Specialized and Academic Libraries in the United States
Bibliographic access
management at Lane Medical Library: fin de millennium experimentation and
bruised-edge innovation.
By
Dick R. Miller.
ABSTRACT.
This paper surveys
four aspects of Bibliographic Management at Lane Medical Library, Stanford
University Medical Center. First, a
capsulized overview of the current scope and organization provides context.
Second, counts of selected form/genre headings statistically present the
extent and nature of databases maintained and illustrate our emphasis on
form/genre. Third, descriptive
summaries of selected policies and practices currently in effect illustrate how
staff are attempting to improve bibliographic access and prepare for future
retrieval systems. Because many of
the positions taken may be controversial, discussion includes how the impact of
differences is minimized in external systems.
Last, selected new and/or experimental initiatives explore near future
projects to further extend and enhance bibliographic control.
The potential of these options derives from a more flexible integration
and deployment of traditional and digital library resources focused on
domain-specific user needs. A
conjectural conclusion identifies the need for radical changes in the scope and
structure of bibliographic control necessary to utilize rapidly evolving
technologies effectively. Lane's
ongoing XML MARC experiment suggests the feasibility and necessity of replacing
MARC with a less arcane scheme and posits the concept of organic bibliography as
the basis for a more robust bibliographic infrastructure.
Technical
Services in Twenty-First-Century
Special Collections. By
Ellen Crosby
ABSTRACT: Special collections
libraries are evolving to include electronic resources in addition to the
papers, books, photographs and artifacts that have been collected in the past,
and technical services must evolve and change as well. This overview examines
new and traditional duties and staffing. New responsibilities will include
managing electronic rights and resources, preparing scanning and digitizing
projects, overseeing online catalogs, and developing metadata standards. Staff
will need thorough grounding in fundamentals of technical services work, as well
as the ability to cooperate across departmental boundaries. The special
collections library will become an important information portal in the
twenty-first century.
Cataloging
@ 2000:
Over 100 Years of Change at The University of Colorado Law
Library.
By Georgia Briscoe and Karen Selden
ABSTRACT. The University of
Colorado Law Library has provided access to its collections for over 100 years.
This article recaps the evolution of those efforts with emphasis on current
issues such as defining a cataloging philosophy, cataloging Internet resources
in a web catalog, using genre terms, and using the Internet to increase
productivity. Major historical trends in cataloging law collections in general
are also discussed.
Information
Resource Management, Transitions
and Trends in an Academic Law Library.
By Eloise
M. Vondruska
ABSTRACT.
Over the last three years, there have been changes in management,
organization, staffing, and services at the Pritzker Legal Research Center (PLRC)
of Northwestern University School of Law. The
methods for acquiring and cataloging information resources have been redesigned.
These changes coincided with new management, a change in the name of the
technical services department, a migration to a new library management system,
and a new name for the law library. The
bibliographic services organization and workflow before and after the migration
are described. The cataloging and
bibliographic services activities will continue to be reevaluated.
The goal of the bibliographic services department is to align with the 21st
century mission of the PLRC to be an integral component in supporting the
scholarly, teaching and learning needs of faculty and students as the law school
becomes the law school for a changing world.
Exploding Out of the
MARC Box: Building
New Roles for Cataloging Departments. By Judith Ahronheim and Lynn
Marko
ABSTRACT. A new, less catalog-centric model for library services has
begun to develop. There are places within this new model for catalogers and
cataloging departments to contribute in new and more challenging ways than has
been the current practice. Catalogers will need to apply old skills in new ways
and departments will have to restructure in order to facilitate their service.
Management of these new departments requires emphasis on different skills from
those used in traditional departments.
Cataloging at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst Library. By Patricia Banach and
Melvin Carlson, Jr.
ABSTRACT.
The paper deals with the cataloging operations at the University of
Massachusetts Library that take place in three departments in the Collection
Management Cluster. Recent changes
in cataloging routines came as a result of new technology, as well as the manner
in which cataloging staff are utilized. Also noted are the cooperative efforts in which the library
is involved and the possible future in cataloging electronic materials.
Pursuing
the Three Ts: How
Total Quality Management, Technology, and Teams Transformed the Cataloging
Department at Penn State. By
Marie Bednar, Jeffrey Beall, and Judy Hewes
ABSTRACT.
