Recruiting, Educating, and Training Cataloging Librarians

Librarians entering the profession often shun the prospect of becoming catalogers because they perceive public service responsibilities as more rewarding than those of technical services. This is causing a shortage in the area of technical services in general and cataloging librarians in particular. A group of concerned professionals decided to investigate solutions to the problems, thus, the Simmons College Symposium on Recruiting, Educating, and Training Cataloging Librarians evolved. The editors have compiled papers presented at the symposium that propose solutions to the cataloger shortages. . . . Discussions included topics such as the evolving public/technical services relationship, the networking of professional librarians to aid in recruitment, flexible and creative education programs, and the cross training of library professionals to handle cataloging. The symposium participants, which included well-known professionals, administrators, and educators, encourage increased cataloging knowledge and involvement to support the automation and technological challenges facing libraries of today. The papers are well written and easy to read. Recommended. Library Journal

Developed from a recent symposium, this informative book offers research-based analyses; it also offers realistic approaches to the concerns of catalogers and the library educators and administrators responsible for their recruitment, education, and training. It was written by more than 25 specialists who have developed solutions to particular problems within these three areas.

Solutions are offered for a wide range of issues, including increased financial pressure on libraries, recruiting methods, the changing economic and professional expectations of librarians, the impact of technology, challenges for the library science curriculum, and training strategies for large and small institutions. This book will encourage library administrators to break new ground in applying creative solutions to the real-life problems of their institutions. It will help professional educators in designing or improving library and information science programs, and give students a greater understanding of critical issues in contemporary librarianship.

SHEILA S. INTNER is Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science of Simmons College. Her earlier works include Access to Media: A Guide to Integrating and Computerizing Catalogs, and she has contributed numerous articles and reviews to American Libraries, Library Journal, RQ, and Information Technology and Libraries, among others.

JANET SWAN HILL was head of cataloging at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.