Catalog Department
Changes and Trends
March 1994-October 1998

The timeframe covered by this report begins when Linda Barnhart was assigned to be Department Head. The single-word categories are the headers that describe Catalog Department goals.

ACCESS

• Cataloging productivity rose from 38,418 titles in 1995 to 48,260 titles in 1998, despite the decline in the number of new titles purchased.
• Throughput time for cataloging decreased from an average of 15 days in 1994 to 12 days in 1997.
• With the decrease in new acquisitions, we were able to provide full cataloging for priority materials, including 11,000+ Chinese monographs, 1,000+ League of Nations documents, and 1,000+ SIO monographs.
• The three-year, 300,000+ title shelflist inventory project was completed, which corrected errors and provided accurate monographic holdings in the InnoPac database.
• Catalog access to Internet resources was created, first through the Infopath cataloging pilot project and then as a mainstream cataloging activity.

SERVICE

• The Catalog Department responds daily to error reports (both machine-generated and identified by library staff and users).
• We are minimally staffed to handle the workload of incoming purchases, but additional projects have been completed at the request of library staff. Some examples include the SSHL analytics (near completion now), reclassifying the "K zeros" and cataloging many individual titles within large databases such as ABI/Inform and Academic Universe.
• We have worked collaborately with bibliographers to identify, purchase and load analytics (12,000+) for microform sets.
• We provide added access training and record enhancement upon request for bibliographers who have special needs for record enhancement.

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

• Our FTE has declined as our workload has increased. In 1994 we had 28.35 FTE, including 3.5 librarians. We are presently at 29.85 FTE, including 2.8 librarians. While we added 3.5 FTE through the SIO and Music PPD reassignments, our workload has increased in addition to the PPD-transferred cataloging. We added the Film and Video Library's cataloging workload, as well as the Internet resources cataloging, without additional staff.
• We make an extraordinarily effective use of students. Students function as copy catalogers, as well as searchers, labelers, quality control, and project assistants. Our GA budget has declined almost 10 percent in the past four years.
• We are organized more efficiently. The Original and Special Materials cataloging section and the Descriptive Cataloging section merged, the Music Cataloging Team was added, and the CJK Processing Section was newly formed.
• We use technological innovation, and evaluate and take advantage of online system enhancements to speed up both cataloging and corrections, most notably with Passport macros to automate routine activities and statistics-gathering.
• We use selective outsourcing for original cataloging in languages where we have no expertise, such as Korean and Armenian.

LEADERSHIP

• We have led the country in the effort to develop and promote the cataloging of electronic resources using the single-record concept.
• Technical Processing Online Tools (TPOT) came to national prominence when it moved to the web in 1994 and is a frequently-cited and emulated online resource.
• One department member, Crystal Graham, has been particularly influential in AACR2 revision, and was ALA/ALCTS 1998 Serials Librarian.
• Department staff continue to break new ground through such efforts as loading the slide database, the Film and Video Library's database, and through the development of the San Diego Circuit database.
• The department continues to test and Beta test various products, such as the LC Cataloger's Desktop, Passport for Windows, and OCLC/YBP PromptCat.
• Staff members contributed significantly to the refinement of RogerWeb and the proposed merger of the Melvyl Catalog and Periodical databases.

TRAINING

• Over 95% of the department attended shared decision making classes, and has incorporated this philosophy into regular operations.
• "Ask CCG" was developed as a forum for improved technical knowledge.
• The department has regularly undertaken technical training for new software applications as they emerge, such as Passport for Windows and the LC Cataloger's Desktop.
• Staff are supported in attending Library Training Department and Staff Education and Development courses for skill-building purposes.

WHAT'S IN OUR FUTURE?

• BML cataloging centralization
• Innovative Interfaces' Millennium product
• Closing of the Annex
• SSHL inventory project
• Load of large microform analytics set from AAS
• New SRLF processing due to Orion2
• New Melvyl?
• CDL cataloging?