Beginning
in 1992 the University Libraries at the Pennsylvania State University embarked
on a program to formally transform its organization following the principles of
Continuous Quality Improvement, or, as it is more commonly known, Total Quality
Management. The process by which the Cataloging Department underwent
reorganization into teams is described, as well as its strategic use of
computing technology in rationalizing and streamlining its workflows. In
creating an organizational restructuring that permitted a more rapid and
flexible response to new assignments and changing conditions, the Cataloging
Department positioned itself to effectively assume new responsibilities as
emerging formats and other library materials were acquired or made accessible to
library patrons. The essay concludes with a frank assessment of the lessons
learned in undergoing reorganization, as well as weighing the successes and
failures experienced by the Cataloging Department.
Flexibility
in the Management of Cataloging. By
Claire-Lise Bénaud, Elizabeth
N. Steinhagen, and Sharon A. Moynahan
ABSTRACT. Cataloging managers at
the University of New Mexico General Library, feeling under pressure from
colleagues and administrators to become more efficient, have introduced a
flexible management style in the traditional Catalog Department.
Instead of pushing staff to work harder and faster, they developed a
point system, or quota, for staff catalogers.
This allowed them to implement flextime and other liberal options, such
as working at home, or in other campus libraries.
Expectations of quality and quantity of production have been clarified,
and staff morale, generally, has improved, as people feel they have more control
over their work. Although still cataloging in the traditional mode, managers
feel that improved flexibility will allow them to become more proactive and
tackle anticipated changes in a positive manner.
Management
by Action: How We're Embracing New Cataloging Work at Tufts.
By Lyn Condron
ABSTRACT. Preparing
for new cataloging such as metadata beyond MARC and thesauri beyond LCSH, is an
exciting and daunting challenge for university libraries.
Advancing technologies, as well as a growing demand for quality
information with rapid access is fueling the need for technical services
departments to restructure their work to accommodate the evolving world of
information management. Catalogers
who have been following the same procedures and practices for many years may
find this change particularly difficult. Team
leaders are often faced with breaking through skepticism and resistance to this
new work in order to enable necessary progress.
We found that discussions and gradual introduction of new directions is
important to acceptance by team members. However,
just as important is the implementation of an action plan to ensure that
progress is ongoing. Reengineering
Acquisitions and Cataloging into Current Processes and Information Management
Initiatives, along with forming several focus groups to investigate and evaluate
cataloging work, is proving successful for embracing new cataloging at Tufts
University.
Cataloging
in Three Academic Libraries:Operations,
Trends, and Perspectives.
By Kuang-Hwei
(Janet) Lee-Smeltzer
ABSTRACT. This article
describes the cataloging operations and management in three medium-sized
academic libraries—Oregon State University, University of Houston, and
Colorado State University. It
provides an overview of the staffing and organizational structure of the
cataloging department in each library. Faced
with similar challenges from constantly changing environments brought about by
technology and institutional pressure to achieve more with less, library
technical services in these three libraries, cataloging in particular, are
developing some common strategies for coping.
These trends include: 1) changing the roles and responsibilities of both
professional and support staff, 2) designing workflow around library systems and
limited personnel resources, 3) mainstreaming government documents cataloging
and processing into technical services, 4) using technology to increase
cataloging efficiency, and 5) dealing with bibliographic control of current
electronic resources and moving into digitization and metadata arenas.
Cataloging
Plus: Philosophy and Practice at a Small College Library.
By Y. Mei Mah
ABSTRACT. Many small
college libraries place tremendous importance on personal service to end users.
The staff at small college libraries usually perform a wider variety of
tasks than their counterparts in larger libraries, who tend to be more
specialized. Catalogers at small
college libraries often perform functions normally associated with public
services; they must be librarians first and catalogers in addition.
Through their work with end users, they may develop appreciation for
users’ difficulties with the catalog. Web
technology can be a boon to catalogers who wish to develop user-oriented tools
to complement the catalog.
Staff
Assignments and Workflow Distribution at the End of the 20th Century:
ABSTRACT: Innovative procedures
and new cataloging tasks have resulted in modified workflow distribution and
evolving work assignments [at Harvard University]. In addition to the functional skill set required within each
job level, specific behaviors and personality traits are necessary for success
in meeting the demands of multiple priorities and activities.
The End of an Era
Builds New Team Spirit: Team Playing at its Best. By Andrea L. Stamm
Cataloging at Yale
University in 2000: Challenges and
Strategies. By Joan Swanekamp
ABSTRACT.
There are significant challenges in managing a large and distributed
cataloging operation as the one at Yale University.
This paper describes the current environment and trends, and goes on to
outline the challenges facing the Catalog Department and possible strategies for
addressing them. Technology plays
heavily in improving processes and developing the most effective workflows.
The biggest challenge is original cataloging capacity and how to increase
it.
