Cataloguers


 * News in 2016**

Roles and responsibilities of [|cataloguers] And what cataloguers get up to when their services are [|no longer required]
 * Latest updates: April 2016**

Cataloguers should be thinking about competency skills in the [|fundamentals of RDF]
 * Latest updates: February 2016**


 * News in 2015**

Useful description of the role of a cataloguer from [|CILIP] ALA MidWinter [|mashcat event]
 * Latest updates: 14 December 2015**


 * News in 2014**

Cataloguers as leaders: [|An interview]
 * Latest updates: 27 October 2014**

Cataloguers! Use your skills to help make those WW1 diaries searchable!
 * Latest updates: 20 January 2014**

A cataloguing blog
 * Latest updates: 6 January 2014**

The next ALCTS e-forum will be a discussion on Technical Services staff working in a front-facing role The 10 essential qualities of a cataloguer
 * News in 2013**
 * Latest updates: 30 September 2013**

Not sure if I've listed this anywhere before, so here is a link to the prestigious journal, Cataloging and Classification Quarterly. 10 qualities for success!
 * Latest updates: 23 September 2013**

Excellent blog post on the importance of cataloguers and the training of cataloguers
 * Latest updates: 8 April 2013**

The future of cataloguing Cataloguers and blogging
 * Latest updates: 25 February 2013**

Interesting thoughts on cataloguing Cataloguing hidden collections
 * Latest updates: 18 February 2013**

What is expected of cataloguers?
 * Latest updates: 18 June 2012**

Serving users - from a "backroom" perspective. Further thoughts from a cataloguer on serving users.
 * Latest updates: 24 May 2012**

Cataloguers learning to programme. Some support sites for codeacademy
 * Latest updates: 20 February 2012**

Who should be doing the cataloguing? Report of the session held on 21 January 2012 by ALCTS for copy cataloguers
 * Latest updates: 23 January 2012**

For the age of digitisation, more thoughts on the role of cataloguers
 * Latest updates: 16 January 2012**

Do we all use coloured slips? Learning to live with "good enough" How to catalogue a puppy!
 * Latest updates: 22 December 2011**

We need humour!
 * Latest updates: 4 November 2011**

2010 paper on the development of AACR - way back when!
 * Latest updates: 4 August 2011**

Look out for the June 2012 issue of this journal! Look no further than here for a list of authoritative cataloguing resources Someon blogging their thoughts on cataloguing
 * Latest updates: 1 August 2011**

Explanation (2011) of a survey from 2010 on what cataloguers think about their profession And here are the results Rivalry? Between Public Services and technical Services? Surely not! Some interesting thoughts!
 * Latest updates: 31 July 2011**


 * Latest updates: 29 June 2011**

Archive of material shared at webinar: Cataloguing efficiencies that make a difference.


 * Latest updates: 22 June 2011**

Working in a 21st century technical services department

Potential skills needed by 21st century librarians

Definition and discussion of descriptive catalgouing

Set of slides outlining descriptive cataloguing


 * Latest updates: 15 June 2011**

Suggestions for cataloguing efficiencies

Suggestions for good cataloguing practice

One person's experience of cataloguing training


 * Latest updates: 25 May 2011**

Skills for the cataloguers of today


 * Latest updates: 11 May 2011**

How cataloguers prefer to learn

More on how people learn


 * Latest updates: 13 April 2011**

Looking back to look forward? An article on cataloguers from 2007


 * Latest updates: 16 March 2011**

A slide presentation on new workflows for new generation libraries

Fantastic site for helping you keep up-to-date with all that is happening

A great post on the raison d'etre of being a cataloguer

The value and role of the cataloguer according to ALCTS

Are you a cataloguer or an applied metaphysician?


 * Latest updates: 26 January 2011**

Looks who's over at high visibility cataloguing!


 * Latest updates: 19 January 2011**

Who might be the patron saint of cataloguing?

Co-operation amongst library staff

=Cataloguers=

Preamble to link below.

