June 21
Today seemed like a short day at work, only because I didn't do a whole lot of sitting at my desk. In the morning, one of the real catalogers in SpecMat, Mary Wedgewood, showed us some of the stuff she is working on. She explained how they copy-catalog items from OCLC or RLIN when it would take a ridiculous amount of time to do original cataloging. Makes sense. Why waste the time on things that other sources can catalog well when there are so many unique items that come directly - and only - to the Library of Congress? Anyway, Mary also showed us an honest to goodness CIP (Cataloging in Publication), which is what you see on the title page (copyright page?) of just about every book - the part with the LC and Dewey call numbers, as well as the title and author, ISBN, etc… You guys know what I mean... The Library receives book info pre-publication so that call numbers and subject headings, etc… can be determined and included when the book is published. Pretty cool. The CIPs are considered HIGH priority and staff takes turns doing them.
Mary also got us invited to a cataloging "strategic plans" meeting - they are trying to shake things up in the cataloging world, apparently. They've been meeting for a few months and are trying to think of new ways "to develop the catalog to meet actual user needs," as our supervisor Joe explained. Overall, the discussion was if and how to make the catalog more participatory. There was also much discussion about combining copyright registration directly with the Library catalog - why not use the information provided by those registering for a copyright as introductory cataloging information. Anyway, everything is still in the preliminary stages, but it was interesting to attend a meeting like that and hear what is on the minds of the brains at the Library. It was generous of them to allow us to come and listen. That was Thom & Mary's doing.
Besides those extras, I processed more CDs in the morning. I found The Wonder Years soundtrack yesterday and listened to it all day yesterday and today. That soundtrack is awesome. I really like it. It's got some good covers on it. Who knew? Then, I came across a CD by King Missile, a band I swear I enjoyed in my younger years, but boy, did my tastes change. Oh well. They amused me slightly, but for the most part, I fast-forwarded to the next song. We are STILL processing Atlantic Records CDs from the early 1990s. I think we'll be doing those for the rest of our time here, I swear. Ali & I went down to the basement to retrieve more CDs and the Atlantic pile seems to never end.
In the afternoon, I did my reference work. After the "strategic plans" meeting, there really wasn't a whole lot of afternoon left, though, and I spent most of my time trying to figure out the ins and outs of MS Access. I've never used it before. Fun. I've found about 8 record labels that I'm writing up for not sending in their copyright deposits.
Finally, I found out it is a faux pas to refer to the Library as LOC - it should be LC. Oops. But, I refuse to comply. I like LOC much better and heck, their Web site is LOC. Maybe if they were paying me more money, I would feel more like complying :)!
Mary also got us invited to a cataloging "strategic plans" meeting - they are trying to shake things up in the cataloging world, apparently. They've been meeting for a few months and are trying to think of new ways "to develop the catalog to meet actual user needs," as our supervisor Joe explained. Overall, the discussion was if and how to make the catalog more participatory. There was also much discussion about combining copyright registration directly with the Library catalog - why not use the information provided by those registering for a copyright as introductory cataloging information. Anyway, everything is still in the preliminary stages, but it was interesting to attend a meeting like that and hear what is on the minds of the brains at the Library. It was generous of them to allow us to come and listen. That was Thom & Mary's doing.
Besides those extras, I processed more CDs in the morning. I found The Wonder Years soundtrack yesterday and listened to it all day yesterday and today. That soundtrack is awesome. I really like it. It's got some good covers on it. Who knew? Then, I came across a CD by King Missile, a band I swear I enjoyed in my younger years, but boy, did my tastes change. Oh well. They amused me slightly, but for the most part, I fast-forwarded to the next song. We are STILL processing Atlantic Records CDs from the early 1990s. I think we'll be doing those for the rest of our time here, I swear. Ali & I went down to the basement to retrieve more CDs and the Atlantic pile seems to never end.
In the afternoon, I did my reference work. After the "strategic plans" meeting, there really wasn't a whole lot of afternoon left, though, and I spent most of my time trying to figure out the ins and outs of MS Access. I've never used it before. Fun. I've found about 8 record labels that I'm writing up for not sending in their copyright deposits.
Finally, I found out it is a faux pas to refer to the Library as LOC - it should be LC. Oops. But, I refuse to comply. I like LOC much better and heck, their Web site is LOC. Maybe if they were paying me more money, I would feel more like complying :)!
posted by Cheri W. | 10:05 PM
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