1. Library of Congress Annual Report: Acquisitions and Cataloging
Randall K. Barry
Asian & Middle Eastern Division
Presentation to the CEAL
Committee on Technical Processing
March 16, 2017
This report is on Library of Congress technical services operations related to things of interest to the CEAL, Committee on Technical Processing . It covers fiscal year, 2016, October 1, 2015 thru September 30, 2016.
It is presented by Randall Barry, chief of the Asian & Middle Eastern Division. The division is responsible for the acquisition and cataloging of materials from Asian and the Middle East, excluding the Asian portion of the Russian Federation.
The division serves two major collection areas, the African & Middle Eastern Division and the Asian Division. These two divisions recommend material for the Library’s collections. They also have custodial responsibility for printed material for their respective geographical areas.
CEAL/CTP – Toronto
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017

2. Receipts through exchanges continue to drop
GENERAL TRENDS
LC’s acquisition and cataloging budget have been stable for the past few years; FY 2017 still unclear
Progress has been made in staffing, thanks to the approval of many new positions and promotions
Acquisitions levels generally fell due to rising prices, but for some countries, they have been stable or rose
Receipts through exchanges continue to drop
Cataloging production has remained relatively stable, despite the impact of RDA and other factors
Development of BIBFRAME to replace MARC
Both acquisitions and cataloging for East Asia were stable for the most recent fiscal year. LC’s budget for FY 2016 was kept at FY 2015 levels, with some surplus funds directed to new serial subscriptions and firm orders. Despite some rising prices, changes in exchange rates allowed acquisitions to stay stable in terms of number of items. Receipts through exchanges did drop, however, due to the decreasing effectiveness of exchange as a reliable source of acquisitions.
Cataloging completions were very good. The Asian & Middle Eastern Division had another increase in completions for the year, due to multiple factors.
ASME was able to hire five new staff in FY 2016—a change from previous years were staff was only lost due to attrition. Most of the staff hired were at the professional level. Two were staff working in Japanese.
LC librarians continued to increase skills with the not-so-new Resources Description & Access (RDA) cataloging instructions. All newly completed cataloging is now supposed to conform to RDA requirements.
Five of the division’s staff participated in the Phase I Pilot for BIBFRAME, a new effort working toward an eventual replacement for the MARC formats to provide bibliographic descriptions in a linked data environment.
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017

3. PURCHASE ACQUISITIONS STATISTICS
China: 14,400 items (11,344 bks, 2,844 ser) $417,000
Taiwan: 1,867 items (1,284 bks, 583 ser) $95,000
Singapore: 642 items (466 bks, 176 ser) $17,397
Japan: 8,777 items (4,052 bks, 4,546 ser) $399,000
Korea: 7,079 items (4,521 bks, 2,514 ser) $182,000
Tibet: 454 items (392 bks, 15 ser) $19,500
Mongolia: 1,552 items (453 bks, 1,099 ser) $16,000
Inner Mongolia: 94 items (66 bks, 28 ser) $1,200
The Asian & Middle Eastern Division’s purchase acquisitions were healthy for most regions. The division spent well over 1.2 million dollars on Asian and Middle Eastern monographs and serials. The largest amount was spend on titles in Chinese from China, Taiwan, and Singapore—over $529,000 combined.
Almost $400,000 was spent on Japanese monos and serials, with about half as much spent on titles from North and South Korea.
Acquisitions for the regions of Tibet and Inner Mongolia, which are handled separately from the rest of China, amounted to an additional $20,000. $16,000 was spent on Mongolian titles from Mongolia proper.
These acquisitions were supplied primary through over 40 approval plans with vendors overseas who either pre-selected titles of interest to LC, or provided publishers catalogs from which LC recommending officers made selections.
LC limited its purchase acquisitions to works of research value.
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017

