NC State Publications Clearinghouse update

              The Clearinghouse has changed its in-house procedures for describing the call numbers for serial issues. If your library is using the North Carolina State Publications Classification Scheme - the same numbering system associated with Clearinghouse cataloged records - then this information may be important for you.
In the past call numbers for serial issues were assigned numerically by converting months and seasons to numbers. Many of those publications were also assigned numbers because of frequency of publication. For example: If the serial issue was dated January 2001, the assigned call number date was 2001/1; or if the publication frequency was Winter 2003, then 2003/1 was used (the 1 assigned to Winter).
More than ever publishing frequencies for state publications serials change, and how the Clearinghouse describes call numbers in serial issues is being changed to better address those changes. As a result the Clearinghouse is eliminating the numbering system for state publication serials.
Starting August 2012, the Clearinghouse will describe/assign call numbers associated with serial issues as they appear on the publications, no longer converting them to numbers. This system should be easier to read and find for patrons and should also match with the numbering scheme used in Clearinghouse cataloged records.
Some examples for future serials:
1. If the serial issue is: January 2009 - Call number will be: 2009/Jan.
2. If the serial issue is: Spring 2010 - Call number will be: 2010/Spring
3. If the serial issue is: vol. 2. no. 4 - Call number will be: 2/4
4. If the serial issue is: Holiday 2007 - Call number will be: 2007/Holiday
5. If the serial issue is: vol. 1, no. 2 (February 2008) and there is a chance the same numbering will be repeated by publisher every year - Call number frequency will be: 2008/Feb., eliminating the volume and number.
6. If there are serial issues that restart each year with a different volume, and the numbers are consecutive, then the Clearinghouse call number frequency may vary depending on the publication.
Examples: Serial numbering system for each year: vol. 1, no. 2 (February 2008) vol. 2, no. 2 (February 2009) vol. 3, no. 2 (February 2010)
Our serial numbering system: 2008/Feb. or 1/2 2009/Feb. or 2/2 2010/Feb. or 3/2
All questions and concerns should be sent to Documents Cataloger, Eve Neville (eve.neville@ncdcr.gov).
Call Numbers for State Documents Serial Publications has Changed!
Fall 2012 The State Publications Clearinghouse collects publications from all of North Carolina’s state agencies and publications are assigned call numbers according to the state agency that produced it. But what happens when agencies are no longer agencies, or merge, or a division moves to another state department? There have been several examples of this in the recent past. The NC Wine and Grape Council was established in 1986 as part of the Department of Agriculture. In 2005 it moved from Agriculture to become part of the Department of Commerce’s Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development. But as of July 1 this year, the Wine and Grape Council is no longer part of Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development and is now again part of Agriculture.
The beginning of 2012 saw three separate state agencies, Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, Department of Corrections, and Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, merged into one new agency, Department of Public Safety.
Six months earlier another state agency, Employment Security Commission, was absorbed into Department of Commerce. Also shifted then were 2 divisions within Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). The Division of Forest Resources and the Division of Soil and Water Conservation were moved into Department of Agriculture.
The Division of Radiation Protection was part of Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) until 1989. To make it more confusing, DHHS was known as Department of Human Resources (DHR) then. In 1989 Radiation Protection moved to what was THEN called Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources (DEHNR). In 1997 DEHNR transferred health divisions to DHHS (which was just renamed from DHR) and DEHNR became Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Radiation Protection remained at DENR until 2011 when it moved to become a part of the DHHS Division of Health Service Regulation. Confused? You should be.
These are just a few examples of agency moves and name changes that state document catalogers encounter. The Classification Scheme for North Carolina State Publications created by State Library of North Carolina arranges state documents according to issuing agency. An agency which has changed position or name while remaining under the same department continues in the same class number with a note indicating the agency’s new position or name within the department.
An agency which has been transferred from one department to another is assigned a new class number. Notes and cross references indicating dates of transfer and name histories are included when the information was available.
The Classification Scheme for state publications can be found at:
http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/ghl/services/statepubsclassification.html
Agency Transitions
The catalog and authority records can be much more complicated than call numbers. If you have questions or concerns on how the publications are cataloged, classed or how and why class numbers have been changed within moves and merges, you are more than welcome to send your questions to State Documents Cataloger: Eve Neville (eve.neville@ncdcr.gov) or to State Documents Assistant Cataloger: Francesca Francis (francesca.francis@ncdcr.gov).
Illustration by Francesca Francis
 Noteworthy new state
publications:
 Access North Carolina
[electronic resource] 2012
http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p2499
01coll22,645670
 Carolina Public Health
[electronic resource] 2012
http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p2499
01coll22,522582
 Annual report of the North
Carolina Child Fatality Task
Force [electronic resource] 2012
http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p2499
01coll22,637747
 2011 Annual report of the North
Carolina Department of Labor
[electronic resource]
http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p2499
01coll22,484669
 North Carolina inland fishing,
hunting & trapping regulations
digest [electronic resource]
2012-2013
http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p2499
01coll22,642198
Welcome Kristin!
You may see the following situation in the shipping list - OCLC number with URL link and date will appear without publication title.
This situation happens only when the Clearinghouse catalogs a title for different years and/or editions, at the same time. Th e report
just lists those two records after each other and doesn’t display title for the second record.
To make the title appear on the shipping list, the Clearinghouse has to add some other information to the title which will separate two
exact same titles from each other. But cataloging rules do not allow the Clearinghouse to do this.
Hopefully it is not too confusing. You can see the title by following the link or using the OCLC number.
Example:
FYI about Born Digital Stat e Publication Shipping List
Kristin (Meyer) Clark joined the Clearinghouse on November 15 as the new
State Documents Library Technician. Kristin is a graduate of Sam Houston
State University in Huntsville, Texas. While a student Kristin worked with
the government documents collection at the university. Kristin just got
married in October and she and her husband reside in Raleigh.
TIP for searching the digital repository:
When you use the search box on the home page of the digital repository
for North Carolina State Government Publications Collection the search
terms are searched as keywords and are connected by AND. If you
retrieve too many hits, try using a more precise search by clicking on
Advanced Search. The Advanced Search defaults to searching all the
digital collections so you will need to Clear All and just check State
Publications – if you only want state documents. A good tip is to use the
Exact Phrase search if you know the title or part of the title, or if your
precise term is more than one word. It should reduce the number of
items you retrieve.