[DCRM-L] Advice requested for Rare Book Cataloging preparation

[Noble, Richard]

There's another angle to be explored here. My first library job was in the
Cat Dept at Dartmouth, in 1983, as a rank newcomer to paid library work,
and I was expected to produce original records from Day 1. But I was
already experienced in working with books as things that people make (and
that I had to reverse-engineer), had edited c18 texts and produced
supporting descriptive bibliography, and had already started annotating my
copy of Bowers. The MARC record was simply another set of familiar boxes to
be filled in with what I had learned by informed inspection of the thing to
be described. That was my training--nothing left but to spend a week or two
getting a handle on the job-specific jargon.

The problem with cataloging is that most people aim for the finished
record, and really don't start with the thing itself. The record is the
goal, but practically unreachable if the starting point is a mystery; on
the other hand, if you know how to look at and describe a book, the catalog
record is a near no-brainer.

Granted, the catalog record is a curiously restrictive form, and my first
response to AACR2 was "How do I get around all this and tell the story?"
The first imperative was to be as creative as possible, to refuse to let
the form shape the object, while respecting the integrity of the catalog
and its way of using rules as a reliable guide to inference based on the
fixed forms of the individual report.

That's why it's so hard to start from copy cataloging: the focus is all
wrong. You have to start with the question, "What does the catalog want me
to know about *this book*?" What does each element of the record ask me to
look for and report? What do I need to know about books to be able to do
this almost instinctively? The basic answer is what I've always felt is the
chief prerequisite: RBS Des Bib, or its equivalent.

RICHARD NOBLE :: RARE MATERIALS CATALOGUER :: JOHN HAY LIBRARY
BROWN UNIVERSITY  ::  PROVIDENCE, R.I. 02912  ::  401-863-1187
<Richard_Noble at Br <RICHARD_NOBLE at BROWN.EDU>own.edu>

On Tue, May 9, 2017 at 4:57 PM, Matthew C. Haugen <
matthew.haugen at columbia.edu> wrote:

