PCC Resources for
About 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
Categories of Membership
The current categories of CONSER membership are Full Level, CONSER Enhance Level, and Funnel Level. Please consult the CONSER Editing Guide, A4.2 for further information. Please note: The Affiliate category of CONSER membership became obsolete on Nov. 9, 2020; Associate Level was recategorized as Full Level in 2024.
Full Level membership
Full level institutions have voting rights in annual Policy Committee elections. Members are required to meet the production requirements of the PCC and to create records that adhere to PCC policies. The production requirement for Full Level members is the yearly contribution of a minimum of 12 newly authenticated or modified records per cataloger to the OCLC database.
Enhance Level Membership
Enhance level institutions have no voting rights in annual Policy Committee elections. Enhance Level members enrich and/or maintain authenticated CONSER records to reflect changes in the serial. These members are required to meet the production requirements of the PCC and to enhance records that adhere to PCC policies. Production requirements for the Enhance level are lower than the Full level CONSER requirements. The production requirement for Full Level members is the yearly contribution of a minimum of 6 newly authenticated or modified records per cataloger records to the OCLC database.
Funnel Level Membership
CONSER Funnel level membership is granted to institutions that cannot fulfill the requirements of the other levels of membership and also to those institutions that wish to join a funnel in addition to their existing level of membership to benefit from the funnel’s language, subject, format, or locality focus. A member of a funnel with two PCC status levels will be recorded as a PCC member at their primary level and not at the funnel level. Funnels are developed by institutions based on regional, subject, or other shared interests. Funnels are expedited to have a structure that provides for overseeing training and review for funnel members. Please contact: [email protected] for information on starting a new CONSER Funnel.
Join CONSER
NACO independence is a prerequisite for members contributing authenticated CONSER data. NACO members may request CONSER membership through their PCC Directory account. Complete the CONSER application form and upload it via your PCC Directory account as part of your request for CONSER membership. The application form is designed to collect information such as the strengths of an institution's collections, the number of anticipated contributions, and the number of staff devoted to serials cataloging.New Full level institutions have an introductory period, inlcuding cataloging review. This introductory and review period begins with the start of the first full year of membership.
Questions? Please email [email protected] .
