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Re: Something of an ethics question Beth Guay 03 Dec 2004 14:48 UTC

Dear Elizabeth,

then please don't forget to include a citation to Joseph Harman's
fitting article, The death of quality cataloging: does it make a
difference for library users?
 (The Journal of Academic Librarianship, v. 22 (July 1996) p. 306-7).

My opinion is that there simply aren't enough Michael Gormans in
library management. Cataloging as a profession  has been under attack
for years ...  and please include a link to Mark Watson's  "Top Five
Reasons Why Library Administrators Should Support Participation in the
Program for Cooperative Cataloging"
(http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/topfive.html).

We are undergoing a "review of our PCC Participation" at UM. We were
asked: "Do PCC requirements affect your productivity?" and "What are some
of the steps that take extra time?" My answer was this: Yes, PCC
requirements affect my productivity. They allow me to be more productive
than if they didn't exist. If there were no PCC requirements, I would be
spending even more time than I already do cleaning up the catalog. Because
there are standards, I am assured that catalog record errors brought to my
attention are kept to a minimum. It takes a lot of extra time to clean up
a catalog record that is below standard because I often have to take a
trip to the branches or the stacks and do some detective work in order to
clean up the record. Even more positive about participating in the PCC,
once I have cleaned up the record for our users, I have saved some or many
other catalogers the time repeating my work, --I'm not simply fixing my
own catalog and leaving other catalogers elsewhere the job of repeating
the work that I've already done! Thank goodness for the PCC!

Beth

Elizabeth Urbanik wrote:

>Hmm, I wonder how public services folks would feel if catalogers
>expressed the same attitude toward reference service... I'm recalling
>all of Alan's comment, though; people with several duties to perform
>will not be able to perform them all at a high level, so the cataloger
>(or catalogers) who is making mistakes ought to be informed so s/he has
>the chance to improve. I'll give this thread a few more days for
>comment, then summarize the responses next week.
>
>Thanks for the responses!
>~Elizabeth
>
>Elizabeth Urbanik
>Asst. Prof./Serials Cataloger
>Mitchell Memorial
>Mississippi State University
>(662) 325-3018
>
>"If you never ask the question, you never have to hear the answer."
>
>>>>dilewis@USGS.GOV 12/2/2004 4:10:16 PM >>>
>>>>
>Alan May wrote:
>
>"Some people who catalog are, out of necessity, performing several roles,
>so, understandably, they are going to make mistakes."
>
>As one who currently wears a number of hats in a constantly shrinking
>library, I think Alan makes an excellent point.  In fact, cataloging (which
>I escaped from after 3 years) was a constantly humbling experience.
>If they came looking for me to wear the cataloger's hat again, I'd  run
>out of here screaming...
>
>Diane M. Lewis, Serial Records Librarian
>Exchange & Gift Unit
>U.S. Geological Survey Library--MS950
>Reston, Virginia  20192  USA
>Tel.:    703-648-4399
>Fax:    703-648-6376
>Email:  libacq@usgs.gov
>
>Opinions expressed are my own, not my agency's!
>
>"Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and
>the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money."
> --Cree proverb
>
>"Liberty and democracy become unholy when their hands are dyed red
>with innocent blood."--Mathatma Gandhi

--

Beth Guay
Monographs/Continuing Resources Cataloger
McKeldin Library, University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland 20742

(301) 405-9339
fax (301) 314-9971
baguay@umd.edu