Cataloging and OPAC

I'm deep into the book Catalog It! by Allison G. Kaplan, a book about the art and practice of cataloging library materials. Fun, right?! The thing is, it *is* actually really interesting, once you get over the unbelievable number of acronyms (really, I felt like it was a test of my ability to cram more library acronyms into my brain).

What I really appreciate about this book is the unveiling of a host of codes and symbols used in cataloging that heretofore had been a mystery to me. Despite eight years of running a school library, there was so much I didn't know about the history of cataloging, the role of the Library of Congress (LOC, for those in the know), and - especially - the MARC records (MAchine Readable Cataloging). 

And knowledge is power! I feel so much more confident now in digging into and modifying a book's MARC record - something I had been explicitly told I should NEVER do by well-meaning and authoritative librarians in my former school district. Their definitiveness left me with the impression that I would be screwing up records all around the world if I modified - incorrectly - a MARC record. It left me with a sense of fear and also a question: if changing a MARC record is so incredibly consequential, why is it so easy to do? 

Who knew this was how to change the record type?*

In fact, we should be modifying the MARC record for every book that we bring into the library - to tie it to school curricula and make connections to other books in the catalog. Reading this book with my OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog - in my case, Follett Destiny) open, I found all kinds of lovely pieces of information in the MARC record that I hadn't known were there. It is really gratifying to have a handbook that explains what each line in a MARC record means and how / when to modify it. Additionally, Kaplan directs readers to the LOC's guide to the MARC fields as a quick reference tool whenever a cataloging question arises. I bookmarked it right away.

Recently, my supervisor asked me to catalog the posters that came with some workbooks ordered by the SpED department and my mind circled around the idea and came up blank. Now I see that this can be done, easily. It makes me feel like this:

Bing Image Creator. Prompt: "digital art rendering of a school
librarian excited about new knowledge." 5 Apr 2025.

Over and over again while reading this book, I found myself thinking: what is my goal when cataloging? The answer was always: to make it easier for students (and staff!) to access information. Indeed, Kaplan writes: "...the essence of cataloging is organization for the purpose of retrieval." (p. 50) Kaplan's guidelines have helped me to feel emboldened to modify spine labels, MARC records, nonfiction organization, and more in the library with that goal in mind. And, there is reassurance in knowing that - should I get it wrong the first time - I can always go back and fix it until it's right. 

* Obviously, lots of trained librarians! But, it was new to me.

Kaplan, Allison G. (2016). Catalog it!: a guide to cataloging school library materials (3rd ed.). Libraries Unlimited.