Basic Steps for Creating New Data for the Perseus Catalog

The Cataloging Process: In a Nutshell

This list briefly outlines the steps involved in creating new data for the Perseus Catalog, further details of which will each be outlined in separate sections of the wiki. The ability to add, edit, or delete data in this repository requires permission currently. It will also require the user to clone a local copy of catalog_pending and then commit their changes to Github either using the command line or through an intermediate tool such as Eclipse, SourceTree, etc. If you aren't one for lists, there is also an interactive flowchart available that takes you through the steps with links to the appropriate resources.

The various sections of this wiki as well as this overview assumes an understanding of some basic terms and acronyms including MODS, MADS, FRBR, TLG, PHI, CITE, CTS URNs, etc, For more information on any of these terms, please see the Perseus Catalog Blog’s list of handy definitions.

Outline of Steps To Follow in Creating New Data

1. Identify an edition to be added to the Perseus Catalog.

2. Search the Perseus Catalog to make sure the edition in question has not already been cataloged, if it has, add the new URL for the new digital version to the existing record in the catalog_data repository (see the catalog_data wiki for more information on this process).

Note: If an edition is not found in the Perseus Catalog, it is still possible that it may have been cataloged but is not yet in the live catalog. Check the catalog_pending repository on Github as a final step.

3. Determine if there is a MODS record for the edition already available through the Library of Congress catalog or other potential sources.

4. Download MODS record from relevant location if available for enhancing. If no pre-existing record is already available, create a MODS record using the following template.

5. Save all files to their relevant locations in your local copy of catalog_pending.

6. Enhance MODS record with appropriate additional information and add analytical cataloging information depending on the category of volume (such as the creation of <relatedItem type="constituent"> subrecords for multiple authors and or works in the edition).

7. For authors that are already in the Perseus catalog, no authority record needs to be downloaded and nothing more needs to be done in terms of this author as the system will automatically add the work identifier of the new work to the relevant authority record upon ingest into catalog_data and update the CiteCollections author table.

8. For each new author identified (new as in there is no authority record for them already in the catalog) in the edition, you will need to take one of the following steps:
   *Download and enhance a MADS authority record from the Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) Linked Data service.
   *If the author isn't in LCNAF, search for the author in the the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) and download a MARCXML record which can then be converted to MADS using the LC’s XSLT stylesheet.
   *If no authority record can be identified, create one using the MADS template.

9. Search for work identifiers for each author-work contained within the edition.
   *If you are cataloging a work that already has versions in the Perseus catalog, simply use the appropriate identifier for the work and a CTS URN and version number will be generated automatically.
   *If no work identifier can be identified for a Latin author-work using canons such as the Packard Humanities Institute(PHI) or STOA, create one and add it to the STOA Registry of Latin Literature.
   *If no work identifier can be identified for a Greek work using the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG) Canon, use tlg-author name as a placeholder to identify this author for a growing list of Greek fragmentary and unknown authors that need identifiers.

10. If the new author-work has been chosen from the Authors-Abbreviation-Editions spreadsheet List of Standard Editions, update the relevant information such as its cataloging status.

11. Push the final files out to Github catalog_pending repository.

12. Celebrate end of cataloging process with a chocolate bar. Repeat (eating of the chocolate bar that is).