Welcome to Season Nine of Linking Our Libraries! We are so happy to have you join us again! We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and our members are all types of libraries and their staff.

This season we are focusing on topics that are important to library support staff. We will be discussing each of the ten competency sets in the American Library Association’s Library Support Staff Certification program. Some of these may overlap with our Library Basics series from Season Seven, but this season we will be looking specifically at the material the ALA has identified as important. We will link to the ALA’s program, if you want more information or want to sign up for one of their classes.

Earlier this season we talked about the three required courses in this certification program. This week we are talking about one of the competencies that is optional: Cataloging and Classification. 

“Library Support Staff who work in cataloging and classification support library users’ access to resources in a library. They do this by assisting with the processes that enable multiple ways of searching to identify what is in a library; to identify and select particular items; to locate these items in the library or in other libraries and in general to support the intellectual and organizational coherence of the library’s collections.  Cataloging and classification require a high level of computer skills, knowledge of standard systems of classification, cataloging, and subject headings. This work also requires the ability to apply these standards to diverse types of materials.”

Let’s take a look at each of the eight different components the ALA has identified as important here, and talk about a little information on each one.

1. Library staffers in all types of libraries should know how to apply and manage the appropriate processes, computer technology, and equipment for cataloging and classification. We have talked about large libraries, where everyone may have a defined set of tasks; and small libraries, where the few staffers there do a little of everything. Whether or not this is your main tasks, it’s good to have a quick overview of how cataloging works in your library. At the least, you want to be able to explain to patrons how books will get from the publishers into their hands, so they know why it can take a while.
2. Staff in libraries should know and can use the basic cataloging and classification tools, both print and online, including bibliographic utilities and format standards. Of course, if you are a support staffer and responsible for copy cataloging, then you would have a deeper knowledge of these things. But staff who shelve books also need to have a basic understanding of what these systems mean – enough at least to understand how to find materials in the library and how to help patrons to find what they need.
3. This one is primarily for staff who would be involved directly with cataloging work: you know the basics of standard metadata formats and cataloging rules to select, review, and edit catalog records, and to generate metadata in various formats. Understanding how to get the records from your sources of catalog information into your catalog and connect it to your book is a process that needs to be pretty exact. And those basic principles also apply to organizing and classifying material in your databases, and on your website.
4. Library staff should know and can apply the basics of classification and organization schemes for collections. Of course, this can mean working on cataloging books and other materials for your collection. But it can also mean understanding how to classify the puppets in your theater in the children’s room, or organizing electronic devices for a tech petting zoo program, or any other type of organization that needs to happen for your library. You always want to know how to assemble materials so they can be accessible and found by patrons.
5. Support staff in the library should understand the value of authority control and its basic principles, and can identify and apply appropriate access points for personal names, corporate bodies, series, and subjects. This can be a very local matter in your library, or you may need to go with the system of a group of libraries in your area. Authority control means that you understand how to organize similar ideas into a consistent set of terms. So, when you are organizing a collection of stuffed animals, for example, you may have different bears that are sky blue, cerulean, azure, or cobalt – but in your system they are all referred to as “blue” and put together for people to find them.
6. Staffers are able to explain the value and advantages of cooperative or collaborative cataloging practices to enhance services. Libraries are sharing organizations, and that includes sharing our work across different organizations. There is no need for each of us to come up with new and better ways to do things, including classifying our collections – we can work together and share that information. Most libraries participate in some form of collaborative cataloging work, and it benefits everyone.
7. Library staff can all know and can explain the value and purpose of cataloging and classification to help users find the resources that they seek. This is something everyone can do, whether you directly with the classifying of information and material. Patrons do not always understand the Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress or other system libraries may use; so everyone who works there needs to be ready to explain the basics and how patrons can use the organizational system to find the material they want.
8. Staff need know the role of technology in creating, identifying, retrieving and accessing information resources and demonstrate facility with appropriate metadata storage and retrieval tools. If your library has catalog stations, patrons may need help accessing them. Or be ready to help patrons use the catalog from their devices. Remember the basic rule of libraries: we are there to connect patrons to the information they need. We are not there to check out books, put on programs, or give away library cards. Those things happen because we are helping them to find the information they need. Cataloging and classification skills are a powerful tool every library uses to make that connection happen. 

Do you feel like you have a quick understanding of these components? There is, of course, a lot more to learn. We can all spend our careers working on enhancing these skills! Use the CMLE podcast resources as a place to start, and if you want to sign up for the ALA/APA classes to get more information, we link to them in our show notes. 

Books Read

Now, let’s get to the part of every episode that we love: sharing a book we are reading. We will link to these books on our shownotes pages, and the link will take you to Amazon. You probably know this, but when you click one of our links and then buy anything at all from Amazon, they give us a small percentage of their profits. That support really helps us, and although it’s anonymous so we won’t know it was you – we appreciate you taking the time to help us!

• Let’s Talk About Love, by Claire Kann
• The Lincoln Highway, by Armor Towles 

Conclusion

This was a quick overview. Stay with us all season to get an overview of all ten of the ALA/APA’s certification topics for library staffers. And if you want to find out more about getting certified yourself, check the website (linked in our show notes), or just email us at admin@cmle.org.

Thanks for spending time with us today. It is always great to have this time to chat with you about libraries and the skills we need to be successful. Come back next week, because we have more information to share about libraries! This is just the beginning, and there are so many other great things to share!