I suggest using https://www.librarything.com/forlibraries LibraryThing for
Libraries. My Best - Katrina
On Wed, Apr 9, 2014 at 7:34 PM, Laurel Narizny
<narizny_at_library.caltech.edu>wrote:
> Hi Katy,
>
> I would strongly advise against making a card catalog. Frankly, it's a
> pain in the behind to set up - imagine writing out cards for 500+ books by
> hand - and to maintain. All cataloging is done electronically these days,
> although there may be a few holdouts...!
>
> Could you buy or borrow a tablet, if you don't want to spend much on a
> computer? You could use it to access LibraryThing or Goodreads once you get
> an internet signal. Many people like LibraryThing, but I never really got
> into it; I find Goodreads much easier to use. Both are free.
>
> The benefit of using one of those sites is that the books are already
> cataloged, so to speak. All you have to do is input them into your
> library's account on the site. In case someone not physically present in
> the library wants to browse your collection, you will have it available
> online for free. Then you can make a "checked out" tag and assign books to
> it and take them out of it as necessary. You can assign multiple tags to
> each book (="bookshelves" on Goodreads) for browsing by subject. It's kind
> of a pain to input all your books, but it sure beats writing it out by
> hand, and maintenance is far easier.
>
> On Goodreads, for easy input, I recommend searching by ISBN (the 9- or
> 13-digit number that generally starts 978...). There are often multiple
> editions of books, and ISBNs are an easy way to find the one that YOU have.
>
> One final note - you will have a catalog of books after doing all this,
> but it's not technically cataloging. Cataloging is the description and
> analysis of books, and other types of resources, according to rigorous
> standards. These standards make it possible to cut down on a great deal of
> work for libraries, because if the catalog records were all created
> according to the same rules, then we can take advantage of the work already
> done by others and share them between libraries with minimum difficulty. It
> can also greatly reduce confusion on the library users' part. There's
> nothing wrong at all with making catalogs that don't use the standards, of
> course! Lots of small libraries do this. But I just wanted to point out
> that it's not quite the same thing.
>
> Hope it works out for you! If you feel like you need a handbook or
> something, these may be helpful:
> http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=su%3ASmall+libraries+Administration+Handbooks%2C+manuals%2C+etc.&qt=hot_subject
>
> Disclaimer: I'm a relatively new librarian who knows what she's doing with
> cataloging but not with library start-ups.
>
> Best,
> Laurel
>
> Laurel Narizny
> Metadata Librarian at Caltech
> 626-395-6431 | narizny_at_library.caltech.edu
> California Institute of Technology
> 1200 E California Boulevard, Mail code 1-32
> Pasadena, CA 91125-3200
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Next generation catalogs for libraries [mailto:
> NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Subscribe NGC4LIB Katy Eliz
> Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2014 2:55 PM
> To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: [NGC4LIB] Cataloguing small library
>
> Hey folks,
>
> I am trying to determine the best way to catalogue a little library at our
> Montessori school and was wondering if you all had any guidance. I'd say we
> have no more than 500 books. We are keeping them in our conference room
> which, try as we might to make it, does not pick up an internet signal, nor
> do we have a computer back there, but could get one somewhere down the
> line. So I was thinking of card cataloguing them. Guidance on how to do
> this would be great!
>
> Because cataloguing is something I can't imagine wanting to do twice, I
> was thinking we might as well do an electronic catalogue at the same time
> in case sometime down the road, we expand or find a way to go digital. Does
> anyone have suggestions for ways to electronically catalogue? I know about
> Library Thing and was wondering about the pros and cons of that as well as
> of other free or cheap systems.
>
> Any other general tips about tiny library-starting would be much
> appreciated as I'm not a librarian.
>
> Thanks!
> Katy
>
--
Katrina Piechnik
Library Systems Manager
Jenkins Law Library
833 Chestnut St., Suite 1220
Philadelphia, PA 19107-4429
voice: 215.574.7907
fax: 215.574.7910
kpiechnik_at_jenkinslaw.org
http://www.jenkinslaw.org
Jenkins Law Library | Catalog
"One can not change yesterday but only make most of today and look forward
with hope toward tomorrow" - Anonymous
Received on Thu Apr 10 2014 - 09:24:32 EDT