[DCRM-L] Program planning for rare materials catalogers

Thu Feb 25 13:38:16 MST 2021

A few years ago I started a Google doc called "Collection highlights and
interesting facts." I think the idea came because we were talking before a
meeting about how a letter from Bram Stoker was found in a book years ago
-- something like that -- and I was aware that this wasn't the kind of
thing you could discover in the catalog if you didn't know to look. It was
around the time a librarian who had been at the university for 50 years
retired (yes, 50). There has to be a way to pass on these little tidbits. I
also wondered how other libraries did this.

I started small. The Google doc is meant for internal use, open to anyone
in Special Collections. Example categories:
Age - our oldest books and manuscripts, incunabula
Owners - A Spanish missionary's worn breviary from his travels in the
Philippines, for example
Bookmaking - I make note of books with pretty illustrations and bindings,
etc.,  but also note those with visible binding structure or manuscript
waste in the binding. (Some of these aspects can be tagged in 655s too.)
Recently I had a manuscript partially written with iron gall ink (I
believe), which has eaten through the paper.

When one new librarian started a while ago she thanked me for the list,
especially the notes about the physical aspects, because visitors are often
most interested in these. I'd love to hear about how bigger libraries
manage to share this information among staff.

Joan

Joan Milligan  *I*   Special Collections Cataloger * I*   University of
Dayton Libraries
[image: A button with "Hear my name" text for name playback in email
signature]

On Thu, Feb 25, 2021 at 3:01 PM Margaret F. Nichols <mnr1 at cornell.edu>
wrote:

> It sounds like there may be interest in the topic of publicizing the
> interesting things we catalog (in addition to the topics already listed,
> all of which sound interesting to me).
>
>
>
> A few years ago we came across a book with a nice example of fore-edge
> painting. We posted on our Facebook page a video of a staff member handling
> the book in such a way as to show the fore-edge painting clearly. The video
> was quite popular, much viewed and shared.
>
>
>
> Margaret
>
>
>
> _______________________________
>
>
>
> Margaret F. Nichols
>
> Rare Materials Cataloging Coordinator
>
> Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
>
> 2B Kroch Library
>
> Cornell University
>
> Ithaca, NY 14853-5302
>
> Tel. (607) 255-9667
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> *On Behalf Of *Piscitelli,
> Felicia A
> *Sent:* Thursday, February 25, 2021 2:30 PM
> *To:* DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
> *Subject:* Re: [DCRM-L] Program planning for rare materials catalogers
>
>
>
> Hello again,
>
>
>
> A few weeks ago I gave a presentation on the organization of materials to
> a Museum Studies class, in which I included a segment on “The Cataloger as
> a Detective”. I used items lacking covers,  title pages, front matter, and
> colophons (hence, the most common sources for identification and basic
> bibliographical description) as examples of “mysteries” I’ve solved. One of
> the slides was a picture of my hand in a white cotton glove, holding a
> magnifying glass over an 18th-century book.
>
>
>
> Felicia
>
>
>
> Felicia Piscitelli, M.M., M.L.S.
>
> Associate Professor
>
> Rare Book and Special Collections Cataloger and Italian Resources
> Librarian
>
> Cushing Memorial Library & Archives
>
> Texas A&M University
>
> f-piscitelli at library.tamu.edu
>
>
>
> 5000 TAMU | College Station, TX  77843
>
> Tel. 979-458-7880 or 979-845-1951
>
> Fax: 979-845-6238
>
> http://library.tamu.edu
>
>
>
> *From:* DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> *On Behalf Of *Rich, Allison
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 24, 2021 12:29 PM
> *To:* DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
> *Subject:* Re: [DCRM-L] Program planning for rare materials catalogers
>
>
>
> Hey Josh:
>
>
>
> In the "before times", I took an interesting item I had catalogued that
> month and wrote a short blurb about it, why I found it interesting and / ot
> challenging and called it "Adventures in cataloguing". It went up on our
> website.
>
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 1:00 PM Joshua Hutchinson <jchutchi at uci.edu>
> wrote:
>
> Along with what everyone else has said, I would be interested in hearing
> how other catalogers highlight the interesting things that they catalog.
> This is related to the 'selling the utility of cataloging' aspect. I'm sure
> my library isn't the only one where we see something cool, catalog it, and
> then it disappears into the stacks with only the catalog record to show for
> it. Do other catalogers blog about their material? Talk to the rare books
> outreach librarians? Host exhibits? Keep a (mental) list of cool things
> that you've looked at?
>
> Additionally, re: " Tools to make working from home easier (including
> OpenRefine and MarcEdit)" -- I think I'd be interested in hearing about how
> others identify projects that don't require viewing the material. What's a
> catalog enhancement project that can be done remotely (either working from
> home or just... not accessing the rare books stacks all the time) vs one
> that requires individual consultation of the material.
>
> Thanks-- looks like a great series of webinars!
>
> Josh
>
>
> Cataloging & Metadata Services Department (Monographs)
> UCI Libraries
> University of California, Irvine
> Irvine CA 92623-9557
>
> He/him/his
> Science Library Room 327 - (949) 824-8938
> jchutchi at uci.edu
>
>
>
> > Dear colleagues,
> > The Program Planning Group of the RBMS Bibliographic Standards
> > Committee is investigating the possibility of offering webinars on
> > topics related to rare materials cataloging. We are still in the early
> > planning stages and are seeking input from the rare materials
> > cataloging community. Right now, some of the topics we're considering
> include:
> >
> >   *   Cataloging realia
> >   *   Cataloging graphic novels
> >   *   Tools to make working from home easier (including OpenRefine and
> > MarcEdit)
> >   *   Conversations between catalogers and non-catalogers
> > We are especially interested in hearing if these topics would be of
> > interest to you, if there are additional topics we should consider,
> > and any tools you might like to see covered in addition to OpenRefine
> and MarcEdit.
> > If you're proposing an additional topics, suggestions for presenters
> > would be welcome but not required.
> > Thank you!
> > Elizabeth.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Elizabeth Hobart
> > Special Collections Cataloging Librarian Cataloging & Metadata
> > Services 126C Paterno Library University Park, PA 16801
> > (814) 865-1756
> > she/her/hers
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
>
> ********************************
> "Outside of a dog,
> a book is probably man's best friend,
> and inside of a dog,
> it's too dark to read.
> - Groucho Marx"
>
> Allison Rich
>
> Rare Materials Cataloguer
>
> ESTC and NACO Coordinator
>
> John Carter Brown Library
> Providence, Rhode Island
> Allison_Rich at brown.edu
> ********************************
>
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