<div dir="ltr">Ostensibly, I am the rare books cataloger for my institution, although the main hat I wear is oversight of cataloging production for the general collection. <div><br></div><div>For the materials I catalog into our Special Collections and Archives collections that are post-1830, these are the typical categories, not ranked:</div><div><ul><li>Fine press editions</li><li>Artists books (less so now, following retirement of the selector)</li><li>College publications</li><li>Subject material on the college (including publications by faculty and alumni, although this is being reviewed)</li><li>Subject material on Schenectady</li><li>Subject material on Audubon's Birds of North America</li><li>Random, obscure titles gifted to the library</li></ul><div>Also, I have recently discovered a cluster of obscure legacy items in our general collection that will need to be assessed for reclassification into rare books. These include theater publications from the 1840s and engineering publications from the 1850s-1870s (including European publications on railroads). </div><div><br></div><div>And while not generally subject to current cataloging, our Special Collections and Archives includes several subcollections comprising the libraries or specialized collections from prominent donors that feature post 1830 publications.</div><div><br></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small">John Myers, Catalog & Metadata Librarian</div><div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small">Schaffer Library, Union College</div><div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small">Schenectady NY 12308</div><div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small">518-388-6623</div><div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small"><a href="mailto:myersj@union.edu" target="_blank">myersj@union.edu</a></div><div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small">pronouns: he/him/his</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Jul 6, 2020 at 7:53 PM Deborah J. Leslie <<a href="mailto:DJLeslie@folger.edu">DJLeslie@folger.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Georgia,serif">Dear Rare Materials Catalogers:<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Georgia,serif">I've finally had a chance to watch Brenna Bychowski's Rare Book School virtual presentation on
<a href="https://rarebookschool.org/rbs-online/superheroes-and-shocking-affairs-or-adventures-in-cataloging-popular-literature/" target="_blank">
Superheroes and Shocking Affairs, or, Adventures in Cataloging Popular Literature</a>. Informative, entertaining, and very well done; I especially like the way Brenna incorporated general information on the nature of cataloging. Highly recommended!<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:black">Brenna's presentation got me to wonder about the post-hand-press materials that cross the desk of rare materials/special collections catalogers. I invite DCRM-L readers
to characterize the kinds of post-1830 material you're asked to catalog, and give a rough ranking of relative quantity?
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:black">I can start (although since 1999 I've been cataloging pre-1831 materials almost exclusively):<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Georgia,serif">Little Blue Books<u></u><u></u></span></li><li class="gmail-m_5763539407525901142MsoListParagraph" style="color:black;margin-left:0in">
<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Georgia,serif">Railroad companies' annual reports, timetables, and maps<u></u><u></u></span></li><li class="gmail-m_5763539407525901142MsoListParagraph" style="color:black;margin-left:0in">
<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Georgia,serif">Sunbelt migration advertisements <u></u><u></u></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal">______________________________<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:rgb(94,50,124)">Deborah J. Leslie, MA, MLS (she/her) | Folger Shakespeare Library | 201 East Capitol St., SE, Washington, DC 20003 | 202.675-0369 | <a href="mailto:djleslie@folger.edu" target="_blank">djleslie@folger.edu</a> | <a href="http://www.folger.edu" target="_blank">www.folger.edu</a></span><span style="font-size:10pt"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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