Name of working group: 2CUL Copy Cataloging Working Group
Phase 1 Report
July 31, 2013
Leads: Irina Kandarasheva (Columbia-chair), Cynthia Rich (Cornell)
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While the overall numbers of staff involved in copy cataloging activities at Columbia and Cornell are comparable (see Columbia Central TS, Starr East Asian, and Cornell org. charts) it is not easy to assess staffing levels in terms of FTE because Columbia's Columbia’s copy cataloging operations are more centralized than Cornell'sCornell’s. At Cornell there are 35 staff members performing inputting and fastcatting and 4 copy catalogers, at Columbia there are 25 copy catalogers. There is a difference in major responsibilities as well. At Columbia copy catalogers are support staff performing mainly cataloging activities: inputting minimal level records, backlogging, performing copy and sometimes original cataloging. At Cornell these tasks are more aligned with position titles: copy cataloger and inputter/fastcatter. The main difference in staff distribution is that at Columbia most staff perform only cataloging related duties while at Cornell many of the fastcatters and inputters have other Technical Services related responsibilities (e.g. receiving, ordering, physical processing, database maintenance, etc.)
Cornell cataloging staff have more expertise in a variety of languages especially non-Roman script languages (see Cornell language chart). The expectation at both institutions is that copy catalogers will catalog in languages they're they’re not proficient in. Also in general Cornell cataloging staff unlike Columbia's Columbia’s have expertise in other areas of Technical Services, e.g. some Cornell cataloging staff include various aspects of ordering (including e-book ordering) and receiving, batch processing, metadata management and other Technical Services related duties.
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At Cornell these are the LTS heads and Cataloging Workflow managers' managers’ meetings. At Columbia these are BSCDG (Bibliographic Services Collection Development Group) directors and Catheads (cataloging managers) meetings. There are also internal divisional meetings of supervisors and directors determining the procedures and workflows on divisional/departmental level.
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At both institutions communication is encouraged not only between staff members and direct supervisors but also with higher management and across divisions/departments. It seems at Cornell the relationships between professional and support staff are less formal, and staff may occasionally receive instructions or guidelines from managers other than their direct supervisor. There are "open “open office hours" and "drop in" hours” and “drop in” sessions for members of the Senior Management Team and the Associate University Librarian at Cornell to communicate informally with staff and more casual staff conversations with Technical Services directors at Columbia.
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Both institutions have extensive local cataloging documentation online. Columbia's Columbia’s manuals are divided by format and function while Cornell's Cornell’s documentation is kept together and accessible through one main web page. The main in house cataloging manuals are CPM (Cataloging Practices Manual) at Columbia and Cataloging & Metadata procedures at Cornell. (Columbia East Asian Library maintains some documentation modified from CPM for CJKT languages.) Most Cornell documentation is available publicly while some Columbia cataloging manuals and documentation are password protected. (This phase of the 2CUL project didn't didn’t result in satisfactory access of Columbia documents for Cornell colleagues). At both institutions cataloging training is done in house and requires extensive preparation and local documentation. At Cornell cataloging documentation is reviewed annually and if necessary, updated. At Columbia CPM documents are created and edited as needed, and posted online upon Catheads approval.
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For the last three years Columbia actively implemented shelf ready services for domestic imprints through YBP with the goal of expanding them in the future to new subject areas and/or vendors. Cornell and Columbia's Columbia’s East Asian Library currently work with the University of Hong Kong Library on receiving some Chinese materials shelf ready. Both Cornell and Columbia use vendors (e.g. Casalini, Aux Amateurs) to receive full bibliographic records with new print materials.
At Columbia all paraprofessional staff are unionized, there is no union at Cornell. The union contract at Columbia governs many internal policies and has effect on copy catalogers' catalogers’ job descriptions.
At Columbia most staff perform only cataloging related duties; with the exception of East Asian Library where acquisitions and cataloging tasks are combined in the job description. At Cornell the new model involves some cross-training between units.
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During the 2010 reorganization at Cornell, the copy catalogers moved to Acquisitions forming a unit which also includes inputters. This move has fostered better communication between Cataloging and Acquisitions. The reorganization resulted in adding acquisitions and batch processing tasks to copy catalogers' catalogers’ responsibilities. An additional benefit is that Acquisitions staff now have improved access to cataloging expertise and areas where training is needed are more apparent.
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