As I sit here lovingly finishing up my last assignment before I can be awarded my MSLIS, I decided I might go ahead and post some comments, reviews sort of, that I wrote on two ALCTS documents for my advanced Cataloging class. My comments address their applicability in assisting us as students in formulating a quality cataloging education for ourselves. I have "restructured" them in that I have added/changed some links that would have been clunky in our bulletin board system and some small bits of context for a non-current UIUC GSLIS audience. Here’s the first and longest:
The ALCTS document "Training Catalogers: a Checklist for Managers and Trainers," (rev. July 2005) is a checklist "intended for those who have responsibility for
training catalogers at any staff level" (1). As such, it provides a
wonderful opportunity to gauge one’s education, whether received or
pursued in graduate school, on one’s own, or in other venues, such as
practica, internship, conference attendance, and so forth.
The
checklist covers 13 major areas, with each one expanded into multiple
sub-areas. I will list the major areas, and comment on the sub-areas as
I feel appropriate, but primarily in regards to our graduate educations.
1. Context of cataloging position in organization (unit/department, technical services, and library).
This
one is really only applicable to the new hire, or possibly someone
transferring in from another department. Some of the points listed
under this area would be good things to have researched before an
on-campus interview or even a phone interview, though.
2.
Systems infrastructure. Sub-areas include: Technical aspect of local
catalog; bibliographic utilities; national programs; and vendor loads
and outsourcing.
Much of this is applicable, in its specifics, to
a local situation. With that in mind, it also provides a look at some
of the more technical aspects of cataloging and at some external
relationships that the new cataloger needs to be aware of. Are you
aware of the difference between MARC-8 and UTF-8, or other character
encodings? Have you acquired any experience in searching at least one
of the big bib utilities? Are you familiar with the various
national-level programs?
3. Descriptive cataloging. Sub-areas include: FRBR; description; access points; MARC format; and descriptive cataloging tools and resources.
Most of this will have been
received to some degree in 507 [Cat & Class I] and 577 [Cat & Class II]. But how familiar with FRBR are you, especially conceptually? Can you explain it to a non-cataloger, or even a non-librarian, so that they understand it? How many of the
listed tools and resources are you familiar with? Any idea how the number of access points in a record affects retrieval?
4. Authority control—Names and Titles.
How
well did your education actually cover authority control and authority
records? Can you persuasively argue for the continuation of the expense
of authority work in this age of full-text searching? What tools might
you use to do authority work?
5. Subject analysis and classification.
Much
of this will also have been well covered in 507 and 577, but how many
subject heading and classification systems do you know, or at least
have exposure to?
6. Holdings.
Have you even been exposed to the MARC Holdings format? What fields make up the Holdings data? [See: http://www.loc.gov/marc/holdings/echdhome.html ]
7. Special formats and types of materials.
You
have probably been exposed to (a very small) subset of special formats
in 507 and 577, but what about the rest? Do you have any idea what
might be a good resource to get started with a format or type of
material that is new to you?
8. Metadata creation: rules and schema.
I
know that some of you run shrieking from this word, but if you intend
to be a cataloger somewhere other than a small town in Wyoming (which
isn’t likely since they are either a member of a consortium or have
outsourced their cataloging) you had best get comfortable with the idea
in general, and with several metadata schemas. Which schemas have you
created records in? Which schemas have you crosswalked into which
others? I could go on, but several of you have probably quit reading at
this point. [Absolutely no disrepect was intended to anyone in or from Wyoming! I simply needed an example of a sparsely populated area.]
9. Quality control.
Again, mostly locally
specific information. But, do you understand what might constitute a
‘quality’ record, and how and why that will change based on local
circumstances?
10. Special cataloging projects. Sub-areas
include: Types of projects; sources of funding and support; and
outsourcing options and issues.
Some of this simply cannot be
learned in a graduate education, but you may have experience with some
of it from a previous job. Much of it is, at least, touched on in
various classes here at GSLIS, though. Some of the ones that I am aware
of are: 590CD2 Current Topics in Collection Development (Carole
Palmer), and 590FML Financial Management (Taylor Willingham). I have no
doubt that many of you could provide other examples. Of course,
practica and internships could provide exposure to some of this.
11. Planning, managing and assessing the work.
Not
a lot here can be gained from GSLIS, at least not until we get a class
in Technical Services Management. 505 Adm Mgt of Libs Info Centers
might well provide some of this. Again, previous employment or course
work in other disciplines might provide some of this.
12. Electronic discussion lists and weblogs.
This
one is super simple! Are you or have you been subscribed to AUTOCAT,
RADCAT, or other listservs? Do you read weblogs such as Catalogablog?
Are you active on any of these?
13. Membership and Participation in Professional Associations.
Are you a member of any professional organizations (at any level)? What is your level of participation?
Also
included is a 2.5 page "Selected Bibliography." This covers a pretty
broad spectrum for such a short document, to include some good places
to start if you have a special format or type of material with which
you are unfamiliar thrust upon you.
While this document is in
many ways just a skeletal outline, it does provide a national-level
view of what catalogers are expected to know, much of it shortly after
beginning one’s first job, or even before. Even if you cannot be
expected to have experience of, or deep knowledge of, many of these
topics, can you at least recognize what they are and possibly discuss
them at a superficial level in an interview?
Unlike many of you,
I have the luxury of another two years of LIS graduate education after
I graduate in a few weeks. I will be using this document, in
conjunction with others, to guide the depth and breadth of my ongoing
education into the organization of knowledge. It will help me consider
areas that I need exposure to which I might have otherwise missed, and
it will provide me a great resource off of which to pursue independent
study topics, and an internship or practicum.
The education of
"catalogers" is my particular area of emphasis. Documents such as this
give us all a good starting point from which to judge our own
educations and our efforts and experiences in attaining that education.
Professionally, I hope to contribute in this arena. Not just to the
discussion, but to the actual training and education of
"catalogers"—students, newly minted catalogers, and through continuing
education and professional opportunities.
While I do not see
myself ever being a professor, I have years of experience in the Army
and elsewhere with training people, and I love helping people learn.
I’d like to combine these to help move my profession responsibly into
the 21st century.
NOTE: I use the term "cataloger" quite
loosely, and I feel responsibly. While I am certainly no futurist, nor
proclaimer of "MARC must die," nor a technophile, soon there will be
very few people doing the actual job which historically has been
labeled "cataloger." The world has evolved and we must evolve with it,
or face extinction. Much of what we do will continue, but most of it
will broaden. Many may not recognize it as cataloging, but conceptually
it will be the same. We just won’t be tied to one monolithic system any
longer. That is an extremely exciting idea, but it is also why
principles, theory, and an historical understanding and appreciation of
where we came from are far more important to us than knowing a specific
rule or punctuation format. Why those rules and that punctuation exist,
and how we can move on from them without destroying the principles
which they represent are far more important if we are to make a contribution to the future.
Mark 22-23 Apr 06
