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Hi Bernadette Although I have over 10 years experience in Libraries and cataloguing, as well as about to graduate with an MSc Information and Library Studies, I am currently unable to obtain employment in that field, and so I nourish the cataloguing soul by volunteering. I am involved in a rare books conservation project, and I have to say that on occasion when I have been tasked to complete another volunteers work, I have had to start from scratch as not all volunteers are cataloguers. Minimum training has been provided by crib sheets, but in my opinion it is not enough, particularly in rare books, to provide a reasonable bibliography. Does this mean that the Library sphere has decided that description is low priority? Personally I'm enjoying volunteering but how wonderful it would be to be paid to do a job I know very well. These days, competition is even higher than it used to be. Best wishes Venessa On 25 November 2014 at 10:41, Bernadette O'Reilly < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hello Jenny > > > > It’s encouraging to hear that you don’t necessarily require previous > experience. In fact we don’t either, when appointing to long-term posts > (although I can’t deny that people who have already had our own training > have an advantage – they won’t be spending a lot of working hours on > training). We warmly encourage recruiters to use simple objective tests > (spot-the-difference and copy-typing) to assess accuracy rather than > putting all the weight on previous experience. > > > > We naturally appreciate candidates who have shown some interest in > acquiring cataloguing skills, by reading around and/or by looking at the > first few of our online training modules (which are freely available at > http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/our-work/cataloguing) or other resources > from the CIG resources page – but it would seem unfair to expect > cataloguers to have gone most of the way towards training themselves before > they could be considered for a post. > > > > One problem here is that so many posts are very short-term, for example > maternity cover or 6-month funding to deal with a particular collection or > donation, and in that case full training is out of the question. Has > anyone any suggestions for very short training? > > > > Can recruiters/managers tell us more about what they are looking for? How > much ‘background’ knowledge would you expect? > > > > Best wishes, > > Bernadette > > ******************* > Bernadette O'Reilly > Catalogue Support Librarian > > Bodleian Libraries, > Osney One Building > Osney Mead > Oxford OX2 0EW. > > For cataloguing advice: [log in to unmask] > For course enquiries (cataloguing, holdings & items): > [log in to unmask] > For other correspondence: [log in to unmask] > > 01865 2-77134 > > ******************* > > > > *From:* CIG E-Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *Jenny > Wright > *Sent:* 25 November 2014 10:20 > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* Re: [CIG-E-FORUM] Getting started - Session 1 > > > > Good morning, > > I work for a company called Bibliographic Data Services (BDS) which is > based in Dumfries. We supply bib records to libraries and library > suppliers, and employ several cataloguers. > > When recruiting staff we are generally looking for aptitude and interest > from candidates, rather than experience, since we expect to provide > on-the-job training. To aid selection we usually therefore ask candidates > to participate in a test if they are invited to interview, to ascertain > attention to detail and ability to take instruction quickly. > > Once in post, successful employees have been offered support to become > library school qualified via distance learning, and there are many roles > within a busy commercial company to develop one’s career. Our current > senior cataloguers have roles in customer relations, working with > programmers to develop products, internal and external training, and > committee work to support the national cataloguing ‘ecosystem’. > > Regards > > > > Jenny Wright > > Trainer & Development Manager > > Bibliographic Data Services Ltd. > > 01387 702295 > > > > > > > > > > *From:* CIG E-Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask] > <[log in to unmask]>] *On Behalf Of *Bernadette O'Reilly > *Sent:* 25 November 2014 09:57 > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* [CIG-E-FORUM] Getting started - Session 1 > > > > [Apologies if this crosses with other posts and introductions – there can > be a delay of several minutes before posts appear] > > > > Hello all, and welcome to the first session of this e-forum! > > > > In this session, from now until 1.00 p.m., we would like to focus > particularly on recruitment, and we hope to hear not just from people who > are starting but also from people who have experience and advice to offer. > These threads can continue during other sessions – we know that many people > will be able to look in only occasionally – but the other sessions will > introduce other topics. > > > > My own job includes providing training, documentation and advice for the > 200+ cataloguers in about 100 locations who contribute to the Oxford > Libraries Information System (OLIS), ranging from the Bodleian Libraries’ > full-time cataloguers to multiskilled staff working in one- or two-person > libraries. Many OLIS cataloguers cannot make time to attend long courses > and some do not have much inhouse support, so it’s a challenge to devise > training which is manageable but reasonably comprehensive – a lot of it has > to be through self-tuition modules. If one of the smaller libraries needs > to recruit a cataloguer they may not have any other cataloguing staff, so I > am sometimes asked to help with recruitment. > > > > Just to get things started, here are a few questions which occurred to the > moderators. Please jump in with your ideas on them, or any other questions > and/or ideas which occur to you. > > > > - How can someone with no cataloguing experience acquire enough > knowledge/skills to make a convincing job application? > > > > - Can anyone suggest books, online resources, courses or other resources > (especially inexpensive ones) which would help someone hoping to move into > cataloguing to make a convincing application? > > > > - Do most people have experience in other library roles before moving into > cataloguing? > > > > - What if you were trained in AACR2 and the jobs now seem to specify RDA? > > > > - Managers: What knowledge/skills do you look for in applicants? What else > is important? > > > > - Do you use “objective” tests in recruitment (or have you experienced > objective tests)? If so, can you give examples? Did they help? > > > > - How important is it for applicants to offer knowledge/skills in a range > of metadata types, e.g. Dublin Core, MODS? > > > > - How important is it for applicants to offer knowledge/skills with > non-book materials? > > > > - What can/should organisations do to help employees interested in > cataloguing to acquire relevant skills before applying for cataloguing > roles in that organisation? > > > > - Is the balance changing between professional cataloguing roles and > paraprofessional roles (e.g. downloading external records, non-structural > checking, editing and upgrading, adding holdings/items)? If so, is this a > good thing? > > > > - What are the career prospects in non-traditional cataloguing agencies, > e.g. outsourcing firms and e-resource suppliers? > > > > Looking forward to hearing from you. > > > > Best wishes, > > Bernadette > > ******************* > Bernadette O'Reilly > Catalogue Support Librarian > > Bodleian Libraries, > Osney One Building > Osney Mead > Oxford OX2 0EW. > > For cataloguing advice: [log in to unmask] > For course enquiries (cataloguing, holdings & items): > [log in to unmask] > For other correspondence: [log in to unmask] > > 01865 2-77134 > > ******************* > > > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star. The > service is powered by MessageLabs. For more information on a proactive > anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit: > http://www.star.net.uk > ________________________________________________________________________ >