Please join us at ALA Midwinter for the Competencies and Education for a
Career in Cataloging Interest Group (CECCIG) Meeting!
When: Friday, February 9, 1:00-2:30 p.m.
Where: Grand Hyatt Denver, Capitol Peak B
What: Presentations and discussion about engaging professional development for
all levels of cataloging staff to achieve the Core Competencies.
Becky Skeen and Liz Woolcott, both from Utah State University, will present
“Building expertise from within: one department’s look at new ways to
cultivate cataloging knowledge for their staff”: After losing another
cataloger position, the Cataloging and Metadata Services (CMS) unit at Utah
State University Libraries decided to cross-train the remaining catalogers,
cataloging assistants, and student workers to absorb more cataloging duties
and prepare the department to meet new challenges in creative ways. Through a
skills mapping process that utilized the Core Competencies for Cataloging and
Metadata Professional Librarians (https://alair.ala.org/handle/11213/7853),
USU’s CMS unit identified key training needs and developed arguments for new
professional development funding. This presentation will outline the process
of mapping the skills currently possessed by catalogers and cataloging
assistants using the Core Competencies document, the identification of needed
areas of expertise, and the subsequent division of responsibilities for those
skills in a way that makes the department more efficient and builds engagement
through stewardship over competencies.
Rachel Fleming, from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, and Erin Leach,
from University of Georgia, will present “Lifting the Curtain while Keeping
the Magic Alive: Learning to Tell Compelling Stories about Metadata and
Cataloging Throughout the Library”. Core Competencies for Cataloging and
Metadata Professional Librarians calls for an understanding of “how cataloging
fits within the broader library and cultural heritage context,” and seeking to
understand “local user needs for library metadata.” To achieve these
competencies, cataloging and metadata professionals must remain engaged beyond
the task-work of cataloging and metadata creation. Indeed, professional
development alone cannot generate organizational change necessary to achieve
the core competencies. This session will explore how libraries’ organizational
understanding of library labor, shared duties, and library roles are rooted in
stories and identities which value opacity rather than transparency. We will
discuss methods to develop more cross-organizational understanding about
metadata and cataloging roles and duties, beginning with a realistic
assessment of how labor is viewed and valued. We will then discuss strategies
for furthering understanding of metadata and cataloging, and how to generate
organizational change through professional development at all levels.
Hope to see you there!
Maurine McCourry, Ph.D.
Technical Services Librarian
Hillsdale College, Mossey Library
mmccourry_at_hillsdale.edu
Received on Fri Jan 26 2018 - 10:05:44 EST