> Hi Deborah, When I registered for your class in 2009, I was exactly in
> that group of catalogers with plenty of experience in copy cataloging and
> far less experience in or opportunity for original cataloging.   I believe
> I had submitted some samples of locally enhanced copy along with some
> hypothetical original records for resources that probably already had
> copy.  I am very glad I was still accepted into your course, and found it
> to be highly beneficial both for me and for my institution. So I appreciate
> your putting this thought into the application and prerequisite
> expectations to provide for a fair admission process and still have a group
> of students that wouldn't be left behind in the course.
>
> I wonder if a separate Rare Book School course on copy cataloging for rare
> materials might be useful for this demographic who either have no prior
> experience in original cataloging or are not likely to do original
> cataloging after the course? This could still involve lessons on
> bibliographic history and such, but rather than populating MARC fields from
> scratch, coursework could include exercises in evaluating copy, search
> strategies for early materials in OCLC (such as accounting for I/J U/V),
> identifying duplicate records, differentiating variants, deciding when to
> input a new record (which depending on the institution may just mean
> routing to someone else for original cataloging), enhancing copy with
> variant titles, signature statements, citations, local notes, genre/form
> headings, etc.
>
> Matt
>
> On Tue, May 9, 2017 at 12:24 PM, Ann K.D. Myers <akdmyers at stanford.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> In my experience as a supervisor and trainer, while it can be a big leap
>> from "passive" cataloging to creating a record from scratch, I have never
>> found it to be insurmountable.
>>
>>
>> For experienced copy-catalogers, what about having them submit examples
>> of records they have enhanced? Showing the before-and-after of going from a
>> very basic/minimal-level record to a more fleshed out record with notes,
>> etc. You could ask them to explain their choices, and I think it would give
>> you a sense of their instincts and knowledge base.
>>
>>
>> --Ann
>>
>>
>>
>> Ann K.D. Myers
>>
>> Rare Books Cataloger
>>
>> Stanford University Libraries
>>
>> Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives
>>
>> 500 Broadway
>>
>> Redwood City, CA 94063
>>
>> 650-723-0123 <(650)%20723-0123>
>>
>> akdmyers at stanford.edu
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> *From:* dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> on
>> behalf of Deborah J. Leslie <DJLeslie at FOLGER.edu>
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, May 9, 2017 8:18 AM
>> *To:* DCRM Users' Group
>> *Cc:* Amanda Nelsen <an2b at eservices.virginia.edu>
>> *Subject:* Re: [DCRM-L] Advice requested for Rare Book Cataloging
>> preparation
>>
>>
>> Thanks all for the good ideas so far. Keep them coming.
>>
>>
>>
>> One of the nuts I'm trying to crack is that of the experienced copy
>> cataloger. My experience as a teacher has shown that it's usually too big
>> of a leap from (what I'll call for lack of a better word) "passive"
>> competence in cataloging to comfort in creating a record from scratch.
>>
>>
>>
>> Of course, opportunities for totally original cataloging nowadays are
>> pretty slim, even for original catalogers. What I guess I'm looking for is
>> evidence of the ability to create solid descriptions based on knowledgeable
>> application of a cataloging code. Perhaps I can re-word requirements for
>> cataloging samples to make that clearer, so that applicants without
>> job-related cataloging to offer can do what they need to do to prepare, and
>> aren't necessarily at a disadvantage during the application process.
>>
>>
>>
>> Deborah J. Leslie, MA, MLS | Senior Cataloger, Folger Shakespeare Library
>> | djleslie at folger.edu | 201 East Capitol Street, S.E. | Washington, DC
>> 20003 | 202.675-0369 <(202)%20675-0369> | orcid.org 0000-0001-5848-5467
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu] *On
>> Behalf Of *Stewart, Duncan R
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, 09 May, 2017 10:41
>> *To:* DCRM Users' Group
>> *Subject:* Re: [DCRM-L] Advice requested for Rare Book Cataloging
>> preparation
>>
>>
>>
>> Along those lines, you might ask student to try and arrange a short job
>> shadow/internship/mentorship with a working cataloger. One of my students
>> who attended your class recently, came into cataloging through the
>> extracurricular mentorship that our library offers to SLIS students.
>> Librarians volunteer to mentor students, who come in on their own time and
>> without credit or payment, to give them a hands on look at academic
>> librarianship. My student did a semester long mentorship, then a semester
>> long practicum/individual study in special collections cataloging with me,
>> then was hired as a student cataloger to create original RDA records for a
>> collection of 18th century French pamphlets. She was hired as
>> metadata/rare materials cataloger by our unit when she graduated from
>> library school. I know that this is a special case, but I think that a
>> motivated student or a working cataloger with interest could arrange some
>> basic cataloging practice.
>>
>> Maybe even more of a stretch—email library schools, or find another way,
>> to find students interested in cataloging and match them with volunteer
>> librarians to work together online. My experience with the students who
>> have done mentorships or worked with me in special collections is that they
>> would all be able to take advantage of your class based on what they have
>> picked up here.
>>
>> There are several good books that serve as a crash intro to RDA
>> cataloging. Cataloguing and Classification / by Fotis Lazarinis, Practical
>> cataloging / Anne Welsh and Sue Batley, and Crash course in basic
>> cataloging with RDA / Heather Lea Moulaison and Raegan Wiechert all give an
>> introduction both to theory (FRBR, RDA) and practical cataloging
>> instruction. I used the Moulaison book last year in my beginning cataloging
>> class at UIowa SLIS, but switched to the more complete Introduction to
>> cataloging and classification, 11th edition because it was more useful
>> in a semester long class.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *“Dico Tibi Verum, Libertas Optima Rerum: Nunquam Servili Sub Nexu
>> Vivito, Fili [My Son, Freedom is best, I tell thee true, of all things to
>> be won. Then never live within the Bond of Slavery]”*
>> -William Wallace
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu
>> <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu>] *On Behalf Of *Deborah J. Leslie
>> *Sent:* Monday, May 08, 2017 9:13 PM
>> *To:* 'DCRM Users' Group' <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
>> *Cc:* Amanda Nelsen <an2b at eservices.virginia.edu> <
>> an2b at eservices.virginia.edu>
>> *Subject:* [DCRM-L] Advice requested for Rare Book Cataloging preparation
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear colleagues,
>>
>>
>>
>> I’d like to brainstorm ideas for preparing potential students to take my Rare
>> Book School class <http://rarebookschool.org/courses/library/l30/> who
>> don’t have original cataloging experience. I’ve always considered it
>> essential that students walk into the class with enough active mastery of
>> general cataloging rules that they can competently populate a blank MARC
>> workform, and that experience doing original cataloging is what provides
>> necessary active competence.
>>
>>
>>
>> What can I tell people whose jobs involve cataloging rare books, whose
>> institutions are willing to invest in their training, but are not in a
>> position to give them background experience with original cataloging? What
>> about people whose ambition is to be a rare book cataloger, but again, are
>> not in a position to develop experience in original cataloging of general
>> materials? It seems neither fair nor ultimately beneficial to shut these
>> people out.
>>
>>
>>
>> When pressed in the past, I’ve recommended that individuals sit down with
>> the rules and practice original cataloging of older books (published before
>> 1970 or so) at hand, advising against looking them up in OCLC or the LC
>> catalog; older books don’t have CIP and are unlikely to have AACR2 or RDA
>> cataloging.
>>
>>
>>
>> Are there more effective ways to get adequate practice in original
>> cataloging? Better ways to gain the necessary competence so they can hit
>> the ground running on Day 1 of class?
>>
>>
>>
>> All thoughts and suggestions welcome, even half-baked ones.
>>
>>
>>
>> Deborah J. Leslie, MA, MLS | Senior Cataloger, Folger Shakespeare Library
>> | djleslie at folger.edu | 201 East Capitol Street, S.E. | Washington, DC
>> 20003 | 202.675-0369 <(202)%20675-0369> | orcid.org 0000-0001-5848-5467
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
>
> --
> Matthew C. Haugen
> Rare Book Cataloger
> 102 Butler Library
> Columbia University Libraries
> E-mail: matthew.haugen at columbia.edu
> Phone: 212-851-2451 <(212)%20851-2451>
>
>
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