**The role of the cataloguer in 21st century – preamble**

Since this article was written there has been much in the professional press about the changing role of cataloguers, particularly in these economically difficult times. Of especial relevance was the article by David Bennett (2009a), which tackled the idea of seeking new avenues for “back room” staff, and the follow-up blog article (2009b) which concentrated on the marketing of “back room” staff and their activities. In her article Kealy (2009) discusses the importance of identifying skills gaps in her library service with a view to ensuring that all library staff (not just cataloguers) have the skills needed for the future. Further enhancements of the cataloguer’s role are suggested by Meagher and Brown (2009).

The value of social tagging has been the subject of enormous debate, as has the development of new generation OPACs and resource discovery systems, all areas where the expertise of the cataloguers can be tapped into. Electronic resource management, usage statistics, digital preservation and the digitising of educational resources are also areas in which cataloguers can prove use their skills.

More recently, Harris and Carty (2010) have striven to improve the general awareness of what cataloguers can do and how they can help develop library services of the 21st century. Their joint High-Visibility Cataloguing blog (2010) is an attempt to both promote and raise the profile of the role of cataloguers to library staff in general and to encourage cataloguers to emerge from their “back rooms” to help provide a dynamic and valued library service.

**References**
 * 1) Bennett, David E. (2009) Principles of assertive action: how to go about getting what you want. //Philoslibris// [WWW] David E. Bennett. Available from: [] [Accessed: 20 December 2010].
 * 2) Bennett, David E. (2009) Where next for the back room? //Gazette//, 11-24 September, pp. 19
 * 3) Harris, Venessa and Carty, Celine (2010) //High visibility cataloguing// [WWW] Venessa Harris and Celine Carty. Available from: [] [Accessed: 20 December 2010]
 * 4) Harris, Venessa and Carty, Celine (2010) Show and tell. //Gazette//, 2 December, pp. 15
 * 5) Kealy, Karen (2009) Do library staff have what it takes to be a librarian of the future? //Library Management//, Vol. 30, No. 8/9, pp. 572-582
 * 6) Meagher, Elizabeth S. and Brown, Christopher C. (2009) Turned loose in the OPAC: URL selection, addition, and management process. //Library Hi Tech//, Vol. 28, Iss. 3, pp. 360 – 376

of cataloguers in the 21st century

Feeling flush? New book on cataloguing just published!
 * Latest update: 12 January 2011**

The life of an [|unemployed cataloguer] A whimsical view of cataloguers!
 * Today's update: 10 December 2010**

A "high-visibility" blog for cataloguers! The cataloguers of today Is there a need for cataloguers? This is precisely why we catalogue to the nth degree - for the day when our OPAC can use and display the information we've fed it! And, Dewey, LC, Ranganathan - and Waterstones!
 * Today's update: 8 December 2010**

A cataloguer's view of the future of catalogues and cataloguers. The role of cataloguers in the 21st century
 * Today's update: 7 December 2010**

One person's view of what it's like to be a [|cataloguer]!
 * Today's update: 29 November 2010**

An account from someone who's been in [|cataloguing] for 50 years!
 * Today's update: 10 August 2010**

The [|value] of cataloguers!
 * Today's update: 16 June 2010**

[|Professionalism]

Getting on in the world of [|work]

The [|acceleration] trap in cataloguing departments

[|MARC] in a digital world
 * Today's update: 26 April 2010**

So, how are your [|programming skills?]
 * Today's update: 13 April 2010**

Apparently, 2010 is the [|year of cataloguing research]!
 * Today's update: 8 February 2010**

So much information on what cataloguers of the future will be doing. Here's a blog that [|enthuses] about something we already do!
 * Today's update: 11 January 2010**


 * Today's update: 8 December 2009**

*RDA
[|RDA] to be published June 2010

*What next for the backroom
Following on from his article in the Gazette (Where next for the back room? 11-24 September 2009, pp. 19) David E Bennett makes further comments in his blog on the [|future of backroom]services.


 * Today's update: 11 November 2009**

*Cataloguing in the future
How might [|cataloguing] on the web look?


