Library cataloging is the process of creating detailed, bibliographically descriptive records for items found in a library's collections. Cataloging allows access to all types of materials by accurately and precisely describing authors, titles, subjects, and other data, as well as organizing the collection by classifying materials with call numbers. Cataloging provides the basis for reliable, consistent search results for library users by collocating like authors, subjects, and series, unlike searches on the Internet, which may produce random, unorganized, and sometimes irrelevant results. In addition to our day-to-day cataloging, we have undertaken various projects and procedures to improve access. Our authority work insures that the various forms of an author's name, a subject, or series are brought together under a single authorized heading with appropriate references to variant forms. This means, for example, that a library user can find everything by an author with a single search, regardless of whether the author's name appears as Bill Smith, William Smith, or Billy Smith on different works.

 Shared Resources

To assist Vanderbilt University Libraries with cataloging, we use the resources of the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), a national database of shared catalog records. In addition to using and enhancing shared records, our catalogers contribute original cataloging to OCLC. In an average year, we catalog almost 40,000 items, including approximately 1,500 original records. We also enhance records in OCLC by adding subjects, call numbers, and additional search terms and links. This nationwide record sharing informs other libraries and their scholars of the resources available at Vanderbilt, and builds OCLC into an excellent resource for interlibrary lending.

 Records from Vendors

As more information sources are distributed electronically, our access to large collections of electronic books, journals, Web sites, and databases has grown rapidly. Providing bibliographic descriptions of all the items in large collections would overwhelm our catalogers if we were to create each record ourselves, even using shared OCLC records. Consistent with our quest to make library resources more quickly and easily accessible to our users, we purchase vendor-supplied groups of records for some collections, and automatically load them into our online catalog. For instance, we load vendor-supplied bibliographic records for more than 12,000 of our full-text electronic journals. In addition, records for large collections such as 18,000-plus netLibrary electronic books and 115,000 Early English Books are added to our online catalog overnight. With each addition of these large groups of records, we have seen dramatic increases in the use of the resources they describe.

We often use book vendors' Web sites for ordering library materials. From some of these vendors, we are able to acquire matching records to load into our catalog. Through this method, library users can tell immediately when an item has been ordered. They can then request rush processing or notification upon receipt of the materials, placing needed items in their hands faster.

 Local Cataloging

Zora Breeding
and Michael Scott
confer in the
Cataloging Department

Of course, not all bibliographic records are available commercially. Cataloging the unique materials in our collection requires a highly trained, motivated staff with skills in many languages, knowledge of academia's many disciplines, and understanding of the peculiarities of bibliographic records. These skills are not developed overnight. We are fortunate at Vanderbilt to have many proficient staff members with numerous years of experience. Some of our catalogers are recognized nationally for their expertise in training staff of other libraries to do cataloging and authority work.

As the resources of the library have expanded to include electronic materials, libraries have continued to acquire traditional formats of books and journals on paper. The strength of libraries for the future will be in our ability to provide access to both electronic materials and the unique, paper-based collections that form the foundation of the Vanderbilt University Libraries.