Week One

Monday was our first day visiting the Rome Center Library. Rea, the Rome Center Administrative Intern gave us a run-down the projects work study students have been working on during the school year. She has really taken the library under her wing, spending about an hour each day working on the shelf list.

Apparently, while the last library intern was here, it was discovered that many books in the stacks were missing from the catalog. Rea spent the year making a shelf list, and checking the stacks against it to see which items required catalog entries. She was able to delete the records of nonexistent materials and find over 30 "missing" items. She recorded all the books without catalog entries as well.


Our first project this week has been entering the non-cataloged books into the InMagic database. This is my first experience cataloging. It can be a real challenge to get the punctuation and subject headings just right. Luckily, there are an abundance of resources available to check and double check your work. It is also helpful to have a colleague review your entries (as I discovered yesterday! Thanks Lorelei).

Once Lorelei and I have gone through the books that need cataloging to match the shelf list, we intend to add new acquisitions to the collection. Students visiting the Rome Center will often donate materials to the library when they go home. There are also new books and movies from Washington to add to the collection. Lorelei and I were able to bring them to Rome in our luggage. I had to laugh because anyone opening my suitcase could guess that I am a librarian. Who else packs luggage full of books?

My goal is to finish adding these newly cataloged items to the stacks and shelf list by the end of the week. I still feel major trepidation about originally cataloging a few of the items. LIS 530 and 531 are completely theoretical, and did not prepare me for things like Cutter numbers. I want so much to be accurate, instead of guessing. If anything, I have developed a new-found appreciation for catalogers. The level of expertise required to know all the rules and idiosyncrasies is awe-inspiring. It takes years to become a seasoned expert like our adviser!

Next week we will begin an extensive analysis of the records in the InMagic database. This database is really a conglomeration of preexisting records. Sometimes the mash-up of information from different sources didn't synthesize gracefully, and records are missing important details like publication information and subject headings that render them practically unsearchable. We are working out a process for scrutinizing each record and remedying any inaccuracies. Our methodology will also include examining the book in the stacks to make sure it is present, correctly shelved, and stickered.

Weekly Recommendation:
1. The process of cataloging would be infinitely streamlined by simply adding internet access to the librarian computer. Since the Rome Center has WiFi, a new computer with a wireless card would easily solve the problem.