Cataloging Department

The Cataloging Unit of the Technical Services Department of the Newton Gresham Library organizes the library's resources and makes them accessible to students, faculty, and staff through the Online Catalog. Our goal is to provide correct, standardized cataloging and processing in all formats while maintaining an accurate and realistic approach to the organization and management of materials.

The Cataloging Unit Staff consists of one librarian and four FTE (full-time equivalent) copy catalogers. In addition to cataloging and maintaining bibliographic records on individual titles, the library purchases the majority of its bibliographic records in large collection sets from various sources, including government document records from Marcive. The Library Systems Coordinator assists in loading these large collections of bibliographic records into the online catalog. The cataloging unit works closely with the other library units to establish and maintain the database. Together we catalog all incoming material and delete obsolete materials.

As with other professionals, librarians and catalogers have national and international standards as well as accepted practices to dictate conformity. We are operating in a dynamic environment requiring new practices with established standards to accommodate the exponential development of technology. As these cataloging standards change, the Integrated Library System (ILS) must also change. The changes in the ILS affect the display of the bibliographic information, the ability to handle certain types of data and coded information and the ease of performing daily cataloging tasks. Our web page links to reference sources that provide these changing standards vital to us.

While maintaining high bibliographic standards and applying the rules to new technology, the cataloging staff recognizes its responsibility to serve library users. The bibliographic service includes authority control for efficient search results, accurate location information and proper identification of the various materials.

Our online catalog serves as a tool for reference and research to provide more accessible information for the university faculty, staff and students as well as the larger community of library users. If you have any difficulty locating information or materials in our catalog, please request assistance at the reference desk. Our reference staff will be happy to assist you. If you want to notify the Cataloging Unit or the Technical Services Department of inaccuracies in the catalog, please click here.

Links to more information

RETURN LINKS TO: SHSU, NGL, AND TECH. SERV.