Technical Services Librarians and Leadership

I've had some good opportunities to develop my leadership skills and they've mostly been OTJ - On The Job. While there's not much that can substitute for real life adventures, I'm glad that there are additional opportunities for people in the Technical Services to become library leaders. I'm currently President of NETSL (a section of NELA - New England Library Association) and here's an opportunity I proudly to announce.


Along with all of the other advantages of being a member of the New England Technical Services Librarians here's another one.


The Executive Board of NETSL would like to encourage Technical Services staff to develop their leadership skills by applying to NELLS - The New England Library Association's leadership symposium. NELLS will be held July 28 through August 1, 2008, at Rolling Ridge Conference Center, North Andover MA.


While the cost of this symposium is underwritten by the 6 New England state library associations, participants are required to pay $500 tuition. The NETSL board is offering a scholarship - a minimum of $250 - towards the tuition of one NETSL member attending NELLS.


Applications for NELLS are due January 28, 2008.


When you fill out your application, add a note saying that you are a NETSL member and are also applying for the NETSL scholarship. If you want to apply for the scholarship and have already submitted your application, send an addendum stating such.


NELLS is a great opportunity to develop leadership skills, which are a definite asset in today's competitive library environment. Please seriously consider applying to NELLS, and, if you do, be sure to apply for the NETSL scholarship. Good Technical Services librarians make good leaders.

Cataloging History, or, The History of Cataloging

Even though most cataloging is done electronically and bibliographic records are usually displayed on a computer screen, antiquated terminology is still very much in use. Words like “main entry” and “headings” and even our cataloging rules developed because of catalog cards.

If you’re confused by some of these terms because they don’t seem to fit well with NGCs (that’s New Generation Catalogs) or if you sometimes yearn for those simpler days of opening a drawer and flipping through cards, take a trip down Memory Lane with a visit to The Virtual Museum of Cataloging and Acquisitions Artifacts.

Heidi Lee Hoerman, faculty member of the School of Library and Information Science at the University of South Carolina has gathered together cataloging essentials from days of yore. Take a look to see items you likely haven’t seen in many years – if you’ve ever seen them at all! The Virtual Museum’s homepage contains a link to The Library History Buff, which in turn has links to all sorts of Librariana including Library Postcards – a “must visit” for library fans.

If you’re looking for that perfect gift for your favorite cataloger, please consider Heidi's Washable Book Weights. Why would someone need a book weight? To hold a book open while keying original cataloging data into a template, of course!