The Exciting Happenings of Week Two

Week two already? Time is flying by. I could spend three summers here and probably wouldn't get all the work that needs doing, done.

This week, we've begun analyzing database records to make sure that they are complete, accurate, and match the shelflist. It can sometimes be slow going. Especially when we run into inconsistencies and have to decide how best to handle changes. We quickly realized that one of the most important elements of this process was documenting a systematic way to comb through the collection. Hopefully, with enough instruction, interns or work study students who care for the collection after us will be able to pick up where we leave off. When we are finished, we hope to add exhaustive directions with explicit examples.

Lorelei and I are nearly through the reference records and hope to finish that entire shelf this week. It includes a map and atlas collection, guidebooks collection, and the folio section. We found it necessary to make a distinction between the reference books and the altas and map section because they were being grossly mishelved. Additionally, the guidebook shelves need to be weeded every 4-5 years so that only the latest information is available for patrons. We discarded several older books and removed their records from the shelflist and the database. Another surprising element of this collection was that some of the guidebooks has LC call numbers on their spine and were included in the database, while others were not. After talking to our supervisor, we discovered that select tomes were kept for historical purposes. We decided to enter these into the catalog since they are apart of the permanent collection. We removed the stickers from the rest and set them apart.


Finally, anyone browsing the collection will notice that about half of the works contain LC call numbers with a peroid in front of the Cutter number, while the other half are simply missing them. This is also causing confusion when it's time to reshelve books. Whether you are for the period or against, there has to be some consistency! As we go through the collection checking database records, our goal is to print new stickers for books that need them.