Comments for The Cataloguing Librarian

Comment on Cover Letter Tips for the Job Hunting Librarian by Laurel Tarulli

Laurel Tarulli — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:33:35 +0000

Hi Beth – thanks for writing.

First, don’t sell yourself short. If you’re graduating with an MLIS and you have cataloguing experience, you might be able to get a position as a department head. Some of this depends on past professional experience – if you have supervisory experience, training experience, etc. Always consider how past employment can transfer over to the jobs you’re looking for. I would encourage you to apply to those jobs.

If you’d like to apply for paraprofessional jobs, you can do that too. Sometimes libraries have hiring policies (union) that don’t allow them to hire degreed professionals in paraprofessional positions, so that is something else to consider. There are also numerous other opportunities to gather experience – volunteer opportunities, professional offices, museums, etc. that are looking for skilled professionals who know how to organize information.

I don’t know what your interests are, but at this point in your career, I’d suggest spreading your options far and wide. See what opportunities present themselves. You might be surprised!

Comment on What makes a good cataloguer? by Daryl

Daryl — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:06:00 +0000

A good, or should I say excellent, cataloguer is someone who is not only precise, or should I say perfect, in terms of using general cataloguing rules eg. Resource Description and Access or MARC tags, but also maintains consistency with his/her Dewey classification of resources in correspondence to the Library or institution he/she is hired in.

Comment on Cover Letter Tips for the Job Hunting Librarian by beth

beth — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:03:44 +0000

Thanks for this! I have a question about breaking into cataloging, though – I’m an MLIS student who’s only done copy cataloging as a volunteer. I’m noticing that almost all tech services jobs (except for department heads, which I’m obviously not qualified for) are paraprofessional. Would you recommend taking a parapro job upon graduation if this is what I’m really interested in? Is it good experience/a good “foot in the door” for getting promoted later on? I had no idea I would be interested in cataloging until I started my master’s degree, and now that I’m almost finished it looks like I don’t have many options if I want a career in tech services/cataloging/metadata.

Comment on About Me by Kalilur Rahman,

Kalilur Rahman, — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 08:29:04 +0000

I came to know your blog very recently and is informative. Thank you very much for the same. I would like to know the following:

1. Nowadays library subscribes to many e-journals and e-books, but they are not part of the OPAC. Could you please inform the possibilities of harvesting and indexing the metadata of these e-resources by using any tools such as Public Knowledge Project (PKP) Opern Archive Harvester?
2. Afterwards they have to be available for searching through OPAC.

Kind regards

H Kalilur Rahman
Librarian, Muscat, Oman

Comment on A new year and perhaps, a bit more blogging too! by Laurel Tarulli

Laurel Tarulli — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 01:56:48 +0000

Thanks Lynne. I’ll do the best I can with FRBR and RDA. This is the first time I’ve really had the opportunity to delve into it and it’s out of necessity. How can I teach it if I don’t understand the pros and cons? The extent of changes and how/if/when we should create RDA compliant records is really interesting and I hope to touch on this in the near future in a blog post.

Comment on A new year and perhaps, a bit more blogging too! by LynneW

LynneW — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 21:01:37 +0000

Welcome back, Laurie! I do hope you will share some of your insights with the rest of us on occasion, especially related to FRBR, RDA, and the eternal question: how far does the average library need to go in adopting these new standards?

Comment on Where are the kids’ catalogues? by Samantha

Samantha — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 21:39:52 +0000

This reminds me of the last time I was searching for books in the children’s section of the library. I am a teacher and was teaching a unit on weather. I was looking for books about sunny, rainy, cloudy, snowy and windy days. It took me hours and hours to locate books that were appropriate for my lessons. I definitely think there should be an easier way to find material. If it took me that long to find books on weather, I could just imagine how long it would take my preschool age son to find a book. He loves books, but he is in the beginning stages of reading. He is very independent and wants to find books by himself. He needs a kids’ catalogue that is appropriate for his age and reading level. However, our library doesn’t have one, so I have to do all of his library searching.

Comment on Cataloguing: Shouldn’t we be asking “why” and “for how long”? by Samantha

Samantha — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 21:05:06 +0000

Your opinions on the new challenges and motivations for cataloguers are very interesting. The librarian can’t just stay behind the desk and point the patrons in the right direction or just answer simple questions. They must try to make the patrons’ visits a positive experience. They need to be involved in the library community, whether it is helping patrons locate material, engaging patrons in reading and discussions (online or in the library) or creating and distributing “cataloguer’s feature” lists. In my opinion, they should be constantly interacting with the library patrons. If the cataloguers are doing bare minimum, technology can easily take over their tasks. We definitely need to put the cataloguer’s expertise to better use to serve patrons.

Comment on Does political correctness lead to access issues? by Deidra Mahon

Deidra Mahon — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 00:33:23 +0000

“As a person of Native American descent and a mother of a daughter of who is Maya Indian, I find nothing wrong with the image, which is cute and allows students to make a quick connection with the information contained within that reading list. After looking up pictures on the Internet of Mi’Kmaq in traditional dress, I found images very similar to your depiction. I would have to agree with you that although we should be sensitive to racial stereotyping, I do not feel that is the case with your image. After all, you are trying to create an access point for your students while being aware that there are sensitivities in some erroneous images of Native Americans, and I believe that you achieved this. Some people complain just to be complaining, and one complaint should not outweigh your intent to represent the Mi”Kmaq heritage in a kid-friendly, genuine manner.” So far, there has been no reply post, but I was only the third comment to this article. Both of the others are in agreement with the author, but it is difficult for me to tell whether or not they are of the general public or are library professionals. One of these posts does make the valid point that the author is the professional and that her expertise should be cause for her support in this matter.

Comment on Cover Letter Tips for the Job Hunting Librarian by DRoberts

DRoberts — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 18:19:57 +0000

Thanks! This helps a lot!