4. EXCHANGE AND GIFT – GENERAL TRENDS
LC maintained both official and general exchanges with many countries
Most partners honored official exchange agreements
U.S. reciprocal shipments of materials for official exchanges was off 60% or more due to e-publishing
Duplicate Materials Exchange Program – DMEP
Surplus Books Program: circulation of title lists
The acquisition of material through exchange and gift sources continued to drop when compared to past years. LC maintained both official and general exchanges with about the same number and variety of partners, but the number of titles available decreased.
For official exchanges, the U.S. itself provided less in exchange of government documents as it had in the past. In some cases, the number of print U.S. documents has dropped 60%. This is due to two factors: 1) more and more U.S. government documents are only available electronically; 2) where printed U.S. government documents are available, LC receives fewer copies to send to official exchange partners. The Government Publishing Office now produces and distributes only a limited number of print copies for each title. LC librarians handling official exchanges did their best to be fair in dividing the limited number of copies among all official exchange partners.
LC’s exchange partners have been encouraged to make use of e-resources available from the U.S. government.
General exchanges continued, although at reduced levels. LC provided one monograph in exchange for each monograph received. Serials were compensated at a rate of two monographs for each serial title received. Exchange partners continued to select titles they would receive in exchange from LC’s Duplicate Materials Exchange Program – DMEP, an online database of roman script titles flagged as duplicate or surplus in LC’s collections. The titles in DMEP have been enrichened by LC’s weeding of unwanted second copies from LC’s collections. ASME also continued a popular program of making surplus titles in non-roman scripts available to U.S. libraries. For China, LC has now distributed four lists of 500 titles each to potential recipients. A fifth list is in preparation. For Japan, LC has offered more than 5,000 titles thus far, is a series of surplus title lists circulated among potential recipient libraries. This program is very popular and finds homes for most of the titles offered It is labor intensive at times. Recipients are required to pay postage for titles taken, sometimes through their local congressperson who sometimes offer “franking” (postage) for the shipments to their districts.
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017

5. EXCHANGE AND GIFT STATISTICS
China: official exchange: 1,431; general and gift: 1,951
Taiwan: official exchange: 468
Singapore: no information available from overseas
Japan: Official ex: 1,287; General ex: 9767; Gifts: 65
Korea: Official ex: 1,325; General ex: 212; Gifts: 116
Tibet: no official or general exchange: Gifts: 15
Mongolia: no official or general exchange; Gifts: 37
Inner Mongolia: included in figures for China
The statistics on this slide represent LC’s official and general exchange receipts from major East Asian countries during the last fiscal year (2016).
Japan and Korea are the most productive exchange partners. The Japanese National Diet Library and the Korean National Library are very good about sending LC Japanese and South Korean government documents, respectively.
It has been much harder to get mainland Chinese and Taiwanese official publications. Purchase seems to be the much more reliable source for titles from these countries.
Not surprisingly, LC received no official exchange material from Tibet or Inner Mongolia—at least none that was identified as specifically from these regions. LC’s overseas office in New Delhi does acquire material from Tibet that comes from other sources.
LC has a good acquisitions source for outer Mongolia, which includes some government documents.
Gifts were received by LC from donors in many countries—often authors who wanted their works to be represented in LC collections. In some cases LC had already acquire a copy through purchase or exchange sources. When needed, gifts were added to LC’s collections.
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017

6. CATALOGING STATISTICS FOR 2016
China: 15,029 titles cataloged in 2016
Taiwan: 1,139 titles
Japan: 7,883 titles
Korea: 5,782 titles
Mongolia: 366 titles
Tibet: 205 titles
ASME Division total for East Asia: 30,404 titles
With acquisitions slightly lower, staff were able to focus more in 2016 on completion of cataloging of newly acquired materials and especially items in working backlogs.
The Asian & Middle Eastern Division was able to reduce its backlogs for the first time in several years. The division reduced its backlogs by over 20,000 titles, or 34%. This accomplishment was facilitated by newly hired staff and the availability of overtime pay throughout the second half of the fiscal year.
Cataloging statistics for the entire division were impressive. Including all sections, the division cataloged over 50,000 titles, about half using cataloging copy from other libraries, especially national libraries.
Cataloging for East Asia completed in ASME exceeded 30,000 titles, or 60% of the total produced. The largest number of titles cataloged was over 15,000 for Chinese, followed by almost 8,000 for Japanese.
Cataloging of both Mongolian and Tibetan titles was low due to the lack of staff to work on this material.
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017

