This may seem strange to most librarians in North America, but I never really learned how to use the OCLC cataloging system in order to copy catalog!
I clearly understood most of the philosophical implications of original cataloging. But I was one of 30 some students who just did not learn the bulk of what it takes, to catalog an item for a library, using OCLC.
When I was accepted into the State University of New York at Buffalo's graduate program in their School of Information & Library Science (in spring 1987), for their ALA accredited MLS degree, I knew that there was a limited number of classes available for me to take during that Summer.
Since I was starting out from scratch, I wanted to get as many of the pre-requisite classes out of the way, as early as possible.
With cataloging positioned within the profession as a rather unique process, I wanted to get it under my belt, without any hesitation.
Unfortunately for me, I soon realized that the bulk of what I was going to learn about library cataloging. was not going to come from this course.
The person teaching the course was a "visiting professor" who had lots of experience moving up the corporate ladder of librarianship. He had considerable experience in academic libraries, focusing primarily on the intricacies of inter library loan policies & procedures, before he became a full fledged administrator. His full time job was as a Library Director of a moderately sized university, in the next county.
On his first day in class, he clearly demonstrated his considerable knowledge of cataloging, as well as his lack of knowledge about teaching.
While giving us a summary of his career, he had mentioned how many times he had changed jobs, in order to move up the rungs of academic ladders. And how he was always able to get a side job, teaching at a nearby MLS program.
Even more provocative was his side chuckle "Funny, how I never taught more than a couple of semesters, at any one college, before getting a being offered a new job, elsewhere".
It was more than ironic... everyone's jaw dropped when that sentence was heard!
And it became painfully clear, to everyone in that class, that we would barely be able to learn anything about cataloging, from that "visiting professor".
The problem was only compounded by the fact that none of the textbooks for this cataloging class were available from the campus bookstore! This was a new edition of the textbook, that had been ordered in plenty of time, before the summer semester had started. But during summer sessions, the classes are running on double-time, and every day without a textbook was equivalent to missing 2 lesson plans, during an ordinary Autumn or Spring semester!
The teacher was certainly good at using humor to enlighten us, as he tried to distribute thick sets of photocopies, from the only copy that he could get his hands on (the nearest campus that was also using the same textbook was over 100 miles away). And this was in 1987, years before the Internet, when faxes were still expensive, and usually of very poor quality!
On top of that, there was a larger than expected demand by MLS students to take classes that summer, with more students than normal vying for what little resources existed in the SILS computer lab (where students were expected to use the university computers, to log onto OCLC, and practice the cataloging process). And the SILS department had admitted a record large number of students into the MLS program. So we had lots of competition, for few resources, fewer textbooks, and an obvious shortage of talented professors!
The key exam portions of our cataloging class centered around writing out the cataloging process, on sheets of paper, since there was such a backlog of people waiting to use the computer lab. This was after being assigned homework assignments that were had to be handwritten on 3x5 cards (because this was 1987 and the professor had no means of getting meaningful printouts that could accurately distinguish between the number "0" and the letter "O", or the number "1" and the letter "l", since the quality of computer printers was so poor, in an otherwise state of the art computer lab).
Since I was starting out from scratch, I wanted to get as many of the pre-requisite classes out of the way, as early as possible.
With cataloging positioned within the profession as a rather unique process, I wanted to get it under my belt, without any hesitation.
Unfortunately for me, I soon realized that the bulk of what I was going to learn about library cataloging. was not going to come from this course.
The person teaching the course was a "visiting professor" who had lots of experience moving up the corporate ladder of librarianship. He had considerable experience in academic libraries, focusing primarily on the intricacies of inter library loan policies & procedures, before he became a full fledged administrator. His full time job was as a Library Director of a moderately sized university, in the next county.
On his first day in class, he clearly demonstrated his considerable knowledge of cataloging, as well as his lack of knowledge about teaching.
While giving us a summary of his career, he had mentioned how many times he had changed jobs, in order to move up the rungs of academic ladders. And how he was always able to get a side job, teaching at a nearby MLS program.
Even more provocative was his side chuckle "Funny, how I never taught more than a couple of semesters, at any one college, before getting a being offered a new job, elsewhere".
It was more than ironic... everyone's jaw dropped when that sentence was heard!
And it became painfully clear, to everyone in that class, that we would barely be able to learn anything about cataloging, from that "visiting professor".
The problem was only compounded by the fact that none of the textbooks for this cataloging class were available from the campus bookstore! This was a new edition of the textbook, that had been ordered in plenty of time, before the summer semester had started. But during summer sessions, the classes are running on double-time, and every day without a textbook was equivalent to missing 2 lesson plans, during an ordinary Autumn or Spring semester!
The teacher was certainly good at using humor to enlighten us, as he tried to distribute thick sets of photocopies, from the only copy that he could get his hands on (the nearest campus that was also using the same textbook was over 100 miles away). And this was in 1987, years before the Internet, when faxes were still expensive, and usually of very poor quality!
On top of that, there was a larger than expected demand by MLS students to take classes that summer, with more students than normal vying for what little resources existed in the SILS computer lab (where students were expected to use the university computers, to log onto OCLC, and practice the cataloging process). And the SILS department had admitted a record large number of students into the MLS program. So we had lots of competition, for few resources, fewer textbooks, and an obvious shortage of talented professors!
The key exam portions of our cataloging class centered around writing out the cataloging process, on sheets of paper, since there was such a backlog of people waiting to use the computer lab. This was after being assigned homework assignments that were had to be handwritten on 3x5 cards (because this was 1987 and the professor had no means of getting meaningful printouts that could accurately distinguish between the number "0" and the letter "O", or the number "1" and the letter "l", since the quality of computer printers was so poor, in an otherwise state of the art computer lab).
I was not the only grad student who complained to the Dean's Office about the poor choice that was made in hiring this library director as a visiting professor. I was assured by the Assistant Dean, that due to the large volume of similar comments that were received, in a very short time span, that they could guarantee to me, that this person will never teach another semester at the University of Buffalo's SILS program.
As comforting & reassuring as it was to hear that, it still did nothing for my education about cataloging!
The only real skill that I gained by enduring that summer semester's Cataloging course, was a better than average understanding of how to decode a MARC record for some elements. To this day, that is something that many librarians seemed to have little patience with & little skill, during grad school, and at most places where I interviewed for jobs.
The only real skill that I gained by enduring that summer semester's Cataloging course, was a better than average understanding of how to decode a MARC record for some elements. To this day, that is something that many librarians seemed to have little patience with & little skill, during grad school, and at most places where I interviewed for jobs.
But don't place any bets on my skills to explain the nuances of why there might be 5 separate cataloging records in OCLC for a single edition of a specific book, whereby one catalog record shows colons, one uses a semi-colon, and one uses subfields, all to describe the very same book (in terms of # pages, editions, publisher, copyright date, authors, titles & subtitles). I am talking about items which are physically present and clearly evident by looking at the title page & verso (as compared to selecting an appropriate subject heading, or call number, which can be very subjective, for any item being cataloged).
However, I am good at spotting an ISSN or SuDoc number within a MARC record.
That was more owing to my experience of working for an entire semester in the Government Documents Department of the University of Buffalo's library system, rather than anything I learned in the Cataloging course.
So what were you unable to learn while pursuing your MLS, that you wish you had learned, back when you were in grad school?
Sincerely.
GARY M. KLEIN
"not your average tethered leathered librarian in Salem OR, and occasional contributor to my alma mater in Buffalo NY"
