In order to create a culinary masterpiece, a good chef needs to know what ingredients are available and where to find them.  The organization of the North American Heritage Cooking Collection is designed with both ease of use and user interest and exploration in mind.   

 

METADATA

The NAHCC Exhibit is a special collection found within the larger cookbook collection.

In order to maintain organizational consistency with the reset of the materials in the library, these items will be catalogued according to the Dewey System, falling under the 641.5 (cooking) and 641.59 (International cooking) call numbers.  To avoid any confusion for patrons or staff searching for a particular item, HAHCC will be allocated with its own location code within the ILS system, North American Heritage Cooking. This ensures there is a digital and physical distinction made between general cookbooks, and those used in this particular subgroup.  NAHC labels will be placed on the book spines and utensil kits to physically differentiate these items as well.

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For item record purposes, the MARC 21 Format will be implemented.  This option offers the best means for creating a collection network, given the heavy emphasis on geographic regions, particular recipes, ingredients, and historical relevance these materials will share.   The secondary benefit is that it also corresponds to the general scheme of the larger cookbook collection and the overall library organizational approach.

 

PHYSICAL SPACE

Though space and shelving is limited, the exhibit will be arranged to take the user along the geographic journey of the North American Continent – From North to South and East to West.  Each country will have a designated series of book shelves. On each shelf, cookbooks from the various genres of cooking styles found in that region will be organized in Dewey order along with shelf talkers designating to which region and style they belong.  At the end of the collection will be experiential cooking kits. Because of liability issues, these materials will be stored behind the circulation desk. Dummy boxes with pictures and instructions will be displayed on the actual shelves so users can get an idea of what is available.  The very last shelf will be a special display area that will feature temporary trending themes such as “Holiday Cooking” “NAHC Diet Trends” etc. These will get swapped out on a regular basis to generate new interest in the collection.

 

MARC21 RECORD EXAMPLE:

NAHCC CAKE PAN

Control information    LEADER 00000nam a2200241 a 4500 
Cataloging Source     040       |dUtOrBLW 
Local Call #              099 9     OPEN 
Title Statement           245 00 Library cake pans. 
Varying title form       246 3      cake pans 
Varying title form       246 3      cooking pan 
Physical Description   300      Various cake pans. 
Content type             336        three-dimensional form|2rdacontent 
Media type               337        unmediated|2rdamedia 
General Note            500      North America Heritage Cooking Collection
Subject added entry   650  0     Cake pans. 
Added Entry              740  0  Tiered square mini cake pan set