ties involved in a shared LMS can make life difficult for librarians on-the-ground, it can also offer librarians the chance to learn from each other while using their own system.
Between us, Harriet and I decided that remote bespoke training would offer the best learning experience and result in quick practical gains. We contacted Anne Welsh, a consultant who offers bespoke training packages, while Harriet put together a successful application for a grant from the Kathleen Cooks fund to cover the costs.”
Beginning Cataloguing
There was so much more to catalogu- ing than expected. We learned how to catalogue from first principles, using RDA in MARC. Nicola recorded a video that showed us how to enter and amend data on our system. We provided Anne with a whole stack of things that were not ‘standard’ modern books – they were pamphlets produced by mining societies, old mimeographed locally-produced pieces of research, individual journal articles, maps and mixed media. And together, over eight weeks, we worked our way through the MARC Manual; had a look at the RDA Toolkit; and realised that the reason we sometimes couldn’t find the right Dewey number is because we didn’t have access to WebDewey, the subscrip- tion service through which OCLC provides the classification scheme. It’s a lot less stressful using a workaround (thank you, OCLC Classifiy) when you know it’s just a workaround and the reason you feel you can’t see everything is because you haven’t got the subscription.
The impact
Since we received the training, there has been a significant change for those who received it. Our Resources team are more confident in adding items that would have been put to one side and, when time or reason commands, they are able to flesh out sparse records downloaded from our suppliers. And to come back to the point about wanting to understand why we do things, this is what Anne put first when training us. I came to use that new knowledge just days after the end of the course when a controver- sial book was popped in my in-tray with the note “Should this be on the shelves?” As a question I have not been asked often during my career so far, ordinarily I would have done some digging on Google and chatted it through with my boss. This time, I turned to the catalogue – not just our own, but also those of other services – and I scoured the available online resources I’d learned about to see what others were doing with the title, before making recommendations that would enable us to adapt rather than censor the item. Anna, our Local Studies librarian, is now able to add maps, photographs and unusual artefacts that come her way – something she’d not had the learning to do before, and she now better understands what detail to include to add value to the collection. With an expansion of our local studies service on the horizon, the ability to improve our collections by adding and editing records in this way is even more exciting than before. The learning could have further reach, too.
During a seminar with Norena Shopland on LGBTQ+ Language and History, I was able to see the opportunities available to tag items
Anne Welsh Beginning Cataloguing.
with terms that would support research and improve wellbeing through recogni- tion of identities.
What’s next for us? In Wales, our shared public libraries LMS means we need a cohesive approach to managing our catalogue. Giving more staff the tools to understand catalogue records more deeply is an important step in enhancing our shared resource discovery experience.
Amy reports: “This project has been an effective use of the Kathleen Cooks Fund in many ways already. I hope that CILIP Cymru Wales can help Awen Libraries extend the impact of the work however, by working together with public libraries across Wales to offer further shared training opportunities. We would like to widen the reach of the catalogue training module designed by Anne Welsh and to investigate options for sharing training more widely across an LMS but also across sectors so that we can all benefit from best practice. Harriet and the team at Awen Libraries have illustrated just how empowering the right library training opportunities can prove to be. I hope others will be inspired, and I am already looking for- ward to those conversations!”
A Local Studies librarian. 40 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
So, why do we want to catalogue? The course gave me a sense of achieve- ment – being able to support the upskill- ing of my colleagues through this funding, and to have gained the knowledge without having to wipe out my savings and spare time. It has also given me a thirst for more – there is room to grow in this pro- fession and there are so many routes that I could take. Though I don’t have a certif- icate of higher education, I feel qualified – I finally feel comfortable calling myself a librarian, because I know. And, if I don’t know, I know how to find out. Right back at the start, Anne asked me why I wanted to catalogue, and I said jokingly at the time, “It’s the power I crave.” Looking back, I can see it’s certainly increased our customers’ search power, because previously unlisted items are there to be found. And it’s certainly empowered our team. IP
March 2022
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
