Abstract
Catalogers and technical services departments have always struggled with how much is too much when creating and enhancing bibliographic records as well as with what physical processing is needed to make these materials shelf-ready for timely circulation. Along with these decisions, catalogers also must address what quality control measures, if any, should be in place to guarantee resources are discoverable in the OPAC and discovery service. The authors of this paper describe their process and workflow for the quality control of tangible and electronic resources; they also discuss why quality control is performed. The importance of training cataloging staff on current cataloging rules and practices as a preventive measure to reduce mistakes is an essential part of the process. The ultimate goal of quality control is to eliminate errors and ensure the library’s resources are accessible.
Highlights
Quality control is most often found in the business world; some companies have an entire department committed to the quality control of their products
The Marx Library Cataloging Department of the University of South Alabama uses a similar process of quality control to examine cataloged materials for errors before they are transferred to the Circulation Department for shelving, transferred to other locations, or used to fulfill hold requests for specific titles
For the Marx Library Cataloging Department, the quality control process is a fusion of these two definitions with the examination of the MARC fields of bibliographic records as well as the physical processing of physical items for circulation
Summary
The Marx Library Cataloging Department of the University of South Alabama uses a similar process of quality control to examine cataloged materials for errors before they are transferred to the Circulation Department for shelving, transferred to other locations, or used to fulfill hold requests for specific titles At this academic library, the students and faculty are the customers, and the Cataloging Department’s purpose is to comply with the component of the library’s mission statement that states that one of the goals of the library is to “provide access to research materials at a level appropriate for successful academic performance” (University of South Alabama, n.d.). The bibliographic review process for books, DVDs, and e-books and the physical inspection of the tangible resources for the shelves are the main components of the quality control checklist This includes examining the bibliographic, holdings, and item records in the Voyager Cataloging module as well as checking OCLC to ensure the Marx Library symbol (ACM) has been added to the correct record. This practice ensures the discoverability of resources via the university libraries’ online catalog SOUTHcat, and the EBSCO Discovery Service
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