Project Description
In 2024 ProQuest/Clarivate announced the retirement of their Monthly Catalog of the United States Government (MoCat) Database. Superintendent of Documents Scott Matheson established an agreement with ProQuest that allowed GPO to acquire a copy of their data under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC 4.0 DEED license and make the content publicly available.
The content covered GPO’s cataloging output from 1895 through June 1976 as printed in the Monthly Catalog during that time. GPO’s metadata experts analyzed the dataset and extracted MARC records from over 1.2 million individual MoCat entries. Using a batch of test records, GPO conducted a successful Proof of Concept demonstrating the feasibility of making the MARC records available as a separate and distinct dataset.
As an outcome of this project, the full set of over 1.2 million MARC records extracted from this data will be made available in the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) in a separate “Catalog to Search” called the Historic Monthly Catalog. The goal is to make the MARC records accessible in a form that represents the entries in the original print Monthly Catalog. No attempt has been made to bring these records up to GPO’s current cataloging standards.
Project Background
GPO’s cataloging practices evolved over the years, resulting in changes to the print Monthly Catalog and how entries were presented. These changes impact the data that is available in the Historic Monthly Catalog records. Some of those changes include:
- The Monthly Catalog did not include SuDoc numbers until July 1924.
- Beginning in November 1942, Monthly Catalog entries included a black dot if the title was distributed to depository libraries.
- Monthly Catalog entry numbers began in the print Monthly Catalog in November 1947. For the records in the Historic Monthly Catalog dataset, this enabled automated matching of corrections printed in later issues so those corrections could be included in the relevant MARC records.
In July 1976, GPO began cataloging electronically, using MARC records following AACR, and including LC subject headings and main entries. As the last issue produced before the implementation of MARC cataloging, the June 1976 issue is the last issue included in the Historic Monthly Catalog dataset.
With the advent of GPO’s electronic cataloging, vendors enabled their bibliographic databases to include GPO cataloging records back to July 1976. However, the print Monthly Catalog remained the primary access point to pre-1976 Government publications for many years. ProQuest’s commercial database containing Monthly Catalog entries filled this gap until the database was retired in 2024. GPO is working to make this data publicly available in MARC format to improve access to the publications cataloged before July 1976.
It should be noted that GPO is not attempting to re-create the ProQuest database as it existed prior to its decommissioning. Former users of that database will notice functionality differences. Additionally, the front matter, appendices, etc., included in the print Monthly Catalog will not be included in the Historic Monthly Catalog. Those sections are included in the Monthly Catalog collection on GovInfo.
Timeline
- Data analysis and MARC record extraction: July 2024 – July 2025
- Contract modification issued to create a separate library for the Historic Monthly Catalog: January 2025
- Proof of concept completed: TBD
- GPO internal testing: TBD
- Launch of Historic Monthly Catalog: TBD
Benefits
Making the Historic Monthly Catalog content available as MARC records will greatly increase access to metadata for pre-1976 Government publications. Access to post-1976 Government publications has been available through the CGP and commercial databases for years, but many pre-1976 publications have been difficult to locate due to the lack of availability to record entries in a digital format.
In recent years GPO has undertaken several projects to make more catalog records for pre-1976 publications accessible through the CGP. This means there will be some overlap of coverage between the National Bibliography dataset available through the CGP and the Historic Monthly Catalog dataset. Having the Historic Monthly Catalog in a separate dataset will eliminate any confusion that could be caused by duplicate records or by records that do not meet current GPO cataloging standards. The Historic Monthly Catalog records will not appear in a search of the CGP.
GPO expects that creation of MARC records for the Historic Monthly Catalog database will also contribute to the National Bibliographic Records Inventory Initiative (NBRII). Record comparison will enable identification of records that are unique to the Historic Monthly Catalog to fill gaps in the inventory. Those records can then be enhanced to bring them up to GPO’s current standards and incorporated into the National Bibliography. Record comparison and enhancement will be a follow-on effort undertaken at a later date.
Next Steps
With the completion of a successful proof of concept, GPO has begun implementation of the Historic Monthly Catalog database. Data migration and testing are underway. Instructional materials and help screens are being produced. Product launch is targeted by the end of FY 2025.
Related Documents and Resources
- The Catalog of U. S. Government Publications (CGP)
- The Monthly Catalog on GovInfo.