Next phase for Māori Subject Headings

In the last year the cataloguers at National Library have been, when appropriate, adding Māori Subject Headings (MSH) to records for new material being acquired for the National Library collections and to new records created as retrospective conversion continues on the older, but high demand areas of the collection. The intention in doing this is to not only add headings for the NLNZ collections, but also to build a body of records for others to copy to save some time. The MSH Project Team working with CatSig and supported by the MSH Governance Group also organised a series of workshops earlier in the year to build cataloguer’s awareness of how to use MSH and to encourage people to go back to their libraries and work on their own collections. Much of that work drew on the experience of the National Library cataloguers in having already spent some time adding MSH. In all that has been done in the last year the purpose has been to get cataloguers around the country using MSH and through that use, identifying where the gaps are. We are delighted that many cataloguers have started using the MSH list and are identifying gaps where there is no appropriate heading to use for items in their collections. If you have not already notified us of these gaps, please could you send them to reo@natlib.govt.nz by the end of August so that we can plan the work for the next phase. We have always acknowledged that the first phase aimed to provide a core of terms to be used, but was never expected to be exhaustive. However the next phase needs to ensure that it is developing terms for which there is an existing demand. We have already had many proposals for new terms sent through to the National Library, but we hope to receive more. Anne Anderson on behalf of the Māori Subject Headings Governance Group This e-mail is intended for the addressee only and may contain information which is subject to legal privilege. The contents are not necessarily the official view or communication of the National Library of New Zealand. If you are not the intended recipient you must not use, disclose, copy or distribute this e-mail or any information in, or attached to it. If you have received this e-mail in error, please contact the sender immediately or return the original message to the National Library by e-mail, and destroy any copies. The National Library does not accept any liability for changes made to this e-mail or attachments after sending. All e-mails have been scanned for viruses and content by security software. The National Library reserves the right to monitor all e-mail communications through its network.
participants (1)
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Robyn East