Cataloging Futures

Should you take cataloging in library school?

Some good advice for LIS students. In, If I Could Do Library School Over Again, Karen Glover, Circulation Services Librarian at the Georgia Institute of Technology, writes about the need to take a cataloging class even if you're not planning on being a cataloger.

I would take cataloging. What was I thinking? I’ll tell you. I was thinking that I was never going to need cataloging, that’s what. Boy was I wrong. The cataloging of film is a tricky, tricky thing. In this library, it is inconsistent, and often unexplainable. Current cataloging standards are too restrictive and unwilling to bend. At least I think they are. I wouldn’t really know....

Reference librarian's thoughts on the benefit of cataloging

It's often reference librarians who recognize the value of cataloging and metadata. You'll want to read Cliff Landis' excellent post, The Future(?) of Cataloging:

And no, I’m not talking about folksonomies and tagging here. Although they are fun and very useful, they are no replacement for standards-based high-quality metadata. I would never want my library’s catalog to look like my personal photo collection–with spotty tagging and organization at best! Reference librarians, library staff, other catalogers and users all make use of high-quality cataloging metadata for locating the specific items that they need. All it takes is a single mistake in a cataloging record to ensure that an item is lost to its user forever. Catalogers: take it from a Reference Librarian–what you do is important.

Cliff also shares his thoughts on the importance of internships, mentoring, and training LIS students.

No catalogers, or, The chickens have come home to roost

I've been wanting to blog an alternative title for awhile.

I think a library school professor said this (can't find the reference) and a certain notorious Reverend has used it recently :) The chickens have come home to roost. According to Karen Calhoun at the recent Palinet symposium there are not enough fledgling catalogers coming out of library school to replace those retiring.

The library professor's point had to do with the LIS curriculum. If you remove cataloging from the curriculum this is what you get. A generation of catalogers retiring and no replacements waiting in the wings.

I'm a little skeptical about this because I personally know some twenty-somethings who actually think that cataloging is a pretty cool job.

So what do we do? My career long MO has been to encourage, mentor, and train new catalogers. I am an enthusiastic cataloging geek--I can't help it. One needs to have a positive response to such a negative prognosis. Any thoughts?

LIS education and technical skills

Here's an interesting post by Allan Cho, The Future of Digital Librarians. He looks at the issue of skill set needs and LIS education. Here he writes of the difficulty of studying and learning new technologies for on-the-job librarians.

In my own experience as an information professional, I find that these skills are sorely lacking in my own education. I'm finding it increasingly my own initiative to get caught up in the literature and the technologies. Who really has time to learn OAI-PMH metadata standards, XML, EAD, and TEI? Many librarians keep abreast of their field -- but on top of their current duties. But the problem remains that LIS schools do not to train technicians even though that is what they're doing - their mandate is to nurture scholars. Which I can understand. Yet, we can't fit a square peg into a circle. There lies the conundrum: something's got to give. But what? That has remained the intense tension in the field of LIS since its inception. With the advent of the Web and newer technologies, this gap will only widen.

ALA 2007 preconference: What they don't teach in library school

I've been sick all weekend, but I did finally renew my ALA membership and will be going to the midwinter conference. I'll try to post the meetings I hope to attend. It would be great to meet and have some future of cataloging conversations. (Just look for a lady with very short gray hair looking clueless--I'm not a regular ALA attender.)

This weekend, I watched all but 3 of the webcasts from this ALCTS/CETRC preconference, What They Don't Teach in Library School: Competencies, Education, and Employer Expectations for a Career in Cataloging. These webcasts are great! Definitely take the time to watch them. I took away some excellent cataloging management ideas.

On June 22, 2007, librarians from across the United States and Canada gathered in Washington, D.C. during ALA Annual to discuss the future of cataloging at a preconference (PDF; 23K) sponsored by the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, Committee on Education, Training & Recruitment for Cataloging (ALCTS/CETRC), the Library of Congress and the Catholic University of America.

