Background
CONSER is the Cooperative Serials Program of the PCC, an authoritative source for bibliographic records, documentation, and training materials for serials cataloging. CONSER members work together in an atmosphere of collegiality and trust to promulgate standards related to serials and are a voice for serials in the library community.
CONSER began in the early 1970s as a project to convert manual serial cataloging into machine-readable records and has evolved into an ongoing program to create and maintain high quality bibliographic records for serials. In keeping with its evolution, the name was changed in 1986 from the CONSER (CONversion of SERials) Project to the CONSER (Cooperative ONline SERials) Program. In October 1997, CONSER became a bibliographic component of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging.
The need for CONSER stems from the dynamic nature of serial publications. Unlike most monographs, serials are constantly changing in a variety of ways. Modifications to CONSER records accommodate the changes in the serials themselves and in the rules for their cataloging. CONSER cataloging standards and practice can be found in the freely available CONSER Cataloging Manual (CCM) and CONSER Editing Guide (CEG) . Both the CCM and the CEG and other PCC and LC documentation are also availbe by subscription to Classification Web Plus.
The CONSER database resides in OCLC where CONSER members create, authenticate, and modify serial cataloging records. The records are available electronically on tape or via FTP from the MARC Distribution Services databases distributed by LC's Cataloging Distribution Service (CDS).
CONSER Membership
CONSER members contribute bibliographic data for serials and integrating resources in all formats and participate in the development of cataloging standards for cataloging these resources. An individual institution may join this program, or a group of libraries with a common interest may form a funnel project to contribute via a coordinator who represents the funnel participants. Benefits of membership include:
- Participation in national and international cooperative bibliographic programs
- Opportunities to contribute to policies on bibliographic control of serials
- Ability to modify or enhance records in the CONSER database
- Engagement with colleagues in national libraries and other CONSER institutions
- Sharing contributed records through national libraries and other CONSER institutions
- Opportunities to serve on PCC standing committees and task forces
For more information on becoming a CONSER member go to: Join CONSER