The SACO Program in the Lives of Our Institutions

Abstract

This article reports the results of a survey sent to libraries and other institutions that have been active participants in the SACO (Subject Authority Cooperative) Program, a component of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging. The intent was to discover the ways in which SACO participation is related to the intellectual and cultural lives of libraries' home institutions or communities, and the nature and extent of interaction between those preparing SACO proposals and other stakeholders. Results indicate multiple ways in which SACO work reflects broader institutional life. Interaction is mainly limited to library or professional colleagues, and varies in nature.

KEYWORDS:

• SACO
• subject authority cooperative program
• subject headings
• subject analysis
• Library of Congress subject headings
• Library of Congress classification

Notes

1. Library of Congress, Program for Cooperative Cataloging, “About the SACO Program,” http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/saco/sacopara.html (accessed August 9, 2009).

2. Ana L. Cristán, “SACO and Subject Gateways,” Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 39, no. 1–2 (2004): 314.

3. “Program for Cooperative Cataloging Fiscal Year Report for 2008,” http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/archive/annualreports/PCCARFY08.pdf (accessed August 10, 2009).

4. Anthony R.D. Franks with contributions by Ana Cristán, “International Cooperation in the Program for Cooperative Cataloging: Present and Prospects,” Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 30, no. 4 (2000): 37–50.

5. Ibid., 43.

6. Ibid., 49.

7. Ana Lupe Cristán, “The SACO Program in Latin America,” International Cataloguing and Bibliographic Control 34, no. 3 (2005): 54–58.

8. Ibid., 55.

9. Daniel CannCasciato, “Retrospective Application of Subject Headings, Part 2—A Case Study at the Central Washington University Library,” Library Philosophy and Practice 2, no. 2 (Spring 2000): 1–10.

10. My thanks to John N. Mitchell, Cooperative Cataloging Program Specialist at the Library of Congress, for supplying me with these files.

11. Library of Congress, Program for Cooperative Cataloging, “SACO Application/Information Form,” http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/saco/sacoappl.html (accessed August 9, 2009).

12. I am grateful to Cheri Folkner, Bill Kulp, and Adam Schiff for their helpful comments on the first draft of the survey. Any faults in the questionnaire as finally distributed remain my responsibility.

13. University Libraries, University of Washington, Monographic Services Division, “Library of Congress Subject Headings Created by Catalogers at the University of Washington Libraries through the SACO Program,” http://www.lib.washington.edu/Msd/Lcsh.html (accessed August 9, 2009). “Library of Congress Subject Headings Created by Catalogers at Columbia University through the SACO Program,” http://www.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/inside/units/bibcontrol/osmc/sacolist.html (accessed August 9, 2009).

14. “Africana Subject Funnel Report,” https://devstaffweb.library.upenn.edu/access/content/group/6c6c5f4a-d7f2–491a-8005-c89ffab33ffc/Africana%20Subject%20Funnel%20Project%20Reports/ (accessed August 9, 2009).

15. The TLS reviewer's comments may reflect a misperception that a Cataloging-in-Publication record is intended to serve as a kind of précis or abstract for the work, as compared with comprising a set of metadata elements expressing attribute values relevant to the expression/manifestation being cataloged. These are, of course, two quite different things.