios regularly.

In general terms, National Library Technical Services managers have observed increased efficiencies with the use of Kinetica compared to ABN. There was a short-term reduction in the number of items catalogued in the quarter of 1999 in which Kinetica was introduced, however this cataloguing activity was back to pre-Kinetica levels in the following quarter. Workflows in the Technical Services area are simpler with Kinetica than with ABN, resulting in quicker turnaround times for processing and cataloguing. Technical Services staff are multiskilled, so that time saved on cataloguing is able to be spent on acquisitions tasks such as claiming legal deposit material.
—Amelia McKenzie

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Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: dthomas@nla.gov.au

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