• Biographies of the speakers (PDF; 24K)
• Presentation by James F. Brennan, Ph.D., the provost of Catholic University at the beginning of the preconference (PDF; 23K)
• Webcasts and presentations of the speakers:
  • Matthew Beacom: Webcast - PowerPoint
  • Karen Calhoun: Webcast - PowerPoint
  • J. Randolph Call: Webcast - PowerPoint
  • Sylvia D. Hall-Ellis: Webcast - PowerPoint
  • Janet Swan Hill: Webcast - PowerPoint
  • Brian E.C. Schottlaender: Webcast - PowerPoint
  • Beacher Wiggins: Webcast - Preconference Paper (PDF; 141K)

Essential reading: Cataloging and Metadata Education report

I didn't get to read as much as I'd hoped to during the holiday break. One thing I did read that wasn't even on my list was Ingrid Hsieh-Yee's report Cataloging and  Metadata Education: A Proposal for Preparing Cataloging Professionals of the 21st Century [pdf]. (Like the better known Calhoun report its impetus was an action plan that grew out of the Library of Congress's Bicentennial Conference on Bibliographic Control for the New Millennium.)

Those of you who are regular readers of this blog know that I have a strong interest in cataloging education (particularly continuing education) and yet this is the first time I've encountered this report originally issued five years ago. So, it's been quietly hovering under the radar in the future of cataloging debate, but deserves to be noticed.

Hsieh-Yee cogently argues for the necessity of all LIS students getting a foundation in cataloging and metadata issues as a prerequisite for understanding information organization in the digital age.

Via Off the Mark

Cataloging education: LC report to address this issue?

I've watched the webcast and read the PowerPoint slides. But I'm going to hold off commenting until the full LC working group report is presented to Deanna Marcum (and the library community) on November 30th. (Although it's hard not to weigh in on the provocative recommendation about FRBR and RDA.)

In the meantime, I'm re-reading the public testimony from the few brave souls who distributed their comments publicly on electronic lists, wikis, and blogs. First up, is Dr. Shawne Miksa, professor and researcher. I found her testimony [pdf] particularly interesting since she teaches teachings cataloging, etc. (an area of concern for me since I'm hoping to teach someday also). Here's a quote where she discusses the lack of attention the working group's background papers gave to cataloging education:

The absence of any real discussion in any of the background papers on the education of catalogers was puzzling, but not surprising. I do not have hard data on the most current state of library cataloging education but I strongly suspect that we are seeing now in our catalogs the result of the disturbing lack of knowledge of many cataloging librarians and library administrators that resulted from relegating traditional courses to the back burner over the past decade or so. (As well, I believe our cries of woe concerning users abandoning library catalogs for Google or Yahoo! really originate in our feeling guilty about not providing a good enough reason to use the catalogs in the first place.)

If MLS students are not pushed (whether by faculty or accreditation standards) to take the courses then we are failing our profession by not producing well-rounded graduates no matter what library position they occupy. Given the coming changes to cataloging that will ride in on the new Resource Description and Access (RDA) due to be completed in 2009, we are facing a choice to either be proactive and prepared or suffer the consequences of belated reactions.

I think it's encouraging that the working group's final report will be addressing the LIS education issue (even though they did not discuss this in their preliminary report last week). I'm looking forward to hearing their recommendations.

Cataloging Education: Moving Forward After the MLIS

I've been encouraging my new colleague, Nicole Engard, to jump right into continuing education even though she's just finished her MLIS degree. I'm not being a meanie. My reason is based on my own experience of not getting enough cataloging training in library school. Anyway, here's a comment from Nicole reflecting on her recent experience:

On the subject of teachers - I have had two great instructors at PALINET continuing ed courses over the last month and it makes me wonder why these aren’t the kind of instructors I had in library school. Is it because they’re actually out there doing the work? Is it because they love their jobs (which you can really tell?) or is it just the setting? I don’t know, but I do think that if you’re just out of library school and feel like you’re maybe missing something or if you’re a librarian who wants to beef up your skills, taking a course from a librarian who is out there doing what they’re teaching is the way to go!

Wondering where to begin on your own post-degree educational journey? Start with the Library of Congress website, The Cataloger's Learning Workshop. I've taken many of these courses and they're excellent!