The Information Professional

By Elise (Yi-Ling) Wong:

"There’s no question that the art of cataloging and the role of its practitioners are evolving. Where specialization is preferred, catalogers remain steadfastly the guardians of library catalogs to ensure their accuracy, currency, comprehensiveness, and user-friendliness. But catalogers are also mediators between libraries and other information organizations (e.g., museums and archives), as they are charged with understanding the interoperability between the MARC standard and the different non-MARC metadata systems.

The notion of catalogers “just” being catalogers is gradually being replaced by a philosophy that all library staff be cross-trained and have hands-on experience working directly with library users. At SMCL, all librarians (including catalogers) take at least one reference shift. In collection development, we are subject selectors allocated funds to purchase materials in our subject areas. In addition, selectors are responsible for maintaining their subject pages on the library website. In library instruction sessions, we collaborate with faculty members in their teaching and research."