 * Today's update: 30 September 2009**

*What makes a good cataloguer?
If you are looking to employ a cataloguer, are there any specific [|qualities] that you should be looking for to ensure you get the best possible cataloguer?


 * Today's update: 25th August 2009**

*New roles for media cataloguers
[|Presentation] on new opportunities

*How to keep up-to-date
The [|role of the cataloguer] in the 21st century is changing - keep up!

*Cataloguers and metadata
Buried deep in this presentation is the idea of [|cataloguers improving metadata], particularly for virtual or digitised images, using LCSH.

*Roles for cataloguers
A presentation from Jennifer Bowen at the ALA conference 2008, on the [|eXtensible Catalog Project].

=*More new roles for cataloguers= A [|presentation] from Charlene Chou at Columbia University Libraries on new roles for cataloguers

*What skills are expected?
A [|paper] outlining some research that was done on what skills an entry-level cataloguer was expected to have.

*Benefits of public-facing duties
[|Article] on what how a cataloguer can expect to benefit from working on enquiry desks - and the benefits to an enquiry service from using cataloguers to staff the enquiry desk.

*New cataloguing models
An article by Robert Wolven of Columbia University on the need to change the [|model of cataloguing].

*Future of cataloguing
A presentation from the BL on the [|future of cataloguing], with a focus on what the BL do. This is from 2007, but maintains relevance.

*Future of cataloguing paper
A paper on the [|future of cataloguing] from Indiana University (2006) which again remains relevant today.

*Roles for cataloguers
This short [|paper] (2007) contains a useful reminder (in section 4) about "database management", including authority control and re-classification, and highlights the wide variety of resources that are now being catalogued, for example, webpages. Reference is also made to Omekwu's previous paper (2005, published 2008 in The Electronic Library*) in which he identified 26 roles for cataloguers.
 * I have a paper copy of this article if anyone is interested in reading it).

*Blogs for librarians
A list of someone's top 100 [|blogs for librarians]

*Musings of a library studies student
A library studies student's [|thoughts] on cat and class

*Specifically cataloguers!
Musings on [|cataloguing].

*Not just cataloguers!
[|Blogs] for librarians.

*LC report
LC report on the [|future of bibliographic control] (quite old and possibly superseded (see RIN report below))

*Report on bibliographic record production
Quite a long document produced by RIN (Research Information Network - see also Miscellaneous, Social Bookmarking) on the production of [|bibliographic records].

*What will you be using?
In the future will you be using your lms or [|WorldCat Local]?

=*Cataloguing workflow= The re-design of [|cataloguing workflow] at BL

=*Cataloguing teams= Is the idea of [|cataloguing teams], as at LC, transferrable to other institutions?

=*Standards for cataloguers= [|Standards] from OCLC for their cataloguers.

=*Skills= [|Skills] for the cataloguer of the future and a [|simplified list]!

=*The future of cataloguing= Interesting [|musings] on the future of cataloguing and cataloguers, mentioning RDA, FRBR, metadata etc..

=*Cataloguing scenarios= Pop over to the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative for some possible [|cataloguing scenarios].

=*Cataloguing= Finally, [|cataloguing] is being recognised for the valuable contribution it is making to current information retrieval ...

=*New classification scheme!= Those developers over at LibraryThing are dissatisfied with traditional library classification schemes, like DDC, LOC, UDC etc. so are considering developing their own, called [|Open Shelves Classification]. Further information can be found on the dedicated OSC LibraryThing [|wiki].

=*Future roles for cataloguers= Article on the changing [|role of the cataloguer] and what they might expect to do in the future!

=*The future of catalogues= Article on the changing nature of [|catalogues].

=*Cataloguing or metaloguing?= Karen Calhoun, Vice President, WorldCat and Metadata Services for OCLC, talks in her blog about the transition from traditional cataloguing to what she calls [|metaloguing].

=*De-skilling or re-skilling?= A survey on the [|future of cataloguing] in Australia and New Zealand.

=*Metaloguers? In 1996?= Way back in 1996, the ROADS project (an elib funded project) was talking about the [|demise of cataloguing] and MARC!