Public Documents Highlights for Texas, Volume 4, Number 4, Summer 1984 Page: 7
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Texas State Publications and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
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Cataloging Texas Documents/
Processing Procedures Work Group
by Bill Tinsman, Documents Librarian, Pan American University Library
The Texas State Library Technical Services Department catalogs at I Texas documents. The OCLC main
entry cards for depository documents are reproduced in the Texas State Documents Cataloging Supplement.
The librarians in the Cataloging Texas Documents/ Processing Procedures Work Group began the session
by describing their methods of cataloging and organizing Texas documents. Al I the group members then
listed the ways the Cataloging Supplement is or could be used in their libraries, ways that it could be
improved, and problems they have using it.
All of this information was consolidated and the results of this consolidation were: the Cataloging
Supplement can be used to extract OCLC numbers, produce catalog cards, and make shelf list cards.The members of the work group
also suggested ways the Cataloging
Supplement and distribution of
ca o gn information could be
improved.
1. Print the cards that comprise
the Cataloging Su element ful I
size on per ora e card stock
2. Add OCLC numbers to the entries
in the Seri al s Supplement
3. mncI ude "death" announcements
or cataloging for an earlier
title when a new serial title
is cataloged
4. Publish a cumulative title
index to the Cataloging
Supplement
5. Put the Cataloging Supplement
on-tine w-it itTiFe, ca
number, and subject access
6. Hold a seminar or workshop on
cataloging Texas documents for
catalogers to enable them to
work with the Texas State
Library's Technical Services
Department to find ways to
improve the Cataloging
Supplement to meet he needs of
the epositorI es
Undoubted I y, these suggestions
do not exhaust the ways in which
the Cataloging Supplement and the
cataloging of Texas state documents
could be improved, nor do they
touch upon the means by which
access to these documents can be
greatly improved. However, it is a
beginning whose lead can be
fol lowed in the future by other
groups not so I imited by the amount
of time or the number of people
available to focus on the problem
of better access to Texas state
documents.by Mel Louviere, Local History/
Genealogy Librarian, La Retama
Public Library, Corpus Christi
The Public Libraries Work Group
identified the fot lowing major
problems in managing Texas
documents col lections in public
libraries:
Awareness - Often the general
public is unaware of the existence
of a documents col lect ion in the
public library. One factor
contributing to inadequate
promot ion and advert isement of
Texas documents is that library
staf f, and pos si bl y adm in i strators,
are not aware of this special
col lect ion's importance, val ue,
contents, or scope.
Insufficient Staff Time, or Both -
Virtually all public librarians
responsible for Texas documents
also have responsibilities with
other col lections such as federal
documents, local history,
genealogy, or general reference.
Spreading staff thinly prevents
in-depth familiarization with the
Texas documents col election.
Housing and Physical Space,
Dispersement, Processing -
Documents by their very nature are
difficult to deal with because of
volume, variable formats, and
diversity of origin. A documents
col lection requires roan to grow.If space is at a premium--and it
usual l y is--al ter nat lives such as
converting to microform or
scheduled disposal must be
considered. Keeping documents
together in a single location, as
opposed to dispersal in several
departments, seems to be the most
efficient method of housing, but
this can be effective onl y if
someone is available to interpret
the col election to users. Dispersal
vs. centralization is an issue
which depends on the circumstances
of ea:h individual library.
It appears that documents
receive a bare minimum of staff
al locations, space al locations, and
budget al locations. The bare
minimum does not al low for public
relations programs, in-service
training for staff, or in-depth
familiarization with the
col lect ion' s contents.
Al tI of the above problems
ultimately spring from the
assignment of priorities. The
objective of the documents
librarian is to upgrade the
documents col lection to a higher
priority than it now occupies. Do
we create a need, or cater to an
already existing one? I suspect
that the need is there but that the
public and perhaps the library
administration is insufficiently
aware of a valuable available
resource--the Texas state documents
col lect ion.PLANNING FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF TEXAS DOCUMENTS COLLECTIONS
Public Libraries
Work Group Report7
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Texas State Publications Clearinghouse. Public Documents Highlights for Texas, Volume 4, Number 4, Summer 1984, periodical, Summer 1984; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1543481/m1/7/?q=%221984~%22: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.