Guide to cataloging slotMusic based on AACR2 Chapters 6 and 9

In September 2008 SanDisk announced it would begin making music available for purchase on its microSD flash memory card format.1 The audio files on a slotMusic card are in MP3 format and are offered free of any digital rights management controls. In addition to containing an album\u27s worth of music (i.e., a slotMusic release generally corresponds to a collection of music issued on other formats such as compact disc), a typical slotMusic card may come pre-loaded with images, video, text, MIDI files, etc. Each card contains 1 GB of memory (well more than what is required for the pre-loaded content) and the extra memory can be used in whatever way the buyer wishes. Indeed, the preloaded content can be moved to another storage device and the memory card can be formatted and used like any other card. Music on slotMusic cards can be accessed using any device that both accepts microSD cards and is able to play MP3 files at up to 320 kbps.2 In addition, some slotMusic cards come packaged with a special microSD-to-USB adapter, which makes it possible to load slotMusic content onto a computer, car stereo, or any other device equipped with a USB jack. Some slotMusic cards are also sold as bundles, which in addition to the memory card and USB adapter include special dedicated MP3 players that accept the microSD format. Many early media responses questioned whether there would be a market for slotMusic, reasoning that music consumers interested in MP3s generally are comfortable with downloading them through computer network connections.3 But a more recent report in the Los Angeles Times argues that the format is doing better than many expected.4 Still, in April 2010, a search for “slotmusic” in WorldCat retrieves only the record created by this task force as an example, and it is unclear whether any libraries have begun collecting this new format. In terms of cataloging, slotMusic offers a number of challenges. Like much electronic media, the cards exhibit aspects of more than one format, in this case at least sound recordings and electronic resources. Currently, and as the name implies, slotMusic only offers musical sound recordings, but future releases could potentially contain non-musical sound. SlotMusic releases contain no descriptive information on the card itself, making choice of chief sources of information challenging. And slotMusic releases often come bundled with peripheral items (such as USB adapters and MP3 players) that contain no intellectual content, making for interesting accompanying materials notes. And finally, since the devices that can play the cards are numerous, but the technical requirements of those devices are complex, clear notes regarding the playback characteristics of the cards are necessary

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The Education in our Barrios project, or #BarrioEdProj, is a digital critical participatory action research (D+CPAR) project that examines the interconnected remaking of public education and a New York City Latino core community in an era of racial capitalism. This article is a meditation on the ongoing development of #BarrioEdProj as an example of strategically coupling digital media with the theories and practices of critical participatory action research (CPAR). The author describes the project and the theoretical and political commitments that frame this project as a form of public and participatory science. The author then discusses some of the lessons that have been learned as the research group implemented the project and decided to move to a digital archiving model when our digital media design was initially ineffective. The author argues that rather than dropping digital media, engaged scholars must continue to explore the potentially transformative work that can come from carefully devised D+CPAR

View from CLC

During its first 50 years, ACL has offered its members many opportunities for professional growth, support, and resource sharing. The Christian Library Consortium (CLC) has served ACL libraries for the most recent 15 of these years.The purposes of the CLC “shall be to promote sharing of resources between institutional members, to provide other benefits (when possible), and to help sponsor the activities of the association by paying dues.”1 Woodvall Moore first presented the concept for the Christian Library Consortium (CLC) during a meeting of the Association’s Liberal Arts College Section at the 1988 conference

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This article describes the Online Computer Library Center???s (OCLC) Open WorldCat program. WorldCat is a worldwide union catalog created and maintained collectively by more than 9,000 member institutions. Open WorldCat seeks to make library collections and services visible and available through popular search engines such as Yahoo! and Google and other heavily used sites on the open Web. In this capacity, Open WorldCat provides an important central connection between the shared information of the library network and the Web. The article describes the history and rationale of the project; explains how Open WorldCat works for information seekers, participating libraries, and partners; and reports on what OCLC has learned from the program to date.published or submitted for publicatio

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This paper reviews the framework of library resource sharing (LRS) in China and examines, from a comparative perspective, cases of recent development, particularly in the 1990s and early 2000s. Highlights include: (1) historical review of LRS in the U.S. and China, particularly in the areas of print union catalogs and union lists, online bibliographic utilities, and interlibrary loan; (2) literature review of Chinese publications, and LRS issues and challenges in China; (3) Analysis of three LRS models to provide a contextual grasp of a paradigm shift taking place in China; and (4) comparative analysis of LRS objectives, structure, and governance, etc., in the U.S. and China. The study also underscores the imperative for building a national digital library system in China to gain a competitive edge in resource sharing and to support the country’s rapid social and economic growth. At this stage of development, the success of China Academic Library & Information System provides a convincing argument for a national digital library system with its methods of governing, financing, and development

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Summary of library and media services activities for 2015-201