7. REDUCTIONS IN EXCHANGES
Official exchanges are still in force, but changes in publishing (to e-formats) have reduced the number of print titles available for exchange, especially for U.S.
LC no longer has as many English titles to offer foreign general exchange partners
Duplicate Material Exchange Program is limted to Latin script titles
Postage, shipping, and security are new issues
Purchase acquisitions is often more efficient
Purchase is more reliable, especially for serials
The use of exchange as an acquisitions method continued to decline in FY Both the quantity of material received and the number of exchange partners was weaker.
In the past, exchanges with LC were very good, especially with countries such as China and the Soviet Union where purchase acquisitions were more difficult. That situation has dramatically changed, with exchange partners now often hoping to sell titles to LC rather than exchange them for American publications.
LC doesn’t have as many English titles to offer through its DMEP program. Foreign exchange partners have complained about the titles they have to choose from.
DMEP is limited to Latin script titles, since the staff that manage that program usually cannot read and retrieve titles in nonroman scripts.
Postage, shipping, and increased security measures have affected exchanges. LC’s exchange receipts are often damaged during eradiation, especially for individually shipped serial issues on paper that sticks when heated.
Acquisitions librarians are finding that purchase is often more reliable, especially for serial titles, where a library wants to avoid gaps.
The drop in exchanges, and rise in surplus nonroman material, has put pressure on LC to share surplus material with other libraries. As already mentioned, title lists, usually consisting of 500 titles each, are circulated among U.S. libraries. Qualifying libraries can request surplus books, provided they, or their congressperson pays the postage. LC helps find homes for these surplus materials.
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017

8. EAST ASIAN EXCHANGE ACTIVITY
China: relatively small number of partners: 158; exchange of serials has dropped from 1,787 to 31 titles
Taiwan: 51 partners, including many universities
Japan: high level of receipts from official exchange; healthy receipts from 500 other exchange partners
Korea: high level of receipts from official exchange; healthy receipts from 30 exchange partners
Mongolia: few receipts from official or other sources
Tibet: few receipts from inside Tibet
Specifics on East Asian exchange activities include rather limited exchanges with the People’s Republic of China. Exchanges with Taiwan are healthier, with universities providing the highest number of titles.
LC’s official exchange with Japan through the National Diet Library is very productive, resulting in close to 2,000 titles a year. Exchanges with Korea are similarly productive. LC’s standing as the de facto national library of the U.S. certainly affects the health of such exchanges.
Historically, LC hasn’t had good exchanges with Mongolia, but it only began to acquire significantly from Mongolia, in 1992, about the time LC’s Exchange & Gift Division was dissolved and exchange specialists took on purchase acquisitions. Fortunately, LC does acquire adequately through purchase from Mongolia, especially major universities. Government and law publications are still wanted. It is unclear how much LC may be able to improve in the area of exchanges. The number of staff handing exchange was always limited, and due to loss of staff and expertise, less time is being spent on exchange.
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017

9. BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORDS IN THE LCDB
17,291,916 – Total bibliographic records (803,602 lack date of publication)
979,750 – Bibliographic records for titles published between 1452 and 1899
321,972 – Bibliographic records for titles published between 1900 and 1909
339,735 – Bibliographic records for titles published between 1910 and 1919
382,990 – Bibliographic records for titles published between 1920 and 1929
506,453 – Bibliographic records for titles published between 1930 and 1939
572,436 – Bibliographic records for titles published between 1940 and 1949
725,315 – Bibliographic records for titles published between 1950 and 1959
1,353,829 – Bibliographic records for titles published between 1960 and 1969
2,038,104 – Bibliographic records for titles published between 1970 and 1979
2,142,332 – Bibliographic records for titles published between 1980 and 1989
2,509,391 – Bibliographic records for titles published between 1990 and 1999
2,745,732 – Bibliographic records for titles published between 2000 and 2009
1,873,275 – Bibliographic records for titles published since 2010 to present
This slide gives a good overview of the growth of the Library of Congress collections through its catalog of material acquired thru purchase exchange and gift. Keeping in mind that staff shortages have not always allowed LC to catalog all that it acquires, there has been a significant increase in the collections each decade, with the exception of the 1980s, when Reagan-era budget cuts limited the growth of the collections.
The biggest jump in acquisitions and cataloging occurred in the mid 1960s as a result of new funding for the National Program for Acquisitions and Cataloging. NPAC increased the number of purchase acquisitions made by LC, especially for foreign language publications. It was also in the 1960s and 1970s when LC greatly increased its staff and cataloging for foreign languages as part of its Shared Cataloging Program which made use of foreign national bibliography cards. This coincided with the expansions of LC overseas offices to many foreign countries. Today only six of those overseas offices remain, the rest having been replaced by approval plan vendors and other acquisition methods that don’t require LC staff overseas.
Acquisitions increased significantly during the 1990s, although cataloging staff were not hired to match the increase. By the end of this decade, the total number of titles cataloged will most likely reach or surpass 20 millions bibliographic records.
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017
MARC 21 Training - FRBR and FRANAR

10. BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORDS BY LANGUAGE
English: 8,545,523 (Latin is the original script)
German: 1,201,083 (Latin is the original script)
Spanish: 921,631 (Latin is the original script)
French: 881,917 (Latin is the original script)
Russian: 774,902 (7% dual script)
Japanese: 504,941 (51% dual script)
Chinese: 511,644 (71% dual script)
Korean: 155,050 (75% dual script)
Mongolian: 9,846 (2% dual script)
Tibetan: 9,536 (0.2% dual script)
Statistics for the distribution of languages in LC’s cataloging reveals the strength of its foreign language collections which represent approximately half of its holdings.
Non-English holdings are predominantly western European languages, but Asian languages are still well represented, with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean titles representing 12% of foreign language holdings.
For languages written in something other than the Latin alphabet, the percentage of bibliographic records with both transliteration AND the original script varies greatly. Korean records are most likely to be dual script, with 75 percent of the total having the original script and Romanization. Chinese records come in next with 71% having Chinese characters in additional to Romanization. For Japanese, 51% of records have the original script.
For other important languages, like Russian, the number of bibliographic records with the original script is very low. Only 7% of Russian records are dual script. It is important to note that dual script cataloging was only introduced for Russian at LC in 2008.
For other East Asian languages, like Mongolian and Tibetan, the number of records with the original script is negligible (less than 5%).
This is one area where great improvements are needed in bibliographic data, especially for legacy data.
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017
MARC 21 Training - FRBR and FRANAR

11. BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORDS WITH NON-ROMAN DATA (DUAL-SCRIPT RECORDS)
Over 1,037,000 bibliographic records in LC’s database contain non-roman characters
6% of all bibliographic records in LC’s database contain non-roman data
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean records represent the highest percentage of dual-script records (over 50%).
About 50% of CJK records are dual-script
Only 52,342 bibliographic records in Russian are dual script (7% of all Russian records)
CEAL members have a vested interest in bibliographic records containing nonroman data since a majority of their collections consist of languages that use a nonroman writing system.
Approximately 6% of all bibliographic records in LC’s database currently contain nonroman data, but this shouldn’t be interpreted to mean that all records for languages not written in the Latin alphabet are dual script. The opposite is true.
MARC was introduced for English language cataloging in Other Latin-script-based languages were added in the years following, but by the time conversion of nonroman language began in the late 1970s, fully transliterated cataloging was accepted, as a temporary solution, for many languages.
By 1980, library organizations representing Indic and Slavic languages agreed to fully Romanized records as an interim solution. Discussion of the usefulness of fully Romanized cataloging for East Asian languages resulted in a decision to press for inclusion of the original script in addition to full Romanization. The Research Libraries Group developed one of the first widely implemented solutions in North America for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Arabic and Hebrew scripts were added later. Their solution was superseded by Unicode, which is now fully implemented in most software, although not in MARC.
Many machine-readable cataloging records for nonroman languages continue to lack information in the original script.
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017
MARC 21 Training - FRBR and FRANAR

12. LC supports international standards like Unicode, ISBDs, and RDA
CLOSING REMARKS
LC continues to support acquisitions internally and for other libraries with Cooperative Acquisitions Programs (CAP) in six overseas offices
Cataloging and MARC continue to be well supported, as well as cooperative cataloging programs
LC supports international standards like Unicode, ISBDs, and RDA
LC continues to support national and international authority control with programs like NACO & VIAF
LC is leading the development of BIBFRAME to allow the movement of MARC to a linked data environment
As these remarks and statistics should have shown, LC continues to support the acquisition of new library material in as many as 470 languages through purchase, exchange, and gift. It acquires material, not only for its own collections, but also for other libraries through the Cooperative Acquisitions Programs in six overseas offices. In FY 2017 it expects to spend nearly 17 million dollars on acquisition of library material.
Cataloging of many of its acquisitions (not all!) and distribution of many of its cataloging records continues to be supported. Only records for some non-print collections are not shared with other libraries.
LC has been a leader in development and implementation of library standards like cataloging rules, machine-readable formats (MARC), and character sets. These are now represented by the most recent standards: RDA, BIBFRAME (which is still under development), and Unicode.
LC continues to support cooperating in the creation and sharing of both bibliographic and authority data. For bib data through the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC), and for authorities, through programs like the Name Authority Cooperative, Subject Authority Cooperative, and international efforts like the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF).
The development and testing of BIBFRAME is probably the highest profile endeavor ongoing at LC in the area of bibliographic control. It will allow LC and other libraries to move from MARC to the linked data environment. You are likely to hear a lot more about BIBFRAME in the years to come.
CEAL/CTP – Toronto 2017
MARC 21 Training - FRBR and FRANAR