[IUG] Re: Catalogers anymore?

["Dennis G. Van Arsdale" <dvanarsd at uafortsmith dot edu>]

"the best available OCLC record"?

Warning: Rant mode=ON.

OCLC cataloging, while extremely helpful, is, IMHO, incomplete.

For example: Subheadings are usually omitted.
Take a name, say: "Jones, Jenny."  That's it.  That's the entire 
heading you would get from OCLC.
Okay, is this her biography, her works, her -- what?  What if you 
have fifteen entries for that name and nothing else to distinguish 
them?
The same goes for most of the headings OCLC provides.  These 
tend to be very basic, and no extrapolation is done.
Especially in an academic or research library, better cataloging is 
needed.
Until / unless OCLC cataloging is done in a lot more detail, the 
subject headings alone justify more work locally.

And, of course, much of the OCLC work is done using CIP, which 
can be quite different from what finally is published.  So, you have to 
check that against the reality.  Plus, CIP and much other OCLC 
cataloging does not often have much in the way of annotations, 
notes, etc.  Those should be added, both for explanation and for 
keyword searching.

The call numbers may or may not match the most useful position for 
the material in your library for your patrons.

Outsourcing cataloging, unless you specify it in great detail, is 
usually used as just a "bottom-line" excuse for saving money at the 
expense of library usability.  Of course, once you specify the level of 
detail you want from your outsource vendor, the price comes up and 
-- what do you know, you could often do as well or better with your 
own cataloger, and faster to boot.

I'm sure others will dispute this opinion, but perhaps they either have 
lower standards (sorry, but some places do), or they actually have 
set higher levels for their vendors (and don't mind paying the extra -- 
assuming they're really getting what they paid for, or has anyone 
checked lately?  Does your vendor keep the level up, or slack off 
over time?).  

The problem is, a cataloger in house can be kept to standards, but 
once you outsource, you take what you get and have to like it (or 
justify terminating the contract, and then go back and rework the 
outsourced records).

Rant Mode=OFF.
You may start your rebuttals.

==============================================

On 6 Mar 2006 at 12:02, innopac-request at innopacusers dot org wrote:
> Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 11:52:15 +0400
> From: "Said Shafik" <Said_Shafik at ecssr dot ac dot ae>
> Subject: [IUG] Catalogers anymore?!
> To: "IUG INNOPAC List" <innopac at innopacusers dot org>
> 
> After the announcement of  the partnership between Baker & Taylor and
> OCLC,  that will offer OCLC cataloging records to subscribers, like
> our library, who receive books and audio visual materials from the
> Baker & Taylor family of companies, how is the future of catalogers
> looks like? We started a successful outsourcing service with YBP to
> receive full order/bib/item/invoice service, RFID tagging and label
> service will be added. All services are done according to our own load
> profile. With the triangle of III Advanced Acquisitions
> Interface-Vendors processing services-OCLC partnership, we were told,
> we'll be able to get the best available OCLC record at the point of
> order and at the point of receipt. Some of the libraries have
> established already full outsourcing services with few or no
> catalogers, American University of Sharjah is one of them. A serious
> debate is taking place in our library whether to hire a replacement
> for the departed cataloger, or continue with the full outsourcing
> services.  
> 
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Said Shafik
> Systems Librarian
> Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research
> Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
> www.ecssr.com
> Office Phone:++971-2-404-4481
> Mobile:++971-5-323-5695
> Home: ++971-2-645-9787
> Said_Shafik at ecssr dot ac dot ae
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
> 
> 
> 
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###################################################
Dennis G. Van Arsdale, Technical Services Librarian
Boreham Library, University of Arkansas - Fort Smith
P.O. Box 3649  Fort Smith ARkansas 72913-3649
(479) 788-7206  or 1-800-935-9341
dvanarsd at uafortsmith dot edu
http://www.uafortsmith.edu/library/
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